Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the week of August tenth, and this is what's
on the People's News. The convicted felon Trump ordered it,
and Greg Abbott is bowing to his wishes. The fight
for redistricting in Texas. We talked to local state Democratic
representatives who broke quorum to keep this mid cycle redistricting
(00:25):
from happening. We also talked to a Republican strategist about
how Republicans are pushing for a permanent Republican majority fighting
for him in special session. The Texas governor changes his tune,
electric vehicle charging comes to Alan Parkway. All that and
(00:48):
more on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is
the People's News, and the People's News starts now. The
convicted felon and leader of this criminal, corrupt and Republican government,
(01:08):
Donald Trump called up Texas Governor Greg Abbott and called
for other Republican leaders in Republican states to a mid
decade redistricting change to further gerryman of the state, to
guarantee that Trump will have a majority in the second
half of his second term and will be able to
(01:29):
avoid all prosecution from the many crimes that he's committed.
So being the good servant. Republican Governor Greg Abbott has
called for special session, and as provided for in the
Texas Constitution, Democrats left the state to prevent a quorum
from being called to keep redistricting from happening, which would
(01:52):
remove five Democrat leaning districts, denying millions of black and
brown people their choice. The governor has vowed to call
a special session after special session if the fifty Democratic
state representatives stay out of state. The new maps, as
(02:12):
proposed would cut predominantly black and brown districts in Dallas,
San Antonio, and Houston. The eighteenth Congressional district would be
cut in half, making what is now two representatives from
Houston in that area that would become one. State Senator
John Cornyn has asked the FBI, which has no jurisdiction
(02:32):
in this as a state matter and is not a
federal crime. No federal crimes have been broken, to get
involved in locating the fleeing Democrats, and the House has
filed fines of five hundred dollars a day to those fleeing,
which also is law. Ron Reynolds is the Democratic representative
in the state four District twenty seven in Fort Benn County.
(02:54):
He is the chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus
and chair of the Texas HBCU Caucus. We spoke to
him in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, first of all, it's always an honor to be
on with you. We are I'm with my colleagues from
the House Democredit Caucus. We have left the state to
break kworm because the state of Texas, through Governor Abbott,
was trying to pass a Trump Texas style takeover by
racially Jerryman during five congressional districts in Texas, including specifically
(03:28):
targeting the eighteenth and ninth congressional district in Houston, currently
held by Congressman Al Green, and targeting Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
out of the thirtieth Congressional district in Dallas along with
Congressman Mark VC. They're trying to take our four congressional
districts that are African American and split them in half
so that we only have two. And we believe that
(03:49):
this is straight up out of the nineteen sixties pre
Voting Rights Act, and we are here to fight and
stand against it.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The Republicans are pressing their advantage across the country and
are making assumptions that everybody is MAGA and everybody is
a Republican, that we're right leaning. This is a foundational
live the Republican Party. It's particularly not true in Texas,
which has been a majority Democratic state for almost five decades,
but due to jerrymandering, due to dirty tricks from the
(04:23):
Republican Party, has managed to vote Republican and lose the
Democratic majorities in the state House. Vlad davidok is a
Republican media strategist, and he's okay with all of this.
He spoke to us about the Republican side of the issue.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
All right, So what we understand is that the rationale
the decision to move forward with tough districting changes really
based on the fact that there are five no, there
are four, sorry, there were four Congression districts here in
(05:01):
Texas that were originally drawn along racial lines that are
no longer legally permissible, right, And so previously that was
the methodology that they used to draw those lines was
permitted because coalition districts fell under that particular heading. And
(05:24):
so what has happened is since that time, legal opinion
and the courts have ruled, and the federal president has shifted,
so Texas has to abandon the prior justifications that they
that Texas was using to draw the coalition or majority
Hispanic districts, and the Department of Justice has warned that
(05:46):
there could be potential lawsuits if Texas does not act,
and so making legislative correction is in this particular instance
the most prudent path forward, right, And so what we
have in Texas right now.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
We.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Have a legislative majority composed primarily of Republicans. Best certainly
there are some Democrats who have worked very closely with
Republicans to pass significant legislation during the last session and
even during this special session, and certainly the significant majority
of those Democrats are opposed to the redistricting legislation that
(06:25):
needs to be taking place. But the legislative majority has
pledged collaboration with them, to work with them directly, to
collaborate to find solutions and to make sure that constitutional
standards are not only upheld, but to make sure that
the rules are followed in such a way as to
reinforce the legitimacy of any maps that do get redrawn.
(06:47):
And so all of the stems from the Fifth Circuit,
The Fifth Circuit Court Fifth Circuit Court made a ruling
in twenty twenty four in petty way which clarify that
coalition districts, these that we're talking about District nine eighteen
twenty nine thirty three, these are coalition districts that are
based on raith or ethnicity that are unconstitutional now, and
(07:10):
the only way to remedy that is to redraw those
districts so that they're in full compliance with the equal
Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. And so what happens
is the legislature is going to go in and revise
these maps, redraw these districts to comply not only with
the Fifth Circus ruling, but to ensure that they align
with constitutional requirements. And so revising the maps now rather
(07:34):
than waiting until there's a lawsuit, rather than waiting until
there's further claims in court, protects Texas from prolonged legal
battles to eliminate that possibility, and it also prevents it
helps avoid potential federal litigation, and it preemptively reinforces the
integrity of the redistricting process by making sure that the
newly drawn districts aligned not only with the federal guidelines,
(07:59):
with the the Fifth Circuit issued, but also with constitutional requirements.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
But I would say that for as I know, it's
already a lawsuit against this last time they grew up
the map and he was saying it was he was
saying it was wrong, it was gerrymandering, and it gives
just discriminated against minority communities.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And I think that may have been one of the
reasons why the Fifth Circuit wind up ruling that the
way it did, which basically respond is a way of
responding to those claims. And I think the twenty twenty
four ruling UH in the Pettyway case really clarifies that
these coalition districts, which are based on race or ethnicity
(08:45):
are unconstitutional. The way what what what has always been
the standard is you cannot draw congressional lines based on
race unless it is designed to infrace franchise people who
have been disenfranchised. And so you know, for example, if
(09:06):
you have, you know, a large minority district whereas the
majority of the people living there are minorities, you can't
go in and disrupt that. But what has happened over
time is that has shifted into a coalition of minorities.
So rather than focusing on one particular group or a subsets.
(09:27):
It's looking at all people and lumping them in together.
And what has happened over time is Democrats, primarily especially
those on the far left, have really conflated ethnicity with
voting preference, and they've basically boiled it down to if
you're a person who is a minority, if you're a
person with a brown person, you must vote Democrat. There's
(09:51):
no other alternative. You're a Democrat voter. And what we
have seen increasingly an election after election, especially over the
last day Gade, and most clearly of all on November
of twenty twenty four, is that Republicans have made huge
inroads into those communities by directly appealing to the issues
(10:12):
that are most important in those communities. And President Trump
got the highest percentage of the Black vote, the highest
percentage of the Hispanic vote that we've seen in decades
or ever. And so what we understand, what everyone understands,
is that those communities are not monolithic. They are not
(10:34):
voting in lockstep right. So what we've seen is is
that creating these coalition districts is a radical departure from
ensuring that the enfranchisement of minority citizens is protected. This
was a complete departure from that constitutional protection. And so
(11:01):
the previous the previous maps that the State of Texas
was using were based on the court decisions that were
at that time. We're standing. And so what has happened
is since twenty twenty four, the Pettyweight decision rendered those
configurations obsolete. And so moving forward, the State of Texas
(11:22):
now has the ability to align State Texas state policy
with the most current legal framework, rather than relying on
something that was twenty thirty years old, we're now we're
catching up with modern times. We're removing those legacy structures
that are now unconstitutional. And so we have the legislature,
which has worked in bipartisan fashion throughout the regular session
(11:47):
and into the Special Session, is committed to ensure redistricting
these transparent, fair, and constitutionally sound to reaffirm public trust.
And so what has happened is they've held hearings, they've
worked together try to find make sure that the information
is released. They've provided the maps that they propose to
(12:09):
pass in the Special Session, and by and large, those
maps give districts a solid configuration that addresses the needs
of the constituents and also ensures that legally they do
not discriminate against people based on race. But again, legally,
(12:33):
maps are constitutionally permitted to be drawn to allow for
partisan selection. So it's okay, it's legal for a political
party to draw the maps in such a way as
to reflect the political choices being made by voters in elections.
(12:58):
And that's exactly what Republicans are done. And so the
maps that they're being updated right now ensure that the
districts are drawn on population based on population and geography,
not race, which gives all Texans an equal voice and
congressional representation. I will say I will say this, I
agree with you that the Texas Republicans and the Young
(13:19):
Republicans worked hard, especially on the border, to get Latinos
to vote for the Republicans Republicans and consider and conservative
values and aut o highways, personal religious on the religious end.
So all on the flip side of that, the eighteenth
to eighteenth congressional district would be split up and have
(13:42):
and you would lose. And see if directly I from
wrong that you know that's that's taken away, that's taken
away from the constituents of that community. And the same
thing is happening in Dallas. Well, again, I think maybe
twenty or thirty years ago you might be a little
(14:02):
bit more accurate. But I think since that time, what
we have seen is we've seen a dilution in the
concentration of those particular voters. So what used to be
a very solidly monolithic district of one particular demographic is
(14:23):
now much much more diverse, where there's a big mix
of people who do not necessarily align with regard to
partisanship or political ideology, or with regard to how they
voted in elections. And again, if it's the court has
(14:44):
ruled that these coalition districts where you're taking okay, we're
taking this group of people and this group of people
and that group of people, we're putting them all together,
and we're calling them minorities. That's not constitutional. And the court
has ruled against that very clearly. And so because again
(15:06):
demography is not partisanship. Right, So what we what we
have understood, what we had, what we have been seeing
now over the over the better course of the last
decade or so, is that the definition of how a
person votes is not defined by their demography, by their ethnicity,
and that has been proven to be the case time
(15:26):
and again. And so what we've what we've seen is
what used to be a monolith, what used to be
a very solid group of particular voters that vote voted
a particular way no longer exists. And that particular structure
that has emerged is is constitute is structured in such
(15:48):
a way that it's unconstitutional. And so the mid districting
midde redistricting that's that's being you know, uh reviewed right
now in the legislature is a It's built in such
a way that it eliminates the structural weaknesses that were
(16:13):
inherent in the existing maps, and it gives Texans equal
voices right now the way the districts were originally structured. Again,
we're structuring along lines that are now obsolete and rules
and guidelines that were obsolete. And now that Texas is
moving to adopt the most current definitions, the maps will
(16:39):
reflect not only the current population, but would be in
line with the constitutional requirements.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
A news conference was held Friday, and here are some
of the highlights from that event.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Good afternoon, Governor Adam Speaker Protam of the House in California,
We truly are grateful to be here. My name is
Anne Johnson, and I'm a proud Texas Democrat standing with
my Democratic House colleagues. Make no mistake about it, we
(17:14):
are running from nothing. We see the danger that is coming,
and we are running straight forward. Please know that last
week Texas Republicans, in their effort to try to appease
the entitledment of Donald Trump, have tried to steal five
congressional seats from the voters of Texas. This is not
(17:38):
the first time we have seen folks try to appease
Donald Trump. You all remember that Trump called Georgia and
asked them and said, boys, I need eleven thousand votes.
