TxPolitics_CurrentEvents

Precinct 3119–May 2012 Voting

For those of us who make an attempt to participate in every election, May 2012 is a bit confusing.

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The Joint General, Special and Bond Election was held on 12 May and   resulted in the passage of all  five bond propositions and the one San Antonio City charter amendment.

Streets, Bridges, & Sidewalks Improvements

Drainage & Flood Control Improvements

Parks, Recreation, & Open Space Improvements

Library, Museum & Cultural Arts Facilities Improvements

Charter amendment to allow special elections to fill council seats that will be vacant more than 270 days.

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Now early voting for the Joint Primary Election is upon us until the 25th May.  The election will be on Tuesday, 29 May.

The sample ballots are available at these locations.

3119 Republican Sample Ballot 

3119 Democratic Sample Ballot

Links to the party websites are listed below:

• Bexar County Democrats
• Bexar County Republicans 

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del.icio.us Tags: Texas Local Election,Texas 2012 Primary,Democratic 2012 Primary Precinct 3119 San Antonio Texas,GOP 2012 Primary Precinct 3119 San Antonio Texas

Precinct 3119 & Redistricting

For now it looks like 3119 is going to stay firmly in Lamar Smith’s District 21.  But there is still some adjustments rumored in the areas west of NW Military Hwy along Wurzbach Parkway.  For those interested in following the overall redistricting kerfuffle an interactive map is available at this web page District Viewer.   Of interest to me is the extension of 21 across IH-10 into the Congressman Gonzales District 20. Sucking up USAA & the Medical Center.  Of course this is all in the courts so we don’t know how this is all going to turn out.

del.icio.us Tags: Texas Redistricting 2010-2011,Bexar Counaty Texas,San Antonio Local Politics,Texas Congressional District 21

Precinct 3119 - November 2007 - Amendment & Bond Election

For links for this and upcoming elections go to the Express-News on-line Election 2007 portal. 

This is my regular election post for the November 6 election.  First two points in the way of introduction.

1. This election covers some 16 amendments to the Texas State Constitution; and Joint General, Special and Tax Rollback Election.
2. Since these elections apparently garner little attention, I feel that it is my duty to represent those Pct. 3119 voters, who by their absence at the polls, have unofficially delegated to me the responsibility of representing them.  This series of posts is my way of letting you know what I am doing in response to that delegated task.  Based on the May 2006 election I'll be representing approximately 150 of you. 

My sources of information are the Amendment Ballot Analysis from the Secretary of State's website, the Express News election portal mention above and anything else that I have come across now or in the past. 

I am getting a late start here but according to the ballot (pdf download) the only items I have to worry about are the amendments to the state Constitution.  Here are my votes compared to the recommendations of the Express News.  In summary I'm voting against props 6,7,8,12,13 and 15.

Prop	Headline	Expr News	My Vote	Remarks
1	San Angelo State to Texas Tech System	For	For
2	$500 Million Bonds for Student Loans	For	For
3	Limit ad valorem tax increase to 10% of last appraised market value	For	For?	Doubtful on this one. Language requires more study.
4	$ Billion in Bonds for State Parks, Crime Labs & Prisons & other agencies as specified	For	For
5	Allow towns of less than 10,000 to agree to freeze ad valorem taxes for 5yrs on certain properties	For	For
6	Exempt one motor vehicle per individual used for work from property tax	For	Against	The arguments of the opponents to this amend convinced me.
7	Allow sale of property acquired through eminent domain back to previous owners at the same price	For	Against	Does not pass my smell test.  Assumes property will only increase in value.  What about public improvements (e.g. landfills) that lower the market value
8	Clarify home equity loads and using equity load proceeds	For	Against	Opponents position convinced me this one needs to go back to the drawing board.
9	Increased property tax exemptions for disabled vets residences	For	For?	But it is a tough call.  I could be convinced otherwise.
10	Abolish the office of inspector of hides and animals	For	For
11	A record of the final vote in State House and Senate for most bills; and require access by Internet to those record votes	For	For
12	$5 Billion in bonds for highway projects	For	Against	Raise the gas tax and take advantage of higher gas prices.
13	Authorize denial of bail for violation of protective orders or conditions of release	For	Against	The opponents statement regarding right to bail convinces me.
14	Judge reaches retirement age may complete current term	For	For
15	Authorize up to $3 billion in bonds for cancer research	For	Against	I do not believe disease prevention and research is a proper function of the state.
16	$250 million Bond for water projects in economically distressed areas	For	For

 

Technorati Tags: Texas, Bexar County, San Antonio, State Amendments.

May 2007 from Precinct 3119

May 2007 Election from Precinct 3119

This view of 12 May election for San Antonio City Council and some major bond issues is from a voter in Precinct 3119 when he saw the ballot.  The voters of 3119 have an easy job this time since our councilman, Ken Wolfe is not opposed this year we only have a selection for Mayor. (I'm sticking with Hardberger) and the bonds to consider.  As far as the bonds go I'm generally in favor, but not fanatic on any of them.  Just remember; that those of us who vote in these off year elections are in reality representing those who don't vote.  So I hope we all vote wisely with the recognition that we are carrying a load.

As usual you can get the establishment view in the Express News Politics section.  Early Voting has already started and I'm late getting this post up.  I may be modifying it if anything interesting pops up.

For those of you who are not members in  Precinct 3119 this link will prove helpful.  "http://www.co.bexar.tx.us/webapps/html/elstrinq01.asp"Sample Ballots – For Precincts” .  This is a handy little tool that lets you see your ballot before you go to the poll.  You enter your Zip Code or street name, Then pick your address and you will get a PDF file of the paper ballot.   From the same web page you can access a map showing the boundaries of the precinct.  The map of 3119 is pretty un-helpful unless you a walker or a jogger of the area.  The main streets. (Blanco, Bitters and West) are not labeled.  You can find a better overall view at the Maps SanAntonio.gov site.  However manipulating the site takes some getting used to.  You have to select the display layers for "Transportation" and "Political Boundaries", Highlight the zoom-in ("+") magnifying glass and then click in the map at your geographical location.  It took me four zoom-ins to get a view I was happy with. This site has a lot of data to handle so it's performance not spectacular even over RoadRunner and a pretty capable computer.