Dedra Davis, a district-court judge that Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis backed for election in 2018, has been chosen to hear a constitutional challenge to Harris County’s redistricting plan developed by – you guessed it – Rodney Ellis. The plan will likely give Democrats a supermajority in Commissioners Court and allow them to dictate everything from tax increases to the future of flood mitigation in Harris County.
1.1 Million Will Lose Right to Vote for Commissioners Next Year
The suit alleges that the Ellis-3 plan, by switching precinct boundaries and numerical designations – will deprive 1.1 million people of their right to vote for commissioner in the next county election. Further, the suit alleges that precinct lines could have been redrawn without depriving anyone of their right to vote.
Ellis switched numbers of Precincts 3 and 4 and moved a large part of P2 into P3. Because only even-numbered precincts will vote next year, voters in the new P3 – which includes virtually the entire Lake Houston Area – will not be able to vote for commissioners as they normally would have.
Screen capture from 2018 Bar Association poll.Did Ellis’ support tilt the scales in the other direction?
Some might call Davis’ 10-point win over a highly respected incumbent a stunning upset. But Ellis swings a lot of weight in Harris County.
Commissioner Ellis reportedly campaigned heavily for candidate Davis.
One Harris County insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “She is one of the judges Ellis got elected. There are several of them.” A second person sent me the photo above that shows Davis campaigning with Ellis.
Can Davis Be Impartial?
Judges don’t get to chose their cases. And this case has barely begun. The lawsuit was filed just two days ago. No rulings have yet been made according to Harris County District Clerk records. So I’m not alleging any impropriety.
Davis just had the bad luck to draw a case involving one of her biggest supporters – someone whose support likely swung her election.
According to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 18b, Judge Davis has a perfect out if she wants it. Rule 18b, Paragraph B states, “Grounds for Recusal. A judge must recuse in a proceeding in which:
(1) the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned;
(2) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning the subject matter or a party.”
Only the Honorable Judge Davis can know what’s inside her heart, but a million disenfranchised voters will be looking over her shoulder on this case and wondering whether her association with Commissioner Ellis will color her judgement.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/18/21
1542 Days after Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image001.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1256256adminadmin2021-11-18 22:12:202021-11-19 08:02:48Ellis-Backed Judge Set to Hear Case on Constitutionality of Ellis Redistricting Plan
A lawsuit filed yesterday with the Harris County District Clerk alleges the Ellis-3 Redistricting Plan adopted in the Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting on 10/28/21 is unconstitutional. The Ellis-3 plan would deny virtually everyone in the Lake Houston Area the ability to vote in the next county commissioner election. If allowed to stand, the plan also has the potential to affect all aspects of county government from flood mitigation to services and taxation. Below is a summary of the lawsuit. See the entire lawsuit here.
Basis For and Goals of Suit
The lawsuit claims the Ellis-3 Plan, which renumbered precincts in addition toredrawing them, disenfranchises more than 1.1 million people of their right to vote in next year’s Harris County elections.
Ellis-3 Plan will flip precincts 3 and 4. Colors represent new precinct boundaries and lines represent old.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Republican Commissioners Tom Ramsey in Precinct 3 and Jack Cagle in Precinct 4. The suit names County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Harris County as defendants. Significantly, defendants may be barred from asserting governmental immunity under a legal principle called ultra vires and the Texas Declaratory Judgments Act. “Ultra vires” describes an act which requires legal authority, but is done without it.
The plaintiffs seek a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief that bars the County from using the Ellis-3 plan for the upcoming 2022 election cycle for Harris County Commissioner elections. Plaintiffs also seek to extend the filing period for new candidates and incumbents until after the lawsuit is resolved.
Suit Claims Ellis-3 Plan Deprives 1,125,937 People of Right to Vote
One of the most significant features of the Ellis-3 Plan was that it moved more than a million voters between even- and odd-numbered precincts. In Texas, when people vote for county commissioners depends on whether they live in even- or odd-numbered precincts.
Even-numbered precincts will vote in the 2022 election cycle and odd-numbered precincts will vote in 2024. So when Ellis flipped the numbers for Precincts 3 and 4, he “illegally and unconstitutionally” stripped 1,125,937 Harris County voters of the right to vote in the next election, according to the suit.