To their credit, those Republicans said, no, We're not doing that.
That crosses a line where we are with today's climate
(18:01):
and the threat that the FBI come to get us.
We proudly stand with Californians in this moment that when
faced with Texas's steel, they have met it head on
with courage and with a sense of urgency to protect
the entire nation. We are running from nothing. We are
running to the front lines. We are frunning to the
(18:24):
front lines to stand with other Democrats across the state
of Texas, across the state of California, across this nation,
to ensure that each and every individual has the opportunity
to pick to decide that government is for the people,
by the people, and not the politicians selecting them. And
(18:46):
so we are here because we do know that courage
is contagious, and we are here to give hope to
others to stand up and be courageous in disc.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
Fans that did not include public opinion, that did not
include publicritire a patient and had a pure political goal,
and that goal was to consolidate power for this authoritarian
in the White House. California cannot step back and just
let that happen. We have a responsibility to step up.
(19:15):
We're going to step up, and that doesn't mean we
are abandoning our values. While I chaired the Elections Committee,
we proposed independent redistricting commissions for every level of California government.
It was opposed by every single Republican. We updated the
Fair Max Act. It was opposed by every single Republican.
We are not doing away with the independent commission that
(19:36):
we established every single decade, but we are meeting this
moment because this is not a turn the other cheek
moment while they continue to send blow after blow to
the foundations of democracy where I'm from in Los Angeles,
when they go low, we squabble up. I had the
great pleasure of seeing John Lewis several times before he
passed away, and he always said the same thing in
(19:57):
every single room I was in with him. He said,
if you sees something that is not right, that is
not fair, that is not just, you have a moral
responsibility to do something about it. And that is what
has brought us here today. And I have the great
privilege of introducing the Chair of the Senate Elections Committee,
my colleague and my friend.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Super de factive speaker in the history of the United States,
Nancy Polls.
Speaker 9 (20:25):
Thank you very much. Though I think it's very clear
from listening to our presenters so far that the Republicans
are acting because they have bankruptcy of ideas. They have nothing,
no winning ideas to present to the American people, and
they cannot defend their actions legitimately, so they're trying to
do it and bring it illegitimately. I want to thank
(20:47):
our governor for his leadership, his persistence in protecting and
defending our constitution and our democracy. Thank you, Governor Neusim.
It's an honor to be here with the Speaker of
the Assembly and the President pro Tem of the Senate
of our legislature, and hear are their clear message about
what this means to California, but more importantly to our country.
(21:08):
And I joined them in welcoming the courageous members of
the Texas delegation who are here. We thank you not
only for your courage but for your patriotism. For your patriotism,
I've said to you before. At the beginning of our country,
Thomas Paine said, the Times had found us, Times found
them to form a new country. You write a constitution,
(21:29):
and the rest, thank god, they made it amendable. And
now the Times found Lincoln, then found Lincoln to save
that country, the unity of that country. And now the
Times had si found all of us, and especially our
Texas delegation, to save our constitution. I'm from Maryland originally,
and I'm very proud that the national anthem was written there.
And my favorite line in the anthem is proof through
(21:54):
the night that our flag was still there. We have
a responsibility to prove through the night of this Trump administration,
the darkness of it all that our flag is still
there with liberty and justice for all. And that is
what I'm so proud of the leadership of all of
our California delegation in Congress, but also our state legislature
(22:16):
as well. Zoe Laughlin has led the way as the
leader of our House Democrats from California in the unity
that she mentioned about our delegation, and this is something
that we are unified on to honor our oath of
office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
(22:36):
The President is paved over the rose garden. He's paved
over freedom of speech, He's paved over freedom of education.
The list goes on and on, independent judiciary, rule of law,
pave it over, pay it over, Well, we will not.
It's gone too far. We will not let him pave
over free and fair elections in our country, starting with
(22:58):
what he's trying to do in Texas countering that. So
this isn't too wrong, as was mentioned, it's not wrong
in what we're doing. This is self defense for our democracy.
They have stricken, they have hit out at our democracy,
and we are here to defend it. I thank again
(23:19):
our Texans for their leadership, for their courage, most of
all for their patriotism. And now I'm very pleased to
yield to our distinguished leader in all of this effort,
someone who was right out there right from the start,
who brings us together, making us a very crowd our
Governor Kevin Newsom.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
Well, let me thank everybody for taking the time to
be here, and may welcome all of you to Governor
Ronald Reagan's home. Reminded of Governor Meagan's last speech in
the Oval Office, where he talked about the life force
of New Americans. He talked about Lady Liberty's torch, and
here we are are, fast forward decades later, appropriately with
(24:05):
a portrait of Ronald Reagan looking down on the President
of the United States of America, Donald Trump, who's trying
to light the torch on democracy. Let's try to roll
back the last half century. Wants to put America in
reverse on LGBT rights, on voting rights, civil rights, the
rights of women and girls. We're here in that light,
(24:28):
at this profound and consequential moment, and we're here with
six courageous leaders that they've been described. From the Texas delegation.
It is my privilege to have had now two delegations
visit from Texas, and it's my honor to welcome all
of you and to thank you for your courage, thank
you for faith and devotion to the cause that unites
(24:49):
all of us across this country, regardless of party, and
that are the enduring principles of our founding fathers. You know,
we talked about the two undred forty ninth anniversary of
the principles. Next year we'll celebrate the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of those enduring principles. The best of the
Roman Republican Greek democracy, the system of coequal branches, co
(25:09):
equal branches of government, notion of the system of checks
and balances, popular sovereignty, all of that on the line,
all of that at risk. And so I'm very sober
and mindful of this moment, and as a consequence, we
have taken our relationship to this moment very very seriously.
Had it not been for the courage of the Democratic
(25:32):
representatives from Texas to stand tall and to stand up
to walk out as is their right as old a
principle as American pie, the ability for minority to walk
out when it comes to the abuses of a majority,
(25:53):
and they did just that to elevate not just their
voices as representatives, but to elevate our voices to call
out the consequential nature of what's happening. What's happening in
the United States of America is not normal. We cannot
allow this to be considered normal. Please don't say it's surprising.
When you say something is no longer surprising, you normalize it.
(26:18):
This is shocking. What's happened. You heard Representative Johnson say it,
very powerfully and very clearly. And what more evidence did
he need. You saw this take shape after Donald Trump
trying to direct the democracy after January sixth, where he
dialed for twelve thousand votes in Georgia. By your courageous leadership,
(26:38):
regardless of party that stood up against that tyranny. Now
he's dialing up for seats. He called Greg Abbott, who
doesn't have the courage, doesn't have the back vote, doesn't
have the consciousness of the consequences of his action. And
he has rolled over and he said yes, sir, and
(27:00):
and they're trying to dial now for new seats for
precisely the reason the Speaker, Pelosi and others have represented
they will lose in the midterms.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
He knows it.
Speaker 8 (27:10):
Why else would he make that phone call. His agenda's failing.
This presidency is failing. He knows the headwinds in a midterm.
He's dialing for seats. Not only did he dial for
five seats in Texas, he just sent his vice president,
the vice president of the United States, not to console
those one hundred and thirty seven families whose lives were
(27:31):
torn asunder because they lost loved ones to the floods.
By the way, three members of my community in Marine County,
Mark and Sarah and Johnny. Johnny Walker fourteen years old
died in the flood. Mark fifty years old, Sarah same age.
Family friends. We were at their memorial yesterday. Vice President
(27:54):
come to console the family members of the lies lost.
He went in continue to try to rig the election.
You have a special election in Texas. You think that's
all they be focused on. Thirty seven kids dying in
most floods, but they're focused on this a power graun
(28:16):
and it's not limited to Texas and Indiana. You've seen
what's happening in Florida. You've seen what's happening in Ohio
and other states. So we have got to stay a
step up our state of mind is about accountability, responsibility again,
taking this moment seriously, what is our relationship to this moment?
And we recognize we have agency, we're not by standards.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Those are the voices of representatives of Texas Democrats along
with California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Speaker of the
US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Hi, this is Steve Gallington,
producer and host of the People's News. If you have
a story that needs to be told, come to us.
We accept fully produced audio, written material, or just give
(28:58):
us the idea and we will run with it. Shiny
new one hour episodes of The People's News drop each
Sunday on The People's News podcast hosted by spreaker dot
com and linked to my website Gallington dot com. Before
the Commander in chieved Trump took over with the approval
of the Republican governor of the state the special session
(29:21):
in Texas, there already was a special session planned. One
of the bills that's being considered is Senate Bill five,
which is very similar to Senate Bill three from the
regular session. Senate Bill five aims to criminalize the manufacturing, sale, possession,
and use of consumable hemp products that contain any amount
(29:42):
of any cannabioid other than CBD and CBG. The bill
would ban artificial or synthetic cannabinoids, but does not define
the term. Senate Bill five chooses criminalization over regulation and
hands a multi billion dollar industry to the illicit market
where there are no product testing requirements, no labeling standards,
(30:04):
and no business licenses. Texans will continue to access hemp
derived THCHC, but now they'll do so in the shadows
without consumer protections or recourse. We talked to Cynthia Cabrera,
president of the Texas Hemp Business Council and chief strategy
officer of Hometown Hero and Austin based cannabusiness of hemp
(30:24):
derived products. That company has been instrumental in keeping hemp
legal in Texas.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Regulation already exists. So the governor indicated he did not
want a ban on something that's been sold and regulated
in the state since twenty nineteen, and he's one hundred
percent correct, right, So he called for additional regulations. One
of the I have to give Texas props because when
(30:56):
they passed their regulations. You may have heard me say
this before, when they passed their regulations in twenty nineteen.
