It's time again for the WestFest, still held in front of Allen Parkway Village across from Freedmen's Town, and last fall's 'revenue generator' will be carried on this Spring.  During the last report published in October 2001, a temporary art car was used in the festival grounds, and the end result was the awakening of the WestFest Purists Organization.  Between the interim period since last October 20 and 21, previous commitments to Progressive Voters in Action has landed another progressive candidate in the Houston City Council - Ada Edwards.  Since January 25, 2002, I have decided that the WFPO should be a nonpartisan organization, and where have I been for the past few months?  I am still affiliated with Progressive Voters in Action, and running the WFPO from a PC terminal.

There is one sad note to the theodicy - I am no longer involved with the HCGP, and have defected to the Friends in Defense of Allen Parkway Village, as well as building coalitions with several activist and GLBT organizations around the Montrose District.  Keep an eye out in 2003, where someone will replace Annise Parker, and it's possible that I will run for her vacated council seat.  Since my departure from the HCGP, I have voted in the Democratic primary, and currently in the process of working on Chris Bell's campaign for Congress.  In real life, I am considered an independent, without any partisan affiliation, and if a Democrat or Republican is a progressive, I always side on the issues at hand.

5.11.02 personal log:  The third year in exile hasn't changed much, except for a couple of new attractions - the NBA Power Tour, along with an art car motorcade, which resembles a microcosm of Mardi Gras.  This year, there were no political groups present, and DPFT was absent this Spring because reservations had to be made in advance before the deadline.  I registered before 4.2.02, and ended up with a spot close to the entrance to the ET.

This spring's WestFest was the first time where WFPO members and Corpus Justice were involved; I pushed literature for the WFPO and the Inner Loop Affordable Housing Coalition, as well as Corpus Justice lit.  Marilyn Head (Corpus Justice President) was about to canvass with CJ literature, and was there for a half hour before departing around 2:00 p.m.   I managed to work out a solution where pushing WFPO and CJ literature has no ill effects, since she feared that pushing CJ literature might result in a violent confrontation with HPD.  Only if I have known better, I should have introduced her to HPD Sgt. Lisa Eudean "Buffy" Boucher (my former classmate @ UHCL, 1999 - 2001).

I have detailed my revelation about my visit to the Houston City Council, Ada Edwards campaign, and the mugshot with Dr. Shelley Sekula Rodriguez (c. 12.1.01).  To date, my former classmates, most of them HPD officers (Asst. Chief C.A. McClelland et.al.) have known about my plans to run for council in 2003 for a vacated council seat - At-Large Pos. 1.  Annise D. Parker is serving on borrowed time, and a replacement will have to take her place because of voter-imposed term limits.

I managed to do a field interview with Mia Gradney of WB39 (see WSF2000 - A Fan's Analysis, October 2000), where I detailed my accounts of urban revitalization, especially why the Westheimer Festival was ousted.  In the future, I might do a studio interview, since I am involved with the Inner Loop Affordable Housing Coalition, and one dream that will come true is to have a WestFest on Westheimer again.  Even if I have to go on KPFT, someone has to engage in the dirty deed for love and honor.

5.12.02 personal log:  Not much to report here, except for a fewer signatures to the clipboard.  The only thing that I had done today was to print another flyer which details the Avondale Association, where a poll by OutBC.com has revealed that the civic association itself has caused more harm than good; it made a brief reference to WestFest, as well as the Montrose street kids.  I was canvassing all day, except that I was alone today, like I was before since I became a community activist in October 2000.

I ended up in a conversation with WSFC board member Bob Bagot (Hyde Park Civic Association) about the proposed historical preservation ordinance, which has been opposed by a few civic associations around the Montrose, Heights, and Hispanic East End.  Although he was not at WestFest yesterday, he was participating in a blockwalk in the Montrose, which is part of Councilwoman Ada Edwards' "Double D Weekends", where residents in District D blockwalk in another part of the district, and I was not able to participate because of my WFPO commitments.  His suggestion:  concentrate on liberating the festival back home, as well as saving it from a dark abyss.  One thing that I'd do is to run for council in 2003, to get the festival back, as well as having a campaign agenda similar to Councilmember Ada Edwards, only that the difference - it's citywide.  The seat I am seeking is the vacated At-Large Pos. 1, which will force incumbent Annise Parker out of office because of term limits.

Another shocker was that I ended up in the Wet T and Hot Buns contest, only that it could derail my candidacy for council in 2003, if video footage was used as blackmail, which I am afraid of.  I'd rather run a positive campaign, rather than trade insults from other candidates.  The evening concluded where I was with Buffy and a partner of hers (an HPD cop who used to be assigned to Beat 16E40 in Fort Bend/Houston, a.k.a. Super Neighborhood #41), where I detailed my council bid, as well as a strategy plan to keep the WestFest where it stays - on Westheimer.  One revelation was that 'some of my classmates @ UHCL and UHD are HPD cops' could reveal that one activist already has a coalition with a few HPD officers, and the WFPO is considered a nonviolent organization.

To date, 21+ newbies have been recruited, as well as the distribution of flyers for the Inner Loop Affordable Housing Coalition.  Only one copy of Armageddon (the website that started it all in the first place) was distributed, and since the October 2001 WestFest, the WFPO banner was used more often in response to September 11th.  Distributing the flyers was a joint coalition with the ILAHC, which meets at First Unitarian Church @ 5200 Fannin.  The recruitment will continue throughout the interim period between now and October 2002; the art car project will be completed as scheduled, which will debut in Summer 2002.

5.20.02 update:  here's the latest photo gallery:

7.11.02:  The WFPO Cruiser maded its scheduled debut at the 2002 Pride Parade; although the cruiser was featured, plans to have a boom box playin 70s disco hits was scrapped due to rainy weather (typical of H-town in the summer, where the monsoonal rains are common).  A news article published on Houston Indymedia details a lot more.  (article was also published on HAN-Net and OutBC.com) Although there was no entourage and/or designated driver, I was all alone during the parade; since June 2002, the WFPO has been cash-strapped and currently on a budget crunch.  There are rumors where the art car project is a false lie, which isn't true, and for the past 3 months, the project has been temporarily halted because of the financial crisis.  49% of the powerplant construction is sitting in my garage, awaiting the cylinder heads and tranny; currently, an emergency fundraiser of $2500 has been initiated.  More to come later...

Copyright 2002 WestFest Purists Organization. All Rights Reserved.  Unauthorized duplication of this page and/or pics without consent of the author for exploitation is subject ot criminal prosecution.