Commissioner Ingalsbe, we are informed, is fuming over Barton's repeated fibbing and has a mind to wash his mouth out with soap
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By Bob OchoaRoundUp Editor
Last night's candidates forum hosted by the Wimberley Chapter-League of Women Voters was fun and informative.
The well attended event at the community center coincided with the national League's 90th birthday. Happy B'Day League! Thanks for all you do to educate voters on the issues and candidates.
The forum featured candidates in three March 2nd primary races: Bert Cobb and Peggy Jones in the GOP primary for county judge (Cobb is in the center . . . Jones was absent); Jeff Barton and Judge Liz Sumter (on left and right) in the Democratic primary for county judge; and Tommy Ratliff and Bill Huddleston in the Democratic primary for sheriff.
Time permitting, we'll get to the reporting of "what they said" later. First, here are some of the things we learned about the candidates themselves.
– We learned that Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton appears to be one of the few people remaining who believe everything he says. For example, Barton repeated a concocted story line that he has been using on the stump, accusing County Judge Sumter of trying to get the DA, Sherri Tibbe, to indict Pct. 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe. The story stems from an old complaint related to county repairs on an alleged private road in Pct. 1. No indictment was ever pursued, not even close. Tibbe issued a finding that the road was not private. Reportedly, Commissioner Ingalsbe is fuming over Barton's repeated fibbing and has a mind to wash his mouth out with soap. This is not helping Barton in his quest for votes in the San Marcos area where Ingalsbe has a loyal following.
Barton also is a good shadow boxer. He did not answer a question from the audience about who his largest campaign contributors are. Instead, he waxed on evasively about the large number of small donors to his campaign and that he has significantly out-raised Sumter. (Sumter said she is restricted in the number and amounts of contributions she can receive because of her dual role as a probate judge.) Here's what we know of Barton's top contributors, according to his latest campaign finance report: There are numerous out-of-towners, for example, from Elsa, Tx ($2,500), McAllen ($2,500), Austin ($2,000), Waco ($2,000). Barton has taken nearly $30,000 from non-Hays County sources, more than half of his total fund raising.
– We learned that Dr. Cobb, who has an allergy practice and clinic in San Marcos, can get a little testy when you ask too many questions about his practice, like "How on earth do you make $100,000 a year working 13 hours a week!?" He's likely to poke his finger in your chest. Other than that he likes to tell jokes, and promises that he'll sell his practice if he is elected county judge.
– We learned that Judge Sumter doesn't seem to want to waste her time rebutting the yarns that Barton spins. She was on point with her answers and left the solid impression that she knew a lot more about the county's operations than anybody in the room.
Sheriff Ratliff
– We learned that Bill Huddleston has tons of managerial and law enforcement experience and really wants to be sheriff. Says he'll be a leader in his own right and won't have to learn on the job like his non-elected primary opponent Tommy Ratliff.– We learned that Tommy Ratliff just has that look of a friendly and honest sheriff. A former Highway Patrol Trooper and Texas Ranger (retired), Ratliff was appointed sheriff by commissioners court last year after the sudden death of everybody's friend and sheriff, Allen Bridges. Ratliff says he's on top of things and has the Sheriff's Department moving on the offense against crime and not on the defense.
In the audience, we learned that County Court at Law No. 1 Judge Anna
Martinez Boling (appointed to the position following the death of Judge Howard Warner) is as upbeat as ever about her full time judge job and campaign – only she wishes she had as much time to campaign as her primary opponent David Mendoza. We are told that Mr. Mendoza is on a "campaign leave of absence" (hopefully unpaid) from his job as a Hays County Assistant DA. If Assistant DA Mendoza can take an extended leave of absence, what does that say about the work load in the DA's office? Maybe it's the slow season.We also learned that Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley has a genuinely nice smile not often seen at commissioners court meetings (he gave a thumbs up after the photo was snapped), and that State Rep. Patrick Rose likes wearing high heel boots. He seemed a little irritated that his photo was being taken. Rose (looking awfully detached) and his entourage were at the forum presumably as a show of support for his friend Jeff Barton.