They did a really good job with comprehensive and like
you know, overall regulations. They forgot an age eight and
so that's what a lot of the noise that's been
made about is regarding. And so I would like to
(31:19):
see us come through this session. As you know, at
least with that age gate. The industry has for it
for three sessions and not been.
Speaker 10 (31:27):
Able to get it from the legislature.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
So you know, depending on how things shake out, maybe
we'll get it this time.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
What about this, What about local people that run local stores?
Is this start any of the stuff with TEXTBLM.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Sure all of it affects them. I mean, if they
go through with a band, they're all out of business.
Their customers won't be able to access the products they've
you know, previously been able to access. So yeah, it
will absolutely be devastating for the local economy.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
But it wouldn't it wouldn't affect people that that's still
legal marijuana as far as people that use it for
medical purposes.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Well, so the state sponsored program is still federally illegal, right,
So Texas has gone against the federal government by allowing
the sale of the medical products. But to your point,
a ban would not affect that program. And in fact,
there was a lot of game playing because Patrick and
(32:30):
Terry both said that they would not allow that program
to be expanded unless they killed this one.
Speaker 10 (32:37):
So where are we at right now? Well, right now,
we're in the middle of a weird special session. You know,
it kind of like waiting to see what happens. I
think right now they're.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Down for Democrats to in order to achieve quorum. We've
lost a week, right and you know, I'm not you know,
Democrats are doing what what they think have to do,
and it's set the special session back a week.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
They still have.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
All the flooding stuff to do, the redistrict and stuff
still has to get done. So where we are right
now is that there's another week next week, there's another
week to special you know, to this special session, and
then I guess if things are not resolved that, you know,
the governor will call for another one.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
What do we do? What do we say about I know,
I know the Lieutenant Governor was going off trying to
sneak in the sneak in the shops and and and
was saying it made a big, big presentation on how
this is just all this is bad for kids and
it's bad for bad for texts. And he had a
bunch of products that he was showing to the to
(33:44):
the to the media. You know, one of them was ours?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Really yeah, the one he threw at somebody was ours.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
So so does he even does he does he actually
know is this just is this just grand standing or
does he shout actually talk to him about it?
Speaker 4 (34:02):
No, I mean that whole press conference had to be
some kind of grandstanding, and if you think about it,
it's just the whole thing was bizarre on multiple levels.
So number one, he's talking about how these regulated and
legalized products are illegal. So number one, why are you
displaying products that you claim are illegal? At number two,
(34:22):
if they're already illegal, are you going to make them
double illegal? Is that what you're saying? Also, he the
bag of products that he's threw at that reporter. Those
products are tested like six times throughout the process, they
had all the they have they met every single requirement
laid out by the state.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
So so what they're saying is it's not it's nothing.
It's nothing that you're actually trying to trying to do
that's going to really affect except for penalizing people that
are law by citizens.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Correct, they're going to turn a bunch of residents. They're
going to turn a lot of people into overnight.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
The federal aspect of its kind of weird too, because
do they feel try to enforce it on the federal level.
Speaker 11 (35:09):
No.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Basically, what the federal government has done is kind of
like taking a hands off approach and let the states
decide what they want to do, which is how you
end up with what happened here in Texas, where Texas
has a monopoly where there's only three companies that have
been operating since like twenty seventeen. The bill HP forty
six that is meant to expand the medical marijuana program
(35:31):
gives them like two years. Gives the three existing people
like two years to expand into other locations, and then
it allows for several other licenses. But at the end
of the day, what you're talking about is a state
with thirty million people and you know, five or six
companies have a monopoly on the entire state. And that's
(35:52):
what's happened throughout the country, and that's what they designed
here in Texas as well, a monopoly people.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
To get on legal marijuana for municipal purposes because they.
Speaker 10 (36:04):
Are, you know, all.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
Medical problems. These people are going to be affected.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
People who are using the medical program will not be
affected by this if they're currently using the medical program.
But that's the issue, is that specifically the largest market
holder in that program, that company has seventy percent of
the market. And the CEO of that company says that,
and Van Patrick has said it, Charles Perry has said
(36:34):
it that they can't make money, their monopoly can't make
money because they have a competitor in a lower percentage
product that comes from him. So they're choosing winners and losers,
and they're trying to advantage one industry over another industry.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
I had the governor ended up being on the same
page as of the lieutenant owners.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
But they're not on the same page because things. No,
the lieutenant governor wanted a ban, a full on ban,
and the governor vetoed it.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Okay, but is the only is he is he sad
and with him? Now that's what I'm hearing.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Now I haven't heard that.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
So we're pretty much in the same in the same
same pace as we were. One one wants it, one
wants to full out ban, And why does he want
to full out band anyway? That doesn't that hurts chases
because you told me before it's millions of dollars.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
That billions of dollars. It's like a ten billion dollar
economic impact on the stape. You tell me why he
wants a ban. Who benefits from putting you know, fifty
something thousand people out of business and and you know,
restricting access for all the customers who wouldn't be able
to access this anymore.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
Who benefits, well, personally, he benefits because it it looks,
it looks he looks like he's toff on crime.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Also, you know, we'd have to and I haven't done it,
but we'd have to go look and see. You know
who his donors are, Do they have any specific interests?
I do know because I read it in another article.
I can't remember where it was, but I know that
the medical marijuana one of the Maritha, one of the
medical marijuana companies, hired his former chief of staff as
(38:11):
a lobbyist to listening audios.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
How to get in touch with your organization and your company.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
It's Texas Hemp Business Council dot com and or they
can reach out to me at hometown hero dot com.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
How does this differ from say uh oh, with Texas
to different from like Colorado?
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Colorado has recreational marijuana, and if you look at a
chart dates that have legalized federally illegal marijuana, the marijuana
industry also lobbies them to get rid of the federally
legal hemp industry. So Colorado has essentially banned hemp products
(38:54):
because they compete at a certain level with marijuana. I
think so of the twenty four states that have legalized
recreational marijuana, twenty one of them have banned hemp products.
Here's the marijuana industry, in the medical marijuana industry in
Texas pushing super hard to get rid of this industry.
(39:15):
Why what are you preparing for? Is it because they're
going to be pushing for legalizing marijuana and they need
these products to be out of the way, just like
in all the other marijuana states. You know, it's just
stuff to think about.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
That was Cynthia Cabrera, president of the Texas Hemp Business
Council and chief strategy officer of Hometown Hero and Austin
based cannabusiness. You can reach her at Texas Hemp Business
Council all put together dot com Electric vehicles are a
great choice for people who are driving short distances in
urban areas, saving the environment with no emissions, but driving
(39:53):
an electric vehicle can be terrifying, especially if you're down
to thirty percent or less and you're looking for a
place to charge. The downtown area can be especially hard
to find a place to charge your electric vehicle in
recent months that our facilities have now opened to ease
the problems of charging. There is a Tesla charging station
that can take all cars, and a Shell station in
(40:15):
the Heights and in the Montrose area opening, but these
are private companies. Councilmember Abbey Cayman and partners including Downtown
Houston Plus, hosted a press conference and ribbon cutting celebration
to mark the completion of the city's new ev charging
stations in public spaces and the first to be funded
with district funds. This effort to bring charging options to
(40:39):
public spaces was spearheaded and made possible through one hundred
thousand dollars allocation from Council Member Cayman's district office in
partnership with Downtown Houston.
Speaker 12 (40:49):
Today we are celebrating a very special partnership between District
c Downtown Houston Centrepoint Energy Evolve and city departments to
bring a brand news service to Houstonians publicly accessible electric
vehicle charging stations on city property. In doing so, we
(41:10):
are not only encouraging sustainable transportation, but more affordable options
right here in the.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
Heart of Houston.
Speaker 12 (41:18):
So District City is home to some of the largest
numbers of electric vehicle users in our city, and Buffalo
Byee Park attracts not only tens of thousands of residents
within walking distance of the park, but it's used by
hundreds of thousands, if not millions, each year, many of
whom do in fact drive right here to the park.
And we are seeing here in Houston electric vehicle charging
(41:41):
stations taking shape. We just celebrated a ribbon cutting with
Shell in Greater Heights. Of course, we have Tesla superchargers,
eb Bolt is around town, but as a city we
are still lagging behind other major cities when it comes
to the number of chargers available and any chargers now
(42:01):
available on public city property that are funded through the
City of Houston. So thanks to everyone for making this
day a reality. Again, I want to emphasize it has
been over a decade since the City of Houston itself
has added publicly accessible charging stations on city property, so
(42:23):
a few years ago, Ginger, I think it was three
years ago. I set out to change that, and I
turned to our city's Climate Action Plan, which identifies this
as a very specific need for Houstonians, and in working
with departments, including at the time, our Administrative and Regulatory
Affairs Committee, which housed the Office of Resiliency, and our
(42:46):
Office of Economic Development, I approached downtown Houston with this
wild idea and an offer that I would fund this
initiative to get the ball rolling for our city by
expanding access. I have allocated one hundred thousand dollars in
district service funds, and Centerpoint helped us determine the best
(43:07):
location based on a variety of factors. So we really
are creating this incredible partnership moving forward into the next generation.
A few things about these chargers. This is an Evy
Bolt charger and they are here if anyone has any questions.
I don't think anyone's gonna have questions, but we appreciate.
Oh you may have one. Okay, well we'll get to that.
But thank you to Bolt. We have Casey and Ali
(43:29):
here and these are level two chargers, so it's not
the fastest level. I had to learn a lot about chargers,
but it will get it going. So when you come
to the park, you pull in, you charge it up.
You're going to get a nice charge while you're on
your stroll or your run, and you'll be able to
go back home. And yes, this charger will be searchable
(43:50):
on all charging platforms, including Google Maps.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
The rate is really important.
Speaker 12 (43:56):
It will cover the cost of electricity and ongoing maintenance.
But there is no profit that is being made for
the city or for downtown Houston, and that's what makes
this so special is the rates are going to be
competitive and affordable, and that is why we are giving
greater access to those who come to our parks. We
(44:19):
are not only the energy capital of the world, we
are the energy transition capital, and we are meeting the
rising demand for cleaner, efficient transportation options, embracing our commitment
to addressing climate change, and projects like this are proof
that we can accomplish the goals set forth in our
city's Climate Action Plan. So again we're going to hear
(44:40):
from our very special guests, and this would not have
been possible without them. But I want to again recognize
our city departments, folks like Director Gwen Tillotson Bell and
executive staff analyst Jennifer Curley in our city's Economic Development Office,
Centerpoint Evolve others. We have Bill Kelly here formerly of
(45:01):
the City of Houston, who was very involved and with
Environment Texas, who is leading the way on these issues,
and of course who are going to hear from next
the Downtown Redevelopment Authority. So it's my privilege to call
up Chris Larson, our president and CEO. Chris, I just
want to say thank you again. This would not have
(45:21):
happened without y'all. You have an incredible staff. I want
to thank Alan, I want to thank Brett. They are
incredibly dedicated and no one can question the commitment of
our Downtown Houston.
