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VOL 9 No. 46
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County & Missouri City
RE/MAX Southwest…Thirty Years Strong Democrats outnumber Republicans
in straight party vote
The RE/MAX Southwest team in Sugar Land By ANDREA DILLAHUNTY If you bought a home from one of the original five RE/MAX Southwest Owners, and stayed put… your house would be paid for by now. Yes, a 30 year mortgage is synonymous with RE/ MAX Southwest’s 30 Years in Business! That’s a long time. Back then, Frank DeCicco had the great foresight to buy RE/MAX Franchises for Texas. That was when RE/MAX was reshaping the way real estate was done. The five owners recognized Houston’s growth toward historic Sugar Land and in 1986, bought Sugar Land’s First RE/MAX franchise. I guess you could say they were pioneers in the business. Sugar Land became known as Houston’s “Bedroom Community” of deluxe living…with an even mix of large estates to average homes, were surrounded by beautiful lush landscaping, top ranked schools, and everything a planned community could offer. Houston’s suburb was Fort Bend County. Sugar Land was close enough for the professional to get to work with ease yet let them escape the big city hustle bustle, to a more environmentally friendly
By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend County for the first time since 1964 voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016. Even in the last two presidential election, Barack Obama did not get a majority in Fort Bend. In Fort Bend, Hillary Clinton received 134,475 votes to Donald Trump’s 117,212, a 6 point difference. In straight party voting, Fort Bend Democrats outnumbered Republicans in 2016, by about 7,000 votes or by about 4 points. In the last 20 years, the Republican-Democrat vote margin has been in 10 percent range. The presidential voting numbers may suggest that Democrats outnumber Republicans in Fort Bend County, but that does not seem to be the case yet. However, the gap between the two parties has significantly narrowed. A number of Republicans, while voting for Hillary Clinton, have chosen to vote for Republicans in down ballot this year. That explains how all the Republican candidates won. What explains the Republican cross voting? A large number of Muslim voters and Indian American voters voted against Trump.
Areas like New Territory, Telfair, Commonwealth and Riverstone in Fort Bend County’s Pct. 4, a Republican dominated precinct voted for Clinton. Precinct 3, on the other hand, predominantly Republican, with just a couple of voting precincts near Westpark Toll Road and Grand Parkway, turned blue. As in the Sugar Land city election, Telfair and Sugar Creek subdivision were in the opposite camp, with Telfair voting overwhelmingly for Clinton and Sugar Creek voting for Trump. The only significant election outcome has been the defeat of incumbent Democratic Pct. 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison. Morrison won the previous two by a narrow margin. In 2008, he defeated Republican challenger Greg Ordeneaux by a few hundred votes or by less than 2 percentage points. In 2012, Morrison won by 1 percentage point, against a discredited Republican nominee Bruce Fleming. In 2016, Vincent Morales won the seat back to the Republican column by about 6 points. Morrison got a huge boost in the Arcola-Fresno area, and some in the Rosenberg area.
In Greatwood, Tara and Riverpark areas, Morales beat Morrison. The presidential voting trend did not have any impact on this local county race. Similarly, the sheriff’s race and district judges’ races also went unscathed by Democrats. But, the narrow margin of victory in almost all the races should cause concern to the Fort Bend GOP. For example, in the sheriff’s race incumbent Republican Troy Nehls won the election this year against Democrat Mike Ellison with a 4-point difference or by about 10,620 votes. Four years ago, in the same race against the same opponent, Nehls won by 10 points, 55 percent to 45 percent, indicating the erosion of Republican votes. In the County Court-at-Law No. 5 race, an open seat, Republican Ron Cohen eked out a narrow victory. He got 129,849 votes (50.49 percent) against Democrat Brian Middleton who got 127,327 votes (49.51 percent). District Judge Maggie Jaramillo won by a 2.68 margin and District Judge Chad Bridges won by 2.24 percent margin.
Mother berates son who voted for Trump in mock school election RE/MAX Southwest Owners Betty Lemon & Jennifer Wang and welcoming lifestyle for their family. RE/MAX Southwest, with a handful of agents, recognized Sugar Land’s path for fast growth. They set out to make RE/MAX Southwest Real Estate Agency a lasting legacy from a band of true believers. The goal was to sell Southwest Houston
with Gusto. Betty Towne (one of RE/ MAX Southwest’s original agents) says “You don’t only Work at RE/MAX Southwest… you Live and Breathe It!” Bill Moore (Another veteran agent) states “We’re not only a viable business but, a strong See RE/MAX, Page 3
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office has heard from many across the country about how shocked and outraged they are after viewing the viral video of a mother berating her young son and kicking him out of the house, after he voted for Trump in a mock election that took place at his school. The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the incident that was
shown in the viral video. Sheriff Troy Nehls has met with District Attorney John Healey who will determine if criminal charges will be filed in this case. “The video is very disturbing” said Nehls, who has received phone calls from around the country, as well as France, where people are demanding justice. “After viewing the video, my heart breaks for what
this poor child endured.” Nehls also commented “that if we can find a criminal violation of law, I will personally arrest her myself.” The mother in the video, from the Freson area of Fort Bend County, has claimed to detectives that it was a joke since posting the video on Facebook. The Sheriff’s Office does not see this as a joke and is taking the matter seriously.
Controversy erupts over naming a street after late Constable Ruben Davis
By BARBARA FULENWIDER A Missouri City Council item at their Nov. 7 meeting was to change a street name to honor the former Precinct 2 Constable Ruben Davis. Some 100 friends of Davis, who died two weeks ago after a long illness, attended the meeting to support the item and urge council’s approval. What the item proposed was to change Orchard Street, which is a block and a half long near the county annex in Missouri City, to Ruben Davis Drive. One might think it’s a slam dunk but it wasn’t. Mayor Allen Owen told the audience he was out of town so could not attend Davis’ funeral but was at the funerals of Davis’s mother and daughter. He said after the funeral he received calls from numerous residents who thought the city should honor Davis for his 22 years of service. So Owen put it on the agenda
Nov. 4, the Friday before council met on the following Monday. “I put this on the agenda to be approved pending any legal requirements,” the mayor said after the meeting. He told the council audience that Orchard Street used to be where city hall was. He said his “friend of 40 years spent half of his adult life serving this community. No one did more for this community than Ruben.” The mayor pointed to the breakfasts Ruben held and what he did for the elderly. “I knew him when he worked in the Beechnut station as a Houston police officer. I want to do something to give back to him since he gave so much to the city. This is my way of showing appreciation for what he did.” After the mayor spoke AtLarge Councilman Jerry Wyatt said, “My concern is we don’t have a power to rename a street. I can recall when we didn’t rename that same street for a for-
mer (Fort Bend Independent School District) superintendent. The school district did name a school for him – Elkins High School. “I think the whole (county) complex ought to be named for Ruben Davis or the one in Sienna Plantation. We need to establish a policy on renaming streets and make sure we go by it if we’re going to do this.” Owen then said he wanted to clarify Missouri City’s not naming a street for Elkins, who was a resident. “Sugar Land already had an Elkins Boulevard so we changed it to Elkins Knight Road.” Wyatt tried to tag the agenda item, which postpones it for two weeks, or “until staff comes back with a policy.” City Attorney I. Joyce Iyamu said tagging can only be done after council’s final action. Councilman Don Smith said, “I really think the work Ruben See Name, Page 3