We learned many things at last night's forum, mostly after the candidates spoke. That's the thing about stump speeches and candidate forums, you can't tell fact from fiction. You almost have to get up close and personal to get a feel for a candidate's true character.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley
State Rep. Patrick Rose
12 comments:
Something that struck me about last night's candidate forum, which Jeff found a way to turn into some kind of one-sided debate, was the difference in tone between Liz and Jeff. Liz is a grownup and Jeff is a teenage boy who is mad at his mommy.
When I look at what goes on in the Commissioners Court, especially what comes out of Jeff and Will, what I see are rarely projects that are primarily designed to benefit their constituents, unless of course that is defined as those wealthy donors who push this expenditure and that. What passes for public service is too often private enterprise banging on the Courthouse door to spend tax money to keep them in business.
What Hays County is stuck with is some worn out buildings that should have been either better-maintained or replaced years ago. I cannot say which, but seems to me this time window for doing this the fancy way may very well have expired. Unless the economy rebounds to pre-Recession levels, spending big money on public buildings like jails and government centers may take a backseat to more pressing concerns like health clinics, food banks, subsidized housing and maintaining law and order.
Jeff Barton is a frustrated man. He is angry at Liz because she does not go along with what his road company/developer donors want done and she will not simply acquiesce to his platitudinous ravings for "building bridges" ( he is so fond of saying this, it has lost all meaning for me) or working "across the aisle", which to me just means he is now firmly in the lap of the same special interests that Republicans like Will Conley and Jim Powers are.
Liz kept her cool last night while Jeff used what was supposed to be a non-confrontational forum to attack and accuse her of a host of inaccuracies and outright lies. He carefully timed these accusations for those times in the forum when she had no opportunity to rebut, even though he defied the rules and returned to a previous question and used extra time to continue his harangue on Liz.
One aspect of the way that Jeff handles himself, twisting and writhing as he talks, squeezing tidbits of truth out of a fabric of lies, is that he provides no positive solutions, only reactions. His projects on the Court go unheeded because they are, like his vacuous speeches, based on too little to form into policy.
Jeff Barton is a bag of wind blowing an ill wind towards our communities. His brand of populist rhetoric offers nothing to a citizenry that demands that government continue its progress towards openness, independence and fair play. His coffers are full of out-of-town money and yet when asked who his "3 or 4 major donors were", he could not name a one. He could not or would not say from where his money came from.
Let's re-elect the grownup. Let's continue on a path of looking these issues in the eye and working together to solve them in ways that benefit the people here in Hays County, not the bottom lines of Barton's handlers in Austin.
Susan Cook
Driftwood
Great oratory, Susan. Filled with truth.
I'm glad to see that there actually is something that riles Commission Debbie Ingalsbe, as she seldom reacts aggressively to any discussion or takes a stand and votes first in Commissioners Court.
I can't seem to comprehend what the "real" voters in his county see in Jeff Barton. They should be able to see quite clearly that he is not a good leader, that he lies and twists stories and that he is not focusing on the real needs of the people in his community.
And yet, here we are.
Now Barton wants to prescribe his one-sided Rx's for all of Hays County.
I sincerely hope that all the voters in Hays County recognize that the better of all the candidates remains incumbent Liz Sumter. Her first term has been an amazing accomplishment considering all the "bozos" and issues she has had to deal with.
My family and I will reelect Judge Sumter in a New York City heartbeat!
Barton's demeanor and debate style told me very clearly I should vote for Liz Sumter. I was already leaning that way but the LWV's forum validated my thinking.
As to the "Doctor", his cheap shot calling Obama a "tyrant" clearly shows that being a medical doctor doesn't equate with intelligence and having a "holistic" understanding of politics. Does he think the 5 unconstitutional propositions being put out by the Texas GOP are NOT a form of right wing tyranny? Or how about when the State of Texas succumbs to health insurance lobbies by forcing all employers with over 25 employees to have maternity coverage, even if most of the employees are beyond baby making age. Is that not the same type of tyranny Herr Doctor loathes in the Obama health care proposal? Which is better? Being screwed by liberal governments or being screwed by right wing governments?
When politicians blurt out angry talking points and/or manipulative impunities - as both Barton and Herr Doctor did, it is a sign they would be divisive leaders in government.
Sumter was polite and professional and stayed above the sleaze fray. She will get my vote.