Speaker 9 (45:37):
Entity.
Speaker 12 (45:38):
And please please pass along my appreciation to the board
as well. So with that, Chris Larson.
Speaker 13 (45:46):
Run of applause for counsel Americayman.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Good morning everyone.
Speaker 13 (45:50):
Chris Larsen, President CEO of Downtown Houston. Plus, we're a
bit of a unique organization and that we have the
privilege of managing several tools that are designed to advance
and better downtown Houston, and they include Central Houston, the
Houston Downtown Management District, as well as the Downtown Redevelopment Authority,
And so it's a real privilege to be able to
bring all of those tools to the table to advance
(46:12):
on something like this. And when Abby called, which believe
it or not, was some years ago, she called with
a very specific and simple request for partnership. She didn't
call with a list of demands or gripes or an
ask for resources. She called that we helped get something done,
which is just music to our ears, and we were
just immediately a yes, and with the support with our
(46:34):
Redevelopment Authority Board, we began to explore this project. And
this project's important to us because it's not just about
ev chargers. It's also about accessibility, thinking more about the
broad array of Houstonians who we want to provide access
to amenities like Buffalo Byue Park as well as Downtown Houston.
And this is a part of a series of investments
(46:56):
that we're making an infrastructure right now to really change
the way that Houstonians engage with the public realm, currently
transforming Main Street creating a pedestrian promenade unlike anything else
in the city. We're exploring the addition of cool corridors,
so we actually want to lower the ambient temperature that
people experience as they're moving around downtown through the addition
(47:17):
of trade off excuse me, of shade and treat canopies
and other amenities that are going to help to create
more interest in the public realm as well as more
comfortable experience and experiences for people that are participating in downtown.
Speaker 10 (47:31):
But none of this is.
Speaker 13 (47:34):
Possible without the support of our boards and then, more importantly,
a key member of our team who I could not
drag up here if I wanted to, but mister bretton board.
Round of applause from the bread board. He is leading
the construction of not only all the things that I've
just talked about, but he's the guy that oversaw the
reconstruction of Bagby Street to create a magnificent front door
(47:57):
to City Hall connecting to the theater district. He's the
guy that helped to design and build Treblely Park. He
is redone Market Square Park in the past. This is
the guy that knows more about downtown infrastructure than anybody
in the city, and it's the reason that folks like
council member came in come to us for help to
be able to advance on these visions. So we are
(48:18):
really excited to be a partner in this effort. We
do have a great team. I thank you for mentioning that,
and we look forward to partnering with the City of Houston,
Buffalo Value Park and others in additional projects like this.
Thank you all very much. Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 12 (48:32):
I think Brett is now the in house guru on
all things charging stations. So again, our appreciations to Downtown Houston,
plus they are the essence of what partnership is next.
We're going to hear from Chad Stein with Centerpoint Energy.
Chad is the director of Strategic Business Engagement. As I mentioned, Centerpoint,
(48:52):
with the help of people like Ginger Baldwin, Paul Locke,
Michelle Justin, I think I got everyone and others helped
us out identify the best locations for these charging stations,
and it's center Points infrastructure that is connecting these chargers
and they would not function literally without Centerpoint's help. Please
(49:12):
welcome chat.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 11 (49:20):
So I appreciate the imitation the politicians to come up
here and speak for a Center Point. You know, we'll
mention this if I've been a two to three year effort.
Approximately a few years ago justin Green Ginger Baldwin and
eventually Charlotte Webster were engaged by Councilman Kayman's office to
find some locations around town that can best serve you know,
EV charging and provide more accessibility to EV charging in
(49:42):
the in the district Sea area. With that said, we
settled on the El Nortonsley Parks location, which has been
great identifying you know capacity for the area. These aren't
large chargers, but it's still something important to ensure that
you know, the grid support the overall load coming in.
But it's also an ideal location and to create that
accessibility and provide a constituents with ample charging capacity.
Speaker 4 (50:06):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (50:06):
With that said, we uh we move forward quickly. It's
it's been you know a couple of years in the making,
but we appreciate the partnership and the collaboration, but not
only council members, district seat office, but also the tours
uh the downtown Houston as well as well as eball
if Houston, UH to to ensure this project was completely successfully.
Speaker 5 (50:24):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (50:24):
You know, EV charging is very important to the Centerpoint
Energy we uh you know, as in my role at
Center Point, I support our large customer engagement but also
all ourlification programs, so you know, not only with the
city but with local county uh, you know, companies like
Tesla ev go. You know, we want to ensure that
you know, we can continue to proliferate these charging locations
to create a higher adoption rate overall for for EV's
(50:46):
across the city Houston and its surrounding counties to to
ensure you know, a clean air future, right, lower dependence
on on combustionble gasoline vehicles that create more greenhouse gases
for the atmosphere. So clean Houston is kind of essentially
what Houston Center Points goals and hopefully the goals of
all of us here today to continue to grow that
(51:07):
adoption rate. And it's only going to be more helpful
to have more charging capacity around town. So again, really
appreciate the partnership and collaboration across all these different organizations
and yes, thank you again, Council Member Camp.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
The facility is a level two charger, meaning that it
still takes a long time to fully charge and can
only charge two cars at a time, and is located
along Allen Parkway close to the Sabine Bridge. You are
charged thirty cents per kilowot, which is less than most
charging stations. Ali Hater is with Strategic Business development and
(51:41):
sales project coordinator. He talked about the company and how
it will work.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
So we're evy Bolt.
Speaker 14 (51:47):
We started about four years ago, Houston based TV charging company.
Our goal is to basically make ev charging accessible easier,
and our goal is to basically put out charges as
much as we can for people to basically use an
easy charging access and not a lot of stuff going on.
Download this and that, some easy ways like three simple steps,
(52:09):
you connect and you.
Speaker 5 (52:10):
Charge, and it was the killo whatt.
Speaker 14 (52:14):
So few of the charges that we have deployed their
eleven point five kilowatt. Then we have nineteen point two
kilo a lot around two ninety Houston area, we have
a two hundred and forty kilo DC charger and then
Channel View Texas we have about sixty kilowatt two machines
down there.
Speaker 1 (52:30):
The charging station is now open to the public. We
end this edition of the People's News with a reading
from Timothy Snyder's on Tyranny. Twenty lessons from the twentieth Century,
which was published in twenty seventeen and something I used
as a guidebook to get me through the first Donald
Trump presidency. We're reading number fourteen of the twenty Lessons,
(52:51):
which is entitled establish a private life. Nastier rulers will
use what they know about you to push you around,
scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember
that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the
Internet or simply using it less have personal exchanges in
(53:12):
person for the same reason. Resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants
seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not
to have hooks. What the great political thinker Hannah Arent
meant by totalitarianism was not an all powerful state, but
the erasure of the difference between private and public life.
(53:34):
We are free only in so far as we exercise
control over what people know about us and in what
circumstances they come to know it. During the campaign of
twenty sixteen, we took a step toward totalitarianism without even
noticing it, by accepting as normal the violation of electronic privacy,
whether it is done by American or Russian intelligence agencies,
(53:57):
or for that matter, by any institution The theft, discussion,
or publication of personal communications destroys a basic foundation of
our rights. If we have no control over who reads
what and when, we have no ability to act in
the present or plan for the future. Whoever can pierce
your privacy can humiliate you and disrupt your relationships at will.
(54:20):
No one, except perhaps a tyrant, has a private life
that can survive public exposure by hostile directive. The timed
email bombs of the twenty sixteen presidential campaign were also
a powerful form of disinformation. Words written in one situation
make sense only in that context. The very act of
(54:41):
removing them from their historical moment and dropping them in
another is an act of falsification. What is worse, when
media followed the email bombs as if they were news,
they betrayed their own mission. Few journalists made an effort
to explain why people said or wrote the things they
did at the time. Meanwhile, in transmitting privacy violations as news,
(55:03):
the media allowed themselves to be distracted from the actual
events of the day. Rather than reporting the violation of
basic rights, our media generally preferred to mindlessly indulge in
the inherently salacious interest we have in other people's affairs.
Our appetite for the secret thought arrant is dangerously political.
(55:24):
Totalitarianism removes the difference between private and public, not just
to make individuals unfree, but also to draw the whole
society away from normal politics and toward conspiracy theories. Rather
than defending facts or generating interpretations, we are seduced by
the notion of hidden realities and dark conspiracies that explain everything.
(55:47):
As we learn from these email bombs, this mechanism works
even when it is revealed it is of no interest.
The revelation of what was once confidential becomes the story itself.
It is striking that the news media are much worse
at this than, say, fashion or sports reporters. Fashion reporters
know that models are taking off their clothes in the
(56:08):
changing rooms, and sports reporters know that their athletes shower
in the locker room, but neither allow private matters to
supplant the public story that they are supposed to be covering.
When we take an active interest in the matters of
doubtful relevance at moments that are chosen by tyrants and spooks,
we participate in the demolition of our own political order.
(56:29):
To be sure, we might feel that we are doing
nothing more than going along with everyone else. This is true,
and it is what aren't described as the devolution of
society into a mob. We can try to solve this
problem individually by securing our own computers. We can also
try to solve it collectively by supporting, for example, organizations
(56:51):
that are concerned with human rights. That was an excerpt
of the book on Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the cent
Entry by Timothy Snyder. The People's News is a production
of Steve Gallington and Richard Hannah, and is protected by
copyright laws. All the information broadcast on air and online,
(57:13):
as well as published in both print and or online,
including articles, audio, clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and videos, are
protected by these copyright and other state and federal intellectual
property laws. Therefore, you may not use our content in
any prohibited way, including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting,
(57:33):
or posting on the Internet without the expressed written permission
of The People's News. Prohibited use also includes publication of
our material in printed or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers,
as well as all website or email distribution. To obtain
permission to use copyrighted material. Email Steve Gallington at Steve
(57:54):
at gallington dot com. Thank you,
It's the week of August tenth, and this is what's
on the People's News. The convicted felon Trump ordered it,
and Greg Abbott is bowing to his wishes. The fight
for redistricting in Texas. We talked to local state Democratic
representatives who broke quorum to keep this mid cycle redistricting
(00:25):
from happening. We also talked to a Republican strategist about
how Republicans are pushing for a permanent Republican majority fighting
for him in special session. The Texas governor changes his tune,
electric vehicle charging comes to Alan Parkway. All that and
(00:48):
more on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is
the People's News, and the People's News starts now. The
convicted felon and leader of this criminal, corrupt and Republican government,
(01:08):
Donald Trump called up Texas Governor Greg Abbott and called
for other Republican leaders in Republican states to a mid
decade redistricting change to further gerryman of the state, to
guarantee that Trump will have a majority in the second
half of his second term and will be able to
(01:29):
avoid all prosecution from the many crimes that he's committed.