The Texas Constitution established the odd/even rules in 1954 through an amendment which also staggered the initial terms of Commissioners, thus ensuring half would be elected every two years.
Virtually all registered voters in the heavily Republican Lake Houston Area would be deprived of their right to vote for commissioners in the next County election.
New precincts in the Ellis 3 Plan would deprive virtually all Lake Houston Area voters of their right to vote in the next election by putting them in an odd-numbered precinct.
How Ellis-3 Redistricting plan affects Lake Houston Area. Formerly split between Precincts 2 and 4, now everything is in Precinct 3 except for Summerwood and will not be able to vote in the next county election.
The Ellis-3 Plan moves voters from even-numbered precincts into odd-numbered precincts as follows:
7,192 move from Precinct 2 to l
139,434 move from Precinct 2 to 3
215,142 move from Precinct 4 to 1
764,169 move from Precinct 4 to 3.
Accordingly, last month’s adoption of the Ellis-3 Plan will prevent more more than 1.1 million people from voting in the next election who otherwise would have voted. The lawsuit calls that “a total and complete abrogation of their constitutionally mandated right to vote.”
17.71% Disparity in Population Made Redistricting Necessary
The lawsuit acknowledges that redistricting was necessary. Under state law, precincts are supposed to have equal-sized populations…or as close as you can get. But in no event should variation from the ideal exceed 10%.
However, prior to redistricting, unequal population growth between 2010 and 2020 exceeded that 10% maximum.
2020 Census data on the Harris County Attorney’s website shows precinct populations varied from the “equal-sized” ideal by the following percentages:
P1 -0.36%
P2 -10.47%
P3 +7.24%
P4 +3.59%
That created a population disparity of 17.71% between the largest and smallest precincts, almost double the amount allowed under state law.
2 Million Move Precincts when 200 Thousand Would Have Sufficed
However, the lawsuit also claims that the Ellis-3 Plan moved 2.2 million between precincts (both odd- and even-numbered) when constitutional requirements could have been met by moving only 201,713.
Plaintiffs also claim that they have created a “demonstration map” where population deviations were addressed but ZERO citizens lost their right to vote in the next election. (However, Plaintiff’s did not include that map with their legal filing.)
Plaintiffs offer a simple explanation for why excessive shifting occurred. They assert that “Commissioner Ellis wanted to do whatever it would take to draw a new map that would create three (3) Democratic seats.”
The original petition claims, “…the Ellis 3 Plan does just that.”
“It maintains Ellis’ Precinct I as a reliably Democratic district, making sure that Latino voting strength is too weak to beat him in a primary election, especially given the African-American support he enjoys in that precinct regardless.”
“It strengthens Precinct2’s democratic strength in the hopes that Commissioner Adrian Garcia can withstand a general election challenge by a Republican.”
“It packs Republicans into Precinct 3, such that the likelihood of Commissioner Ramsey being reelected is high.”
“By strengthening the Republican voting strength of Precinct 3, the consequence is to flip the likely partisan nature of Precinct 4 from Republican to Democrat.”
But to do all that, the lawsuit alleges, the Ellis-3 Plan disenfranchised 1.1 million innocent voters.
While generally mocking the lawsuit, even the left-leaning Houston Chronicle admitted today that, “The adopted Ellis map gives Democrats a 50 percentage advantage over Republicans in Precinct 1, 12 points in Precinct 2 and 12 points in Precinct 4.”
The Chronicle continued, “The endgame is that the Democrats can secure a 4-1 majority, which will give them the freedom to set tax rates with a quorum of four members and avoid a minority of two Republicans sitting out and derailing the vote.
Lawsuit Chances
Not one of the experts interviewed by the Chronicle writer gave the suit a snowball’s chance. One dismissed it as “political theater.”
Judge Dedra Davis has been assigned to the redistricting case.
One Harris County insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “She is one of the judges Ellis got elected. There are several of them. The lawsuit has no chance. They will have to appeal up to a higher court.”
A second person sent me this photo. It validates the insider report.
Judge Dedra Davis at Campaign Event with Rodney Ellis, whose plan she will rule on.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/17/2021and modified on 11/18 with addition photo of Ellis and the Judge in his case.
