Candidate Forum on Tuesday, February 17 from 7 to 8 pm at the SPJST Lodge

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   Contact the SACC Officers

[samjow]

http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=58

Candidate Forum (Inviting City council member District H candidates)

These candidates have confirmed:
Gonzalo Camacho
Karen Derr
Yolanda Navarro Flores
Lupe Garcia
Ed Gonzalez
Hugo Mojica
Rick Rodriguez
Maverick Welsh

February 17 from 7 to 8 pm
at the SPJST Lodge Annex 1435 Beall Street
(At W. 15th Street )

Special election is Saturday, May 9

[samjow]

The Shady Acres Civic Club is hosting the upcoming Candidate Forum for District H on
Tuesday, February 17 at 7 pm and we are very excited that you were able to put us on your schedule. We would like to have an opportunity for community members to meet and hear your vision for our neighborhood. We will also have specific questions that we will ask you to address as well an opportunity for you to give us an overview of your position. The Shady Acres Civic Club is inviting the Greater Heights and the press.

http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=58
 
Nancy Wilcox, VP of SACC, will be the moderator.  Candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question.  If they would like to complete a written response, we’ll post it on the SACC web page.
 
1.  Why are you running for District H?
   
2.  What capital improvement projects would you like to see in the Shady Acres and/or Greater Heights area?
 
3.  What would you do to increase area patrol in the Heights area?  What are your plans to address and reduce crime in the Shady Acres area?
 
4.  Shady Acres is interested in developing a Chamber of Commerce.  We would like to see a tree lined boulevard on 19th and 20th street and continue the success of Cedar Creek Café and develop diverse businesses throughout these streets.  How would you support us?  What is your vision of walkability throughtout our neighborhod?
 
5.  Our infrastructure was designed for small cottages on acre sized lots.  The densification of Chapter 42 is stressing our infrastructure-drainage, street size, street parking, electrical and phone service.  How would you address the inadequate under design of infrastructure as Shady Acres densifies per Chapter 42.
 
6.  As a council member, how would you strike a balance for property value and excessive regulatory restriction for floodway/floodplain homeowners?
 

Then the forum will be open to the public questions.

[samjow]

50 residents showed up to the event.

[samjow]

Gonzalo Camacho

http://transportbox.blogspot.com/



Karen Derr

http://www.karenforcouncil.org/



Yolanda Navarro Flores

http://www.hccs.edu/system/boardserv/members/flores.html



Lupe Garcia



Ed Gonzalez

http://edforh.blogspot.com/



Hugo Mojica

http://hugomojica.com/



Rick Rodriguez

http://rickrodriguez09.org/



Maverick Welsh

http://www.maverickwelsh.com/

[samjow]

Bob Schoellkopf is running for District A

[samjow]

http://offthekuff.com/mt/

blog by Charles Kuffner

Shady Acres candidate forum report

I attended the District H candidate forum that was presented by the Shady Acres Civic Club last night. Eight candidates were in attendance: Gonzalo Camacho, Karen Derr, Yolanda Navarro Flores, Lupe Garcia, Ed Gonzalez, Hugo Mojica, Rick Rodriguez, and Maverick Welsh. That makes the logistics a bit unwieldy, but the Shady Acres folks and moderator Nancy Wilcox did a good job of keeping things on track and moving. You can see photos of all the participants here along with a list of questions they were all asked; the questions were sent to them in advance, and some of them have submitted written answers as well - there are links on the sidebar to those answers.

I'm just going to give general impressions here. I thought the candidates generally came off pretty well. Nobody made me cringe or wonder what they were doing up there, as was the case with a couple of non-entity candidates (neither of whom was ultimately on the ballot) at a Mayoral forum our neighborhood association hosted back in 2003. There was a lot of agreement among them as they answered the questions that were posed to them. This was partly an artifact of the limited time they had to answer the questions (90 seconds each), and partly because the candidates are not too far apart in outlook and ideology. There is a broad range of backgrounds and experiences among them - the candidates include cops, lawyers, teachers, realtors, civil engineers, and business owners - and it's clear they have different priorities and approaches. But at this stage of the game, there wasn't that much dissonance among them. I assume that will change for the runoff, at least to some extent, but for now things were very civil and pleasant.

We're about ten weeks out from the start of early voting. This is going to be a low-turnout affair, so it's really important to try and get to know these folks, because with such a big field and with many of them having some base of support to begin with, it's impossible to say who might make the runoff. There are at least two more candidate forums coming up that I know of, one of which will be held by the Greater Heights Democratic Club in March. I really urge everyone in H to make an effort to attend some event or meeting or whatever where these candidates will be and ask them whatever questions you may have. The odds are good they have been or will be at your neighborhood association's meetings. The difference between making the runoff and not will likely be measured in something like a few dozen votes, so make sure your voice gets heard.

I will be conducting interviews with all these candidates starting next month. I still have to figure out who I'll be voting for. In the meantime, take a look at the Shady Acres page and the candidates' answers that they have so far and get acquainted with them. It'll be time to vote before you know it.

[samjow]

To see candidates' responses to the questions, click here

http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=68

[samjow]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6293866.html#none


Nine candidates with various backgrounds will face off in a May 9 special election for Houston City Council District H.

The seat was vacated when former councilman Adrian Garcia resigned to become Harris County sheriff.

The list of candidates seeking to take his place was as noteworthy for those on it as the one who was not. Karen Derr, a prominent realtor who was seen as a potentially strong candidate from the Heights, missed the filing deadline. So, although she already had raised money, held events and promoted her candidacy in a blog and on her business Web site, she will not be in the race. Derr did not return a call for comment.

The order on the ballot, which was determined by a drawing according to a longstanding tradition set up by the city secretary, is as follows: Edward “Ed” Gonzalez, Lupe Garcia, Gonzalo Camacho, Hugo Mojica, Larry Williams, Maverick Welsh, James Partsch-Galvan, Yolanda Navarro Flores and Rick Rodriguez.