So being the good servant. Republican Governor Greg Abbott has
called for special session, and as provided for in the
Texas Constitution, Democrats left the state to prevent a quorum
from being called to keep redistricting from happening, which would
(01:52):
remove five Democrat leaning districts, denying millions of black and
brown people their choice. The governor has vowed to call
a special session after special session if the fifty Democratic
state representatives stay out of state. The new maps, as
(02:12):
proposed would cut predominantly black and brown districts in Dallas,
San Antonio, and Houston. The eighteenth Congressional district would be
cut in half, making what is now two representatives from
Houston in that area that would become one. State Senator
John Cornyn has asked the FBI, which has no jurisdiction
(02:32):
in this as a state matter and is not a
federal crime. No federal crimes have been broken, to get
involved in locating the fleeing Democrats, and the House has
filed fines of five hundred dollars a day to those fleeing,
which also is law. Ron Reynolds is the Democratic representative
in the state four District twenty seven in Fort Benn County.
(02:54):
He is the chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus
and chair of the Texas HBCU Caucus. We spoke to
him in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, first of all, it's always an honor to be
on with you. We are I'm with my colleagues from
the House Democredit Caucus. We have left the state to
break kworm because the state of Texas, through Governor Abbott,
was trying to pass a Trump Texas style takeover by
racially Jerryman during five congressional districts in Texas, including specifically
(03:28):
targeting the eighteenth and ninth congressional district in Houston, currently
held by Congressman Al Green, and targeting Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
out of the thirtieth Congressional district in Dallas along with
Congressman Mark VC. They're trying to take our four congressional
districts that are African American and split them in half
so that we only have two. And we believe that
(03:49):
this is straight up out of the nineteen sixties pre
Voting Rights Act, and we are here to fight and
stand against it.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
The Republicans are pressing their advantage across the country and
are making assumptions that everybody is MAGA and everybody is
a Republican, that we're right leaning. This is a foundational
live the Republican Party. It's particularly not true in Texas,
which has been a majority Democratic state for almost five decades,
but due to jerrymandering, due to dirty tricks from the
(04:23):
Republican Party, has managed to vote Republican and lose the
Democratic majorities in the state House. Vlad davidok is a
Republican media strategist, and he's okay with all of this.
He spoke to us about the Republican side of the issue.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
All right, So what we understand is that the rationale
the decision to move forward with tough districting changes really
based on the fact that there are five no, there
are four, sorry, there were four Congression districts here in
(05:01):
Texas that were originally drawn along racial lines that are
no longer legally permissible, right, And so previously that was
the methodology that they used to draw those lines was
permitted because coalition districts fell under that particular heading. And
(05:24):
so what has happened is since that time, legal opinion
and the courts have ruled, and the federal president has shifted,
so Texas has to abandon the prior justifications that they
that Texas was using to draw the coalition or majority
Hispanic districts, and the Department of Justice has warned that
(05:46):
there could be potential lawsuits if Texas does not act,
and so making legislative correction is in this particular instance
the most prudent path forward, right, And so what we
have in Texas right now.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
We.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Have a legislative majority composed primarily of Republicans. Best certainly
there are some Democrats who have worked very closely with
Republicans to pass significant legislation during the last session and
even during this special session, and certainly the significant majority
of those Democrats are opposed to the redistricting legislation that
(06:25):
needs to be taking place. But the legislative majority has
pledged collaboration with them, to work with them directly, to
collaborate to find solutions and to make sure that constitutional
standards are not only upheld, but to make sure that
the rules are followed in such a way as to
reinforce the legitimacy of any maps that do get redrawn.
(06:47):
And so all of the stems from the Fifth Circuit,
The Fifth Circuit Court Fifth Circuit Court made a ruling
in twenty twenty four in petty way which clarify that
coalition districts, these that we're talking about District nine eighteen
twenty nine thirty three, these are coalition districts that are
based on raith or ethnicity that are unconstitutional now, and
(07:10):
the only way to remedy that is to redraw those
districts so that they're in full compliance with the equal
Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. And so what happens
is the legislature is going to go in and revise
these maps, redraw these districts to comply not only with
the Fifth Circus ruling, but to ensure that they align
with constitutional requirements. And so revising the maps now rather
(07:34):
than waiting until there's a lawsuit, rather than waiting until
there's further claims in court, protects Texas from prolonged legal
battles to eliminate that possibility, and it also prevents it
helps avoid potential federal litigation, and it preemptively reinforces the
integrity of the redistricting process by making sure that the
newly drawn districts aligned not only with the federal guidelines,
(07:59):
with the the Fifth Circuit issued, but also with constitutional requirements.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
But I would say that for as I know, it's
already a lawsuit against this last time they grew up
the map and he was saying it was he was
saying it was wrong, it was gerrymandering, and it gives
just discriminated against minority communities.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And I think that may have been one of the
reasons why the Fifth Circuit wind up ruling that the
way it did, which basically respond is a way of
responding to those claims. And I think the twenty twenty
four ruling UH in the Pettyway case really clarifies that
these coalition districts, which are based on race or ethnicity
(08:45):
are unconstitutional. The way what what what has always been
the standard is you cannot draw congressional lines based on
race unless it is designed to infrace franchise people who
have been disenfranchised. And so you know, for example, if
(09:06):
you have, you know, a large minority district whereas the
majority of the people living there are minorities, you can't
go in and disrupt that. But what has happened over
time is that has shifted into a coalition of minorities.
So rather than focusing on one particular group or a subsets.
(09:27):
It's looking at all people and lumping them in together.
And what has happened over time is Democrats, primarily especially
those on the far left, have really conflated ethnicity with
voting preference, and they've basically boiled it down to if
you're a person who is a minority, if you're a
person with a brown person, you must vote Democrat. There's
(09:51):
no other alternative. You're a Democrat voter. And what we
have seen increasingly an election after election, especially over the
last day Gade, and most clearly of all on November
of twenty twenty four, is that Republicans have made huge
inroads into those communities by directly appealing to the issues
(10:12):
that are most important in those communities. And President Trump
got the highest percentage of the Black vote, the highest
percentage of the Hispanic vote that we've seen in decades
or ever. And so what we understand, what everyone understands,
is that those communities are not monolithic. They are not
(10:34):
voting in lockstep right. So what we've seen is is
that creating these coalition districts is a radical departure from
ensuring that the enfranchisement of minority citizens is protected. This
was a complete departure from that constitutional protection. And so
(11:01):
the previous the previous maps that the State of Texas
was using were based on the court decisions that were
at that time. We're standing. And so what has happened
is since twenty twenty four, the Pettyweight decision rendered those
configurations obsolete. And so moving forward, the State of Texas
(11:22):
now has the ability to align State Texas state policy
with the most current legal framework, rather than relying on
something that was twenty thirty years old, we're now we're
catching up with modern times. We're removing those legacy structures
that are now unconstitutional. And so we have the legislature,
which has worked in bipartisan fashion throughout the regular session
(11:47):
and into the Special Session, is committed to ensure redistricting
these transparent, fair, and constitutionally sound to reaffirm public trust.
And so what has happened is they've held hearings, they've
worked together try to find make sure that the information
is released. They've provided the maps that they propose to
(12:09):
pass in the Special Session, and by and large, those
maps give districts a solid configuration that addresses the needs
of the constituents and also ensures that legally they do
not discriminate against people based on race. But again, legally,
(12:33):
maps are constitutionally permitted to be drawn to allow for
partisan selection. So it's okay, it's legal for a political
party to draw the maps in such a way as
to reflect the political choices being made by voters in elections.
(12:58):
And that's exactly what Republicans are done. And so the
maps that they're being updated right now ensure that the
districts are drawn on population based on population and geography,
not race, which gives all Texans an equal voice and
congressional representation. I will say I will say this, I
agree with you that the Texas Republicans and the Young
(13:19):
Republicans worked hard, especially on the border, to get Latinos
to vote for the Republicans Republicans and consider and conservative
values and aut o highways, personal religious on the religious end.
So all on the flip side of that, the eighteenth
to eighteenth congressional district would be split up and have
(13:42):
and you would lose. And see if directly I from
wrong that you know that's that's taken away, that's taken
away from the constituents of that community. And the same
thing is happening in Dallas. Well, again, I think maybe
twenty or thirty years ago you might be a little
(14:02):
bit more accurate. But I think since that time, what
we have seen is we've seen a dilution in the
concentration of those particular voters. So what used to be
a very solidly monolithic district of one particular demographic is
(14:23):
now much much more diverse, where there's a big mix
of people who do not necessarily align with regard to
partisanship or political ideology, or with regard to how they
voted in elections. And again, if it's the court has
(14:44):
ruled that these coalition districts where you're taking okay, we're
taking this group of people and this group of people
and that group of people, we're putting them all together,
and we're calling them minorities. That's not constitutional. And the court
has ruled against that very clearly. And so because again
(15:06):
demography is not partisanship. Right, So what we what we
have understood, what we had, what we have been seeing
now over the over the better course of the last
decade or so, is that the definition of how a
person votes is not defined by their demography, by their ethnicity,
and that has been proven to be the case time
(15:26):
and again. And so what we've what we've seen is
what used to be a monolith, what used to be
a very solid group of particular voters that vote voted
a particular way no longer exists. And that particular structure
that has emerged is is constitute is structured in such
(15:48):
a way that it's unconstitutional. And so the mid districting
midde redistricting that's that's being you know, uh reviewed right
now in the legislature is a It's built in such
a way that it eliminates the structural weaknesses that were
(16:13):
inherent in the existing maps, and it gives Texans equal
voices right now the way the districts were originally structured. Again,
we're structuring along lines that are now obsolete and rules
and guidelines that were obsolete. And now that Texas is
moving to adopt the most current definitions, the maps will
(16:39):
reflect not only the current population, but would be in
line with the constitutional requirements.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
A news conference was held Friday, and here are some
of the highlights from that event.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Good afternoon, Governor Adam Speaker Protam of the House in California,
We truly are grateful to be here. My name is
Anne Johnson, and I'm a proud Texas Democrat standing with
my Democratic House colleagues. Make no mistake about it, we
(17:14):
are running from nothing. We see the danger that is coming,
and we are running straight forward. Please know that last
week Texas Republicans, in their effort to try to appease
the entitledment of Donald Trump, have tried to steal five
congressional seats from the voters of Texas. This is not
(17:38):
the first time we have seen folks try to appease
Donald Trump. You all remember that Trump called Georgia and
asked them and said, boys, I need eleven thousand votes.
