Posted By: Kristofer Cowles on Monday, February 22, 2010 @ 9:02 AM

Thursday night, February 18, the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce, along with WTAW Radio and KBTX TV, hosted a State Representative District 14 candidate’s forum at the College Station Hilton. I discuss the Senate District 5 race here. And I discuss the actual event here.

The audio of the forum is at WTAW. To make it easy on you (WTAW seems to be set only for news readers right now), I have uploaded a copy that you can download or listen to, and provide that at the bottom of this post.I do have my own recording of the forum and the interactions afterward.

The candidates and incumbent were all in attendance. They were Rick Davis, Gerald “Buddy” Winn, Blanche Brick, and Fred Brown. Brown is the six-term incumbent. They are in that order, left to right, in the picture.

This was a business-related topics forum, which holds interest for me as a business owner and capitalist, but I did not know this when I went. This is apparently the second forum for these candidates.

My oldest son attended with me. We skipped the Texas A&M history class he is auditing to attend, but this was under the suspicion that the professor would approve, which he did the next day when I called to explain our absence.

There was minimal difference in the answers of the candidates. Noting that there is an anti-incumbency feeling in the political air and in my own heart, I went to the forum to see if there was anyone who could at least do what Mr. Brown was doing. I didn’t even care if they could do better. I was a voter looking for someone to believe in and vote for.

The only difference really came when asked about taxation and paying for schools. Rick Davis stepped out and noted that he would like to phase out property taxes and pay for schools with an increased sales tax – essentially making the change budget neutral (taking your property tax money that you now have and just collecting it in the form of sales tax), and it was an intriguing idea that I thought had merit on the surface and was worth exploring further. The other candidates thought it was reckless because sales tax revenues fluctuate so much, but I figured a simple solution was to designate the first “x” percentage points of sales tax revenue to essential services, including education. You could probably do that and just let the unnecessary government programs lapse…what a concept.

So, Mr. Davis had me at hello, so to speak, because he had an idea and wasn’t just going with the status quo.

I dismiss Buddy Winn almost from the get-go. He did mention that folks may see him as a career politician, citing his thirty years as Tax Assessor/Collector for Brazos County, but having worked on unseating him in 2000 with the Art King campaign, I recognize that, frankly, the electorate doesn’t care who that person is, if they even know who it is. My challenge with Mr. Winn is that, when he ran for re-election to that post, he switched parties when it was convenient. I don’t trust that method. Five minutes into the discussion I knew Mr. Winn wasn’t the choice because he started name-dropping the people he knew in Austin, as if that were his ticket. He probably mentioned four or five names, and I just decided I didn’t want to send another good ol’ boy into the good ol’ boy capitol. Mr. Win on several occasions also said things like “I agree with what Fred said.” I don’t think Mr. Winn had an original idea all night…at least not that I remember.

Ms. Brick was introduced as having a gazillion degrees from all over the place, and as a division leader at Blinn College. Very impressive academic credentials, and she has a firm grasp on history. I’m sorry to say that my impression was that she had no plan for what she would do and was figuring on the application of theory to get her through the legislative process. That looks good on paper, but not in the halls of the state house.

Mr. Brown was able to cite what he had done, and none of the other candidates either contradicted him or pointed out that what they thought he was doing or had done was wrong. It was an implicit acceptance that he had been serving well.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Jack Kennedy ran for President not telling folks how bad Eisenhower was, but by saying he simply could do better.

But none of these candidates said they could do better.

So when the one-hour forum was over, I stopped Rick Davis as he was walking by, introduced myself and my son to him, and told him I was interested in his tax idea.

And then he lost my vote.

Ten seconds didn’t go by before he interrupted me to introduce me to his son. Okay.

Ten more seconds didn’t go by before he asked me to wait a second while he greeted someone else whom he knew. Okay.

A few seconds later, someone interrupted him for a picture. Okay.

