Get this! The Travis County Sheriffs Law Enforcement Association is attacking Sarah Eckhardt with a $10K donation from Gary Farmer! Why? Because Sarah Eckhardt tried to rein them in from a whopping 11% pay increase -- when they're the highest paid force in the state! Farmer is a Republican "heavy hitter" who gave Greg Abbott $50K, Andy Brown $2500, and is a Formula 1 Booster, and a big cheese at the Chamber of Commerce and Real Estate Council. We butted heads with Farmer in 2008 when he played a pivotal role in ensuring the Domain luxury mall continued to receive lavish taxpayer subsidies. (Farmer also personally testified against prevailing wages as a requirement for another city subsidy, the Marriott Hotel). Now get this! The ungrateful Sheriffs are putting out false claims that Sarah Eckhardt should be rejected because she "voted for her own pay raise." This is...pardon the phrase...a bunch of hogwash! The truth is: Eckhardt not only tried to ratchet back the Sheriff's demands for 11%, but she also refused to take her own pay increases repeatedly, and even when the County made an accounting error sending her too much, she sent it back! Get your friends out, folks. In a small turnout election...it counts a whole helluva lot! Early voting ends this Friday. Here's where you can go to vote. Thanks to many of you who gave to Sarah, she's running this ad now on TV. Watch & share! [youtuber vimeo='http://vimeo.com/87482382'] Sarah Eckhardt Campaign Commercial, Vote for Sarah in the Democratic Primary for Travis County Judge! Come on now Austin, we've done a lot of the work for YOU. Use our YOU DECIDE page here. page to get the job done! * Help voters check their voter information. * Send out our videos and ask 10 friends to vote for Sarah and Brigid Shea. * Print out our "Wonder Woman" flier for Sarah. * Volunteer! Let's trim a little fat off the hogs y'all, including the highest paid Sheriffs in the state!
Making growth pay for itself!
Tag Archives: Sarah Eckhardt
The Score on Eckhardt v. Brown: from inside the Democratic Party
Here’s a letter from Democratic precinct chairs, a comparison from Reuben Leslie (a 20+ year Democratic Precinct and and party activist), and a fundraising report — all very instructive, in our view, on why Andy Brown should not be our next Travis County Judge:
FROM REUBEN LESLIE, Democratic Precinct Chair #259:
Sarah’s record
- 14 years of public service experience, 6 years as County Commissioner for Precinct 2 and 8 years as a prosecutor and civil attorney in the Travis County Attorney’s Office.
- Leadership roles in regional intergovernmental bodies. Adjunct professor at the UT LBJ School. Named outstanding elected public official by the American Society for Public Administration in 2013.
- A true progressive good-government-practicing and liberal democrat with the ideas, passion and skills to engage all stakeholders and work out solutions in the public interest.
- She is the daughter of Bob Eckhardt who was my Congressman when I was a student at Rice University in Houston.
- Sarah, like her father, is one of those amazing public servants who take on the most difficult work and make it look not only easy but also a lot of fun. She was recognized early this year by the American Society for Public Adminstration for epitomizing ASPA’s principles, which are (in reverse order of importance):
Advance Professional Excellence; Promote Ethical Organizations; Demonstrate personal integrity; Fully Inform and Advise; Strengthen social equity; Promote democratic participation; Uphold the Constitution and the Law; and Finally, the most important principle, not only for public administrators but for elected officials and citizens too, is Advance the Public Interest: promote the interests of the public and put service to the public above service to oneself. I know of no one else who better epitomizes these values, especially putting the public interest first.
Andy Brown’s record
- No elected public office experience.
- Record of ineptitude, resulting in unprecedented dissension and dysfunction during his 2 and a half terms, in conducting party business meetings in compliance with the law, something a county judge must do well.
- Outrageous record of putting donors’ and his own personal interests above democratic process and community interests.
- Dishonesty and delay disclosing party finance information to the governing body of the party.
