The whole idea of grassroots politics is to turn your attention locally and do what you can to not only to preserve any shred of democracy in your backyard, but to also fight for meaningful change. Kay Shepard, a precinct chair and a member of the County Executive Committee (CEC) for the Harris County Democratic Party (HCDP), has been active at the most local level to effect change here in Houston and surrounding areas. Shepard actively registers voters and participates within her precinct to get the vote out for Democratic candidates.
“I grew up in grassroots politics, I started with my mom phone-banking for campaigns. We would phone bank with a phone book. My mom worked in politics for over 20 years and I was always dragged around in politics. I’ve grown up in it.”
However, Shepard is currently running into a problem with HCDP not being transparent about their budget despite the bylaws clearly stating any member of the CEC can inspect “minutes of meetings, reports of committees, candidate filing forms, returns of elections, checkbooks, bank statements, accounting records, and official correspondence and contracts,” Article IV — Records.
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The budget isn’t normally available unless during a CEC meeting. However, it’s not up long enough for precinct chairs to thoroughly review to make an informed vote. Shepard wanted to review it thoroughly before voting. A normal budget would reflect costs such as salaries, operating and non-operating costs, marketing, and training.
“I’ve been voting blindly on the budget for the last six years,” Shepard told me. “This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to review [the budget] so I don’t vote blindly this time.”
The most recent event, the HCDP Pride Party Fundraiser, had the cheapest ticket for students at $25. Individual tickets were $100, and it went up from there. The Mega Super Star Sponsors, at $20,000 each, were Judge Michael Gomez, Judge Ravi Sandill, and Judge Mike Engelhart — totaling $60,000 in this sponsorship level alone. Because this is one of the many successful fundraisers, it would naturally be within a precinct chair’s curiosity to see how money is being budgeted so they could vote accordingly or recommend changes for more grassroots efforts.
Taped to the Desk
After close to two months of Shepard requesting to see the budget from Lillie Schechter, the county chair, Shepard was supervised by DJ Ybarra, the executive director, in his office as she reviewed a budget with tiny font that was taped on his desk with blue-masking tape on all four sides.
Shepard describes the paper taped to his desk as “a mere attempt to forecast desired projections.” Shepard was not allowed to take a picture, and she was denied any further details.
“The budget I was to review with DJ was literally taped on all sides to the table with blue masking tape,” Shepard said. “To pass this off to a Precinct Chair as if it was the budget is not the ethical thing to do.”
HCDP’s Response
I have reached out to Schechter and Ybarra for their comment on why Shepard has had to wait over two months to review the budget.
HCDP has not responded to my request for a comment. If they reply, I will update this section.
The Establishment Begins Pushback
Shepard has told me that she no longer receives emails notifying her of upcoming meetings. Instead Shepard finds out at the last minute, if she finds out at all. This is a common, known tactic used to alienate precinct chairs who dissent and push for progressive change.
This last CEC meeting, on Saturday, Aug. 15, was held via Zoom. During these type of calls, participants must raise their hand to have their voices heard and their questions answered. There were reports of at least six precinct chairs having their Zoom hands lowered by staffers, their voices silenced. Multiple precinct chairs emailed staffers to get answers on why they were censored. It is not to my knowledge that these precinct chairs have received an answer.
In Her Own Words
Below is Shepard’s account of trying to see the budget. Shepard recently sent this text in an email to Schechter and Ybarra as a final attempt to review how money is being spent in the party.
This is my fifth attempt to ask to review what the HCDP Rules and Bylaws say I, as a Precinct Chair and a member of the Executive Committee, have the right to inspect. I request to see checkbooks, bank statements, accounting records, official correspondence and contracts and all budgets. As it is stated under the Rules and Bylaws of the HCDP Article IV — Records. Per the bylaws, Article IV — Records, as a member of the CEC “All records of the CEC including but not limited to … checkbooks, bank statements, accounting records, and official correspondence and contracts” are available for inspection by any member of the CEC.
Bulleted below is a timeline of my efforts to see the budget:
- At the June 2020 County Executive Committee Meeting I requested to receive the budget. Chair Lillie Schechter told me to send an email to her assistant Jael C. I did so without response or resolve. A second email was sent. Still no response or resolve. After not receiving a response from Jael, a subsequent email was sent directly to Lillie. She too did not respond.
- During a meeting scheduled on August 10th, I made a redundant request to receive the budget during an actual Zoom call with a 100 Precinct Chairs in attendance. I was again blown off by Lillie Schechter.
- Chair Schechter was informed how I’ve been ignored now for approximately two months. The Executive Director of HCDP, DJ Ybarra, abruptly interrupted my inquiry and said he’d be in the office the next day.
- I went to the HCDP Headquarters on Tuesday, August 11th at 11:40am and met with Executive Director DJ Ybarra.
- The budget I was to review with DJ was literally taped on all sides to the table with blue masking tape. The font was so small I could not read neither see legible print. I asked to view the document in a larger font. Much to my surprise, an official HCDP letterhead was not used.
- No details of anything resembling a budget or that it was even an authentic HCDP document. The page was labeled “2020–2021”. Appeared elementary. Told DJ it looked awfully strange and asked if it were actually the budget. He said it was and added he wasn’t trying to hide anything from me. What an odd proclamation.
- DJ was then asked about the non-operating budget, operating budget and about salaries. He said he could only give me this and this was all Precinct chairs could view. Well these pages didn’t reflect the resemblance of a budget! It was a mere attempt to forecast desired projections. Both the gestures and document was an insult to my intelligence. To pass this off to a Precinct Chair as if it was the budget is not the ethical thing to do.
