The Mignon Memo

Rep. Brandon Creighton and Rep. Steve Toth finished first and second in the special election for Senate District 4.  Because no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held sometime this summer. Creighton finished with 45.2 percent of the vote and Toth with 23.7 percent of the vote.  The other two candidates, Gordy Bunch and Mike Galloway, received the remainder of the vote.  

Gov. Rick Perry has named Mary Anne Wiley General Counsel for the Office of the Governor. Wiley has served as deputy general counsel and director of criminal justice policy for the office since 2001.  

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Leslie Ward of Austin as Chair of the Texas Economic Development Corporation.  The corporation supports programs and activities of the Governor’s Division of Economic Development and Tourism, in addition to TexasOne, which markets Texas competitively and dynamically to businesses outside the state’s borders. 

Willie Nelson announced that he is giving major portions of his correspondence, manuscripts, records and awards to The University of Texas’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.  Nelson’s archive will join letters and photographs from Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash at the Center.

Only in Austin: The Continental Club opened in Austin in 1957 as a private supper club, hosting touring groups like Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.  The Club claims to be the first place in Travis County to sell liquor by the drink.  Still a popular location on South Congress, the Club features rockabilly, country and swing music.  Check it out next time you are in town

The May 27^th primary run-off election will be the third statewide election since the new photo identification law was implemented.  Early voting runs from May 19^th through May 23^rd.  The voter ID law, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, requires voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot.  There are seven forms of photo identification valid at the polls:  a Texas driver license, election identification certificate, concealed handgun license, Texas personal identification card, U.S. passport, U.S. citizenship certificate with photo or U.S. military identification card.  If a voter does not have a photo ID with them at their polling place, the voter will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.  A voter who submits a provisional ballot has to report to their county’s elections office within six days with identification to confirm their vote.  

You may notice something new on your next visit to the Texas Capitol or surrounding state offices.  The Texas Department of Public Safety has added a new mounted patrol unit that includes three donated horse – Trooper, Ranger and Agent – and four trained state troopers.  The mounted patrol will serve the area that makes up the Capitol Complex. 

Only in Austin: If you take the West Fifth Street exit off Mopac, get ready to catch a glimpse of the infamous El Arroyo sign.  The Mexican restaurant has been posting funny slogans, catchy quotes and notes on various subjects for over 25 years. The sign even has its own Twitter page, @ElArroyoSign.  Here’s one for all you mothers out there – Happy Mother’s Day!

Early voting is underway in the special election for Texas Senate District 4.  Senate District 4 covers Jefferson and Chambers counties along with portions of Harris, Montgomery and Galveston counties. The election was called after the retirement of former Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands).  There are four candidates on the ballot, all of whom are Republican.  They include Rep. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe);  Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands); former state senator Michael Galloway, a businessman who served one term from 1994 to 1998; and Gordy Bunch, who serves as treasurer on The Woodlands Township board and as chairman of The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau. Early voting runs through May 6 followed by the election on May 10, 2014.  

Only in Austin: Spring is here and that means baseball is back in Austin. The 2014 season represents the 120th season of baseball at the University of Texas since the program began in 1895.  The home of UT baseball, Disch-Falk Field, is celebrating its 40th season of hosting Texas baseball. The facility opened its doors on Feb. 19, 1975, and the Texas Longhorns have won 81 percent of their games in the stadium.  The Texas Longhorns have won six national championships, tied with LSU for the second-most national titles in college baseball behind USC who has won 12 titles.  Come enjoy a game before it gets too hot!

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed 10 student regents to their respective university systems, and one student representative to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for terms effective June 1, 2014, and expiring May 31, 2015.  In 2005, the Texas Legislature authorized the governor to appoint a nonvoting student regent for each university or university system. To aid the governor in making these selections, the chancellor of each university system must recommend students based on applications submitted by each president on behalf of the institution’s student government organization.  The student regent has the same rights as regularly appointed board members, except the right to vote or be counted towards a quorum for official board business.  

