November 2007
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Colorado mayor's sympathy for immigrants costs him his job
Tom Selders is still baffled at how quickly the city he served for years turned on him
By Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times
The two-term mayor of this conservative farm town had been a political fixture for nearly two decades. A businessman who prided himself on bringing efficiency to city government, Selders infuriated his constituents after jumping into the national debate over illegal immigration. In May he spoke at an open forum in Washington about the effects of last year's immigration raid on a meatpacking plant here, which led to the detention of 262 undocumented workers. "Many families and children were devastated by parents being arrested and detained," Selders said. "Children -- citizens of the United States -- were left without parents." The reaction in Greeley, whose Latino population has nearly tripled since 1980, was swift and furious. Selders, who was seeking a third term as mayor, was overwhelmed with angry calls. He became a regular target on local talk radio. A mailer linking him to illegal immigrant gang members flooded mailboxes. Earlier this month Selders was ousted from the nonpartisan post, losing to a retired police officer by a 3-2 margin.
Greeley Mayor Tom Selders watches a voting update with supporter Julianne Haefeli on Nov. 6 in Greeley, Colo. Selders lost his bid for a third mayoral term after he spoke against an immigration raid at a local meatpacking plant.
GOP absent from many state races
By David Steves, Eugene Register-Guard
Normally, Oregon Democrats and Republicans differ in their stance on the issues during electoral campaigns. These days, they differ in how they’re approaching the campaign itself. Democrats have been jostling among themselves for position for statewide and legislative races in 2008; Republicans haven’t made it to the starting line. Not a single Republican has stepped forward to run for state offices that so far have attracted seven Democratic hopefuls. Democrats also are off to a faster start in recruiting challengers for state legislative seats. With an unpopular Republican president and Democrats still feeling ascendant nationwide following their 2006 midterm wins, some say it’s just a tough time to persuade candidates to run as Republicans in Oregon.Tax fatigue or not, Olympia is ready to act
I-747 limits could be reinstated
By CHRIS McGANN, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
That's the diagnosis politicians and pundits gave earlier this month after a complex Puget Sound-area tax plan for roads and transit crashed and burned and an elaborate measure to rein in tax increases by the Legislature passed convincingly. Then two days after the Nov. 6 election the state Supreme Court overturned Tim Eyman's Initiative 747, which limited annual property tax increases to 1 percent. Gov. Chris Gregoire -- worried about angry voters during next year's election -- has called a special session of the Legislature for Thursday to reinstate the tax limit set by I-747. "She maybe thinks there is some anti-tax feeling out there, or you know, we are coming up to an election year," said Washington State University political scientist Travis Ridout. "What issue are Republicans going to run on? It's the issue that they usually run on -- it's cutting taxes and government spending." Are voters in Washington really fed up with taxes?State program to replace old vehicles delayed
By the Associated Press, Houston Chronicle
A state program to help low-income drivers replace old, polluting vehicles has been delayed until January as officials work out the program's final details. Under the "accelerated vehicle-retirement program," residents in 16 counties in the Dallas, Houston and Austin areas will get vouchers worth up to $3,500 to help purchase a new vehicle when they exchange a vehicle that's at least 10 years old. Final rules for the program, which had been scheduled to begin by the end of the year, will be completed in December. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will manage the program.Washington Legislature: Special session to reinstate property tax cap
By Andrew Garber and Ralph Thomas, Seattle Times
The Legislature will meet in special session on Nov. 29 to reinstate a 1 percent property-tax limit recently struck down as unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. Gov. Christine Gregoire called the special session Monday after talking to House and Senate leaders. State lawmakers are supposed to be in town already for committee meetings. Gregoire said she expects that issue can be dealt with in a one-day session. She plans to put forward two bills, one to reinstate the 1 percent limit and another to provide property-tax deferral "for all families under our state's median income level." House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, said he expects the House would pass a bill to reinstate a 1 percent limit. Democrats hold large majorities in both the House and Senate. Voters in 2001 overwhelmingly approved Initiative 747, a Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that limited increases in property-tax collections to 1 percent a year. The state estimates the cap has saved taxpayers more than $1.6 billion since it was put in place. But earlier this month, the state Supreme Court overturned I-747. In its 5-4 decision, the court said the tax cap is invalid because people were not fully informed about what they were voting on. Without the cap, local governments could begin increasing their annual property-tax collections by as much as 6 percent — the law before I-747. The ruling sparked an immediate uproar among Eyman, Republican lawmakers and Dino Rossi, the GOP candidate for governor. They called on Gregoire and the Democrat-controlled Legislature to convene a special session to immediately reinstate the 1 percent cap.Liberal or not, Austin ponders a ban on panhandling
Councilman wants to stop street begging and day laborers
By LISA SANDBERG, Houston Chronicle
John Henry Smith insists he makes an honest living begging for money at intersections in the state's capital. In a few hours, with his swollen left leg exposed, he can make $70 or $80. "It helps to be sick," said the 49-year-old Lubbock native, who was shot in the leg 30 years ago. Austin has long been a tolerant place, but the ubiquitous street corner presence of Smith and other panhandlers has one city council member calling for an outright ban on the activity in most parts of the city.Craddick urging GOP to be faithful to him
By R.G. Ratcliffe, San Antonio Express-News