To their credit, those Republicans said, no, We're not doing that.
That crosses a line where we are with today's climate
(18:01):
and the threat that the FBI come to get us.
We proudly stand with Californians in this moment that when
faced with Texas's steel, they have met it head on
with courage and with a sense of urgency to protect
the entire nation. We are running from nothing. We are
running to the front lines. We are frunning to the
(18:24):
front lines to stand with other Democrats across the state
of Texas, across the state of California, across this nation,
to ensure that each and every individual has the opportunity
to pick to decide that government is for the people,
by the people, and not the politicians selecting them. And
(18:46):
so we are here because we do know that courage
is contagious, and we are here to give hope to
others to stand up and be courageous in disc.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
Fans that did not include public opinion, that did not
include publicritire a patient and had a pure political goal,
and that goal was to consolidate power for this authoritarian
in the White House. California cannot step back and just
let that happen. We have a responsibility to step up.
(19:15):
We're going to step up, and that doesn't mean we
are abandoning our values. While I chaired the Elections Committee,
we proposed independent redistricting commissions for every level of California government.
It was opposed by every single Republican. We updated the
Fair Max Act. It was opposed by every single Republican.
We are not doing away with the independent commission that
(19:36):
we established every single decade, but we are meeting this
moment because this is not a turn the other cheek
moment while they continue to send blow after blow to
the foundations of democracy where I'm from in Los Angeles,
when they go low, we squabble up. I had the
great pleasure of seeing John Lewis several times before he
passed away, and he always said the same thing in
(19:57):
every single room I was in with him. He said,
if you sees something that is not right, that is
not fair, that is not just, you have a moral
responsibility to do something about it. And that is what
has brought us here today. And I have the great
privilege of introducing the Chair of the Senate Elections Committee,
my colleague and my friend.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Super de factive speaker in the history of the United States,
Nancy Polls.
Speaker 9 (20:25):
Thank you very much. Though I think it's very clear
from listening to our presenters so far that the Republicans
are acting because they have bankruptcy of ideas. They have nothing,
no winning ideas to present to the American people, and
they cannot defend their actions legitimately, so they're trying to
do it and bring it illegitimately. I want to thank
(20:47):
our governor for his leadership, his persistence in protecting and
defending our constitution and our democracy. Thank you, Governor Neusim.
It's an honor to be here with the Speaker of
the Assembly and the President pro Tem of the Senate
of our legislature, and hear are their clear message about
what this means to California, but more importantly to our country.
(21:08):
And I joined them in welcoming the courageous members of
the Texas delegation who are here. We thank you not
only for your courage but for your patriotism. For your patriotism,
I've said to you before. At the beginning of our country,
Thomas Paine said, the Times had found us, Times found
them to form a new country. You write a constitution,
(21:29):
and the rest, thank god, they made it amendable. And
now the Times found Lincoln, then found Lincoln to save
that country, the unity of that country. And now the
Times had si found all of us, and especially our
Texas delegation, to save our constitution. I'm from Maryland originally,
and I'm very proud that the national anthem was written there.
And my favorite line in the anthem is proof through
(21:54):
the night that our flag was still there. We have
a responsibility to prove through the night of this Trump administration,
the darkness of it all that our flag is still
there with liberty and justice for all. And that is
what I'm so proud of the leadership of all of
our California delegation in Congress, but also our state legislature
(22:16):
as well. Zoe Laughlin has led the way as the
leader of our House Democrats from California in the unity
that she mentioned about our delegation, and this is something
that we are unified on to honor our oath of
office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
(22:36):
The President is paved over the rose garden. He's paved
over freedom of speech, He's paved over freedom of education.
The list goes on and on, independent judiciary, rule of law,
pave it over, pay it over, Well, we will not.
It's gone too far. We will not let him pave
over free and fair elections in our country, starting with
(22:58):
what he's trying to do in Texas countering that. So
this isn't too wrong, as was mentioned, it's not wrong
in what we're doing. This is self defense for our democracy.
They have stricken, they have hit out at our democracy,
and we are here to defend it. I thank again
(23:19):
our Texans for their leadership, for their courage, most of
all for their patriotism. And now I'm very pleased to
yield to our distinguished leader in all of this effort,
someone who was right out there right from the start,
who brings us together, making us a very crowd our
Governor Kevin Newsom.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
Well, let me thank everybody for taking the time to
be here, and may welcome all of you to Governor
Ronald Reagan's home. Reminded of Governor Meagan's last speech in
the Oval Office, where he talked about the life force
of New Americans. He talked about Lady Liberty's torch, and
here we are are, fast forward decades later, appropriately with
(24:05):
a portrait of Ronald Reagan looking down on the President
of the United States of America, Donald Trump, who's trying
to light the torch on democracy. Let's try to roll
back the last half century. Wants to put America in
reverse on LGBT rights, on voting rights, civil rights, the
rights of women and girls. We're here in that light,
(24:28):
at this profound and consequential moment, and we're here with
six courageous leaders that they've been described. From the Texas delegation.
It is my privilege to have had now two delegations
visit from Texas, and it's my honor to welcome all
of you and to thank you for your courage, thank
you for faith and devotion to the cause that unites
(24:49):
all of us across this country, regardless of party, and
that are the enduring principles of our founding fathers. You know,
we talked about the two undred forty ninth anniversary of
the principles. Next year we'll celebrate the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of those enduring principles. The best of the
Roman Republican Greek democracy, the system of coequal branches, co
(25:09):
equal branches of government, notion of the system of checks
and balances, popular sovereignty, all of that on the line,
all of that at risk. And so I'm very sober
and mindful of this moment, and as a consequence, we
have taken our relationship to this moment very very seriously.
Had it not been for the courage of the Democratic
(25:32):
representatives from Texas to stand tall and to stand up
to walk out as is their right as old a
principle as American pie, the ability for minority to walk
out when it comes to the abuses of a majority,
(25:53):
and they did just that to elevate not just their
voices as representatives, but to elevate our voices to call
out the consequential nature of what's happening. What's happening in
the United States of America is not normal. We cannot
allow this to be considered normal. Please don't say it's surprising.
When you say something is no longer surprising, you normalize it.
(26:18):
This is shocking. What's happened. You heard Representative Johnson say it,
very powerfully and very clearly. And what more evidence did
he need. You saw this take shape after Donald Trump
trying to direct the democracy after January sixth, where he
dialed for twelve thousand votes in Georgia. By your courageous leadership,
(26:38):
regardless of party that stood up against that tyranny. Now
he's dialing up for seats. He called Greg Abbott, who
doesn't have the courage, doesn't have the back vote, doesn't
have the consciousness of the consequences of his action. And
he has rolled over and he said yes, sir, and
(27:00):
and they're trying to dial now for new seats for
precisely the reason the Speaker, Pelosi and others have represented
they will lose in the midterms.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
He knows it.
Speaker 8 (27:10):
Why else would he make that phone call. His agenda's failing.
This presidency is failing. He knows the headwinds in a midterm.
He's dialing for seats. Not only did he dial for
five seats in Texas, he just sent his vice president,
the vice president of the United States, not to console
those one hundred and thirty seven families whose lives were
(27:31):
torn asunder because they lost loved ones to the floods.
By the way, three members of my community in Marine County,
Mark and Sarah and Johnny. Johnny Walker fourteen years old
died in the flood. Mark fifty years old, Sarah same age.
Family friends. We were at their memorial yesterday. Vice President
(27:54):
come to console the family members of the lies lost.
He went in continue to try to rig the election.
You have a special election in Texas. You think that's
all they be focused on. Thirty seven kids dying in
most floods, but they're focused on this a power graun
(28:16):
and it's not limited to Texas and Indiana. You've seen
what's happening in Florida. You've seen what's happening in Ohio
and other states. So we have got to stay a
step up our state of mind is about accountability, responsibility again,
taking this moment seriously, what is our relationship to this moment?
And we recognize we have agency, we're not by standards.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Those are the voices of representatives of Texas Democrats along
with California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Speaker of the
US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Hi, this is Steve Gallington,
producer and host of the People's News. If you have
a story that needs to be told, come to us.
We accept fully produced audio, written material, or just give
(28:58):
us the idea and we will run with it. Shiny
new one hour episodes of The People's News drop each
Sunday on The People's News podcast hosted by spreaker dot
com and linked to my website Gallington dot com. Before
the Commander in chieved Trump took over with the approval
of the Republican governor of the state the special session
(29:21):
in Texas, there already was a special session planned. One
of the bills that's being considered is Senate Bill five,
which is very similar to Senate Bill three from the
regular session. Senate Bill five aims to criminalize the manufacturing, sale, possession,
and use of consumable hemp products that contain any amount
(29:42):
of any cannabioid other than CBD and CBG. The bill
would ban artificial or synthetic cannabinoids, but does not define
the term. Senate Bill five chooses criminalization over regulation and
hands a multi billion dollar industry to the illicit market
where there are no product testing requirements, no labeling standards,
(30:04):
and no business licenses. Texans will continue to access hemp
derived THCHC, but now they'll do so in the shadows
without consumer protections or recourse. We talked to Cynthia Cabrera,
president of the Texas Hemp Business Council and chief strategy
officer of Hometown Hero and Austin based cannabusiness of hemp
(30:24):
derived products. That company has been instrumental in keeping hemp
legal in Texas.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Regulation already exists. So the governor indicated he did not
want a ban on something that's been sold and regulated
in the state since twenty nineteen, and he's one hundred
percent correct, right, So he called for additional regulations. One
of the I have to give Texas props because when
(30:56):
they passed their regulations. You may have heard me say
this before, when they passed their regulations in twenty nineteen.
