Politics – Page 18 – Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics

Tackling TX Cities in Austin & Bastrop

Izabella Urbani

Prior to the kickoff of the TCMA Conference, we went to the Blanton Museum of Fine Arts, where we got to learn, look, observe, and interpret various kinds of art! For some of us, it was our very first art museum.

Morgan’s favorite exhibits were American art and Modern American art. Her favorite artist, Albert Bierstadt, had a painting that she liked called “Sioux Village near Fort Laramie.”

The painting featured a native encampment in 1859 that was centered around a sense of calmness and was overall, a beautiful, timeless piece. I can understand why Morgan liked the piece, as well as the artist!

Isabel admired Cilado Meireles’ artwork called, “How to Build Cathedrals” which was created in 1987 and composed of 600,000 coins, 800 communion wafers, 2,000 cattle bones, 80 paving stones, and black cloth. This piece was probably the piece that everyone had different interpretations of, which again, is the beauty of art!

The cattle bones were hanging from the top, almost like a ceiling, while the coins were scattered around the bottom, and the wafers acted like a spine from pennies to the bones. It was overall a very dynamic and intriguing piece.

Jessica loved the beautiful Ellsworth Kelly Chapel, which I believe was another of the group’s favorites! It was comprised of a circle of squares and a sun-colored glass that had all the vibrant colors.

When the sun shined through, it was even more beautiful! Its walls were decorated with Ellingworth black and white paintings that brought out the colored glass.

Whether a piece is simplistic, challenging, controversial, disruptive, or detailed, we learned it’s ultimately up to the viewer on their take always of art.

Clay Pit, Jessica Cuevas

We then ventured to a neat Indian cuisine restaurant, Clay Pit, for lunch. For many of us, it was our first time having an Indian dish. Our appetizers consisted of Naan, Samosas, and Papadum which was like a flattened-out tortilla with lentils.

The appetizers were delicious, but we mostly enjoyed our flavorful and savory meals which ranged from medium spiced Butter Chicken to Chicken Kabobs and Coconut Curry Chicken. One of the great things about traveling with LEAP is that they encourage and provide us with opportunities to try new things.

Texas City Management Association, by Isabel Behm

Once we finished our delicious lunch in Austin, we began to make our way back to Bastrop to kick off the Texas City Managers Association Conference. On the drive into the resort where the conference was being held, we were met with a beautiful scenery surrounded by nature.

The first event we attended was Career Development. The presenter, Larry Gilley, is Vice President and Executive Recruit of Strategic Government Resources.

We also heard from four panelists, Matt Mueller (Town Manager of Little Elm), James Childress (Town manager of Flower Mound), Dalton Rice (City Manager of Morgan’s Point Resort), and Chrystal Davis (Assistant City Manager of Carrolton).

The recurring theme of this session was how to strengthen your resume, as well as your interviewing skills. We got to hear first-hand about what these specific city managers looked for and how exactly they dealt with balancing and managing their workload. Some of the main points of the presentation were to get to know the position you’re applying for prior to an interview by either reviewing the city’s website as well as their city council members and knowing why you are the right fit for the position itself.

When the panelists were given time to speak, they gave countless pieces of advice about how exactly to be successful in those positions. The biggest piece of advice that stood out to me was the advice given by Chrystal Davis. She stressed the importance of being able to take time to breathe and assess your priorities so that you can have a work-life balance and be able to manage your home life as well. Some other things mentioned were the importance of knowing your own personal strengths and weaknesses and being able to let your team succeed and learn from their mistakes. It was an amazing experience to be able to hear from these city officials firsthand and get an inside look at how exactly they managed their specific towns/cities.

Interestingly, we finished the night at a reception, where we spent more than two hours…

…meeting with people, learning new things about city government, and networking in the hopes of landing a job when we graduate!

Learning by Watching: Board of Adjustments

May 26, 2022, Morgan Robertson

Although it is summer, the LEAP Ambassadors look for ways to learn. Thus, when Ken Holland, Chairman of the Board of Adjustments (and HISD Trustee), invited us to attend a board meeting to see how the City works, we jumped at the chance.

