State Rep Mark Strama, D-Austin, is back with his biennial Campaign Academy, and this year it's bigger than ever --forty participants. See earlier post.
We stopped by to see what was going on, and to make sure the youngsters weren't secretly making Kathie Lee Gifford brand clothing. (OK, that joke might pre-date the Academy kids.)
Seriously though, the participants not only seemed to be having a lot of fun, they were impressive in the way they came up with ideas and bounced them off of each other and provided social networking expertise to Strama, who admits he doesn't know much about the Facebook world. (I hate the new profile layouts, btw.)
Campaign academy students discuss ways to outreach on Facebook and Myspace.
Strama asks the group for an update on "Stramarama", a fundraiser they have planned for late July.
They are hearing from a diverse bunch of lunch speakers everyday. Today it was former judicial candidate John Lipscombe.
In the afternoon, the group dispersed to go blockwalking. We went with one pair to drop off literature about an East Austin block party. They were pretty fast walkers, especially when you consider we have to run in front of people to get a good shot of them walking and talking.
I asked a lot of the participants why they were spending their summer this way, and the general answer was that they - like most who wind up in politics - love this stuff. The television story is on in about an hour... KVUE at 6pm (now in HD!!!!)
State Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, died this morning. He had been hospitalized since collapsing in a restaurant in late May.
West has represented District 81 since 1993. It includes Ector, Andrews, and Winkler Counties. House Speaker Tom Craddick issued a statement this morning:
"Nadine and I were so sorry to hear of the passing of our friend Buddy West. Buddy was a dedicated public servant to the people of the Permian Basin and to the state of Texas. I had the tremendous honor to serve alongside him and to work with him on issues that affect our closely linked communities of Midland and Odessa. Nadine and I send our heartfelt condolences to Shirley and the West family. We will keep them in our prayers."
The committee - comprised of R's and D's loyal to House Speaker Tom Craddick - is set to meet today. But the the meeting is likely going into executive session, excluding not just you and me, but even other House members who aren't on the committee. That's not cool, if you ask Democratic leaders of the House who aren't friendly to the speaker.
"Secret meetings blind the public to the workings of their government. We object in the strongest possible terms to sinister "star chamber" proceedings that deny public access," State Representatives Craig Eiland, Jim Dunnam and Pete Gallego Garnet Coleman wrote in a letter to fellow members.
When asked by The Quorum Report, the Chairman of the committee, State Rep Larry Phillips, said this:
"This is not a secret meeting. It happens every day in governmental agencies, from city councils to school boards. It is not uncommon in every governmental agency for these type of issues. In this situation, this is an opportunity to go into executive session. This is appropriate for an investigating committee."
The meeting is set for 10:00am, in Reagan 110, if you want to try and see the part that is public.
The "ghost worker" scandal at the Capitol keeps on giving. (The scandal's name refers to the practice of listing state workers as full-time employees even though they might work just a few hours and make a few hundred bucks a month, so that those people can receive full state benefits.)
Civil Practices Commitee Chair Byron Cook this morning appointed a special subcommittee to explore employment law as it relates to the house and house rules.
State Rep Mark Strama, D-Austin, was appointed to chair the special subcommittee. State Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, asked to be removed from the committee on the grounds that he's not a lawyer. State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, and State Rep Phil King, R-Weatherford are taking Madden's place on the subcommittee. State Rep. Robert "Point-of-Order" Talton, R-Pasadena, was also appointed.
This issue is a flareup of the ongoing fight over House Speaker Tom Craddick, as Craddick opponents accuse him of leaking the story to publicly punish his political enemies. But even Craddick allies got hit by the birdshot -- as State Rep. Tony Goolsby, R-Dallas, was discovered having a ghost worker on staff.
Here's a link to the Civil Practices committee hearing going on live right now, but it's not archived yet so we can't go back and watch the minor fireworks from the beginning.
But the reporting staff is made up of college broadcast journalism students. For the kids, (who technically pay to be there), the station provides invaluable experience of doing real reporting/broadcasting on an actual affiliate, responsible not only to viewers but to advertisers and ratings and competition and the normal stresses of a real world job.
For the station, it's a steady - and unending - supply of free labor.
Strama and academy kids
I bring this up because the same kind of two-way-street works for State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, and his biennial Campaign Academy, in which high school students are selected to work on his campaign for one month during the summer. The students get to learn, hobknob with political types and earn actual campaign experience for their lives... or their college applications. Strama gets free labor.
It works for Missouri, regarded as one of the top broadcast journalism programs in the land. It seems to work for Strama, too. He did get re-elected.
*Also the alma mater of the Houston Chronicle's RG Ratcliffe and Janet Elliott, The Dallas Morning News' Karen Brooks and Terry Stutz, and KXAN's Jenny Hoff and Matt Flener.
Look who I spotted in the parking lot of my ex-gym, Castle Hill Fitness?
It's SO-113, otherwise known as State Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock. Krusee, as you may recall, was charged with DWI last week and spent a night in the pokey. (He did not take a breathalyzer test, which is what most DWI attorneys -- and liberatarians - advise.)
While awaiting a court date, he's still driving -- and apparently stayin' in shape. (Castle Hill trainers give you an excellent workout.) I called Krusee after spotting his car, because a source who first spotted him wondered whether he should still be driving:
Him: Hey, it's Krusee.
Me: Hey, how are ya! Um... I mean.. uh... [awkwardly stammering].
Him: No, no, I'm doing good.
Me: So, can you still drive?
Him: Jason [his attorney] said to refer everything to him, I could answer ya, but Jason said to tell people to call him.
DPS tells KVUE the answer is yes, Krusee CAN still drive. His license was revoked but he has a temporary permit to drive until his court hearing in Williamson County, on May 27th. There, a judge will decide the provisions under which Krusee can stay behind the wheel.
Here's another question. A Public Data search shows Krusee's SO plates actually expired last December, but it's unclear whether the plates are actually expired, or whether he renewed and it's simply not in the system yet. We'll check his registration with the Wilco Tax Assessor Collector.
UPDATE 10:39pm: A fellow blogger asked me if the earlier conversation with Krusee actually happened, because he "didn't know whether it was one of those In the Pink fake interviews", referring to our friend Eileen and how she pens imaginary interviews on her blog.
The above conversation did happen, and I'll go ahead and make a policy of no imaginary interviews on this blog, since this is a "mainstream media" outlet. The other PJ policy is no reporting on polls unless our parent company paid for it.
Strama and academy kids