Discovery is ongoing in the lawsuit over the voter identification law in Texas.  The trial is scheduled to begin on September 2, 2014 in front of U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi.  The September trial date leaves open the possibility that a ruling on the law could come in time to impact voting procedures used in the November 2014 general election. 

Only in Austin: Lammes Candies, originally called the Red Front Candy Factory, was founded by William Wirt Lamme in 1878.  Although William Lamme lost the business in a poker game in 1885, his son, David Lamme, Sr., came to Austin to repay the gambling debt of $800 and reclaim the store for the family.  The company’s bestselling “Texas Chewie Pecan Praline” was first produced in 1892 after seven years of recipe tasting.  The lamb logo, used to get people to pronounce the family name correctly, was the first neon sign in Austin.  Lammes also had the first soda fountain in Texas.  We recommend trying a box of Texas Longhorns.

Interim hearings are ongoing at the Texas Capitol.  Committees in the Texas House and Senate are meeting to hear testimony from invited witnesses on various topics assigned by the Speaker and Lt. Governor.  Reports are due to the presiding officers of both legislative bodies in December.  Legislation often results from these hearings.  The Texas Legislative Reference Library maintains a list of interim hearings each week on their website – http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/index.cfm. This website also has a list of all the Interim Charges in both the House and the Senate.

Monday, April 28^th is the last day to register to vote for the May 27^th primary runoff election.  If a voter voted in the primary election on March 4th, the voter must vote in the same political party runoff election. If a voter did not vote in the primary election, the voter may still vote in the runoff election and for the party of their choice.  

Only in Austin: Moonlight towers are lighting structures designed to illuminate areas of a city at night.  They were common in the 1880s and 1890s in cities located in the United States and Europe.  The City of Austin purchased 31 used moonlight towers from Detroit in 1894.  Austin still has 17 towers although only six remain in their original locations.  The towers are registered as Texas State Landmarks and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. One of the original towers is pictured below. It is located around the corner from our office at the intersection of San Antonio Street and 15^th Street.  Come see us and a piece of Austin’s history.

Speaker Joe Straus has named members to the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding, Expenditures and Finance. The committee is tasked with examining a variety of transportation issues, including the reliability of current funding sources, the use of debt in transportation funding, state highway funds, and Texas Department of Transportation appropriations.   Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) will chair the committee. Other members include Reps. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman), Armando “Mando” Martinez (D-Weslaco), Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio), Ruth Jones McClendon R-San Antonio), Sergio Muñoz Jr. (D-Palmview), Dan Huberty (R-Houston), Paul Workman (R-Austin), and Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton).

The Texas Transportation Commission voted to hire Joe Weber, a Texas A&M University official and former military leader as the new executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation.  Weber replaces Phil Wilson, who left the agency in January to take over the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Gov. Rick Perry has made some staffing changes.  Felix Browne will replace Mark Miner as communications director. Browne previously worked for Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts and for former U.S. Senator Scott Brown.

Miner will continue to advise Perry from the private sector. Perry also announced that Hugh Addington would replace Karen Kolb Steakley as director of scheduling and advance. Karen Kolb Steakley will return to the legislative division at the governor’s office.

Next Tuesday, April 15^th, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) will participate in a debate on border security and immigration.  The event will be broadcast by Univision from their San Antonio studio and open to media only. 

Only in Austin: Avenue B Grocery and Market, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood, is Austin’s oldest continuously-operated grocery store. Built in 1909 and maintained through the current (10th) owner, it has an in-house deli in addition to selling various grocery items.  We recommend grabbing a homemade pimento cheese sandwich and relaxing for a bit at one of their picnic tables.

The Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Association of Retailers, Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, South Texas Property Rights Association, and the Texas Citrus Growers have joined forces in an effort to press the U.S. Congress to pass immigration reform this year.  The groups noted that many industries face difficulties filling their open jobs with American workers.  They have called their joint effort the Partnership for a New American Economy. 