1541 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/20211117-Screen-Shot-2021-11-17-at-9.12.02-PM.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=17981200adminadmin2021-11-17 21:35:342021-11-18 12:44:59Lawsuit Alleges Harris County’s Ellis-3 Redistricting Plan is Unconstitutional
That’s quite true of flood control where, as a society, we seem to have a knack for eroding margins of safety by paving over wetlands, clearcutting trees, understating detention requirements, avoiding floodwater detention, destroying riparian vegetation, building in floodplains, developing next to rivers, sand mining in floodways without minimum setbacks, and more.
Ex Post Facto Analysis Won’t Be Needed After Next Flood
I could cite hundreds of more examples, but you get the idea. This is like death by a thousand cuts. When the next big flood comes along, someone will ask, “How’d that happen?” And the answer will be, “We reaped what we sowed.”
It’s been 1536 Days since Hurricane Harvey. If ever there was a wake-up call, Harvey was it.
More than one out of every ten structures in Harris County flooded.
60,000 people had to be rescued by government agencies.
Civilian resources rescued tens of thousands more.
300,000 vehicles flooded.
22 major freeways were cut off and impassable.
Damage totaled $125 billion. FEMA:
Processed 47,000 flood insurance claims.
Made 15,800 small business loans…
And approved 177,600 individual assistance grants.
68 people died directly in Harvey, most from being caught in fast-moving floodwaters.
And we’re spending more than $5 billion on flood mitigation projects in Harris County.
“It Didn’t Have to Be that Bad”
The saddest part is…it didn’t have to be that bad.
A lot of death, damage and destruction could have been avoided…FOR FREE. If only we had learned to listen to and respect Mother Nature more.
That’s a conclusion I have reached after four years of research into flooding in the North Houston area.
My voyage of discovery turned into this website where I share what I learn virtually every day and sometimes twice a day.
The next step in my journey will be to condense everything I’ve learned into a book that hopefully becomes a case study in how to reduce flood damage.
The major themes will be:
Understanding the causes of flooding
How nobody ever wins an argument with Mother Nature.
Learning to respect rivers and giving them room to roam.
Ending the war on wetlands.
Respecting individual property rights while recognizing our interdependence.
Finding a workable balance between upstream and downstream interests.
How conservation and preservation can be so much more effective than mitigation.
How quickly we forget…and trick ourselves into thinking next time will be different.
In the coming weeks, I hope to explore solutions to some of the problems above. If we can learn to work together, we can live together. And if we protect Mother Nature, Mother Nature will protect us. Let’s reap what we sow in a positive sense next time.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/16/21 with grateful thanks to Bayou Land Conservancy and its supporters
1540 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/20210802-DJI_0286.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2021-11-16 18:33:012021-11-16 21:39:10Sowing the Seeds of the Next Big Flood
Ellis-Backed Judge Set to Hear Case on Constitutionality of Ellis Redistricting Plan
Dedra Davis, a district-court judge that Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis backed for election in 2018, has been chosen to hear a constitutional challenge to Harris County’s redistricting plan developed by – you guessed it – Rodney Ellis. The plan will likely give Democrats a supermajority in Commissioners Court and allow them to dictate everything from tax increases to the future of flood mitigation in Harris County.
1.1 Million Will Lose Right to Vote for Commissioners Next Year
The suit alleges that the Ellis-3 plan, by switching precinct boundaries and numerical designations – will deprive 1.1 million people of their right to vote for commissioner in the next county election. Further, the suit alleges that precinct lines could have been redrawn without depriving anyone of their right to vote.
Ellis switched numbers of Precincts 3 and 4 and moved a large part of P2 into P3. Because only even-numbered precincts will vote next year, voters in the new P3 – which includes virtually the entire Lake Houston Area – will not be able to vote for commissioners as they normally would have.
Ellis-Backed Judge Draws Ellis Case
The Honorable Judge Dedra Davis of the Texas 270th Judicial Court is a Democrat. She first ran for public office in 2018, but managed to beat Republican Judge Brent Gamble, a 20-year incumbent by 10 points – even though members of the Houston Bar Association preferred Gamble almost 3-to-1. And the Houston Chronicle strongly endorsed Gamble over Davis.
Some might call Davis’ 10-point win over a highly respected incumbent a stunning upset. But Ellis swings a lot of weight in Harris County.
