Thursday, March 06, 2014
Harbinger of Spring?
A flock of parrots showed up at my house today. I hope that means the cold weather is history, at least for a while. Of course, just because they're exotic doesn't make them smart. Still, they didn't show up when the pelicans did, or when the only bat I've seen since we moved here came by. So I'm hopeful.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Elections
It's been a while since I lived anywhere people running for office would say, proudly at that, that they were Democrats, much less tout their tenure as party officers. It's quite refreshing.
It's time for the primaries here in Texas and yesterday we attended an event in Harlingen where several of the candidates for (Cameron) county office were in attendance. The event was hosted by a candidate for County Judge, Joe G. Rivera. There was music and dancing and classic cars and food. The candidates mingled but the music was too loud to really talk to them, although I tried. I wanted to know, for example, how it might matter to me who became County District Clerk (it turns out that rather than political philosophy, I should care about organizational skills in candidates for that office, who knew). The biggest issue for me was the election of judges. We have District Court, County Court at Law, and Justice of the Peace, in descending order of oversight authority. But how is someone who isn't a lawyer or a criminal to know how to choose among the candidates? For which office is "judicial philosophy" important (District Court) and for which administrative competence? And where do the candidates talk about politics and philosophy?
Not so much, as it turns out, at the Joe G. Rivera for County Judge picnic. Here's something I didn't know, even though I lived and voted in Texas for 10 years (25 years ago): County Judge isn't a judge. He's the head of the Court of County Commissioners, which isn't really a court (except as, you know, King Arthur's Court was a court)
I did manage to buttonhole one of the candidates for DC Judge and ask him about prejudice and rehabilitation but the music was loud and he needed to press the flesh so we couldn't really platicar in any useful way. Then there was a chance for the candidates to talk but they just urged us all to vote and told us why they were qualified. As I said, it was quite refreshing that they proudly talked about how many years they served as Party Chairman or other party officer. They talked about the struggles everyone faces growing up in the Valley. They talked about how Cameron County needs to create opportunities and training resources. All good stuff. But I really didn't (shouldn't have expected to) get a means of differentiating their "revolutionary fervor".
One of the candidates for District Clerk turned me on to the League of Women Voters website which is where I found what I needed (or most of it). In Colorado they would produce a booklet for voters but this website offers the same information and more. It actually explained the duties and qualifications for all the offices. So we're ready. Tomorrow is election day and we have a plan.
It's time for the primaries here in Texas and yesterday we attended an event in Harlingen where several of the candidates for (Cameron) county office were in attendance. The event was hosted by a candidate for County Judge, Joe G. Rivera. There was music and dancing and classic cars and food. The candidates mingled but the music was too loud to really talk to them, although I tried. I wanted to know, for example, how it might matter to me who became County District Clerk (it turns out that rather than political philosophy, I should care about organizational skills in candidates for that office, who knew). The biggest issue for me was the election of judges. We have District Court, County Court at Law, and Justice of the Peace, in descending order of oversight authority. But how is someone who isn't a lawyer or a criminal to know how to choose among the candidates? For which office is "judicial philosophy" important (District Court) and for which administrative competence? And where do the candidates talk about politics and philosophy?
Not so much, as it turns out, at the Joe G. Rivera for County Judge picnic. Here's something I didn't know, even though I lived and voted in Texas for 10 years (25 years ago): County Judge isn't a judge. He's the head of the Court of County Commissioners, which isn't really a court (except as, you know, King Arthur's Court was a court)
I did manage to buttonhole one of the candidates for DC Judge and ask him about prejudice and rehabilitation but the music was loud and he needed to press the flesh so we couldn't really platicar in any useful way. Then there was a chance for the candidates to talk but they just urged us all to vote and told us why they were qualified. As I said, it was quite refreshing that they proudly talked about how many years they served as Party Chairman or other party officer. They talked about the struggles everyone faces growing up in the Valley. They talked about how Cameron County needs to create opportunities and training resources. All good stuff. But I really didn't (shouldn't have expected to) get a means of differentiating their "revolutionary fervor".
One of the candidates for District Clerk turned me on to the League of Women Voters website which is where I found what I needed (or most of it). In Colorado they would produce a booklet for voters but this website offers the same information and more. It actually explained the duties and qualifications for all the offices. So we're ready. Tomorrow is election day and we have a plan.
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