Kenneth Kendrick: the best choice for Texas Agriculture Commissioner

To tell the truth, he's the only rational choice on your ballot in November.

So you might suspect that I am a little biased.  I have been getting to know Kenneth for some time now, and as the Republican and Democratic primaries produced two of the absolute worst candidates for statewide office in recent memory, now is a good time for considerate, thinking Texans to take stock of their options.

Kendrick has undergone some of the usual -- as well as unusual -- circumstances that befall public whistleblowers.  He's the fellow who revealed the salmonella charades going on at Peanut Corporation of America's facilities in Plainview, Texas and Blakely, Georgia.  As that case finally went to trial this week, here's the latest from Lubbock's KAMC (video at link).

The trial is a relief to people like Kenneth Kendrick, who feel wronged by PCA's actions. Kendrick was a former employee turned whistleblower who tried to expose the company in 2006.

"I had worked there as production planner and assistant manager." He said. " I only stayed four months for obvious reasons. Was asked to falsify documents and do things I was not comfortable with and I blocked it."

Kendrick described the horrible conditions of the Plainview plant saying that there were "holes in the wall that let mice in" and "leaky roofs -- (they) don't want to spend the money to fix it -- bird droppings were being washed in.

Kenneth and I spoke recently about his campaign for Commissioner of Texas Agriculture.

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What motivated you to run for this office?

After getting some notoriety as a whistleblower against PCA, I hit the lecture circuit of a sort; speaking to students at universities and conferences about the experience. Nine people died from salmonella poisoning across the country, and 700 were made ill.  The Texas Department of Agriculture, under Commissioner Todd Staples, had certified the Plainview plant for organic processing three separate times even though they were not registered with the Department of State Health Services.  They had no license to operate, yet were certified for safety!

Three years after my reporting it, Texas still had done nothing to investigate my claims of poor health practices by the company.   I made up my mind that no person -- no child, no adult -- should ever have to suffer or die because of corporate ineptitude or greed.

Just yesterday, it was reported that the nationwide cyclospora outbreak includes more than half of the reported cases in Texas!  We still have tremendous food safety problems in Texas and nothing has been done, nor likely will be done if the Republican or Democrat is elected.

What are your top issues and your plans for addressing them?

1) We want food safety and GMO labeling, working in conjunction with the DSHS, to make Texas the safest place in the United States to buy food and food products, increasing our economic viability. There is no harm in consumers having all the information possible when buying food. This will require the Texas Department of Agriculture to be restructured to have more inspectors on the ground, and a direct connection with other agencies as a top priority when safety issues outside the Department are noted.

2) Safe water and more aggressive conservation methods, along with the use of renewable energy.  Fracking is not the answer given our state's water shortages.  Too many rural towns already have warnings that their water does not meet minimum standards to drink.  Wichita Falls is already recycling waste water.  In West Texas there are lots of wind generators already, and room for plenty more.  Texas is becoming a leader in renewable energy, and we must continue to do more.  Less water used for fracking and electricity generation means more water for Texas farms and cities.

3) Holding corporations accountable. As I have said many times, we the people are fined and arrested when we break the law, but corporations are just told to get into compliance, as has been shown with 355 unlicensed facilities that broke the law. Instead of just a compliance warning, these companies should have at least been fined... just like people.

4) There are virtually no fines that have been handed out to pest control companies (and they fall under the Department of Agriculture) that break the law. We have regulations in place, but no enforcement.

5) And legal protection for whistleblowers who report in good faith those who break the law!

What sets you apart from your opponents?

My Democratic opponent Jim Hogan -- well, if anyone knew anything about where he stands I could respond, but I do not see much of anything out there.  I guess taking no position on anything is good enough to get you the Democratic nomination?

No website?  No Facebook page?  He refuses to give interviews for the most part and runs away from Democrats and the Texas Democratic Party like it's the plague.  What sets me apart from a blank slate?  I feel comfortable letting the voters decide that one.

