Representative Thompson's office sent us this letter, We happen to be sleeping when it came through, but here it is. So hopefully as we put this post up, it's all over the Internet and were just slow.

Milton Riser is a political operative. He has long and well known ties to the Craddick and Dewhurst political way of doing business. His appointment to the Lege council is the shot heard round Texas today. Why? Because the Lege Council is a traditionally 'non-partisan' position. It handles volumes of things from setting up the Legislators' computers to drafting the legislation on behalf of representatives. The fact that a partisan person is being put into this position is a foot on the neck of bi-partisanship in the state of Texas.

What can you do? What can we all do? Well we've got to work fast. The confirmations are tomorrow. You may call Craddick and Dewhurst in their office to voice your outrage that hiring political hacks and cronyism is still alive and well when Washington, D.C. is currently imploding over the same kind of shit.

We look to Senfronia as she speaks her mind. As one of the few that actually know the rules in the House, her voice is one we should look to for guidance.

Her full letter in the permalink. We'll be adding more to this post throughout the night. The confirmations set tomorrow put Texas in its very own Alito Confirmation situation.

By now, everybody's picking up on this story but it's not to late to add to the fire. Pick it up and run.

Call Tom Craddick's Offices: Capitol Office
Room CAP 2W.13
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
(512) 463-1000
(512) 463-7722 Fax

or
District Office
500 West Texas, Ste 880
Midland, TX 79701
(432) 682-3000
(432) 684-4864 Fax

And I guess you have to be single and leggy to have Dewhursts number cause I lost it.

Here are the rest of the phone numbers:
The following House members sit on the committe:
Tom Craddick: (512) 463-1000, Ryan Guillen (512) 463-0416, Peggy Hamric (512) 463-0496, Linda Harper-Brown, (512) 463-0641, Lois Kolkhorst (512) 463-0600, Robert Talton (512) 463-0460, Corbin Van Arsdale (512) 463-0661

The following Senators sit on the committee:
John Carona (512) 463-0116, Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (512) 463-0120, Kyle Janek (512) 463-0117, Frank L. Madla (512) 463-0119, Jane Nelson (512) 463-0112, Jeff Wentworth (512) 463-0125

31 January, 2006

The Honorable Tom Craddick
The Honorable David Dewhurst

To the Honorable Members of the Legislative Council:

It has come to my attention that the Council is scheduled to approve a new Council director Wednesday morning, Milton Rister, a political operative, who has worked against sitting members of both Houses. Mr. Rister will more than likely work with some of these members in his capacity as the Executive Director of the Legislative Council. Mr. Rister’s devisive presence may create a perceived erosion of the confidentiality, independence, discretion, and credibility of the non-partisan Legislative Council.

As one of the most senior legislators and a former member of the Legislative Council, I urge your reconsideration of this ill-considered and ill-timed appointment. Texas Legislators must be able to depend on the Legislative Council to draft potential legislation according to the members request and for those requests to remain confidential. This has always been the policy of the Legislative Council. Having an Executive Director, with such a well-documented political agenda could stifle many legislators’ willingness to make use of the such a valuable legislative asset.

The bipartisan traditions of the Texas Legislature have been honored by such diverse persons as George W. Bush and Ann Richards. At the core of this tradition, is an independent and dependable Legislative Council. I pray a more suitable candidate can be found to fill the shoes of true non-partisan Texas heroes like Bob Johnson and Bob Kelly.
Yours for a better Texas,

Senfronia ThompsonState Representative
cc: Members of the Legislative Council