July 2, 2006
Council meeting becomes heated on talk of street Last week's City Council meeting got heated when the NAACP's Joel Mumphord apparently misunderstood Councilman Mark Scott. During a discussion of the proposed renaming of one block of Winnebago Street, Mumphord, local president of the National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People, was making the point that if he owned all the land along a block of any city street, he could ask the City Council to change the name on that portion of the street. Scott said, "But he's not going to get it," because the council would not want to break up a street by renaming the middle portion of it. Mumphord responded, "Why? Because I'm a poor black man? You all don't care about black people." After Mayor Henry Garrett called order and waved off an approaching security guard, the meeting calmed back down. "We can 'what if' till the moon falls out of the sky," Garrett said. He later offered to meet with people on both sides of the issue to try to find a compromise. Scott later apologized to Mumphord, saying he was talking in generalities, not about Mumphord specifically. Marez gets promoted, then quickly demoted During an awards recognition break at the council meeting, Mayor Garrett inadvertently referred to Councilman John Marez as "congressman." "Oh, I mean counselor," the mayor swiftly corrected. "You've been demoted," other council members blurted while cackling. Garcia campaign dubs plane 'Air Force Juan' Democratic House candidate and former Navy pilot Juan Garcia is getting a little help meeting constituents in the outlying areas of District 32 from island developer Glenn Lyons. At a fundraiser last weekend held at Eddie and Berta Garcia's, Juan Garcia said Lyons has given carte blanche use of Lyons' and wife Crystal's twin-engine airplane, which the Garcia campaign team has dubbed "Air Force Juan." Former SA mayor supports Garcia run Former San Antonio Mayor and U.S. Secretary of Housing Henry Cisneros was on tap to be the guest star at Garcia's June 23 campaign events. But when his father fell critically ill the day before, Cisneros instead appeared at the events via telephone PA system, doing so during what he stated were his father's final hours. Afterward, Garcia opined, "This campaign is about family, and all present understood that Henry needed to be with his father. That he insisted on calling in to support our campaign, from his father's hospital bedside, is something I'll never forget." Friedman talks Texas to his many supporters Local architect Raymond Gignac, developer Leon Loeb and legendary criminal defense lawyer Doug Tinker were among the more than 100 guests gathered at the Barbecue Man to support Kinky Friedman for governor. Toting his trademark cigar, Friedman waxed poetic about the sad state of Texas affairs, posed for pictures and sold a heckuva lot of T-shirts and posters. Gignac summed up why he was there by saying, "He makes sense." Strayhorn good with names, superstition Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn had an uncanny way of remembering names and faces Thursday at the state Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, hugging at least 25 VFW members and recalling their names and personal details. On stage, Strayhorn drew wild cheering when she commented, "I've never lost an election the year a grandbaby was born, and that grandbaby is one month old." Demo chairman Garcia uses partisan timepiece At the Associated Builders and Contractors candidates forum last week, Democratic Party Chairman Alex Garcia stared at his watch and said he would keep an eye on the time so all of the gathered candidates - Democrats and Republicans - would get equal stump time. "I'll be using my Democratic watch to keep time," Garcia joked. Larry Olivarez, the Democrat in the county judge's race, grinned, "It's a Mickey Mouse watch, right?" Simpson ready to stick a fork in Terry Carter Walking around slapping backs and shaking hands at the release of Citgo's 2006 Gray Book resource guide, Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce director Terry Carter came up behind San Patricio County Judge Terry Simpson. "Hi, Mr. Shamsie," Carter joked. "Oh! No! It's San Patricio County, isn't it?" A grinning Simpson turned sideways in his chair and wielded his lunch cutlery, "Have you been forked lately?" Political Pulse is compiled and written by Caller-Times politics reporter Jaime Powell. This week's contributors include Powell, Denise Malan and Mike Baird. Have a tip? Contact Powell at 886-3716 or powellj@ caller.com
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