They did a really good job with comprehensive and like
you know, overall regulations. They forgot an age eight and
so that's what a lot of the noise that's been
made about is regarding. And so I would like to
(31:19):
see us come through this session. As you know, at
least with that age gate. The industry has for it
for three sessions and not been.
Speaker 10 (31:27):
Able to get it from the legislature.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
So you know, depending on how things shake out, maybe
we'll get it this time.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
What about this, What about local people that run local stores?
Is this start any of the stuff with TEXTBLM.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Sure all of it affects them. I mean, if they
go through with a band, they're all out of business.
Their customers won't be able to access the products they've
you know, previously been able to access. So yeah, it
will absolutely be devastating for the local economy.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
But it wouldn't it wouldn't affect people that that's still
legal marijuana as far as people that use it for
medical purposes.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Well, so the state sponsored program is still federally illegal, right,
So Texas has gone against the federal government by allowing
the sale of the medical products. But to your point,
a ban would not affect that program. And in fact,
there was a lot of game playing because Patrick and
(32:30):
Terry both said that they would not allow that program
to be expanded unless they killed this one.
Speaker 10 (32:37):
So where are we at right now? Well, right now,
we're in the middle of a weird special session. You know,
it kind of like waiting to see what happens. I
think right now they're.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Down for Democrats to in order to achieve quorum. We've
lost a week, right and you know, I'm not you know,
Democrats are doing what what they think have to do,
and it's set the special session back a week.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
They still have.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
All the flooding stuff to do, the redistrict and stuff
still has to get done. So where we are right
now is that there's another week next week, there's another
week to special you know, to this special session, and
then I guess if things are not resolved that, you know,
the governor will call for another one.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
What do we do? What do we say about I know,
I know the Lieutenant Governor was going off trying to
sneak in the sneak in the shops and and and
was saying it made a big, big presentation on how
this is just all this is bad for kids and
it's bad for bad for texts. And he had a
bunch of products that he was showing to the to
(33:44):
the to the media. You know, one of them was ours?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Really yeah, the one he threw at somebody was ours.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
So so does he even does he does he actually
know is this just is this just grand standing or
does he shout actually talk to him about it?
Speaker 4 (34:02):
No, I mean that whole press conference had to be
some kind of grandstanding, and if you think about it,
it's just the whole thing was bizarre on multiple levels.
So number one, he's talking about how these regulated and
legalized products are illegal. So number one, why are you
displaying products that you claim are illegal? At number two,
(34:22):
if they're already illegal, are you going to make them
double illegal? Is that what you're saying? Also, he the
bag of products that he's threw at that reporter. Those
products are tested like six times throughout the process, they
had all the they have they met every single requirement
laid out by the state.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
So so what they're saying is it's not it's nothing.
It's nothing that you're actually trying to trying to do
that's going to really affect except for penalizing people that
are law by citizens.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Correct, they're going to turn a bunch of residents. They're
going to turn a lot of people into overnight.
Speaker 5 (35:03):
The federal aspect of its kind of weird too, because
do they feel try to enforce it on the federal level.
Speaker 11 (35:09):
No.
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Basically, what the federal government has done is kind of
like taking a hands off approach and let the states
decide what they want to do, which is how you
end up with what happened here in Texas, where Texas
has a monopoly where there's only three companies that have
been operating since like twenty seventeen. The bill HP forty
six that is meant to expand the medical marijuana program
(35:31):
gives them like two years. Gives the three existing people
like two years to expand into other locations, and then
it allows for several other licenses. But at the end
of the day, what you're talking about is a state
with thirty million people and you know, five or six
companies have a monopoly on the entire state. And that's
(35:52):
what's happened throughout the country, and that's what they designed
here in Texas as well, a monopoly people.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
To get on legal marijuana for municipal purposes because they.
Speaker 10 (36:04):
Are, you know, all.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
Medical problems. These people are going to be affected.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
People who are using the medical program will not be
affected by this if they're currently using the medical program.
But that's the issue, is that specifically the largest market
holder in that program, that company has seventy percent of
the market. And the CEO of that company says that,
and Van Patrick has said it, Charles Perry has said
(36:34):
it that they can't make money, their monopoly can't make
money because they have a competitor in a lower percentage
product that comes from him. So they're choosing winners and losers,
and they're trying to advantage one industry over another industry.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
I had the governor ended up being on the same
page as of the lieutenant owners.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
But they're not on the same page because things. No,
the lieutenant governor wanted a ban, a full on ban,
and the governor vetoed it.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
Okay, but is the only is he is he sad
and with him? Now that's what I'm hearing.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Now I haven't heard that.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
So we're pretty much in the same in the same
same pace as we were. One one wants it, one
wants to full out ban, And why does he want
to full out band anyway? That doesn't that hurts chases
because you told me before it's millions of dollars.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
That billions of dollars. It's like a ten billion dollar
economic impact on the stape. You tell me why he
wants a ban. Who benefits from putting you know, fifty
something thousand people out of business and and you know,
restricting access for all the customers who wouldn't be able
to access this anymore.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
Who benefits, well, personally, he benefits because it it looks,
it looks he looks like he's toff on crime.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Also, you know, we'd have to and I haven't done it,
but we'd have to go look and see. You know
who his donors are, Do they have any specific interests?
I do know because I read it in another article.
I can't remember where it was, but I know that
the medical marijuana one of the Maritha, one of the
medical marijuana companies, hired his former chief of staff as
(38:11):
a lobbyist to listening audios.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
How to get in touch with your organization and your company.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
It's Texas Hemp Business Council dot com and or they
can reach out to me at hometown hero dot com.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
How does this differ from say uh oh, with Texas
to different from like Colorado?
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Colorado has recreational marijuana, and if you look at a
chart dates that have legalized federally illegal marijuana, the marijuana
industry also lobbies them to get rid of the federally
legal hemp industry. So Colorado has essentially banned hemp products
(38:54):
because they compete at a certain level with marijuana. I
think so of the twenty four states that have legalized
recreational marijuana, twenty one of them have banned hemp products.
Here's the marijuana industry, in the medical marijuana industry in
Texas pushing super hard to get rid of this industry.
(39:15):
Why what are you preparing for? Is it because they're
going to be pushing for legalizing marijuana and they need
these products to be out of the way, just like
in all the other marijuana states. You know, it's just
stuff to think about.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
That was Cynthia Cabrera, president of the Texas Hemp Business
Council and chief strategy officer of Hometown Hero and Austin
based cannabusiness. You can reach her at Texas Hemp Business
Council all put together dot com Electric vehicles are a
great choice for people who are driving short distances in
urban areas, saving the environment with no emissions, but driving
(39:53):
an electric vehicle can be terrifying, especially if you're down
to thirty percent or less and you're looking for a
place to charge. The downtown area can be especially hard
to find a place to charge your electric vehicle in
recent months that our facilities have now opened to ease
the problems of charging. There is a Tesla charging station
that can take all cars, and a Shell station in
(40:15):
the Heights and in the Montrose area opening, but these
are private companies. Councilmember Abbey Cayman and partners including Downtown
Houston Plus, hosted a press conference and ribbon cutting celebration
to mark the completion of the city's new ev charging
stations in public spaces and the first to be funded
with district funds. This effort to bring charging options to
(40:39):
public spaces was spearheaded and made possible through one hundred
thousand dollars allocation from Council Member Cayman's district office in
partnership with Downtown Houston.
Speaker 12 (40:49):
Today we are celebrating a very special partnership between District
c Downtown Houston Centrepoint Energy Evolve and city departments to
bring a brand news service to Houstonians publicly accessible electric
vehicle charging stations on city property. In doing so, we
(41:10):
are not only encouraging sustainable transportation, but more affordable options
right here in the.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
Heart of Houston.
Speaker 12 (41:18):
So District City is home to some of the largest
numbers of electric vehicle users in our city, and Buffalo
Byee Park attracts not only tens of thousands of residents
within walking distance of the park, but it's used by
hundreds of thousands, if not millions, each year, many of
whom do in fact drive right here to the park.
And we are seeing here in Houston electric vehicle charging
(41:41):
stations taking shape. We just celebrated a ribbon cutting with
Shell in Greater Heights. Of course, we have Tesla superchargers,
eb Bolt is around town, but as a city we
are still lagging behind other major cities when it comes
to the number of chargers available and any chargers now
(42:01):
available on public city property that are funded through the
City of Houston. So thanks to everyone for making this
day a reality. Again, I want to emphasize it has
been over a decade since the City of Houston itself
has added publicly accessible charging stations on city property, so
(42:23):
a few years ago, Ginger, I think it was three
years ago. I set out to change that, and I
turned to our city's Climate Action Plan, which identifies this
as a very specific need for Houstonians, and in working
with departments, including at the time, our Administrative and Regulatory
Affairs Committee, which housed the Office of Resiliency, and our
(42:46):
Office of Economic Development, I approached downtown Houston with this
wild idea and an offer that I would fund this
initiative to get the ball rolling for our city by
expanding access. I have allocated one hundred thousand dollars in
district service funds, and Centerpoint helped us determine the best
(43:07):
location based on a variety of factors. So we really
are creating this incredible partnership moving forward into the next generation.
A few things about these chargers. This is an Evy
Bolt charger and they are here if anyone has any questions.
I don't think anyone's gonna have questions, but we appreciate.
Oh you may have one. Okay, well we'll get to that.
But thank you to Bolt. We have Casey and Ali
(43:29):
here and these are level two chargers, so it's not
the fastest level. I had to learn a lot about chargers,
but it will get it going. So when you come
to the park, you pull in, you charge it up.
You're going to get a nice charge while you're on
your stroll or your run, and you'll be able to
go back home. And yes, this charger will be searchable
(43:50):
on all charging platforms, including Google Maps.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
The rate is really important.
Speaker 12 (43:56):
It will cover the cost of electricity and ongoing maintenance.
But there is no profit that is being made for
the city or for downtown Houston, and that's what makes
this so special is the rates are going to be
competitive and affordable, and that is why we are giving
greater access to those who come to our parks. We
(44:19):
are not only the energy capital of the world, we
are the energy transition capital, and we are meeting the
rising demand for cleaner, efficient transportation options, embracing our commitment
to addressing climate change, and projects like this are proof
that we can accomplish the goals set forth in our
city's Climate Action Plan. So again we're going to hear
(44:40):
from our very special guests, and this would not have
been possible without them. But I want to again recognize
our city departments, folks like Director Gwen Tillotson Bell and
executive staff analyst Jennifer Curley in our city's Economic Development Office,
Centerpoint Evolve others. We have Bill Kelly here formerly of
(45:01):
the City of Houston, who was very involved and with
Environment Texas, who is leading the way on these issues,
and of course who are going to hear from next
the Downtown Redevelopment Authority. So it's my privilege to call
up Chris Larson, our president and CEO. Chris, I just
want to say thank you again. This would not have
(45:21):
happened without y'all. You have an incredible staff. I want
to thank Alan, I want to thank Brett. They are
incredibly dedicated and no one can question the commitment of
our Downtown Houston.
