Dist. B runoff delayed by legal tussles
For the last couple of months, Tarsha Jackson has organized north Houston neighborhoods around criminal justice reform, helping to release a “Justice Can’t Wait” policy platform she said the city could enact immediately.
Cynthia Bailey has been working in the same communities, solving what she calls “neighborhood issues” and distributing masks and food amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected underserved communities like those in north Houston.
Renee Jefferson-Smith said she has helped ensure seniors there have hot meals and groceries.
They are familiar roles for candidates running for local office but lately frustrating ones. Other candidates who ran on the same ballot last fall have been in office for seven months now, working within City Hall to enact policies they favor and helping to deploy city services to constituents that need them.
The election Jackson, Bailey and Jefferson-Smith ran in — the District B seat on city council — has been on hold since December amid an ongoing legal battle over the ballot.
District B, a majority Black and Latino area between just northeast of downtown to George Bush Intercontinental Airport, has been particularly challenged by the coronavirus pandemic.
Incumbent Jerry Davis, who ran unsuccessfully for a spot in the Texas House, has remained in the seat to ensure district residents have representation. Still, many residents and community leaders there feel left behind.
“They have gone from being upset about it, to trying to understand, to now they’re mad as hell,” said Angeanette Thibodeaux, president of the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood Council. “How ironic is this? How terrible is this? That in a time when we need representation and leadership and support, the one district that needs it more than any is disenfranchised once again. That hurts. In the pit of my stomach, that hurts.”
Jackson was the top finisher in November’s District B council race. She was set for a runoff with Bailey, who finished second, before it was derailed by lawsuits filed by Jefferson-Smith, who came in third.
The candidates’ lawyers expect an appellate ruling in early August, perhaps as soon as next week, that they hope will settle the matter. Mayor Sylvester Turner has said the city will call an election as soon as the courts decide it can.
At the heart of the lawsuits is the question of whether Bailey is eligible to run for and hold office because she has a felony conviction. In 2007, she pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 along with three people from the now-defunct North Forest Independent School District. She served 18 months of a 10-year sentence before getting out on probation. Bailey was direct about her conviction while campaigning, and she has asked voters to “judge me by present, not my past.”
Texas law forbids people from running for office if they have been convicted of a felony from which they have not been pardoned or released from its “resulting disabilities.” The law does not define what that means, leaving it open to interpretation. Bailey has contended that she has been “released” because she completed her sentence.
The ambiguity of the law’s language has created an open question in Texas, where candidates with convictions have reached the ballot unchallenged in many cities. In others, candidates with a conviction have been arrested or jailed for filing to run.
When candidates in Houston file applications to run for office, they check a box swearing they have not been finally convicted of a felony, but the city does not vet the answer.
Jefferson-Smith’s team argued the law is clear, and pointed to at least one candidate, in Galveston, who won office only to be removed immediately due to his conviction.
Judges in district and appellate courts, however, have denied Jefferson-Smith’s requests to remove Bailey from the ballot or find the city should have disqualified her. None of those judges has ruled on the question of Bailey’s eligibility.
A visiting state district judge found the city did not receive conclusive evidence to remove Bailey from the ballot, and ordered a runoff between Jackson and Bailey for May 2. That was delayed again when Jefferson-Smith appealed the ruling.
Harris County — which administers elections for the city — has said the state Election Code mandates that it cannot hold the election until the litigation has been settled.
“It’s disappointing, it’s hurtful,” Jackson said of the delay. “I can’t move forward with my life because I have this race I need to finish. Let me finish my race so I can move forward.”
Jackson brought her campaign’s phone bankers in for a week to make calls during the primary election in March, but otherwise her campaign has been on hold. She has been a criminal justice advocate for more than a decade, spurred by the experience of her son in the juvenile justice system. In recent months, Jackson said she has been organizing weekly calls with civic leaders to share information and ideas for reform. She also has spoken with freshman council members, an effort to keep tabs on what is happening at City Hall.
She campaigned on a justiceminded platform, pledging to end the city’s reliance on and enforcement of municipal court fees, which Jackson calls a “debtors’ prison.” She penned an Op-Ed in the Chronicle when Turner formed his police reform task force after George Floyd’s death. Jackson, who served on the criminal justice committee for Turner’s transition team, said the answers already were available.
“This was an opportunity to realize my vision of ending debtors’ prison and other things I campaigned on. At the same time, I was free to organize and pull groups together,” said Jackson. “This is a moment, and I’m not in there. But I’m still a part of it.”
Bailey said her approach has not changed since December. She still is knocking on doors and making phone calls.
“I’ve never stopped campaigning,” she said.
Bailey also is out on the streets when she can be, she said, seeking out residents who need help securing food amid the pandemic or want to clear an illegal dumping site.
“I’m doing basically what I would be doing on council,” Bailey said. “My main focus is neighborhood issues, solving neighborhood issues. We have a lot of neighborhood issues that we can address.”
Like Jackson, Bailey said it has been difficult to watch from the sidelines as the nation — and Houston — reckons with racial discrimination.
“It’s been frustrating because the African American areas are the ones that are targeted the most,” she said. “This is not a problem that started yesterday. With (George) Floyd’s murder, it became an eye-opener. These are issues we’ve been dealing with, and it’s just time do something about it.”
Jefferson-Smith did not respond to requests for an interview, but in a statement she said she has been helping distribute food and masks to residents that need them, especially seniors.
“As far as the election is concerned, District B deserves to have someone that can truly represent them,” she said. “I am certain that the courts will do whatever they feel is necessary so that we can all move forward in life.”