Mr. Holland prepped us for the meeting by supplying the agenda ahead of time and explained to Yvette and me what a Board of Adjustments does. He told us that the board is made up of citizens who wish to serve their community (much like City Council, which is also a board). The seven members of the board meet when there are cases to be discussed, and they do not get paid for their time.

Before the start of the meeting, we spoke with Aron Kulhavy, City Manager, for a while and I was also able to introduce Yvette to Kevin Byal, Director of Development Services for the city.

The meeting began, just like City Council, with the pledges and an invocation. The next item on the agenda was a Public Hearing for a variance request.

A public hearing consists of three parts: (1) a description of the variance, (2) comments in favor and (3) comments against. Public hearings for a variance are a time in the meeting in which a representative from the city will explain the issue and why the citizen is requesting a variance. Once the representative from the city explained the facts of the variance, the Chairman, Mr. Holland, opened the floor up for comments from the public.

The second part in the public hearing calls for comments in favor of the variance, and a representative for the citizen gave a detailed description in favor of the variance, which involved property on a setback line for the construction of a new structure. Previously, on the land in which the new structure was to be built, there was a structurally unsound shed that has since been removed. The owners of the property are looking to build a pool house on the site of the previously existing structure. However, due to the layout of the property and usage of the land, the structure would encroach on the setback line by 4 feet.

The property owner then spoke in favor of the variance, as did a neighbor who believed it to be in the best interest of her property as well.

The third part of a public hearing calls for comments against approval of the variance, and at this meeting there were none.

Mr. Holland closed the Public Hearing, and then began the 6^th item on the agenda; for members of the board to discuss and decide on approval or denial of the variance.

After some deliberation and discussion, the Board of Adjustment decided to approve the variance with the staff recommendation of a four-foot setback with a 1-hour fire-rated wall assembly required.

The meeting was interesting from start to finish, and I am grateful we were invited to watch our community at work!

The LEAP Ambassadors would like to thank Chairman Holland and the City of Huntsville for inviting and welcoming us to learn!

Learning in a Time of Pandemics and Misinformation

By Bella Urbani

As our first day came to an end, we attended another fantastic Houston World Affairs Council event at the Amegy Tower featuring Joel Simon, who discussed topics from his book Infodemic regarding censorship associated with COVID-19. As a nice bonus, we also had a chance to meet former LEAP Ambassador Esme Mata, who after graduating from SHSU, went to the Bush School at TAMU, and is now working for Harris County. And we had a chance to see Amegy Tower for the first time!

As we know, COVID-19 is still a very controversial and confusing topic, but Simon–with skillful moderating by Ronan O’Malley–was able to articulate how the COVID-19 pandemic led to various types of censorship across the globe.

The most fascinating subject Simon talked about was how some countries installed tracking apps on their subjects’ phones, so that they could see where they travel, whom they interact with, and whether they have potentially been exposed to COVID. If a person has interacted with a COVID patient, that individual is given mandates to stay at home or go to quarantine, and if they don’t, they can be fined or otherwise penalized. In some cases–as in Russa–individuals were given notifications in the middle of the night, and if they did not respond in time, they were assumed to have broken quarantine, and fined.

It was interesting to learn more about how other nations responded to the pandemic and how censorship policies, in most cases, hurt their country.

One item of particular interest was the importance of local news and leadership. National news figures and media have the “reach,” but they lack the trust, the sense of shared identification with locals. Local newspapers, local reporters, and local leaders share that identity, but almost thirty years after the advent of the internet, they no longer exist in many communities. They lack the reach. So, citizens were not getting information from people they trusted in many cases, and they also lacked information that the national media could not give: such as where to go locally for vaccines, or where medical supplies could be purchased, and the like.

The whole experience was very informative and easy to understand and Simon’s answers to our questions were very knowledgeable regarding censorship, which I appreciated.

