Houstonian Corner for week ending 6/20/06

Coalition Building Yields Historic Results at the Texas Democratic State Convention

By CONAC Coordinating Committee

Here is the latest news from the Texas Democratic State Convention, held June 8-10 in Fort Worth: Over 35 community members from the Metropolitan Houston–Harris, Fort Bend, and Galveston counties attended the Convention.

In a historic and momentous achievement, two members of the Coalition of New American Communities (CONAC) were elected from their Senate District to the Texas Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC). This is an unprecedented event as no member of our community has ever been elected to this office.

SDEC officers are elected to a two-year term; SDEC offices are the highest elected committee offices in Texas in the Democratic Party. Since only one male is elected from each of Texas’ 31 districts, the magnitude of this remarkable achievement is monumental.

Houston Mayor Bill White, on May 19, 2006 at the CONAC Recognition Banquet, said: “The success story of the USA is due to first and second generation Americans, they are the blood that runs the country, they are the heart and soul of what sets this country apart. And, so why should it be surprising that an enterprising group of people, these New Americans, understood deep in their bones, their hearts, minds, and spirit that they could be a tool by which the very nature of our country could be renewed. Promote the principles that those who made the brave decision to set their roots in a new country should not just have a seat at the table of our political parties but host that table.”

Arif Gafur was elected unopposed from SD 17, when his incumbent opponent withdrew in the face of overwhelming support for Arif. Farrukh Shamsi won a stunning runoff victory against an 8-year incumbent.

Working within the Democratic Party structure and via coalitions, members of our community spearheaded the effort to get approval from the Democratic State Convention of two add-on SDEC seats for Asian Americans. AJ Durrani has been elected to be the male SDEC Asian American (AADT) representative. These unprecedented accomplishments underscore our successful efforts at coalition building and attempting to understand the party political system and structure. After a continuing program of attending the last several conventions, these SDEC achievements have moved us to a different and higher level that we have not been at before. We now truly have seats at the table–and now through Arif, Farrukh, and AJ we can understand how the Texas Democratic Party functions at its highest level.

There were also other very noteworthy successes involving our community members:

- Zafar Tahir who was a National Delegate in 2000 and 2004 was elected the Permanent Chair of the SD-18 Convention and presided over the SD-18 District Caucus. This was also a first such achievement at the State Convention level for a member of our community.

- Yasmin Khan (aka Paro) who was also a National Delegate in 2004 was elected this year to the State Resolution Committee from SD 18 as were Sayeed Siddiqui (SD 7) and Mohammed Imaduddin (Salahuddin), an active young democrat from Fort Bend SD 17.

- AJ Durrani was elected to the State Democratic Rules Committee from SD 17.

Dr. Inayat Lalani and the members of the DFW delegation extended a very hospitable welcome to the delegates from the Houston and San Antonio areas. They arranged for two offsite events–an evening get together and a sumptuous lunch. Both gatherings were appropriate venues for direct interaction and strategic development planning, and resulted in formal agreements to work together in the future on a Texas-wide basis.

Beside the various offices and positions won by the political activists noted above, CONAC had a very successful caucus and press conference which was attended by almost 100 people; among them were delegates, many elected democrats as well as senior level candidates for political office. Building upon its mission of forming coalitions with other organizations, CONAC also hosted a very well attended Reception celebrating the 16th Anniversary of the establishment of the Asian American Democrats of Texas (AADT). This reception was attended by among others, Dem candidate for US Senate Barbara Radnofsky, US Congressional Candidates Nick Lampson and Ted Ankrum, State Rep Hubert Vo, City of Houston Council member Sue Lovell, TX State Rep Candidates Christine Thilbault and Philip Shinoda, and our own JP candidate Farhan Shamsi.

CONAC, which is a non-partisan political organization focusing on grassroots political education for the immigrant communities, and AADT agreed to work closely in supporting the mutual goals of enhancing political understanding of and representation by new Americans.

The CONAC Coordinating Committee is: A. J. Durrani, Arif Gafur, Riaz Hakeem, Inayat Lalani, Amjad Muhtaseb, Mohammed Nasrullah, Farhan Shamsi, Farrukh Shamsi, Mustafa Tameez, and Rashid Yousuf.

Guard Called to Texas – Louisiana Flood Sites

HOUSTON-Texas’ governor sent National Guard troops to Houston Monday as torrential rainfall flooded homes and highways in southeastern Texas and parts of Louisiana, where more than 100 patients had to be evacuated from a nursing home. Houston Mayor Bill White toured his city by helicopter and described seeing “block after block after block flooded.”

As much as 10.5 inches of rain was reported in the Houston area by the height of the morning rush hour, said Rusty Cornelius, administrative coordinator for Harris County Emergency Management. Almost 6 inches of rain fell in just 75 minutes near Hobby Airport, the National Weather Service reported.

Gov. Rick Perry ordered the Texas Army National Guard to send trucks, helicopters, swift water rescue teams and an incident management team to the flooded area.

No deaths had been reported, but roads across the Houston area, including Interstate 10 and other major arteries, were flooded and vehicles were stalled. Hobby Airport was closed for more than 2 hours because employees couldn’t get through the flooded roadways to work.

The storm cell that swamped the city was moving out by midday, but more rain was expected by evening. A flood watch was in effect until Tuesday morning for about a dozen counties in southeastern Texas.

“We probably have another 48 hours of this,” said Josh Lichter, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Houston.

In Louisiana, emergency crews evacuated more than 100 patients from Holly Hill Nursing Home, where water was 8 inches deep in some of the halls. Fire departments from Sulfur and Lake Charles and two ambulance companies moved patients to another nursing home in Lake Charles, about 15 miles away, officials said.

Some houses in Sulphur, La., were flooded, and residents were urged to stay home, Assistant Police Chief Glenn Berry said. The same area was battered by Hurricane Rita last September.

“There’s pretty widespread flooding around the parish. A lot of roads are closed,” said Dick Gremillion, the Calcasieu Parish, La., emergency preparedness director.

In Houston, a YMCA building was surrounded by water and people were standing on the roof Monday morning as water in the parking lot inched up on the vehicles’ doors. Emergency crews answered about 500 calls for help, mostly from stranded motorists, White said.

“We live in Houston, Texas, and you can’t be surprised at flooding in Houston,” White said. “When you have this much rain in a short period of time at a place that’s near sea level, then you still have some real risk.”

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