Royalty Exposed

Political Pulse: 05.20.07

By Jaime Powell (Contact)
Sunday, May 20, 2007



Hummell gets royal treatment

Incoming at-large City Councilman Mike Hummell has to be feeling a little royal after his friends and cohorts at the law firm Huseman Dodson and Hummell, where he is a partner, sent out invitations to a "Coronation Celebration" honoring Hummell for his recent elevation to what could be called a throne.

Though there is no royal bloodline, incoming District 4 Councilman Mike McCutchon and Hummell are sort of related by virtue of marriage. Hummell's stepsister is McCutchon's wife. Sandra McCutchon's mom is married to Hummell's dad.

Look for Alonzo, Cooper sharing opposite views

Community activist Abel Alonzo said he expects to see more of embattled City Councilwoman Melody Cooper. Both showed up at Wednesday's County Commissioners meeting. Alonzo is a regular, while Cooper is not.

Alonzo said Cooper is following him around to counter his calls for her resignation. Cooper has been under fire for several weeks and is the subject of a recall effort after District Judge Sandra Watts sanctioned her for filing fraudulent and misleading documents in a complex custody case. Cooper has said she wants to get her side of the story -- that she was unfairly sanctioned -- out as often as the other side is.

Terms wind down, and so does some work

Impatience seemed to take over the City Council on Tuesday, even though it wasn't the last meeting before a new council takes over.

Next week's meeting is expected to be highly ceremonial, with speeches by outgoing and incoming council members and the canvassing of election results. But several council members couldn't keep the giggling down Tuesday.

When Councilman Rex Kinnison, who is term-limited, asked why members of the ethics committee failed to turn in their ethics report, Councilman Brent Chesney, who did not run for re-election, said, "It's your second to last council meeting -- just quit."

Council points out sign of things to come

Minutes later, when there was confusion from the council about which vote was happening, Chesney wondered aloud, "How long have you been here?"

In a nod to the five new council members who will take their seats next week, Chesney added: "We're going to see a lot of that in the next couple of weeks."

Jerry Garcia, an at-large representative who was not re-elected, replied: "Next couple of years."

GOP newsletter fires at Garcia, misses mark

The Nueces County Republican Party launched a news offensive in the Nueces County Republican newsletter blasting Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, for not supporting House Bill 1602, a measure designed to protect maritime interests from frivolous lawsuits.

Mike Bertuzzi went on to accuse Garcia of hiding his vote on the legislation by not calling for a recorded vote. "Garcia should have stood up for Coastal Bend businesses and demanded a record vote on HB 1602," Bertuzzi wrote.

One problem: Garcia voted for the bill. And under the Garcia Amendment, every vote on final passage in the Texas House now is recorded and made available online within one hour, Garcia said.

City's lack of wind had a political solution

Garcia wrote a letter to Jessica Davila-Burnett, president of Epic Sports and Entertainment LP, congratulating her for her efforts in organizing last week's U.S. Wind & Water Open. The games were somewhat marred by a rare lack of wind in the Coastal Bend, which hampered the performances of the many windsurfers and kite-boarders who came to town for the event.

"Had I known, I would have brought down some of the windbags in plentiful supply at the Capitol," he joked.

Can computers sense fear, just like dogs do?

Logging into U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz's comments section on the congressman's Web site, users must fill out their name, address, e-mail address and then pick an issue. Once that is complete, users must enter the letters in a box to prevent the congressman from getting too much spam.

This week, one user was filling out the form and when he got to the bottom to fill out the access code he was prompted to type in letters spelling "fear."

Political Pulse is compiled and written by Caller-Times politics reporter Jaime Powell. This week's contributors include Powell, Dan Kelley and Beth Wilson. Have a tip? Contact Powell at 886-3716 or powellj@caller.com