Dallas remains in the mix of suitors for the 2016 Republican Convention.  The party’s site selection committee made a few cuts, leaving Dallas, Las Vegas, Denver, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Kansas City, Mo. in the running.  The last time Dallas hosted the Republicans was in 1984, when then President Ronald Reagan was formally nominated for a second term.  Houston hosted the Republican Convention in 1992.  The City of Austin considered a bid for the 2016 Democratic Convention but backed out. The last time the Democratic National Convention was held in Texas was in Houston in 1928. 

Only in Austin: The Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument is finally in place on the grounds of the state Capitol.  The Texas legislature approved plans for the memorial in 2005 and a committee has worked tirelessly since then to raise the necessary funds needed to complete the project.  Close to 500,000 Texans served in Vietnam, and 3,417 died there.  There are more than 100 Texans still considered missing in action today. Personalized dog tags honoring each Texan who died or is missing are inside the memorial.  A duplicate set of these tags is currently on display in the Texas Vietnam Heroes Exhibit, which will be in the Lower Rotunda of the Capitol until April 7.  The monument is located on the northeast side of the Capitol grounds.

Are you interested in watching a Texas House or Senate committee hearing?   Significant upgrades have recently been made to the online broadcasts of legislative activities in Texas. Under the improvements to video feeds accessible from the Texas Legislature Online webpage, an unlimited number of viewers will be able to see a higher-quality video feed of Texas House and Senate floor activity, committee meetings and other events at the Texas Capitol. In previous legislative sessions, software limitations allowed only 2,500 viewers at a time. The new video service allows unlimited viewership. In addition, videos will be encoded in H.264 format, allowing the public to access feeds from mobile devices.  

Only in Austin: Austin B-cycle is a local non-profit organization managing the bike share system on behalf of the City of Austin. They launched in December of 2013 with 11 stations and now operate 40 stations throughout the city.  Austin’s B-Cycle set a single-day U.S. record on March 14 during the South by Southwest festival. The system recorded 2,774 checkouts for an average of 10.1 checkouts per bike on that day. During the 10-day festival, B-cycle had 17,724 bike checkouts and tracked users riding 22,744 miles. The system saw an average of 6.1 checkouts per bike per day over the 10-day period.  Check one out next time you are in town.

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Sada Cumber of Sugar Land to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for a term to expire Aug. 31, 2015. The board sets policies and coordinates efforts to improve higher education in Texas.  Cumber is board chairman of TCMS Technologies, and principal and founder of Texas Global LLC. 

According to information released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas added 33,900 jobs in January and 322,400 for the 12 months ending in January, ranking first in the nation for both periods.  Texas’ job growth has occurred across many industries, especially the construction industry.  

Only in Austin: The warmer weather has brought our favorite flower to Central Texas.  The bluebonnet was adopted as the official state flower by the Texas Legislature in 1901. The name comes from the fact that the blue flower looks like the sunbonnets that pioneer Texas women wore to protect themselves from the powerful sun and strong winds.

A special election will be held on May 10 in Senate District 4, a district that covers Jefferson and Chambers counties and portions of Harris, Montgomery and Galveston counties. Early voting begins April 28 and ends May 6.  There are four Republican candidates on the ballot, including  former District 4 senator Michael Galloway, who served from 1994 to 1998; two Montgomery County state representatives –Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) and Rep. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe); and Gordy Bunch, a board member of The Woodlands Township.  

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Mary Ann Williamson of Weatherford to the Texas Lottery Commission for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2017. The commission oversees the Texas Lottery, and ensures lottery and bingo games are conducted in a legal and fair manner. 

Only in Austin:   Founded in 1987, South by Southwest (SXSW) has grown from a small music festival into a sprawling 10 day conference covering education, music, film and interactive events.  This year, Jimmy Kimmel Live is in town for a week’s worth of shows. With an estimated economic impact of $190.3 million in 2012, “South By” as residents refer to it, puts the madness in March in Austin.