After Simon spoke, we were able to get a signed copy of his book, followed by a picture! It was a great opportunity to see old friends (LEAP students and WAC staff), learn something new (from Joel Simon), and make new friends (Esme Mata).

A Presidential Tour: Jean Becker and President G. H. W. Bush

Isabel Behm

It is not every day that you get a tour of a presidential office, and even less common to get one from a presidential chief of staff. But on a busy Wednesday in the middle of summer, LEAP students had just that opportunity: Jean Becker offered a wonderful two-hour tour of former President George H. W. Bush’s office in Houston, TX. Coincidentally, the tour occurred on Barbara Bush’s birthday, one of many connections we would make over the course of an educational afternoon.

Although we didn’t personally know Ms. Becker, we felt like we did from discussions with Professor Yawn and our reading of her book, “The Man I Knew.” And in the conversational, warm manner of her book, Ms. Becker welcomed us with open arms and was full of enthusiasm upon our arrival.

One of the first stories she shared with us was about the christening of the USS George H W Bush. Ms. Becker stressed how important it was to President Bush that the christening happen while his son (George W Bush) was still president. While the Navy said that this wasn’t possible, being a former President (and father of another) has its perks, and with a few phone calls, Ms. Becker was able to make it happen. The office is full of photos, and each photo has a story, and no one is better at bringing these stories to life than Jean Becker.

Another treat of the afternoon was having the opportunity to sit in the chair that President Bush sat in during Cabinet meetings in the White House. Each of us took our turn in the chair, and all of us enjoyed looking over the items that President Bush had on his desk. For a moment, we felt a bit presidential.

The conversation with Ms. Becker ranged across many topics, from international security to the friendships that President Bush developed over the years. One of those with an unlikely individual: Bill Clinton. This is somewhat surprising, of course, because President Clinton beat President Bush in the 1992 election, so one might expect some animosity. But following an international emergency in 2004, President George W. Bush asked his father and Clinton fundraise to help those affected by the disaster. This sparked a friendship that lasted until President Bush’s death.

While we learned a lot about the man President George H.W. Bush was, we also learned about how Ms. Becker came to be his Chief of Staff and how her life was drastically changed. She grew up in a small town, went to college in her home state, and upon graduating, worked her way up with various newspapers to USA Today. In 1988, she was assigned to cover the wives of the presidential candidates. When George H. W. Bush was elected, she was offered the role of Deputy Press Secretary to the first lady.

When this job ended following President Bush’s loss in 1992, he offered her the position of his “interim” post-presidency chief of staff. The interim position lasted for more than 25 years–until his death in 2018.

In a very relatable way, Ms. Becker shared many thoughts about her career, offering us valuable advice for our own careers. In particular, she reminded us it was okay to stray away from our “plan,” which is what she did when she was offered a job at the White House.

We were there for more than two hours, and time flew by. When we left, we all agreed that we could have listened to her all day, if schedules and time permitted. She was a wealth of knowledge, we absolutely enjoyed every second of it, and we were impressed by her example of hospitality and generosity.

Side Note: It wouldn’t be a LEAP trip, if we didn’t learn something about art. So it was interesting that, when we entered the building, we encountered a bust of George Bush done by Huntsville artist David Adickes.

Moreover, we also saw a work by George Rodrigue, an artist LEAP is familiar with through trips to Austin and New Orleans. Here the work was on President Bush’s wall, and it was signed to him by George Rodrigue!

Venezuelan Refugees: A health, economic, and educational crisis

Morgan Robertson

Although summer is often a time for students taking time off, Izabella (Bella) Urbani, Isabel Behm, former LEAP Ambassador Quinn Kobrin, and the LEAP Ambassadors braved the Houston summer traffic to attend The World Affairs Council Event “Combating Venezuela’s Refugee Crisis.”

We were excited to be invited to the Palm Restaurant, a nice steakhouse in downtown Houston. We ventured through the dining room and into a private room that was decorated with murals featuring scenes of Houston.