One Harris County insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “She is one of the judges Ellis got elected. There are several of them.” A second person sent me the photo above that shows Davis campaigning with Ellis.
Can Davis Be Impartial?
Judges don’t get to chose their cases. And this case has barely begun. The lawsuit was filed just two days ago. No rulings have yet been made according to Harris County District Clerk records. So I’m not alleging any impropriety.
Davis just had the bad luck to draw a case involving one of her biggest supporters – someone whose support likely swung her election.
According to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 18b, Judge Davis has a perfect out if she wants it. Rule 18b, Paragraph B states, “Grounds for Recusal. A judge must recuse in a proceeding in which:
(1) the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned;
(2) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning the subject matter or a party.”
Only the Honorable Judge Davis can know what’s inside her heart, but a million disenfranchised voters will be looking over her shoulder on this case and wondering whether her association with Commissioner Ellis will color her judgement.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/18/21
1542 Days after Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Lawsuit Alleges Harris County’s Ellis-3 Redistricting Plan is Unconstitutional
A lawsuit filed yesterday with the Harris County District Clerk alleges the Ellis-3 Redistricting Plan adopted in the Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting on 10/28/21 is unconstitutional. The Ellis-3 plan would deny virtually everyone in the Lake Houston Area the ability to vote in the next county commissioner election. If allowed to stand, the plan also has the potential to affect all aspects of county government from flood mitigation to services and taxation. Below is a summary of the lawsuit. See the entire lawsuit here.
Basis For and Goals of Suit
The lawsuit claims the Ellis-3 Plan, which renumbered precincts in addition to redrawing them, disenfranchises more than 1.1 million people of their right to vote in next year’s Harris County elections.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Republican Commissioners Tom Ramsey in Precinct 3 and Jack Cagle in Precinct 4. The suit names County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Harris County as defendants. Significantly, defendants may be barred from asserting governmental immunity under a legal principle called ultra vires and the Texas Declaratory Judgments Act. “Ultra vires” describes an act which requires legal authority, but is done without it.
The plaintiffs seek a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief that bars the County from using the Ellis-3 plan for the upcoming 2022 election cycle for Harris County Commissioner elections. Plaintiffs also seek to extend the filing period for new candidates and incumbents until after the lawsuit is resolved.
Suit Claims Ellis-3 Plan Deprives 1,125,937 People of Right to Vote
One of the most significant features of the Ellis-3 Plan was that it moved more than a million voters between even- and odd-numbered precincts. In Texas, when people vote for county commissioners depends on whether they live in even- or odd-numbered precincts.
Even-numbered precincts will vote in the 2022 election cycle and odd-numbered precincts will vote in 2024. So when Ellis flipped the numbers for Precincts 3 and 4, he “illegally and unconstitutionally” stripped 1,125,937 Harris County voters of the right to vote in the next election, according to the suit.
The Texas Constitution established the odd/even rules in 1954 through an amendment which also staggered the initial terms of Commissioners, thus ensuring half would be elected every two years.
The Ellis-3 Plan moves voters from even-numbered precincts into odd-numbered precincts as follows:
Accordingly, last month’s adoption of the Ellis-3 Plan will prevent more more than 1.1 million people from voting in the next election who otherwise would have voted. The lawsuit calls that “a total and complete abrogation of their constitutionally mandated right to vote.”
17.71% Disparity in Population Made Redistricting Necessary
The lawsuit acknowledges that redistricting was necessary. Under state law, precincts are supposed to have equal-sized populations…or as close as you can get. But in no event should variation from the ideal exceed 10%.
However, prior to redistricting, unequal population growth between 2010 and 2020 exceeded that 10% maximum.
2020 Census data on the Harris County Attorney’s website shows precinct populations varied from the “equal-sized” ideal by the following percentages:
That created a population disparity of 17.71% between the largest and smallest precincts, almost double the amount allowed under state law.
2 Million Move Precincts when 200 Thousand Would Have Sufficed
However, the lawsuit also claims that the Ellis-3 Plan moved 2.2 million between precincts (both odd- and even-numbered) when constitutional requirements could have been met by moving only 201,713.
Plaintiffs also claim that they have created a “demonstration map” where population deviations were addressed but ZERO citizens lost their right to vote in the next election. (However, Plaintiff’s did not include that map with their legal filing.)
