Tag Archives: Lone Star Q

Buc-ee’s Owners Support Dan Patrick

I know I know… Say it Ain’t So!!

Here’s the info direct from Lone Star Q

Democratic Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro says he’ll boycott Buc-ee’s after the popular roadside megastore chain endorsed right-wing Republican Dan Patrick for lieutenant governor.

“Won’t gas up there anymore since they support a fear mongering immigrant basher,” Castro, D-San Antonio, wrote on Twitter on Monday.

“Wonder how Bucees patrons in Freeport, Lake Jackson stores feel abt their endrsmnt of DP who spoke abt immigrants bringing diseases to TX,” Castro added.

Patrick was the top vote-getter in last Tuesday’s primary, and he is favored to defeat incumbent David Dewhurst in a runoff for the GOP nomination. The winner will face Democrat Leticia Van de Putte, who is Latina, in November.

“To my great delight after our win Tuesday I got a call from the owners of Buc-cees who said they wanted to meet and support me,” Patrick wrote on Facebook on Sunday, above photos of himself with the chain’s beaver mascot and its two owners.

Patrick once said immigrants are bringing “Third World diseases” to the U.S., and he recently called immigration from Mexico an “illegal invasion.” Patrick has challenged Congressman Castro’s brother, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, to a debate on the issue. Mayor Castro retweeted his brother’s tweet about Buc-ee’s on Monday.

Buc-ee’s is quickly becoming one of Texas’ most beloved roadside institutions. It’s a must-stop for me any time I pass by one of the flagship stores. Even when I don’t buy a lot of stuff, I love to go in, rest my eyes from the road and just look at all of the quirky items they have on display. And of course, SUCH CLEAN BATHROOMS… I mean it boggles the mind!!

As much as one may love Buc-ee’s, Dan Patrick is reason enough to join Congressman Castro in the boycott. All the Beaver Nuggets in the world can’t make up for the terrible things Patrick says on an almost daily basis. It’s time to send a message to Arch “Beaver” Aplin III and Don Wasek (pictured below with Patrick in the middle) that everyone doesn’t agree with the State Senator’s views. And lest you think that the owners of Buc-ee’s are perhaps naïve of the political sphere, think again. Aplin ran for political office back in 1996 and is a proud Republican, so he knows what he’s getting into. Of course there’s nothing wrong with being a proud Republican, but Patrick’s anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT views are far too extreme.

If you choose to join the boycott, you can also use Buc-ee’s online contact form to let them know why. Let’s find out how much they care about customer feedback.

(photo credit: Dan Patrick Facebook page)

Texoblogosphere: Week of December 30th

The Texas Progressive Alliance bids farewell to 2013 and wishes everyone a happy and healthy 2014 as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff has stayed on top of the legal action in the Utah same sex marriage litigation and related matters.

Texpatriate picks Annise Parker as its 2013 Person of the Year.

DosCentavos gives us the last Thoughts on Viernes of 2013 which includes his Top 10 posts of 2013.

From the media’s impression, it’s pretty easy to think that all faith communities are against LGBT people and the struggle for equality. But in reality the religious debates are just as diverse as the ones going on elsewhere, with opinions changing just as rapidly as any other segment of society. Texas Leftist takes a look at one Houston church that is affecting this change while enlightening hearts and minds. As they would say, “traditional worship for contemporary people”.

The Texas Education Agency totally ignores South Texas. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is outraged, but not surprised at Republican denial of education opportunities for Texas Hispanics.

There was some gay marriage news made at the end of 2013, and it had nothing to do with Duck Die Nasty, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Neil at All People Have Value took a walk on the Texas City Dike. Neil says that the TCD is a great place to take a walk and to get some thinking done. All People Have Value is a part of NeilAquino.com.

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Laura Mayes sets a goal of spending more quality time with the children in her life.

Lone Star Q rounds up the top Texas LGBT stories for 2013.

Texas Redistricting rounds up some recent news stories relating to election law.

