Anyone familiar with life in Houston knows that one of the top charitable organizations in town is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. They put on a great show every year, and raise lots of money for scholarships and educational programs. Most of the work is done by volunteers, and you reach the board through DECADES of volunteer activity.

That isn’t good enough for some members of the race ho and poverty pimp community, who want to make sure that their hand-picked “minority representatives” get on the board without those years of service and that their preferred minority contractors get a piece of the pie without giving the lowest bids.

State Sen. Mario Gallegos said he will be filing a bill Friday that would require the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to contract with more minority-owned businesses, include minorities on its board and comply with open records requests.
Gallegos said he and other minority leaders urged action on the same issues during a meeting last week with rodeo officials but were told that the rodeo could not address their demands — it has a show to put on starting next week.
“It’s time they break the good ole boy system and start doing what’s right, period,” said Johnny Mata, the former head of the local chapter of League of United Latin American Citizens, who attended the meeting. “I am a firm believer that we can meet halfway.”
Gallegos, a Houston Democrat, said he is filing the bill because rodeo officials refused to go forward with non-binding mediation overseen by a U.S. Department of Justice division that works to settle minority-related disputes.
“They just told the DOJ they thought it was pointless,” Gallegos said. “I want to know what they do with their money. They are the largest cash cow in Houston.”
The rodeo generates more than $80 million in revenues annually.

And that’s what it really comes down to – the money, the disposition of which is already easily tracked through publicly available reports filed pursuant to their non-profit status. Let’s call this what it really is – a race-based shakedown. It is one that is tried virtually every year.

Hey, Johnny Mata -- let's make the board of LULAC reflect the ethnic composition of Harris County, open all of its records in the same fashion as the rodeo, and guarantee that its contracts are properly distributed based upon the ethnic spoils system you want to impose upon the rodeo.

And as for Mario Gallegos – why don’t you sneak off, get drunk and beat one of your mistress again.

And regardless – leave the rodeo alone.

Posted by: Greg at 12:57 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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