The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 8, Ed. 1 Monday, December 4, 2000 Page: 4 of 12
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4A The Baytown Sun
Opinion
Monday, December 4,2000 ,
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Founded 1922
Wanda Gamer Cash, Editor and Publisher
Whitney Jones, Managing Editor
Richard Nelson, 'Asst. Managing Editor-Sports
Fred Hartman, Publisher Emeritus
1950-1974 '
Cheers to bank for
helping hospital
heers to Security State
I Bank of Anahuac for its
V-/' loan to Bayside
Community Hospital to cover a
debt related to legal expenses for
filing Chapter 9 municipal reorga-
nization. Bayside, the only hospi-
tal in Chambers County, has been
in financial trouble and officials
already had announced plans to
file under Chapter 9. However,
hospital officials saw the need to
immediately file after Beaumont-
based Entergy Corp. announced it
was prepared to shut off the hospi-
tal’s electricity if a $10,000 bill
was not paid. Security State Bank
president Douglas Cameron, a for-
mer Bayside hospital board mem-
ber, realized the dire need and
gave the loan his approval.
Cheers to the Chambers County
commissioners who unanimously
approved a Home Depot USA
application for an extended 10-
year tax abatement. Home Depot
plans to build a million-square-
foot warehouse at Cedar Crossing
Industrial Park just east of
Baytown. The warehouse would
distribute products for Home
Depot locations in six southern
States, creating about 300 new
jobs.
The extended abatement allows
Home Depot to operate tax-free
for five years before the custom-
ary five-year abatement plan takes
effect. As Commissioner Bill
Wallace said, “This is the type of
clean industry business we’re
looking to attract. It’s a concrete
warehouse with no chemicals and
lots of jobs.”
Jeers to candidates — winners
and losers — who have not seen to
it that their campaign signs are
taken down. Candidates have a 30-
day deadline, which is fast
approaching. But why should the
signs continue to clutter up our
cities even that long? The continu-
ing presidential election saga is
doing a good enough job of that
by itself.
Today’s editorial was written by
Richard Nelson, assistant manag-
ing editor-sports for The Baytown
Sun, on behalf of the newspaper’s
editorial board.
Child support collection is
getting better but still not great
T t doesn’t look like {he
I Legislature will be wrestling
X the child support collection
duties from Attorney General John
Cornyn any time soon.
The Sunset Commission found
the beleaguered agency has made
“significant strides” in improving
its services in the last two years by
increasing collections and reduc-
ing the turnaround time for fami-
lies waiting for money.
The, favorable report from the
state review panel comes nine
months after the state auditor
issued a report blasting the child
support division for a backlog of
nearly 1 million delinquent cases
and a poor collection record.
If the state is grading on
improvement, Cornyn deserves
some credit. But showing improve-
ment is a long way from excellent
performance.
Before Cornyn took office, state
lawmakers had threatened to take
the child support division from the
attorney general’s office and set it
up as an independent agency
reporting directly to the
Legislature if it did not show signs
of improvement.
At die time the threats were
made, the agency was failing the
children of Texas miserably. The
child support collection rate was
16 percent and an estimated 30,000
callers to the division were greeted
with a busy signal each day.
Obviously, the agency’s dismal
performance left a lot of room for
improvement.
Cornyn has made some adminis-
trative changes that are benefiting
the children of Texas, but the prob-
lems are far from being resolved.
Today, child support collection is
up to 19 percent, and 95 percent of
the calls are being answered.
That’s better than before but not
great.
The improved statistics look
good on paper but are meaningless
to the children who have to do
without because their child sup-
port is not being collected by the
state.
This editorial was first published
in the San Antonio Express-News
on Nov 27.
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Commentary
Hispanics’names do not ensure edge:
The Texas Republican Party is
trying to include Hispanics.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it
doesn’t.
Gov. George W. Bush appointed
Judge Ernest Garcia, to Travis
County’s 126th District Court to
fill a vacancy. But Garcia has just
become a former judge. He lost a
recount Tuesday in traditionally
Democratic Travis County to
Democrat Darlene Byrne — by
one-third of 1 percent.
Meanwhile, Judge Julie
Kocurek, whom Bush had appoint-
ed to Travis County’s newly creat-
ed 390th District Court, got 51.8
percent to beat Democrat Kafrie
Key. '
Republican pollster Michael
Baselice thinks Garcia’s Hispanic
surname had less to do with his
loss than Kocurek’s better cam-
paign, hitting issues of concern to
Republican voters.
And besides, her popular and
well-known grandfather-in-law,
Willie, was plugging her candida-
cy.
As long ago as 1986, Roy
Barrera Jr. won a contested prima-
ry and runoff primary against
Anglo officials to be the
Republican nominee for attorney
general. (He then lost to incum-
bent Democrat Jim Mattox.)
But Baselice admits that some-
times Republicans haven’t been
completely welcoming to those
with Hispanic surnames.
Officials
Dave
McNeely
“When Hispanics are running in
a Republican primary, depending
upon the location, it can be diffi-
cult because so many of the
Republican primary voters are
Anglo,” Baselice said. .??- (.
A couple examples:
»In 1994, Tony Garza — who
later became Gov. Bushk first
appointee as Texas secretary of
state — ran for the (fbp nomina-
tion for attorney general. He fin-
ished a weak fourth, against three
Anglos, with 17.5 percent of the
vote.