The room was full of doctors and medical professionals from Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation, Chevron employees, and interested citizens of Houston. Jessica, Saara, and I introduced Bella and Isabel to Sandija Bayot, the Chief Development Officer for WAC, and someone we can always count on for a warm greeting.

Maryanne Maldonado, the Executive Director of the World Affairs Council…

….introduced Dr. Michael Mizwa, who is the Director of Global Health, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the CEO of Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

Before actually speaking on the topic, Dr. Mizwa, offered us a friendly greeting of “Go Bearkats,” and then moved to an introduction of our featured speaker: Ana Maria Galvis, the Executive Director of Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation, Colombia.

Galvis began by explaining some of the issues that Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) face. However, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Colombia operates somewhat differently than traditional NGOs. The program is run and operated by Colombians and, although the overall program objective is to promote health, they can’t do that without addressing related issues. Thus, they focus on four major issues: health, food, education, and nutrition.

Recently, there has been an influx of Venezuelans migrating to Columbia; many of whom require immediate or long-term medical care. The employment rate in La Guajira (a Department of Colombia0 is 26.1 % and only one-third have visas. To provide aid to the incoming Venezuelans, the current President of Colombia has offered 10-year permits. Galvis said this has helped to reduce the number of undocumented migrants, but there is still work to be done to track their medical needs.

Since the program is an NGO, it is held to a different standard than the privately funded healthcare centers. Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Colombia offers 25 health certified services, and they have a dedication to “not just treating the illness, [but] treating the human being.”

Since 2014 the program has provided treated 12,400 patients, administered 7,000 vaccinations, and is the only NGO in Colombia authorized to provide the Covid-19 vaccination. The program has done amazing work to provide aid for the current crisis, and their approach is what we, as social science majors, also aim for: the help communities, not just individuals.

The event was enormously educational, and it also moved us out of our comfort zones, prompting us to converse with professionals over lunch, discussing topics with which we aren’t overly familiar.

It is a recipe for growth, and one we enjoyed very much.

Ambassadors Come Together from Across Texas

May 29, 2022, Yvette Mendoza

One of the many wonderful programs offered by the Annette Strauss Institute at the University of Texas at Austin is the Texas Civic Ambassadors program, which I was fortunate to be selected for last year. I was one of approximately 30 such students selected, and this past weekend, many of us descended on Austin to participate in the TCA’s closing ceremonies.

I was able to meet with people from El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, north Texas, and I, of course, represented SHSU and East Texas.

The Institute brought in public servants to speak to us, including Austin’s Mayor, Steve Adler and Matt Glazer. Both provided insights into civic engagement, from Adler’s discussion of how he tackled a pandemic in Austin, and Glazer discussed how change occurs–by caring, by being present, by stepping up, contributing, being accountable, advocating, and planning.

While we learned from these public servants, we also learned from each other. Each TCA presented their project and what progress they have made thus far. It included creating a Latinx open house, voter registration drives, getting junior high and high schoolers civically involved, and the like.

My project, Beyond Bars, focuses explicitly on civically educating the students at Sam Houston and the citizens of Huntsville on the incarceration process–from arrest, to prosecution, to incarceration and alternatives to incarceration, to rehabilitation and reentry.

Along with listening to one another, we also had the opportunity to network with TCA alumni and other people who have significantly impacted our state with various nonprofit organizations.

To top off our ceremony, we didn’t leave without getting a taste of Austin at Kerbey Lane; this gave us a chance to say our goodbyes but never forgot our love for engagement.

I am incredibly grateful for the various opportunities I have been given in this program, and I will continue to use what I have learned at Annette Strauss Institute on my path of continuing civic engagement.

Candidate Forum: (May) Runoff Version

Jessica Cuevas

With the primary run-off elections around the corner, the Walker County Republican Party hosted a Candidate Forum for residents on May 10^th at the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veteran Museum of Texas, allowing the residents of Walker County to hear from the candidates one last time. And, if residents weren’t able to attend in person, the Huntsville Item lived streamed it so that almost everyone could be informed.

