VOL 12 No. 15
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2019
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County & Missouri City
Race, religion, ethnicity make an unholy alliance in local elections By SESHADRI KUMAR Run for something. Run for anything. Literally that is the underlying theme of current local city council and school board elections in Fort Bend County. Historically, local elections have been conducted on a non-partisan basis, meaning candidates do not run as a Republican or Democrat. In fact, the campaigns would try to avoid political affiliations, at least in public. The rationale being that the city issues or school issues are beyond traditional politics since fixing a pothole is neither a Republican nor a Democratic issue, a park does not belong to a political party or a classroom full of children is neither Republican nor Democrat. That is a bygone era. Official party endorsement of local candidates began in full swing last November. At least the Democratic Party at the state level began an initiative to actively recruit and endorse Democratic Party candidates in local elections. The classic example was in the Missouri City mayoral race, where the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate, Yolanda Ford, defeated a Republican incumbent Allen
though O’Rourke and Kulkarni both lost. The miraculous victory of unknown candidates, who won merely because they were Democrats, has emboldened many Indian and Muslim candidates to run for office. The tacit encouragement and recruitment of Fort Bend County Democrats added to the momentum. This brings us to the Sugar Land City Council election. Normally, when there were no hot button issues like apartments, bond election or tax hike, incumbents got reelected unopposed. For example, in District 2, Councilwoman Bridgette Yeung did not have an opponent when she first ran in 2011 and she was reelected the next three consecutive terms, unopposed. Now, there are three candidates running for this open seat, and all three live in Telfair. In the recent redistricting of the city council district, newly annexed New Territory has become part of Dist. 2. New Territory and Telfair alone have an overwhelming majority of South Asians. The dynamics in the Dist. 2 race is a little complex. David Gornet, an engineer,
Owen. Owen lost despite the endorsement of area Democratic Congressman Al Green and Republican Congressman Pete Olson. Fort Bend County Republican Party, on the other hand, has not taken an official policy position. In fact, some purists in the party believe that the party should not endorse anybody in non-partisan races. Further, some in the Fort Bend County Republican Party are acting as if the November 2018 election did not happen or do not realize that Republicans were wiped out in countywide races. Instead they are busy preparing for primary elections to unseat fellow Republicans. Another major shift in the local political landscape could be attributed to the candidacy of Donald Trump in the presidential race. A significant number of voters, mostly independents or Republicans, voted for Democrats in 2018 in certain precincts of Fort Bend County. The campaigns of Beto O’ Rourke in the senate race and Sri Kulkarni in Dist. 22 Congressional race against Pete Olson, mobilized Indian and Muslim voters, contributing to the Democrats’ victory in local races, even
Sugar Land Recognizes Volunteers of the Year
who has been associated with the local governmental entities for the past two decades, could claim to be a natural aspirant to the city council seat. Nabila Mansoor, a Muslim born in Canada, whose parents hail from Pakistan, is running as a “Community organizer.” She worked on Sri Kulkarni’s campaign, and he, in turn, has endorsed her for city council, making her a virtual Democratic Party nominee. Naushad Kermally, also a Muslim, was born in Zambia and his parents are from India. He has been preparing for a decade to run for office. Considering the demographics of Telfair and New Territory, Mansoor and Kermally are likely to garner a majority of the votes. The real contest is between Mansoor and Kermally. Factors like race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and political affiliations do shape the voters’ minds, whether one likes to admit it or not. While Hindus and Muslims came together in support of Sri Kulkarni’s candidacy last year, the same alliance may not be working in the Dist. 2 city council race. In Dist. 1, incumbent Steve Porter is facing a Muslim candidate, Mohammed “Jazz” Aijaz. Aijaz is a true “Run for
something” candidate. “Run for Something” recruits and supports young diverse progressives to run for down-ballot races. Its mission is to “change the face of progressive politics by quite literally changing the drivers of progressive policies: local candidates.” The organization’s 20192020 strategic plan concludes by saying : “The folks we work with will go on to run for higher office. But that’s not the primary reason to give a shit: We want progressives in office right-********-now to make life better.” In Dist. 3, incumbent Amy Mitchell is term-limited. Stewart Jacobson is the only candidate who filed and he will be elected unopposed. In Dist. 4, incumbent Carol McCutcheon faces Greatwood resident William Ferguson. Greatwood was annexed into the City of Sugar Land last year and it is an addition to McCutcheon’s district. Being a new area of the city, with a sizeable number of voters, the Greatwood community may have decided to have one of its own residents on the city council and there was a person willing to serve. Incidentally, Greatwood already has an at-large council member, Jennifer Lane. She was elected unopposed
last year, because the then incumbent Mary Joyce withdrew after the filing period ended. In Fort Bend ISD elections, again race, ethnicity and religion are likely factors. Anti-incumbency is the factor motivating most of the candidates. Rezoning has been a perennial issue in school board elections. Incumbent trustee Jim Rice is facing Ashish Agrawal from Aliana, Sam Popuri from Telfair and Afshi Merchant, also from Telfair. Here two Hindus and a Muslim are running against an Anglo. Incumbent Dave Rosenthal is facing six candidates and an open seat vacated by County Judge KP George has drawn five others. Race does not seem to be a factor in these two contests as much as the anti-incumbency. Political affiliation may be a factor, but they are not widely known. In this situation, choosing a right candidate is a challenging task for voters. Also, when voters do not have a specific reason to vote for or against a candidate, then other extraneous factors come into play. However, those who vet the candidates thoroughly can make a better and informed choice.