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick is pounding the message home in his public appearances: It is un-Republican to oppose his re-election as speaker. In speeches to Republican gatherings and civic groups, Craddick is portraying himself as the keeper of GOP ideals in Austin — and efforts to replace him as being driven by trial lawyers who want to undo lawsuit restrictions passed in 2003. Because the speaker is elected by the 150 House members and few districts are competitive across party lines, both Democrats and Republicans are looking to the party primaries to try to determine the possible outcome of the next speaker's race. Craddick's best chance for winning re-election in 2009 rests with his supporters carrying Republican primaries next March, and his supporters are concentrating on turning the districts of anti-Craddick Republicans to his favor.120 Texas killers got probation, study finds
"If you want to commit murder, come to Dallas"
By the Associated Press, Houston Chronicle
With Texas' aggressive record in capital punishment, few would consider it to be soft on convicted murderers. But a newspaper investigation has found that at least 120 Texas killers since 2000 have received the lightest sentence of all — probation. The Dallas Morning News reported today that many of the killers given probation were career criminals and that at least three freed murderers had previously killed someone. "Before everything happened, I thought Texas as a whole was pretty tough on crime," said Gene Thompson, the father of a teenage boy who was shot and killed over a $100 debt. The killer received probation. Thompson's assessment now: "If you want to commit murder, come to Dallas."Washington Poll shows governor's race is tight
By Peter Callaghan, Tacoma News
A non-partisan poll conducted by the University of Washington shows that the race between Gov. Chris Gregoire and challenger Dino Rossi is too close to call. Of course the election is a year away. But still, Gregoire's small lead is within the margin of error. Of the 601 voters asked about their preferences, 46.8 percent said they would vote for Gregoire and 42.4 percent said they would vote for Rossi. Libertarian Ruth Bennett was named by 2.2 percent of voters sampled. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percent, making the spread between Gregoire and Rossi statistically insignificant.Former Kulongoski aide arraigned on child porn charges
By Janie Har , Oregonian
Scott Ballo, a former spokesman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski, was arraigned this week in Marion County Circuit Court on two counts of "encouraging child sex abuse" and one count of official misconduct. All charges are misdemeanors. The two counts of "encouraging child sex abuse" involve possessing pornographic images of children under 18. The charges stem from Ballo's time at the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, where he was communications manager in 2003 and 2004. Ballo had traded his state issued laptop for a desk computer when the agency found some "questionable files" on the laptop, said Perrin Damon, spokeswoman for the economic and community development department. Ballo, 36, is a longtime Democratic political consultant who served as Kulongoski's spokesman during his first campaign and when he took office in 2003. Ballo then moved on to the economic development department, where he stayed until May 2004.Ex-prostitute tells Hustler of Vitter encounters
Vitter paid her $300 per visit, Ellis says, and didn’t talk much during their 20-minute sessions
By GERARD SHIELDS, Baton Rouge Advocate
A former New Orleans prostitute who said U.S. Sen. David Vitter was a regular client appears in the newest edition of Hustler magazine, granting an interview alongside a naked pictorial. Wendy Ellis, 34, says she had a relationship with the Louisiana Republican that lasted over three months when Vitter was running for Congress in 1999. The two would rendezvous at a French Quarter apartment two or three times a week, Ellis says. A chief rule of the interaction was that Ellis was not to wear perfume, body lotions and could not take a shower when meeting with the married politician, she says. “He did not want any scent on him whatsoever,” says Ellis, who was paid by Hustler to appear in revealing magazine photos. Ellis was an exotic dancer in a Bourbon Street club when she was contacted by an acquaintance who ran an escort service, she says. Ellis says she learned from her escort manager that Vitter was her state representative. “I just blew it off,” Ellis says. Vitter paid her $300 per visit, Ellis says, and didn’t talk much during their 20-minute sessions. “He would always come in, hang his jacket on the door, go into the bathroom and take a shower,” Ellis says. “He would come out with a towel wrapped around him and sit down on the bed. We’d talk and then he’d do his business.”
GOP lawmaker resigns amid sex scandal
In police reports, Curtis said he was being extorted by a man he had sex with in a Spokane hotel room
By RACHEL LA CORTE, Seattle Times
A Republican state legislator who repeatedly voted against gay-rights measures resigned his seat Wednesday amid revelations he had sex with a man he met at an erotic-video store while in Spokane on a GOP retreat. Rep. Richard Curtis' resignation was delivered to Gov. Christine Gregoire on Wednesday afternoon and takes effect immediately. On Monday, Curtis had insisted to The Columbian in Vancouver that he was not gay and that sex was not involved in what he said was an extortion attempt by a man last week. But in police reports, Curtis said he was being extorted by a man he had sex with in a Spokane hotel room. The other man contends Curtis reneged on a promise to pay $1,000 for sex. A Republican successor, to be chosen by Republican leaders in Clark and Cowlitz counties, will serve until the 2008 election.
Attorney subpoenaed in Gibbons inquiry
Governor accused of using his influence while in Congress to steer contracts to a friend
By DAVID KIHARA, Law Vegas Review-Journal
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed a former attorney to Dennis Montgomery, the man who accused Gov. Jim Gibbons of accepting bribes, to testify in the inquiry into the governor. The subpoena, issued in Washington on Oct. 19, orders attorney Michael Flynn to testify before the grand jury on Friday. The grand jury was convened to look into whether Gibbons accepted cash and other bribes while serving in Congress in return for steering military contracts to a Reno-based software company, eTreppid. The grand jury has previously requested documents from people involved in the case, but Flynn is believed to be the first person it has ordered to testify.Hutchison changes stance on SCHIP bill
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT, Houston Chronicle
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who last month was the highest-ranking Republican to support a Democratic bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, flipped her stance Wednesday on a key procedural vote. The Texan essentially voted to filibuster the legislation, reversing the stance she took last month when Congress passed a $35 billion expansion of health insurance coverage for lower-income children that President Bush promptly vetoed. Despite the switch by Hutchison and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the bill cleared the 60-vote hurdle required to survive and is slated for a final vote later this week.