Grits for Breakfast reminds us that “Santa was in prison, and Jesus got the death penalty”.

Greg calculates updated Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) totals for Harris County.

Andrea Grimes reports on a Texas law that is forcing a hospital and a family to keep a pregnant woman on life support against her stated wishes.

New Media Texas outlines the six steps to getting a job in politics.

Diversity on Houston City Council

It’s been quite interesting to see what amounts to a ‘minor freak out’ going on in the blogosphere right now. Suddenly, people are starting to realize that the Houston City Council isn’t as diverse as they expected it to be? And, particularly from a gender perspective, will be even less so in 2014. The Council, which currently has four women holding office, will be down to two in the new year.

My response to this… where was the concern before??

The truth of the matter? Houston City Council isn’t “diverse” right now… it’s still no where near parity to our actual city’s population. Four women on council is better than two, but still admittedly short of the 8 needed to be fully reflective of an even gender split. For a city that is over 40 percent Hispanic, Council is very much under-represented in that regard with just two Hispanic members. Not only will Council be losing 2 women in 2014, but it will also be flipping back to ‘majority white’ for the first time in nearly a decade. In a true reflection of the city’s racial makeup, the largest representative group should be Hispanic.

Those are just snapshot observations, but to truly understand the make-up of council requires a broader understanding. Given his expertise on all things Houston politics, I asked Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff for some history on the subject.

Basically, Districts B, D, H, I, and K have been people of color barring anything strange. That’s five of eleven, or four of nine pre-redistricting. If District F is a non-Anglo, that will give you six of eleven (or five of nine), so you then need only two At Large members to be people of color to have parity.

Since 2003, District F has been represented by MJ Khan, Al Hoang, and now Richard Nguyen. During that time, there have been at least two minority At Large members every term except one, in 2005, when Ronald Green was it. So that was the last election that Houston had a majority Anglo Council. And [technically] Addie Wiseman, who served in District E from 2001 through 2007, was half Hispanic, though she never really identified as Latina.

In 2001, District F was represented by Mark Ellis, so three minority At Large members were needed, but there were only – Gordon Quan and Carroll Robinson. Annise Parker was also an At Large member, if that helps. However, Sylvia Garcia was Controller, and of course Lee Brown was Mayor, so I’d give 2001 a pass. In 1999 there were three minority At Large members – Quan, Robinson, and Orlando Sanchez, plus Parker, Garcia, and Brown. In 1997 there was Sanchez and Robinson At Large, but Martha Wong represented District C, so once again parity was achieved.

Interestingly, 2005… the last time City Council was majority white, was also the only term that it was majority female… 8 women to 6 men served. So by both measurements of race and gender, 2014 will be an anomaly as the most majority male and majority white Council in the 21st century.

That’s the data. But it’s important to frame all of this as an anomaly… simply a result of how the 2013 elections turned out. There were a fairly diverse group of candidates on the ballot, and certainly there is no reason to believe that the decision of voters had anything to do with race or gender. Nor does the lack of diversity serve as any indication that these Council Members will not serve the people of Houston fairly. But perhaps it should cause the city’s political community to take another look down the pipeline to make sure that people from all backgrounds remain interested and motivated in city government. That’s the only way to really ensure that the decision-makers in government truly reflect their constituents in as many ways as possible.

And one more point…

Before you go away and decide that local government is suffering from a loss of diversity, don’t forget that District I set an historic milestone in 2013. Council Member-elect Robert Gallegos will be the first openly gay Latino male to be elected in the city of Houston, and one of a handful of GLBT elected officials statewide. Here’s more from Lone Star Q

Gallegos’ victory makes him the only openly gay Latino city council member in Texas. It also gives Houston two out council members, in addition to lesbian Mayor Annise Parker. Out Councilman Mike Laster was elected to a second term in November. Together Gallegos and Laster are two of only four openly gay city council members statewide — along with Joel Burns in Fort Worth and Scott Sherman in Pearland, according to the Victory Fund.

So even in a very odd election year, Houston City Council still finds ways to make progress.