Fort Bend’s Tax assessor/collector Patsy Schultz retires prematurely
Serve Sugar Land Volunteers of the Year and their staff nominators include (Front Row, L-R) Animal Services Manager Kathryn Ketchum, Michael Voegtline, Human Resources Department Specialist Paula Allen, Trudy Thompson, Recreation Coordinator Sandy Penman, Connie Guyton, Battalion Chief Javier Crespo, Ron Fawcett, Carmen Suarez, Damon Brownd, Becky Adams, Tony Manna (Middle Row) Police Lt. Wayne Coleman, Director of Finance Jennifer Brown, Police Capt. Chris Thompson, Mayor Joe Zimmerman (Back Row) Councilmember Amy Mitchell, Councilmember Himesh Gandhi, Councilmember Bridget Yeung, Assistant City Manager Jennifer County Judge KP George presents a proclamation honoring the service of Tax Assessor/ May, Councilmember Carol McCutcheon, Councilmember Steve Porter and Councilmember Collector Patsy Schultz during the March 26 commissioners court meeting. Commissioners Grady Prestage, left, Vincent Morales, Andy Meyers and Ken DeMerchant. Jennifer Layne. Not pictured are Brenda Frye and Gabriel Rodriguez. Story on Page 5.
EARLY VOTING: APRIL 22 - 30 ND
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ELECTION DAY: MAY 4TH LIVES IN SUGAR LAND Resident of Sugar Land for over 20 years Married 23 years Three children born and raised in Sugar Land WORKS IN SUGAR LAND 1998 started as an ER Nurse at Methodist Hospital Sugar Land Currently an Executive VP at a wireless company in Sugar Land SERVES IN SUGAR LAND Child Advocates of Fort Bend - Board of Directors City of Sugar Land - Sugar Land 101 Graduate City of Sugar Land - Citizens Police Academy Graduate City of Sugar Land - Ethics Review Board City of Sugar Land - Zoning Board of Adjustments City of Sugar Land - Task Force for Parks Bond Fort Bend Chamber Leadership Program Graduate Former Neighborhood Delegate SUPPORTS SUGAR LAND Child Advocates of Fort Bend City of Sugar Land Police Department - Back the Blue Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Fort Bend Education Foundation George Foundation Scholarship (YIP)
KermallyForSugarLand KermallyForSugarLand.com rm ma y orSu mallyForSu m Sug u ugar ugarLand andd cco com Political Advertising paid for by the Naushad Kermally Campaign, Nimesh Patel, Treasurer
By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend County Tax Assessor Collector Patsy Schultz has resigned, effective April 1. Schultz is a Republican elected official. On March 26, Schultz announced her retirment. She entered office in 2005 and her current term ends Dec. 31, 2020. Schultz reportedly resigned due to a pressing family issue which required her full attention. Normally Schultz’ position would be on the ballot in November, 2020 and and the party nominee would be chosen in the March 2020 primary. With nearly 20 months remaining, commissioners court is expected to make an appointment to that position. Commissioners court now has three Democrats and two Republicans. Logically, commissioners court may appoint a Democrat to that position. According to informed sources, two names are under consideration. One is Neeta Sane, a Houston Community College Trustee , a Democrat, and Philip Andrews, with an accounting background, said to be a Republican. It remains to be seen which of the candidates will get the support of a majority of Commissioners court. The item is likely to be placed for consideration at the April 23 meeting of commissioners court..