My Republican opponent, Sid Miller, helped cut $64 million from Planned Parenthood and sponsored the sonogram bill.  And the Agriculture Commissioner has what to do with this?  Here's a quote from his website: "An avid rancher and hunter, Sid Miller believes in the Constitutional right to bear arms".  Does the Agriculture Commissioner get a vote on gun legislation?  I don't think so.  Let's stick to the issues relevant to the office!  I am the only candidate in the race for Agriculture Commissioner talking about the issues relevant to agriculture in Texas... that is, if you don't count my Libertarian opponent, Rocky Palmquist, taking over Kinky Friedman's advocacy for marijuana legalization.  But you won't find that on his website, since all it says is 'coming soon'.

In keeping with the tenets of the Green Party, I have taken zero donations from corporations (such as Monsanto).  My campaign is true grassroots, for the people.  I owe no one.

What's the best way for people wanting to help your campaign to get in touch?

I have FB page, web page and a direct #.

https://www.facebook.com/kendrickforAgCommish

www.kendrickfortexas.com 

806-800-1021

Paypal address is kkendrick41 at gmail dot com.  Please mark it as political donation, and leave your name, address, phone, and occupation (this information is needed for the Texas Ethics Commission). They make it difficult for a 3rd party candidate without a full time treasurer to run (go figure, Texas would never do that, right?)

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Make you own choice for Ag Commish, readers.  Trust me, I have.

Uber, Lyft decision coming

Today's the day... maybe. The Examiner explains that only the amendments or a substitute ordinance are taggable, and like them I would say that's likely to be the case.

Update (7/31):  As we suspected.  Lots of detail on the proposed changes.

So, to recap...

Charles' post from Monday is a good update that sets the field for this afternoon's vote, filled with linkage worth clicking.  CM Stephen Costello took the 'pro' in the TribTalk faceoff, with Noah at Texpate taking the 'con'.  For deep background, my two-part series from a year ago (Part I and Part II) are among the most clicked posts here, and make the top five on the front page at Google for "Uber Houston".

Uber and Lyft have been going rogue in Houston for some time, which IMHO pees on their prospects for today. They also recently got stung locally, which has the Texas Department of Insurance yellow-flagging them.

And that's where I'll begin, with my experiences last month in Dallas with UberX and two cab companies (Yellow and Executive). When I decided to do this I wanted the experience to be as bias-free as I could make it; if I used the Houston services I might encounter someone I knew, for just one example. So the state Democratic convention at the Omni last month gave me the best opportunity to see how things were going.  Like Houston, Uber in Dallas still awaits city council's final approval, and aren't waiting around to get it.

The primary sticking point -- among many -- is who's carrying the insurance if an Uber car is involved in an accident, particularly one causing injuries or death.  Uber says it's their drivers; their drivers don't seem to know.  From the KHOU article linked above...

Houston-based attorney for taxi and limo services, Martin Hill, said everyone is at risk.

There is absolutely no coverage for these hailed trips or these repeat business trips, said Hill. The passenger is at risk, any third party is at risk.

A woman by the name of Olivia, who did not want KHOU 11 News to use her last name, is a former Uber driver who claims she was eventually fired.

It s almost out of control, she told the KHOU 11 News I-Team as she talked about the confusion she had over the company's insurance policy.

She says even when she was working as an Uber driver she had unanswered questions about the company s insurance coverage.

KHOU: So at this point you have no clue what kind of insurance you had?

Olivia: With Uber? No. None.

It's at least a little more clear when someone hails an Uber, as they would a cab, without using the app and paying cash instead of being billed by smartphone: Uber declares they are not responsible.

In an effort to prove their point, attorneys for local cab companies hired private detectives who wore hidden cameras. The detectives did not go through the app. They just hailed an Uber driver who they found in the area.

Undercover video shows the detectives approaching the Uber driver s window and asking him for a ride. The driver accepted the ride.

The detectives paid in cash for their ride and at the end of the trip, asked for the driver s cell phone number so they could call him for a future ride. The driver willingly gave his number to the detectives.

