Capitol call-outs

AUSTIN — Texas Monthly magazine on Thursday named Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville one of the 10 “Worst Legislators” of the session that ended in May and gave mention — one good, some bad — to three other Rio Grande Valley lawmakers.

For only the second time in the 34 years the magazine has compiled its annual lists of best and worst legislators, all three of the state’s top leaders landed on the “Worst” list: Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick.

The lists are compiled by Paul Burka, senior executive editor, and Patricia Kilday Hart, writer-at-large for Texas Monthly, both longtime political observers. “Best” legislators were chosen based on integrity, intelligence and capacity for hard work. “Worst” were picked based on those who do active harm, have tainted motives or bring embarrassment upon the legislative body.

A Spanking in the ranking

Lucio was the only Valley lawmaker to land in the “Best” or “Worst” lists, complete with explanation, in the July issue of the magazine.

“There is no more unreliable senator than sixteen-year veteran Eddie Lucio,” Hart writes. “His nicknames say it all: Sucio (‘Dirty’) Lucio and El Resbaloso (‘the Slippery One’).”

Hart writes that Lucio uses “disappearing ink” when he’s signing promises to other Senators to vote on their bills. She cites the times he went back on his promise to vote against a bill that would make it harder for the city of Houston to control pollution from neighboring cities, and the time he voted in a committee to pay for a Medicaid lawsuit using funds meant for poor people.

Lucio said the ranking is bogus. It is common for lawmakers to change their votes as they learn more about an issue, which he said he did in the Houston pollution case.

He said he had one of his most successful sessions ever, working to help autistic children and improve colonias, and passing other legislation his district wanted. The ranking did not consider the broad scope of his work, he said.

No one from Texas Monthly interviewed him at any time during or after the five-month legislative session, he said.

“I’ve never catered to them. I’ve never bowed down to them. I just deal, straight up,” Lucio said. “They can write about me all they want. At the end of the day, the people that will analyze my work are the people that are important to me: my constituents.”

He said he would demand an apology from Texas Monthly for including the comment about his “nicknames” in the story.

Honor and dishonor

Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, was named to the “Honorable Mention” list for his work to “sound the alarm” on the problems facing the Texas Youth Commission, the state’s scandal-plagued juvenile corrections agency, and then spearheading the reform of the agency, Hart said.

“He always was in the running for the ‘Best’ list because of his work on TYC,” she said.

Hinojosa said he’s glad he received the mention.

“It’s really an honor in a body of 180 legislators to be named among the top,” he said.

Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, D-Palmview, is on the “Dishonorable Mention” list. Burka said Flores “operates in the dark corners of the Legislature.” He cited as evidence a debate on the House floor with Rep. David Leibowitz, D-San Antonio, about a bill to exempt owners of trailers from some taxes, in which Flores accused Leibowitz of interfering with a Valley issue.

During the debate, Flores waved a folder and said he had letters from local communities supporting the measure, but Leibowitz asked to see the letters and didn’t find any. Burka said Flores lied.

“To me it sort of summed it up: misleading, not quite being truthful, not being trusted by other members,” Burka said. “You could see it all in that debate.”

Flores said he had the support of local communities but did not have the letters on the floor with him that day.

He said he had an “excellent” session, helping to bring home millions of dollars in projects to the Valley, and added he does not place any stock in the Texas Monthly list.

“It’s the opinion of one person who I’ve never had a conversation with in 12 years,” Flores said. “I’ve passed more legislation and brought more money home to my district than anyone on the top 10.”

A noble dining room table

Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez, D-Weslaco, was one of nine lawmakers named “Furniture,” suggesting they were “no more consequential than their desks, chairs, inkwells, and spittoons,” according to the magazine.

Martinez called it “no big deal,” saying he passed important legislation, including bills to help sexual assault victims and create a light-rail district in the Valley. He said the “Furniture” designation could be positive and compared himself to a hardwood dining room table.

“I could be the furniture where everybody sits around,” Martinez said. “Everybody receives something from the legislation that was passed.”

Craddick was chosen on the Worst list for his leadership of a divisive House that tried to overthrow him, Dewhurst for running the Senate with an eye to a 2010 gubernatorial election rather than good policy, and Perry for interfering with the Legislature when he shouldn’t have been and not helping when he should have, according to the magazine.

A spokesman for Perry said the governor is not concerned with the list, and does not read Texas Monthly.

“He could care less what the political chattering class in Austin thinks about him,” said spokesman Robert Black. “The fact is those folks probably have a little too much time on their hands.”

A spokesman for Craddick said the Speaker would not comment on the list. A spokesman for Dewhurst did not return phone calls by press time.

———

Elizabeth Hernandez covers the state Capitol for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Austin and can be reached at (512) 323-0622. For this and more local news stories, go to www.themonitor.com.