Candidate Hooky

The coalition working to stop Austin ISD from merging Norman and Sims elementary schools bristled this weekend when none of the candidates it invited to a Saturday forum on accountability showed up. Billed as a "Politicians Accountability Session," the group had hoped to host several candidates running for office in state House District 46 and City Council District 1 to pin down their positions on Norman's fate. Among those absent were state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, her front-running challengers Sheryl Cole and Chito Vela, as well as D1 CM Ora Houston and two of her declared opponents, Mariana Salazar and Lewis Conway Jr. Retired Texas Civil Rights Project founder Jim Harrington, who helped organize the event, said he still hasn't heard back from Houston or Cole, but that Vela and Conway both called to apologize for apparent scheduling snafus, and that Salazar had to cancel due to a family emergency. Harrington sent the missing panelists a list of the citizens who showed up to the meeting at 4pm on Super Bowl Sunday, along with a note: "There was great disappointment, and a number of people expressed their feelings of being disrespected."