Fired up and Ready to Go Vote: Why we Must Vote in the Run Off!
- By Jolanda Jones
- Published 12/2/2009
- Political
- Unrated
HOUSTON- Get fired up and ready to go vote during the December 12 run-off! We must get people in office who are on our side, not the establishment’s side. So, let us finish the job we started: electing the people who will fight for all Houstonians to be treated equally in every neighborhood in the City which directly affect your quality of life including: sufficient affordable housing and rentals; safe neighborhoods; decreased flooding; less weeded lots; quality grocery stores with fresh food, including fruits and vegetables; quality restaurants and stores; good jobs; wide sidewalks; covered METRO stops in all parts of Houston; rapid bus transit in disadvantaged areas; equal business opportunity for small business; hiring Houstonians first; working with other law enforcement agencies to keep us safe; working with independent school districts to try and keep neighborhood schools open and competitive; etc.
We want all our commercial areas to look like Kirby Boulevard between Richmond and Westheimer. We want all our neighborhoods to be as safe as River Oaks. We want all of our neighborhoods to be as aesthetically pleasing as Southampton. But we must first elect people who are committed to the notion that we are all created equal and therefore deserve equality of services.
These elected officials must then be willing to work with and stand up for their constituents if necessary. You can’t elect anyone to anything if you don’t actually come out and vote. It has been said that the world is run by the few who show up.
Will you show up and vote? Early voting is from Monday, Nov. 30 through Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009. Election Day is Saturday, Dec.12, 2009. We (run-off candidates), need your vote to win in this overtime period.
If you don’t come back out to vote, you have basically wasted your general election vote. For you sports aficionados, it’s the equivalent of choosing to sit out overtime on the bench, which is paramount to letting someone else determine the outcome of the game. Or perhaps if you grew up struggling like my family did, not voting in the run-off is the equivalent of paying your hard-earned $90 towards a $100 item on lay-away and then not returning to pay the final $10 to close the deal.
In this case, you may have just lost that CIP project or new shopping center or refurbished library or police store-front, or you name it, in your neighborhood. Elected officials decide what neighborhoods get what. Our collective votes will determine if our neighborhoods are included in the prosperity of the city.
If you’re not happy with how your neighborhood, streets, grocery stores, drainage, etc., are, then I’m asking you to vote for me, since I am, in the words of the African-American News&Issues and Houston Chronicle the City Council Member who “speaks out for those too often excluded from the discussion at City Hall.” The Jewish Herald Voice newspaper endorsed me too.
I’ve also won almost all organizational endorsements including the Houston Police Officers Union, Houston Black Firefighters and most other law enforcement endorsements. The endorsement process is a process where ordinarily the endorsing organization vets each candidate excruciatingly. The few, non-party affiliated endorsements my opponent won, were for the most part, organizations that seek to maintain the status quo.
I advocate for equality for all Houstonians. I have been winning awards for over-achievement in all areas for as long as I can remember, from academics, to sports, to Halls of Fame, to community service. I have been published, written about and featured in magazines, newspapers and television.
I have co-authored a book and designed special programs for under-performing schools. I have served on boards and I have raised money for charities. I helped shut down the HPD DNA Crime Lab, helped get rid of then-District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, and as your current At Large 5 Council Member and Chair of the Housing and Community Development Committee, saved the City millions of dollars.
I have also cut waste which saved tax payers’ money and restored and protected property values. I hope I have given you at least one reason to return to the polls during the run-off and I’m respectfully asking that at least one of your votes is cast for me, incumbent City Council Member Jolanda “Jo” Jones. But for whomever you vote for, please return to the polls during the run-off.
While you’re at it, bring your family, friends and networks. Please vote because many lost and sacrificed their lives for us to have this very basic yet powerful right. This right to vote is so important that they take it away from you if you are charged with or convicted of a felony and/or a misdemeanor crime of moral turpitude.
We have been disenfranchised by others long enough. Don’t disenfranchise your own self.
When you do, we have neighborhoods and families that consistently get left out of the American Dream or should I say the Houston Dream.
Are you fired up and ready to go vote? The answer and action lies within you!
We want all our commercial areas to look like Kirby Boulevard between Richmond and Westheimer. We want all our neighborhoods to be as safe as River Oaks. We want all of our neighborhoods to be as aesthetically pleasing as Southampton. But we must first elect people who are committed to the notion that we are all created equal and therefore deserve equality of services.
These elected officials must then be willing to work with and stand up for their constituents if necessary. You can’t elect anyone to anything if you don’t actually come out and vote. It has been said that the world is run by the few who show up.
Will you show up and vote? Early voting is from Monday, Nov. 30 through Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009. Election Day is Saturday, Dec.12, 2009. We (run-off candidates), need your vote to win in this overtime period.
If you don’t come back out to vote, you have basically wasted your general election vote. For you sports aficionados, it’s the equivalent of choosing to sit out overtime on the bench, which is paramount to letting someone else determine the outcome of the game. Or perhaps if you grew up struggling like my family did, not voting in the run-off is the equivalent of paying your hard-earned $90 towards a $100 item on lay-away and then not returning to pay the final $10 to close the deal.
In this case, you may have just lost that CIP project or new shopping center or refurbished library or police store-front, or you name it, in your neighborhood. Elected officials decide what neighborhoods get what. Our collective votes will determine if our neighborhoods are included in the prosperity of the city.
If you’re not happy with how your neighborhood, streets, grocery stores, drainage, etc., are, then I’m asking you to vote for me, since I am, in the words of the African-American News&Issues and Houston Chronicle the City Council Member who “speaks out for those too often excluded from the discussion at City Hall.” The Jewish Herald Voice newspaper endorsed me too.
I’ve also won almost all organizational endorsements including the Houston Police Officers Union, Houston Black Firefighters and most other law enforcement endorsements. The endorsement process is a process where ordinarily the endorsing organization vets each candidate excruciatingly. The few, non-party affiliated endorsements my opponent won, were for the most part, organizations that seek to maintain the status quo.
I advocate for equality for all Houstonians. I have been winning awards for over-achievement in all areas for as long as I can remember, from academics, to sports, to Halls of Fame, to community service. I have been published, written about and featured in magazines, newspapers and television.
I have co-authored a book and designed special programs for under-performing schools. I have served on boards and I have raised money for charities. I helped shut down the HPD DNA Crime Lab, helped get rid of then-District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, and as your current At Large 5 Council Member and Chair of the Housing and Community Development Committee, saved the City millions of dollars.
I have also cut waste which saved tax payers’ money and restored and protected property values. I hope I have given you at least one reason to return to the polls during the run-off and I’m respectfully asking that at least one of your votes is cast for me, incumbent City Council Member Jolanda “Jo” Jones. But for whomever you vote for, please return to the polls during the run-off.
While you’re at it, bring your family, friends and networks. Please vote because many lost and sacrificed their lives for us to have this very basic yet powerful right. This right to vote is so important that they take it away from you if you are charged with or convicted of a felony and/or a misdemeanor crime of moral turpitude.
We have been disenfranchised by others long enough. Don’t disenfranchise your own self.
When you do, we have neighborhoods and families that consistently get left out of the American Dream or should I say the Houston Dream.
Are you fired up and ready to go vote? The answer and action lies within you!