- Deliberate sabotage of democratic reform efforts. Failure to follow through on commitments and basic unfairness in committee appointments. Exclusionary cronyism, bullying, and bossism in running the party.
| Travis County Democratic Party Fundraising Reports | |||
| TCDP | Cash on Hand | Spend | Contribs |
| Nov-10 | $130,113.00 | $104,612.00 | $75,392.00 |
| Dec-10 | $59,770.00 | $98,919.00 | $24,907.00 |
| Jan-11 | $45,307.00 | $22,436.00 | $7,710.00 |
| Feb-11 | $33,544.00 | $25,377.00 | $6,674.00 |
| Mar-11 | $36,557.00 | $19,645.00 | $22,299.00 |
| Jan-12 | $57,812.00 | $12,984.00 | $52,754.00 |
| Feb-12 | $106,666.00 | $54,378.00 | $66,702.00 |
| Mar-12 | $120,304.00 | $12,805.00 | $9,602.00 |
| Apr-12 | $114,346.00 | $13,816.00 | $7,298.00 |
| May-12 | $114,914.00 | $21,611.00 | $16,220.00 |
| Jun-12 | $127,322.00 | $24,921.00 | $27,755.00 |
| Jul-12 | $114,466.00 | $21,417.00 | $11,260.00 |
| Aug-12 | $114,549.00 | $21,212.00 | $17,912.00 |
| Sep-12 | $94,370.00 | $38,881.00 | $22,293.00 |
| Oct-12 | $127,163.00 | $46,910.00 | $80,679.00 |
| Nov-12 | $122,352.00 | $91,599.00 | $84,525.00 |
| Dec-12 | $45,052.00 | $122,900.00 | $48,658.00 |
| Jan-13 | $30,349.00 | $25,453.00 | $8,500.00 |
| Feb-13 | $25,271.00 | $8,615.00 | $8,778.00 |
| Mar-13 | $29,135.00 | $8,273.00 | $12,023.00 |
| Apr-13 | $23,858 | $9,385 | $3,530 |
| May-13 | $14,870 | $9,797 | $6,337 |
| Jun-13 | $25,086 | $10,500 | $20,260 |
| Raised for TCDP Thru June 2013 | $30,668.00 | ||
| Raised for Andy Brown thru June 2013 | $178,413.00 | ||
| TCDP Spend 2012 | $495,903.00 | ||
| TCDP Raise 2012 | $401,404.00 | ||
Endorsing Sarah and a little truth telling on Andy Brown
We’re going to step on a few toes. We’re endorsing Sarah Eckhardt for Travis County Judge and we’re going to do a little truth telling on her opponent Andy Brown, a story which we’ve been sitting on since 2008.
This is the hottest race in Travis County and everyone knows this critical position will be decided in the Democratic primary. Moreover, we think Brown will bow to the same powerful interests donating to his campaign that seek tax subsidies, tax breaks, and special favors.Let us explain and please pardon the length of this message.
Sarah Eckhardt served 6 years on the Commissioner’s court with integrity, honesty and in the spirit of cross-partisanship. We may not agree with every vote Sarah’s ever taken – but she is not bought and paid for and she has stood firm while the rest wilted.
Watch the debate between Sarah and Andy. It’s very clear that Brown is not up to the job. He has no experience, unless you think that being a chair of a political party counts as the “experience” needed to be the chief executive of a county with an annual budget of $850 million. No matter how many times Brown says, “I’ve had 20 years experience bringing people together for progressive causes to get things done,” we remain unconvinced. (Again, watch the video on our home page, you’ll see for yourself.)
Here’s what we haven’t talked publicly about:
Brown played a particular role in defeating Proposition 2 in 2008, the effort to stop the Domain shopping mall subsidies supported by 26,000 signatures and 500 local businesses and all 4 political parties. Despite the overwhelming endorsement of the Travis County Democratic Party Executive Committee (by a 58 to 7 vote of the precinct chairs), Brown found various ways to sabotage the endorsement and prevent it from reaching the party’s enormous list of supporters. The precinct chairs had specifically asked Brown for an immediate press release of the endorsement, which he assured them would happen.
Instead, Brown stonewalled the promised press release for a month until early voting was almost over. He refused to allow Prop 2 literature at events and wouldn’t even allow a sign up with all the other endorsements at the headquarters building. Brown either participated in, or stood by and watched others create such confusion about the party’s endorsement, that many of the hundreds of volunteers that year who hit the streets and doors for Obama thought the party’s position was to defeat it. Many of these good people were at the early polls asking people to vote against Prop 2. It was defeated by just 2%.
Friends, we hope you will agree that Travis County Judge is not an entry-level position or suitable for political operatives. Next email we’re going to tell you more about where Andy’s money is coming from, so hold on to your hats.
ChangeAustin.org has our own campaign we’re running for Sarah. We’re going to run some inexpensive ads on the internet and, if we raise enough money, some sassy radio ads. If you can give, please do so!
We also encourage you volunteer directly with Sarah’s campaign — contact Sarah here. They need your help distributing literature and making phone calls — as usual!