Later, the detectives made a call to that driver and the driver picked them up at a location near downtown.

I figured, shoot, it will be easier and you can make more money and pay your cash. We don t have to do that other stuff, the private detective said to the driver.

You can hear the driver respond in the undercover video.

At least I don t have to give my 20 percent, he said referring to the percentage Uber gets from each ride that goes through the app.

And that is precisely what I did in Dallas.  But from the top...

We walked out the front door of the downtown Omni and hailed a Yellow cab there to take us about eight blocks to the Sixth Floor Museum, at Dealey Plaza.  The driver was Middle Eastern, the vehicle an older model Chrysler minivan, not in bad shape.  When I told him I like cabs and not Uber, he was diplomatic: "There's plenty of business for everyone", he said.   The ten-minute ride was under 6 bucks and I gave ten.  I also asked for his card in order to come back and get us in a few hours, and he did so, arriving withing 15 minutes of our summons.  He was grateful for the repeat business, and I gave him a twenty this second trip.

The following evening we called for him but he was unable to take our trip, so we again walked out the front lobby doors and asked a bellman to hail us a cab.  The last one was pulling away with another fare, and as we waited in the heat, the bellman walked over to a man in front of a late model black Chevy Tahoe, returned and told us we could take his car... an UberX.  I said to the Caucasian driver, well-dressed and professional: "I don't have the app, I'll have to pay you cash" and he said that was fine.  So off we went to Deep Ellum for sushi, a twenty-minute ride that cost $17.  I gave him a twenty, asked for his card for a return, and he graciously accommodated.

After dinner, we stepped outside the restaurant and before I could call the number, the wife was hailing an Executive Cab (the blue ones) driving by.  We piled in -- like the Yellow, an older Dodge minivan, nothing fancy, but good enough -- and broke the ice again with our African driver and his girlfriend about not liking Uber.  He laughed and said something similar to our previous cabbie.  The return trip to the Omni was shorter and cheaper for some reason: $12.  I gave him a twenty.

So while my cab rides in Dallas were less expensive and less flashy, it's easy to see what Uber (as a company) wants to do: skim the cream off the top of the market, with very nice cars, very courteous drivers, and a luxury price point.  The premium experience at a premium price.  The affinity branding that so many upscale folks prefer.

But I have my doubts as to what might have been the outcome had we been T-boned in an intersection with our driver at fault.  I get the impression we would have been SOL in more ways than one.

So that's another reason for me to emphasize that while Uber and Lyft have every right to participate in the market, they need to do so according to Texas law and city ordinance.  Those laws and ordinances exist for reasons that are NOT monopolistic and not cumbersome to decades of ride-for-hire entrepreneurs before them.  They exist because people were injured -- or killed -- and the drivers and the companies who employ them had to maintain legal responsibility for that possible occurrence.

Play by the rules, or get penalized when you don't.  Uber seems to want to have it both ways; that is to say, not play by the rules and not be penalized for doing so.  Hell of a business model if you can get away with it: $17 billion capitalized -- or is it $6 billion? -- certainly sends that message.

This homie don't play like that, and he also expects his CMs to do likewise.

Read this Forbes article about the "bear" case for the company.  One excerpt:

Across North America and Europe, taxi and limo drivers’ unions have been lobbying legislators to regulate or outlaw peer-to-peer services, and occasionally succeeding. “What they’re trying to do is get all their competitors to have to incur the same costs they do,” says Samuel Staley, who teaches economics and urban planning as director of Florida State University’s DeVoe Moore Center. One industry group, the Taxi, Limousine and Paratransit Association, claims that 30% to 40% of a traditional taxi’s operating expenses consist of regulatory costs Uber is now avoiding, especially primary commercial liability insurance. (Uber requires drivers to have their own insurance, although it does provide secondary coverage for certain situations.)

Uber might actually play by the rules if they are compelled to do so.  Let's count on someone at Houston council to convince them that there shouldn't be lawsuits from maimed passengers or their survivors before they do.