LEAP Ambassadors Morgan, Heather Erin, and I helped with check-in, while candidates also manned tables highlighting their candidacies. Ms. Mckenzie introduced things.

Despite being the quietest of the group–or, in fact, any group–I was asked by Ms. Mckenzie to say the pledges.

The questions for the forum were submitted by members of the community, out of which only seven were selected by a committee for each office: County Judge and District 12 State Representative.

Judge Tracy Sorensen was the moderator for both, which was nice, because we always enjoy the opportunity to see and spend time with her. In fact, she recently spoke at our Pre-Law Society and hooded our graduating members.

In this forum, each candidate had two minutes to respond to the questions. These questions varied from state and county-specific issues, depending on the race, to why they thought they were the best candidate for the position they were running for which they had three minutes to answer.

Morgan assisted in keeping time and informing the candidates how much time they had left.

The first to go were the candidates for state representative of District 12, Kyle Kacal and Ben Bius, followed by Colt Christian and a representative for Mr. Frank Olivares (Olivares was ill not able to attend personally)

Election day is on May 24^th, however, why wait? Early voting opened yesterday, May 16th, and closes on Friday, May 20^th. Be sure to get your vote in!

LEAP Center, Population Health Enjoy Expert Panel on World Health Day

Good things happen when people work together. With that spirit in mind, the LEAP Center partnered with the Department of Population Health to attend the World Affairs Council’s panel on health, fittingly, on World Health Day, April 7, 2022, in Houston, Texas. The panel, featuring heavy health hitters such as Dr. Deborah Birx (Former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator); Dr. Brett Giroir (16^th US Assistant Secretary of Health), Michael Mizwa (CEO Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative), and Dr. Patricia Brock (Founder, Medical Bridges).

With majors from population health, political science, criminal justice, and history, the students were able to learn not only from the panelists, but also from each other.

According to Yvette Mendoza, a LEAP Ambassador and a veteran of many World Affairs Council panels, “getting other students’ perspectives, especially from those students who study health, allows us to see larger parts of the puzzle. It was interesting to see how all of our majors, in their own way, share the goal of making their communities healthier and stronger.”

The concept of collaborative service that was discussed impressed the SHSU students, and it has long resonated with Dr. Rosanne Keathley, Associate Chair of the Department of Population Health. Indeed, in the spring of 2020, Keathley tuned in to a press conference in which Dr. Birx discussed the importance of masks, and heeding the call to service, promptly mobilized a dozen SHSU volunteers. Working in the FACS Clothing Construction Lab, Keathley and her team collectively sewed and crafted more than 5,000 masks, providing them to campus staff, the local community, the hospital, and to others assisting in the effort to fight COVID. “We wanted to help, and we wanted people to remain healthy, so we went to work,” noted Keathley.

Such service has long been a part of SHSU, central to the institution’s mission and its motto. Events like these, observes Mike Yawn, Director of the Center for Law, Engagement, And Politics , “are integral to providing students professional contacts, role models, and education outside the classroom.” For their part, the students seemed to agree: “It was incredible,” noted Mendoza, “to see so many highly-educated public officials collaborating to make the world better.”

According to the panelists, much of the progress that has occurred in medicine in the past four decades has been the result of research, development, and collaboration. Their stories—combining outreach and innovation—were alternately touching, inspirational, and sobering. Dr. Brock spoke glowingly of American medicine, but also described going to far-flung areas of the world to train in hospitals so short of resources they were forced to reuse gloves and sutures.

Dr. Birx—who, in addition to her work on COVID-19, also served as the White House’s global AIDS coordinator for both Presidents Obama and Trump—emphasized the importance of data-driven decision making. Such analysis, she argued, should allow agencies to work together rather than devolving into political squabbles. And by “talking with one another” and working together, “we can save lives and make the world healthier.”

“It was an enlightening panel.” noted Yawn. “The panelists’ message of collaborative service translates very well to education, and I think it resonated deeply with our multi-disciplinary group.”

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