Noel Freeman and Andy Neill Endorse Melissa Noriega

Earlier this Spring the Houston GLBT political Caucus faced a tough decision. Three impressive candidates sought our endorsement, as they began their campaigns for Houston City Council. In the end, we got behind Melissa Noriega, because she demonstrated extremely strong viability and a commitment to GLBT equality. She now enters the run-off campaign with a wide lead over her rival, and I'm happy to report that, in the last week, both Noel Freeman and Andy Neill, the two other candidates who originally screened with us, have formally endorsed Noriega.

Noel Freeman made his announcement in a press release, May 14th.

Former Houston City Council candidate Noel Freeman has officially endorsed Melissa Noriega for the June 16 runoff for the Council seat vacated by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs last November. Noriega received the most votes in Saturday‚s special election.

Freeman, a moderate Republican, endorsed Noriega due to her ability to provide stronger influence in Austin on behalf of Houstonians and a personal relationship that has grown during the campaign. "While Melissa and I may disagree ideologically on several issues, we agree on a number of issues that are very important to me, and her relationships with state legislators of both parties will serve Houstonians well," Freeman said. "We have also had the chance to get to know each other better over the course of the campaign, and I believe she is the candidate who really has Houston‚s best interests at heart."

By endorsing Noriega, Freeman seeks to reinforce the need for a stronger non-partisan environment on Houston's City Council. "I wish we could truly embrace the non-partisan nature of Council that was intended when our City Charter was written." he said. "After all, political affiliation doesn't determine whether or not your trash gets picked up or if your house is going to flood when it rains."

Andy Neill posted his endorsement on his website on May 16th.

As a registered Independent and a candidate for City Council during the current Special Election cycle, I have been granted a truly unique vantage point from which to assess fellow competitors and their messages of change for the City of Houston. It’s from that perspective that I feel compelled to endorse candidate Melissa Noreiga for the vacant At-Large position 3 seat in the upcoming runoff.

Melissa Noriega has earned my admiration and respect with her compassion, sincerity, and firm grasp of the complex issues that affect our citizens on a daily basis.

encourage everyone to do their homework on the issues that affect them and their families and make their own choice. I however have made mine and I am proud to support Melissa Noriega over the coming weeks.

I look to forward to watching both Noel Freeman and Andy Neill, as they continue to enrich our city with there service. If either decide to run run for office again -- and I hope they do -- I deeply wish that they seek our caucus' endorsement again. Their ideas were compelling and exciting, and our city is lucky to have such exceptional young leaders. I'm sure Melissa is deeply honored to have their support.

Endorsement: The Tough Decision We’ve Been Waiting For

cross posted at Burnt Orange Report

This post was revised on March 15, 2007. If you have a question about the changed content, please contact us at thecaucusblog@gmail.com.

Endorsement Meeting: Special Election for City Council, At-large Position 3

Tonight, 6:30 PM

3400 Montrose, Suite 207

The screening committee has completed its interviews, and tonight the Houston GLBT Political Caucus will officially endorse a candidate in the race for the at-large, position 3 city council seat, vacated by Shelly Sekula-Gibbs. An openly gay men, Noel Freeman, is seeking the caucus’s support. Melissa Noriega and Andy Neill also screened with the caucus. Everyone on the screening committee agrees that the caucus has a very difficult decision to make, but this is a difficult decision we’re happy to have; it’s one we’ve been waiting for.

Our organization has been committed to recruiting openly GLBT candidates for a long time, so we can’t help but be extremely proud of Noel Freeman. He has distinguished himself by being courageously honest within discriminatory cultures. Noel Freeman was the first openly gay member of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets.

Though we are extremely excited about Noel Freeman's candidacy, it should not be assumed that the caucus will endorse him, simply because he is homosexual. As an interim state legislator, civic activist and educator, Melissa Noriega has proven herself to be an extremely effective leader. During her interview, Noriega was passionate about building coalitions. She’s obviously eager to learn about GLBT issues, and, in many ways, She's uniquely qualified to help our community reach out to the greater population of Houston.

We certainly face a difficult decision. We have a historic opportunity, not just because we have a homosexual seeking our endorsement. Our city is at the threshold of significant progress, and every city election has the potential to bring us closer to equal citizenship.