The time we had in between, though limited, was spent with him telling me how his idea would benefit the poor, etc., without listening to me and my idea on how to tweak his message on the taxes to make sure it got related to the electorate correctly. I would have taken less than thirty seconds to share with him and, knowing it was a meet and greet time for candidates, I would have walked away after getting his card, if I could have asked for it. But I couldn’t.

Before he was even done telling me what he thought I needed to know, he was distracted by someone else and just moved on, leaving my son and me just hangin’.

I don’t think Mr. Davis will represent me in Austin. He didn’t look me in the eye, glad-handed everyone, talked and didn’t listen. And I can guarantee you that EVERY person he talked to when interrupting me were people he knew and whose vote he already had. Mine he could have won, and received my endorsement on this very page. Instead, I suggest you avoid voting for Mr. Davis.

I like him, but I don’t want him n Austin. We little people won’t be represented.

So, my son and I headed for the restroom and I then decided I would seek out Mr. Brown. Ms. Brick had left, and my decision about Mr. Winn was made. Let’s see if Fred can hang onto my vote.

Bazinga.

Whether it’s skills as a politician or genuinely interested in what I was saying, he was spot on. I would suggest it comes from his decades of business experience and dealing with people.

My son and I waited outside a circle of four or five people surrounding Mr. Brown, all who seemed to be family or campaign help. While I was distracted talking to my son, I heard a voice to my left thanking us for coming out. It was Fred Brown, who had made his way around the far side of the circle to come talk with us.

I shook his hand, commented on my reasons for coming here and mentioning the anti-incumbency sentiments. I told him I had interested in Mr. Davis because of his tax idea, but not anymore, and that I didn’t agree with all of Fred’s positions. I didn’t get specific, but to tell you the main thing is the ideas of toll roads and casinos. Toll roads work, and so do casinos. Nobody running thinks of them as very valuable, and that’s a shame.

But, since nobody had a differing position, I wasn’t sure there was any reason to change. I first saw Fred Brown when the Brazos Valley Coalition For Life formed at Central Baptist Church in Bryan under the very capable hands of Lauren Gulde, and Mr. Brown was sitting in the seats a few rows in front of me. At that time I think he was in or going into his first term as State Representative. I do know that he donated the furniture for the first offices of the BVCL, and I am not unsure of his pro-life stance at all. He’s definitely on the side of unborn children.

Fred gave me his card and engaged my son in conversation. He listened, intently, and had great eye contact. He wanted my vote, sure, but he was sincere in his telling me to contact him anytime, and that the number on his card was his cell phone number and to call anytime.

All of the candidates seemed to invoke Ronald Reagan, though perhaps it was Rick Davis who did it the most. Conservatism was the theme of the night from all candidates, and I don’t suspect there’s a RINO amongst them. I went there with my vote up for grabs, and I offered it to Mr. Davis. Had he taken the time to listen, he would have earned it, and I would not have spent any time with Mr. Brown. As it is, frankly, Mr. Davis gave my vote to Mr. Brown with a hanging curveball just begging to be hit out of the park. And that’s exactly what Fred Brown did.

I’m glad Mr. Davis gave me that opportunity, or I would have dismissed Fred Brown based on his incumbency alone. Getting to know him, I know that would have been a mistake to have just closed my eyes and ears to the possibility that Fred was worthy of my vote.

He is, and he’s got it.

My advice to you: There’s no difference in the policies, agendas, or legislative plans in the candidate field, including Mr. Brown. If you want someone with no experience or seniority in the State House who probably won’t listen to you other legislators, and will therefore only ostracize himself from the constituents and his colleagues, then vote for Rick Davis.

Choosing one of the other two seems to be a shot in the dark to me, and an uninformed vote.

If you want someone who will listen and who also happens to have some seniority and experience in the State House, then Fred’s your choice, as he is mine.

Fred Brown for State Representative is my call.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:00 — 26.4MB)

Tags: audio, blanche brick, buddy winn, forums, fred brown, rick davis, State Rep District 14

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 9:34 AM and is filed under Brazos County Conservative Watch, Political Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.