Speaker 9 (45:37):
Entity.
Speaker 12 (45:38):
And please please pass along my appreciation to the board
as well. So with that, Chris Larson.
Speaker 13 (45:46):
Run of applause for counsel Americayman.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Good morning everyone.
Speaker 13 (45:50):
Chris Larsen, President CEO of Downtown Houston. Plus, we're a
bit of a unique organization and that we have the
privilege of managing several tools that are designed to advance
and better downtown Houston, and they include Central Houston, the
Houston Downtown Management District, as well as the Downtown Redevelopment Authority,
And so it's a real privilege to be able to
bring all of those tools to the table to advance
(46:12):
on something like this. And when Abby called, which believe
it or not, was some years ago, she called with
a very specific and simple request for partnership. She didn't
call with a list of demands or gripes or an
ask for resources. She called that we helped get something done,
which is just music to our ears, and we were
just immediately a yes, and with the support with our
(46:34):
Redevelopment Authority Board, we began to explore this project. And
this project's important to us because it's not just about
ev chargers. It's also about accessibility, thinking more about the
broad array of Houstonians who we want to provide access
to amenities like Buffalo Byue Park as well as Downtown Houston.
And this is a part of a series of investments
(46:56):
that we're making an infrastructure right now to really change
the way that Houstonians engage with the public realm, currently
transforming Main Street creating a pedestrian promenade unlike anything else
in the city. We're exploring the addition of cool corridors,
so we actually want to lower the ambient temperature that
people experience as they're moving around downtown through the addition
(47:17):
of trade off excuse me, of shade and treat canopies
and other amenities that are going to help to create
more interest in the public realm as well as more
comfortable experience and experiences for people that are participating in downtown.
Speaker 10 (47:31):
But none of this is.
Speaker 13 (47:34):
Possible without the support of our boards and then, more importantly,
a key member of our team who I could not
drag up here if I wanted to, but mister bretton board.
Round of applause from the bread board. He is leading
the construction of not only all the things that I've
just talked about, but he's the guy that oversaw the
reconstruction of Bagby Street to create a magnificent front door
(47:57):
to City Hall connecting to the theater district. He's the
guy that helped to design and build Treblely Park. He
is redone Market Square Park in the past. This is
the guy that knows more about downtown infrastructure than anybody
in the city, and it's the reason that folks like
council member came in come to us for help to
be able to advance on these visions. So we are
(48:18):
really excited to be a partner in this effort. We
do have a great team. I thank you for mentioning that,
and we look forward to partnering with the City of Houston,
Buffalo Value Park and others in additional projects like this.
Thank you all very much. Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 12 (48:32):
I think Brett is now the in house guru on
all things charging stations. So again, our appreciations to Downtown Houston,
plus they are the essence of what partnership is next.
We're going to hear from Chad Stein with Centerpoint Energy.
Chad is the director of Strategic Business Engagement. As I mentioned, Centerpoint,
(48:52):
with the help of people like Ginger Baldwin, Paul Locke,
Michelle Justin, I think I got everyone and others helped
us out identify the best locations for these charging stations,
and it's center Points infrastructure that is connecting these chargers
and they would not function literally without Centerpoint's help. Please
(49:12):
welcome chat.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 11 (49:20):
So I appreciate the imitation the politicians to come up
here and speak for a Center Point. You know, we'll
mention this if I've been a two to three year effort.
Approximately a few years ago justin Green Ginger Baldwin and
eventually Charlotte Webster were engaged by Councilman Kayman's office to
find some locations around town that can best serve you know,
EV charging and provide more accessibility to EV charging in
(49:42):
the in the district Sea area. With that said, we
settled on the El Nortonsley Parks location, which has been
great identifying you know capacity for the area. These aren't
large chargers, but it's still something important to ensure that
you know, the grid support the overall load coming in.
But it's also an ideal location and to create that
accessibility and provide a constituents with ample charging capacity.
Speaker 4 (50:06):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (50:06):
With that said, we uh we move forward quickly. It's
it's been you know a couple of years in the making,
but we appreciate the partnership and the collaboration, but not
only council members, district seat office, but also the tours
uh the downtown Houston as well as well as eball
if Houston, UH to to ensure this project was completely successfully.
Speaker 5 (50:24):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (50:24):
You know, EV charging is very important to the Centerpoint
Energy we uh you know, as in my role at
Center Point, I support our large customer engagement but also
all ourlification programs, so you know, not only with the
city but with local county uh, you know, companies like
Tesla ev go. You know, we want to ensure that
you know, we can continue to proliferate these charging locations
to create a higher adoption rate overall for for EV's
(50:46):
across the city Houston and its surrounding counties to to
ensure you know, a clean air future, right, lower dependence
on on combustionble gasoline vehicles that create more greenhouse gases
for the atmosphere. So clean Houston is kind of essentially
what Houston Center Points goals and hopefully the goals of
all of us here today to continue to grow that
(51:07):
adoption rate. And it's only going to be more helpful
to have more charging capacity around town. So again, really
appreciate the partnership and collaboration across all these different organizations
and yes, thank you again, Council Member Camp.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
The facility is a level two charger, meaning that it
still takes a long time to fully charge and can
only charge two cars at a time, and is located
along Allen Parkway close to the Sabine Bridge. You are
charged thirty cents per kilowot, which is less than most
charging stations. Ali Hater is with Strategic Business development and
(51:41):
sales project coordinator. He talked about the company and how
it will work.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
So we're evy Bolt.
Speaker 14 (51:47):
We started about four years ago, Houston based TV charging company.
Our goal is to basically make ev charging accessible easier,
and our goal is to basically put out charges as
much as we can for people to basically use an
easy charging access and not a lot of stuff going on.
Download this and that, some easy ways like three simple steps,
(52:09):
you connect and you.
Speaker 5 (52:10):
Charge, and it was the killo whatt.
Speaker 14 (52:14):
So few of the charges that we have deployed their
eleven point five kilowatt. Then we have nineteen point two
kilo a lot around two ninety Houston area, we have
a two hundred and forty kilo DC charger and then
Channel View Texas we have about sixty kilowatt two machines
down there.
Speaker 1 (52:30):
The charging station is now open to the public. We
end this edition of the People's News with a reading
from Timothy Snyder's on Tyranny. Twenty lessons from the twentieth Century,
which was published in twenty seventeen and something I used
as a guidebook to get me through the first Donald
Trump presidency. We're reading number fourteen of the twenty Lessons,
(52:51):
which is entitled establish a private life. Nastier rulers will
use what they know about you to push you around,
scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember
that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the
Internet or simply using it less have personal exchanges in
(53:12):
person for the same reason. Resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants
seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not
to have hooks. What the great political thinker Hannah Arent
meant by totalitarianism was not an all powerful state, but
the erasure of the difference between private and public life.
(53:34):
We are free only in so far as we exercise
control over what people know about us and in what
circumstances they come to know it. During the campaign of
twenty sixteen, we took a step toward totalitarianism without even
noticing it, by accepting as normal the violation of electronic privacy,
whether it is done by American or Russian intelligence agencies,
(53:57):
or for that matter, by any institution The theft, discussion,
or publication of personal communications destroys a basic foundation of
our rights. If we have no control over who reads
what and when, we have no ability to act in
the present or plan for the future. Whoever can pierce
your privacy can humiliate you and disrupt your relationships at will.
(54:20):
No one, except perhaps a tyrant, has a private life
that can survive public exposure by hostile directive. The timed
email bombs of the twenty sixteen presidential campaign were also
a powerful form of disinformation. Words written in one situation
make sense only in that context. The very act of
(54:41):
removing them from their historical moment and dropping them in
another is an act of falsification. What is worse, when
media followed the email bombs as if they were news,
they betrayed their own mission. Few journalists made an effort
to explain why people said or wrote the things they
did at the time. Meanwhile, in transmitting privacy violations as news,
(55:03):
the media allowed themselves to be distracted from the actual
events of the day. Rather than reporting the violation of
basic rights, our media generally preferred to mindlessly indulge in
the inherently salacious interest we have in other people's affairs.
Our appetite for the secret thought arrant is dangerously political.
(55:24):
Totalitarianism removes the difference between private and public, not just
to make individuals unfree, but also to draw the whole
society away from normal politics and toward conspiracy theories. Rather
than defending facts or generating interpretations, we are seduced by
the notion of hidden realities and dark conspiracies that explain everything.
(55:47):
As we learn from these email bombs, this mechanism works
even when it is revealed it is of no interest.
The revelation of what was once confidential becomes the story itself.
It is striking that the news media are much worse
at this than, say, fashion or sports reporters. Fashion reporters
know that models are taking off their clothes in the
(56:08):
changing rooms, and sports reporters know that their athletes shower
in the locker room, but neither allow private matters to
supplant the public story that they are supposed to be covering.
When we take an active interest in the matters of
doubtful relevance at moments that are chosen by tyrants and spooks,
we participate in the demolition of our own political order.
(56:29):
To be sure, we might feel that we are doing
nothing more than going along with everyone else. This is true,
and it is what aren't described as the devolution of
society into a mob. We can try to solve this
problem individually by securing our own computers. We can also
try to solve it collectively by supporting, for example, organizations
(56:51):
that are concerned with human rights. That was an excerpt
of the book on Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the cent
Entry by Timothy Snyder. The People's News is a production
of Steve Gallington and Richard Hannah, and is protected by
copyright laws. All the information broadcast on air and online,
(57:13):
as well as published in both print and or online,
including articles, audio, clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and videos, are
protected by these copyright and other state and federal intellectual
property laws. Therefore, you may not use our content in
any prohibited way, including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting,
(57:33):
or posting on the Internet without the expressed written permission
of The People's News. Prohibited use also includes publication of
our material in printed or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers,
as well as all website or email distribution. To obtain
permission to use copyrighted material. Email Steve Gallington at Steve
(57:54):
at gallington dot com. Thank you,
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