The GLBT political caucus is not a mere fan club for elected officials. We don’t vainly seek election victories. We are compelled to by specific policy goals. We are driven by the prospect of equality. Of course we want more GLBT elected officials, but, even more than that, we want nondiscrimination mandated by our government. We want marriage equality, with recognition and security for our loving families. We want equal rights, and the Caucus will endorse and work for the candidate that can best accelerate the realization of these goals.

Tonight we will hear from all three candidates, and we will review their respective merits. I will post the Caucus’s decision immediately following the meeting.

Special Election Preview

Last Saturday, during the annual caucus retreat for strategic planning, two upcoming election campaigns were focused on: the special election to fill city council at-large position 3 (relinquished by the infamous Shelley Sekula-Gibbs) and district D’s city council seat, which will be vacated by the term limited Ada Edwards at the end of the year. I will do my best to keep up with developments in these priority races here on the caucus blog.

With the special election just around the corner, I set out to learn a little more about all the recently filed candidates. Being naturally inclined to nerdiness and news addiction, I expected to enjoy this research, but I had no idea! Since the date of the special election was finalized, an extremely colorful cast of contenders has emerged:

1. Melissa Noriega : Given her broad, citywide name recognition, a number of analysts feel that Noriega is the front runner in this race. For those of you who don’t recognize her name, Melissa Noriega is State Representative Rick Noriega’s wife. While her husband, a national guardsman, completed a tour in Afghanistan, Melissa Noriega represented district 145 in his absence during the Texas Legislature’s 2005 regular session and the subsequent special session on school finance. At the completion of these sessions, she was voted freshman of the year by the house democrats. She was HISD’s director of special projects, and she has a long history of civic involvement.

2. Roy Morales: Morales is not a newcomer to city politics, having run against City Councilmen Peter Brown in 2005. He is a retired Lt. Col, who touts the support of conservative coalitions, business associations, police organizations, and veterans. Morales’ campaign website is not yet up and running, but judging from his previous run for council , we can assume he will be one of this race’s most conservative candidates.

3. Andy Neil: Neil is the chair of the Houston Downtown Alliance’s Emerging Leaders Community Outreach Committee. On his website, Neil identifies the three Houston problems that trouble him most: burgeoning homelessness, HISD dropout rates, and violent crime. Neil doesn't have much of a history in Houston politics, and I couldn't dig up that much about him online. I've heard that Neil's been sending out some interesting e-mail though.

4. Noel Freeman: Freeman is the only openly gay candidate in the race. He is president of the Houston Log Cabin Republicans. In 2004 he worked for Congressman John Culberson, who, that same year,
co-sponsored the federal marriage amendment. He also works for Service Corporation International, North America’s largest provider of funeral and crematory services. Noel doesn’t outline any specific initiatives on his website, but -- I'm sure you'll agree -- he’s definitely a unique and provocative candidate.

5. David Goldberg: Goldberg is a senior at Bellaire High School. He is the only candidate with a Facebook profile , and he has lots of friends there too. Compared to the other candidates, Goldberg’s campaign website is considerably more developed. Goldberg says he's running to improve homeland security, fight crime, and improve the city's parks. David Goldberg is former District C councilman Mark Goldberg's nephew. Mark Goldberg represented Montrose until he was term limited out of office in 2005. In 2001 Mark Goldberg pulled a Martha when he abstained from voting on the Mayor Brown's non-discrimination ordinance for city employees. The ordinance passed even without Mark Goldberg's vote. He was also listed as a favored candidate of the Conservative Republicans of Harris County in 2003. Who knows if David Goldberg shares his uncle's right-wing loyalties... I’ll try to track down his student council voting record.

A former state rep, a gay Culberson staffer, a young businessman with an apparent penchant for Playboy, a perennial, conservative candidate, and a web-savvy high school senior – I must say, it’s a very interesting group, and I’m really looking forward to the campaign. It promises to be amusing.


In all seriousness though, winning this seat is one of the caucus’s top priorities for 2007. Of course, each of these candidates will be invited to screen with the caucus, and caucus members will vote to endorse a candidate in March.
Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was certainly not a friend to the GLBT community, and we should work to elect a more progressive, pro-equality candidate to the council. The caucus was very successful in 2006, electing Ellen Cohen and defending Representative Hubert Vo. Let’s reassert our influence in this consequential, high profile council race.