When he was considering run-
ning for state land commissioner,
Garza decided to switch his sights
to the Texas Railroad Commission
after Houston multimillionaire
David Dewhurst said he’d run for
the land office, which he won.
Rather than run against a rich
Anglo, “I blinked,” Garza said at
the time.
• In this year’s Republican pri-
mary, Bush’s appointee to the
Texas Supreme Court, A1
Gonzales — who had succeeded
Garza as secretary of state — got
57.7 percent against Rod Gorman.
Meanwhile, Bush Railroad • •
Commission appointee Michael ' ”
Williams — an African American;
—got 80 percent in his primary .
against Andy Draughn. '
Hispanic surname problems? J'.
“I hate to admit it, but I think "‘v
it’s true,” Baselice said.
“Republicans see a name like
Gonzales, (and) they’ll pick anoth-
er Anglo-sounding name.”
He prefers to “look at it the ;
other way around,” Baselice said.
“I’m happy Gonzales got
through.”
Being a Democrat doesn’t guar- .
antee a Hispanic’s election.
In 1991, tben-Gov. Ann
Richards appointed Fortunato J:
“Pete” Benavides as the first j
Hispanic on the Court of Criminal
Appeals, but he lost for re-election
in 1992 against Republican
Lawrence Meyers — even though
two other Democrats were elected
to other court seats at the same
time.
Baselice is blunt: With
Hispanics destined for majority „ f
status in Texas within 15 to 20
years, and a propensity to vote ,
Democratic, Republicans must
have Hispanics on the ballot, “or
we’re gone.”
Dave McNeely writes for The
Austin American-Statesman. He
can be reached at 512/445-3644
or dmcneely@statesman.com.
Texas
Governor „
George W. Bush (R-2002)
State Capitol, P.O.Box 1242
Austin, Texas 78711
800-843-5789
Lieutenant Governor
Rick Perry (R-2002)
State Capitol
Austin, Texas 78711
800-441-0373
Attorney General
John Cornyn (R-2002)
800-337-3928
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Carole Keeton Rylander (R-2002)
800-531-5441
Land Commissioner
David Dewhurst (R-2002)
512-463-5256
Commissioner of Agriculture
Susan Combs (R-2002)
512-463-7435
Railroad Commissioners
Charles Matthews (R-2000)
Michael Williams (R-2002)
Tony Garza (R-2004)
Senator District 4
David Bernsen (D-2002)
409-8394444
512463-0104
Senator District 6
Mario Gallegos (D-2000)
P.0. Box 41
Galena Park, Texas 77547
512463-0106
713-678-8600
Senator District 11
Mike Jackson (R-2002)
1109 Fairmont Parkway
Pasadena, Texas 77504
713-948-0111
Senator District 1S
John Whitmire (D-2000)
803 Yale, Houston, Texas 77007
713-864-8701
Representative District 20
Zeb Zbranek (D-2000)
P.O. Box 2050
Liberty, Texas 77575
800438-6202
Representative District 127
Joe Crabb (R-2000)
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768
281422-2233
Representative District 128
Fred Bosse (D-2000)
885-A Uvalde Road
Houston, Texas 77015
713-453-6336
Harris County
District Clerk
Charles Bacarisse (R)
713-755-5711 ' •
District Attorney
John B. Holmes (R)
713-755-5800
County Clerk
B.F. Kaufman (R)
713-755-6405
County Treasurer
Jack Cato (R)
713-755-5120
County Attorney
Michael Fleming (R)
713-755-5101
Sheriff
Tommy Thomas (R)
713-755-6044
Constable, Precinct 3
James Douglas (D)
2814274791
Tax Collector
Paul Bettencourt (R)
713-224-1919
281422-6817
About Us
Our editorial board
The Baytown Sun's editorial board
meets weekly at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Individuals are encouraged to visit
the editorial board to discuss issues
affecting the community. To make an
appointment, contact Managing
Editor Whitney Jones, (281) 422-
8302.
Members of the editorial board
include: Wanda Gamer Cash, editor
and publisher; Whitney Jones, man-
aging editor; Eric Bauer, marketing
director; Dee Anne Robbins, busi-
ness manager; and Richard Nelson,
assistant managing editor-sports.
Let us hear from you
The BaytoWn Sun welcomes letters
of up to 300 words and guest
columns of up to 500 words on any
item of public interest. Guest
columns should include a photo-
graph of the writer. We publish only
original material addressed to The
Baytown Sun bearing the writer's sig-
nature. An address and phone num-
ber not for publication should be
included. We ask that submissions
be limited to one per month. All let-
ters and guest columns subject to
editing.
The Sun reserves the right to
refuse to publish any submission.
Letters endorsing or opposing
political candidates or issues will not
be published within two days of an
election, except in direct rebuttal to
a letter previously published in The
Baytown Sun. Please send signed
letters to: Wanda Garner Cash.or
Whitney Jones, The Baytown Sun, '
P.O. Box 90, Baytown, TX 77522.
Or, fax them to: (281) 427-1880.
Or, e-mail us at: sunnews@baytown-
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 8, Ed. 1 Monday, December 4, 2000, newspaper, December 4, 2000; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1019962/m1/4/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.