Comal County

November 2014 Election Day Voting Places

Vote Republican!!

2014 COMAL COUNTY ELECTION DAY POLLING PLACES
OPEN FROM 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
PRECINCT
101 Comal County Senior Citizens Center 655 Landa, New Braunfels
102 Bulverde/Spring Branch Library 131 Bulverde Crossing, Bulverde
103 Freedom Fellowship Church 410 Oak Run Point, New Braunfels
104 Tye Preston Memorial Library 16311 South Access Rd., Canyon Lake
105 Lakeside Golf Club 405 Watts Lane, Canyon Lake
106 Guadalupe Valley Tel. Coop 36101 FM 3159, New Braunfels
201 Peace Lutheran Church 1147 S. Walnut, New Braunfels
202 John Paul II Catholic High School 6720 FM 482, New Braunfels
203 Mission Valley Bowling Club 2311 Hwy 46, New Braunfels
204 Bulverde Community Center 1747 E. Ammann Rd, Bulverde
205 Jay F. Feibelman Garden Ridge 9500 Municipal Parkway, Garden Ridge
Community Center
206 Johnson Ranch Elementary School 30501 Johnson Way @ FM 1863, Bulverde
301 Westside Community Center 2932 S. IH 35, New Braunfels
302 St. Paul Lutheran Church 181 S. Santa Clara Ave., New Braunfels
303 New Braunfels Library 700 E. Common, New Braunfels
304 Comal County Goodwin Campus 1297 Church Hill Dr., New Braunfels
305 New Braunfels Christian Church 734 N. Loop 337, New Braunfels
401 EdenHill Communities 631 Lakeview Blvd, New Braunfels
402 Church in the Valley 14181 FM 306 at Canyon City
403 Fischer Store School Community Center 12400 FM 32, Fischer
404 Cross Lutheran Church 2171 E. Common St., New Braunfels
405 Spring Branch Baptist Church 11755 Hwy 281 N, Spring Branch
406 Faith United Church of Christ 970 Loop 337, New Braunfels

Sample Ballot for Comal County Republican Runoff

Converted from .pdf at Comal County Elections Department website

Comal County Primary Run Off Election Day Polling Places

Converted from the .pdf at the Comal County Elections Department website.

ELECTION DAY POLLING PLACES
REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RUNOFF
MAY 27, 2014
PRECINCTS & POLLING PLACE:

101 103, 203 —- Comal County Senior Citizens Center, 655 Landa, New Braunfels

102, 106, 405 —- Bulverde/Spring Branch Library, 131 Bulverde Crossing, Bulverde

104, 105 —- Tye Preston Memorial Library, 16311 South Access Rd., Canyon Lake

204, 206 —- Bulverde Community Center, 1747 E. Ammann Rd., Bulverde

205 —- Jay F. Feibelman Garden Ridge Community Center, 9500 Municipal Parkway, Garden Ridge

201, 202, 301, 302, 303 —- St. Paul Lutheran Church, 181 S. Santa Clara Ave., New Braunfels

402, 403 —- Church In The Valley, 14181 FM 306 at Canyon City

Comal County Early Voting Locations Primary Run-off

Converted from the .pdf at the website of the Comal County Elections Department

MAIN LOCATION: Comal County Elections Office (los Centros Principales)
178 E. Mill St. Ste. 101
New Braunfels, TX 78130
DATES and HOURS: May 19-23, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Fechas y Horas) (19-23 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

Location, Dates & Hours of Temporary Branch Early Voting Polling Locations (Lugar, Fechas y Horas de las Sucursales de los Centros Temporal de Votación para la Votación Anticipada)

Bulverde/Spring Branch Library
131 Bulverde Crossing, Bulverde, Texas 78163

May 19-23, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (19-23 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

 
Church In The Valley
14181 Hwy 306, Canyon Lake, Texas 78133

May 19-20, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.(19-20 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
May 21, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (21 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
May 22-23, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.(22-23 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

Garden Ridge City Hall
9400 Municipal Parkway, Garden Ridge, Texas 78266

May 19, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (19 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
May 20, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (20 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
May 21, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (21 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
May 22, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (22 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
May 23, 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (23 de mayo de 2014 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

LOL at the Bill of Rights?

     Last February 14th, 18 year old Justin River Carter made a comment during an argument with a few acquaintances on Facebook that would shock most people, but I doubt that many people would take his hyperbole seriously enough to feel threatened:

“I think I’ma [sic] shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent run down and eat the beating heart of one of them.”

