"Not against Jay"
Allow me to take a moment to direct a note regarding a local City Council race. In this case, it's one that I admittedly have a horse in - At Large, Position 2. As evidenced by the little graphic link to the left, I'm a Jay Aiyer supporter. Having heard good things about him before ever meeting him and reading the extent to which he's willing to provide details on solving the problems that face our city, I've been a fan ever since. For a host of affirmative reasons, I think Jay represents the next wave of progressive leadership that maintains a bi/nonpartisan tenor of local government that serves us well when practiced at its best.
As luck would have it, among his opponents is a fine Democrat who I've also heard good things about and certainly hold no animus towards - Sue Lovell. Sue's a member of the Democratic National Committee and has some good credentials in providing job training opportunities for Houston families.
So, imagine my surprise that with the minor flurry of emails and alternative press reports that amount to not even a hill of beans, that I'm a bit taken back by the actions of Sue. While I was still involved with the Sharpstown Democrats leadership last year, I made sure to let Sue know that she would be treated fairly and have an open forum that we would certainly offer any candidate with the Sharpstown Democrats. When word of the recent news hit me, my mind immediately went to the welcome reply that Sue had given me. The relevant part states rather plainly:
I am running for the position not against Jay......I was encouraged by people to run again because of how well I did last time and they liked my ideas
Sue now claims that she "wants to know how Aiyer, the HCCS Trustee, can be trusted as a City Councilmember when he can?t be trusted to come clean about his campaign finances." A $5,000 line item on a campaign finance does not even a molehill make, as Sue suggests.
Sue, the actions taken in the placement of this "story" with the media now beg the question of whether you'll keep your own word. When it comes time for voters to determine what matters more: a candidate who had to amend a campaign finance report versus one who cannot keep their word, I'm reasonably sure how this ends up. The reports in question will soon be made public, but I think it's just as important to make public facts that merit more attention about the word of a candidate.
When it comes to city politics, this big city is really a close-knit town. I know that Jay is intent on discussing issues that impact people's lives and moving Houston forward and based on the welcome reception that both you and Jay received at Sharpstown in two consecutive months, there seems to be a ready market for that. But based on the comparison of action to words above, the quote represents the first broken campaign promise of the season.
It's not uncommon for city politics to see Democrats taking aim at fellow Democrats, and the cynics among us might claim that this is merely the way things go in politics. But the nature of such nonsensical news items pitched to friendly media is beneath what Democrats, progressives, or even good-government independents should expect of candidates. It can, after all, get real ugly real fast if certain candidates choose to proceed down this path. But there are too many potholes to fill, too many streets to pave, too many police cadets to recruit and graduate, and too many city services to fulfill. So let's lay off the mud and stick to the issues, shall we?