Plaintiffs offer a simple explanation for why excessive shifting occurred. They assert that “Commissioner Ellis wanted to do whatever it would take to draw a new map that would create three (3) Democratic seats.”
The original petition claims, “…the Ellis 3 Plan does just that.”
But to do all that, the lawsuit alleges, the Ellis-3 Plan disenfranchised 1.1 million innocent voters.
While generally mocking the lawsuit, even the left-leaning Houston Chronicle admitted today that, “The adopted Ellis map gives Democrats a 50 percentage advantage over Republicans in Precinct 1, 12 points in Precinct 2 and 12 points in Precinct 4.”
The Chronicle continued, “The endgame is that the Democrats can secure a 4-1 majority, which will give them the freedom to set tax rates with a quorum of four members and avoid a minority of two Republicans sitting out and derailing the vote.
Lawsuit Chances
Not one of the experts interviewed by the Chronicle writer gave the suit a snowball’s chance. One dismissed it as “political theater.”
But neither did the Chronicle mention that the Judge assigned to the case, Dedra Davis, was supported by Rodney Ellis in her last election bid.
One Harris County insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “She is one of the judges Ellis got elected. There are several of them. The lawsuit has no chance. They will have to appeal up to a higher court.”
A second person sent me this photo. It validates the insider report.
Perhaps Davis will recuse herself since Ellis is the lead actor in this drama. Not recusing herself would seem to create grounds for an appeal. Here is the Texas law governing recusal of District Court judges.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/17/2021 and modified on 11/18 with addition photo of Ellis and the Judge in his case.
1541 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Sowing the Seeds of the Next Big Flood
To paraphrase a Biblical saying, “You reap what you sow.” This quote has both positive and negative connotations. In a positive sense, it means “The more seeds you plant, the more you harvest.” In a negative sense, as Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.”
Parallel with Flood Control
That’s quite true of flood control where, as a society, we seem to have a knack for eroding margins of safety by paving over wetlands, clearcutting trees, understating detention requirements, avoiding floodwater detention, destroying riparian vegetation, building in floodplains, developing next to rivers, sand mining in floodways without minimum setbacks, and more.
Examples from Recent Posts
There’s the development in Spring that chopped down trees along the Spring Creek Greenway.
A new development next to Kingwood along the West Fork that will pave over wetlands.
Where 131 homes will be built 9-to-the-acre, five feet apart, right next to a tributary of Bens Branch.
The 17-acre RV Park whose engineering plans show that the amount of impervious cover didn’t change even after adding 25% more paving to the site. And whose detention pond will be 50% smaller than current standards thanks to a technicality in the submission date of the original plans.
Avoiding construction of detention ponds by exaggerating the infiltration rates of soil types.
Sand mines that build stockpiles in floodways.
Engineers who try to “beat the peak” of a flood by getting their floodwater to the river faster so they don’t have to build detention ponds.
Developers that build new homes closer to the river than destroyed homes now being bought out just a mile upstream.
Ex Post Facto Analysis Won’t Be Needed After Next Flood
I could cite hundreds of more examples, but you get the idea. This is like death by a thousand cuts. When the next big flood comes along, someone will ask, “How’d that happen?” And the answer will be, “We reaped what we sowed.”
It’s been 1536 Days since Hurricane Harvey. If ever there was a wake-up call, Harvey was it.
Damage totaled $125 billion. FEMA:
68 people died directly in Harvey, most from being caught in fast-moving floodwaters.
And we’re spending more than $5 billion on flood mitigation projects in Harris County.
“It Didn’t Have to Be that Bad”
A lot of death, damage and destruction could have been avoided…FOR FREE. If only we had learned to listen to and respect Mother Nature more.
That’s a conclusion I have reached after four years of research into flooding in the North Houston area.
My voyage of discovery turned into this website where I share what I learn virtually every day and sometimes twice a day.
The next step in my journey will be to condense everything I’ve learned into a book that hopefully becomes a case study in how to reduce flood damage.
The major themes will be:
In the coming weeks, I hope to explore solutions to some of the problems above. If we can learn to work together, we can live together. And if we protect Mother Nature, Mother Nature will protect us. Let’s reap what we sow in a positive sense next time.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/16/21 with grateful thanks to Bayou Land Conservancy and its supporters
1540 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.