 

The truly shocking and frightening thing to me, though, was the reaction of my own local law enforcement officials, including one who told San Antonio WOAI  radio that it was necessary to arrest and hold Carter for months, so there wouldn’t “be questions about why more was not done to stop him.”

I want to know why more was not done to protect Carter from abuse by New Braunfels and Comal County law enforcement community. No “LOL”  No “JK”

     The actual conversation that  caused Justin Carter to be arrested no longer exists on the Internet, according to Facebook. The only “evidence” is a screen shot clip picture of the comment taken by the person who called the Austin Police Department’s Crime Stoppers, incorrectly stating that Carter lived near a school in that City.  Based on that anonymous tip, Austin PD had US Marshals to arrest Carter at his job in San Antonio and transferred him from Bexar County to their jail on February 14, 2013.

      A problem – for the Austin police — developed when they eventually discovered that Carter lives in New Braunfels, not Austin. I don’t know how they found out where he worked, but couldn’t verify his address until after the arrest.

     One month after his arrest, and still without a court hearing, a search of Carter’s home, or any evidence that Carter owned a gun or had made any violent plans, APD invited the New Braunfels police to drive to Austin to interview Carter in their jail.  He spoke to them without his lawyer, because he foolishly thought that he would be able to clear up the confusion if he explained the comment.

     This was a huge mistake.

     Someone at the NBPD decided to file his own complaint with Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp, who convinced a Grand Jury to indict Carter for a third degree felony charge of making “terroristic threats.” (Read the Statute here.)

     District Judge Jack Robison doubled the bail from the $250,000 set in Austin to half a million dollars.

     Sometime later, Carter was moved from Travis County to Comal County,  where he remained in Comal County jails from late March until July 10th, when an anonymous donor posted bond on his behalf.

I’ve been told that the DA makes it a habit to charge the maximum possible and then offer “plea bargains” that are no bargain, at all. As long as the innocent-until-proven-guilty won’t admit guilt, the hearings and procedures can drag out for years before an actual trial. As to that ridiculous bail amount, it seems that it’s routine for judges automatically double the bail anytime someone is indicted, regardless of the amount of bail in place before.

     Carter, as is customary, was placed in the same jail with convicted criminals in both Austin and New Braunfels. He suffered injuries due to abuse by other inmates and his father reported that he was transferred to different jail facilities several times and was kept in solitary confinement and nude, on suicide watch, for many days.

     On December 12, 2013, Judge Robison announced his decision not to drop the indictment. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for January 28, 2014.

     A more complete review of the history of this case through July, 2013, is here.  You can read Carter’s mother’s version of the story and intermittent updates, here.

Just don’t get arrested for anything in New Braunfels. And don’t talk to our police without a lawyer, if you are.

Comal County Early Voting

The first day of early voting in Comal County yielded double the voter turn out on the same day in 2008, with more than 3100 voters compared to 1700.

I voted on the second day, and was pleased to find that the Comal County Voting Center on Landa Street in New Braunfels was up to the task. The County has designed an efficient and organized Center, with fast moving lines and 3 stations set up to check in voters.

I cast my first “straight Party” ticket since 1992, today. The first “page of the electronic ballot offers the option to vote for one Party or the other, and a vote for Republicans took me through each page of all the candidates and offices, allowing me to review and view the names of each candidate I voted for and to see who I wasn’t voting for. I hope that those of you who are tempted to just vote the top of the ticket or for a few candidates will consider taking my endorsement of the Republican candidates all up and down the ballot, with the ease of the straight Party vote! You’ll get the well known candidates, like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, Donna Campbell for SD 25, Susan Narvaiz for Congressional District 35 and Kevin Webb for Comal County Commissioner, Pct 3, and you also support judges like Scott Fields, Jeff Rose and Bob Pemberton!

No matter where you live in Comal County, or where your regular voting place is, you can cast your ballot at any of the early voting places or times. Here’s the early voting opportunities in Comal County:

• New Braunfels: 345 Landa, Suite 101. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Canyon Lake: CRRC Community Center, 125 Mabel Jones Dr. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Bulverde: Bulverde / Spring Branch Library, 131 Bulverde Crossing. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Garden Ridge: City Hall, 9400 Municipal Parkway. Oct. 23-26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Oct. 29 — Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Nov. 2, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.