Barton and Rose are of the same political ilk: How much money they can raise is how they are measured by their handlers and power brokers, not how well they tend to the needs and better interests of their constituents. Whole groups of people who don't live by the "pay to play" credo have been marginalized by these two yahoos.
So, will Ms. Ingalsbe get down from her fence to smack Barton on his nose or will she stay there as she does re: our county issues?
The one thing good about local politics is that the issues and the special interest money cannot be so easily hidden or dismissed by a clueless national media that uses politics as entertainment and gossip. At least local politics are mostly visible and generally not edited by corporate media hacks.
Speaking of Dr. Bert Cobb, I once heard a wise senior citizen say: "The Democrats 'tax and spend' while the Republicans 'borrow and spend'." The latter is easily validated during the Bush-Vader years as our national debt skyrocketed so they could pay for the two Middle East oil-revenge-torture wars.
The liberal sterotype of "tax and spend", however, is losing some of its validity, as the Dems have finally figured out that to keep the special interest campaign money coming in, they can't really raise taxes. But they can pay lip service to raising taxes (and punishing the rich) to please gullible blue state voters.
Personally, I think liberals are overall smarter than conservatives because liberals generally understand that the real problem for most Americans in today's world is that we are being lied to about "free markets" while being manipulated by our corporate masters. And until conservatives quite blinding themselves to that fact, the wealth percentage of the American elite will keep getting bigger and bigger and the wealth percentage of the middle class will keep getting smaller and smaller.
I read a recent survey that said 78% of Republican leaders believe Obama is a socialist (Dr. Bert says he is a tyrant). Well, I’m glad to be enlightened. I didn't know socialists bailed out private sector banks - and tries to force 20 million uninsured citizens to buy private sector health insurance and pay barely affordable premiums to private sector insurance companies.
I sure wish I'd have known that the socialist Obama was going to be elected. On the day of his inauguration, I would have invested 100% of my money in the stock market since the socialist scoundrel and his policies made the stock market go up almost 30% in 2009 -- his first year in office. My IRA loves socialism.
And did you know that 73% of all convicted serial killers voted Republican?
"And did you know that 73% of all convicted serial killers voted Republican?"
I would love to see the document citing this percentage.
I also would love to know how someone arrived at that conclusion since the majority of Americans are unregistered voters and I would think that serial killers aren't interested in voting, much less belong to a political party.
But, hey! What do I know.
As County Judge, Liz Sumter has brought dedication and openness to the office for a change.
LET'S KEEP THE CHANGE!
It makes sense that most serial killers are Republicans. We do know that Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and the BTK killer were Republicans. They all worked for Republican campaigns or similar efforts.
Think about it. Republicans generally are more likely to be angry white males preoccupied with law enforcement - two primary traits identified by the FBI Profiling Report on serial killers.
Additionally, Republicans are more likely to have anger at women due to their stronger "woman comes from a man's rib" religious backgrounds.
Also, serial killers have distorted views of morality - and how woman behave can be a trigger to violence. The Republican Party also has this same controlling morality issue in their political platform.
Of course, all this doesn't mean that Republicans are more likely to be serial killers - than say, libertarians of tea baggers.
Not that this has anything to do with the Candidate's forum but in response to the Republican serial killer statistical question:
Here are the serial killer statistics -
The USA has 76% of the world's serial killers.
California leads in the US with the most Serial Homicide cases. Texas is a close second.
84% of American serial killers are caucasian. Men make up at least 90% of serial killers.
65% of victims are female.
Given those statistics, it makes sense that a majority of serial killers are Republican since there are more American white males who are Republicans.
Moreover, I would guess rage at being sexually repressed and hating women would be more a trait of the Republicans as they are more likely to be religious fanatics - or at the least the parents are who probably made their kids killers.
But what do I know?
None of your bio links are valid, "Edie", so why should we believe you?
Wow, the last two Al-Anonymouses who rambled on about my statistic that a majority of serial killers are Republican need to get a life. It was simply a line I heard in a movie and inserted it for some nonsensical effect.
Instead, how about this one in honor of the Texas Education Board's recent textbook rulings:
"According to Genesis 1:20-22, the chicken came before the egg."
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