Annette LoVoi Credit: Photo by John Anderson

1) “Texas is going to shrink government until it fits into a woman’s uterus.”
– Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, commenting on the sonogram bill by parodying Grover Norquist’s promise to shrink government down to a size he can drown in a bathtub (Feb. 25, 2011 issue)

2) “If we’re losing teachers of the year now, who’s going to be teaching our kids in five years?
– Austin ISD trustee Annette LoVoi, during the board’s March 7 deliberation on job cuts (March 11)

Leticia Van de Putte Credit: Photo by John Anderson

3) “I just got a text from Rick Perry. He wanted me to tell you that it’s not his fault.”
– Perrin-Whitt Con­solidated ISD Superintendent John Kuhn, speaking at the March 12 Save Texas Schools rally (March 18)

4) “Not yet it’s not.”
– Council Member Bill Spelman‘s reply to the question, “Uh oh, is that a quorum?” as he joined Council Members Laura Morrison, Sheryl Cole, and run-off candidate Kathie Tovo for a group photo on election night (May 20)

5) “I’m ready to live in a Winnebago if that’s what it takes.”
– Austin U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, responding to proposed congressional maps that might force him to move again (June 3)

Bill Spelman Credit: Photo by John Anderson

6) “You could erect a sign at the ballot box that says ‘blacks need not vote’…”
– Austin Rep. Dawnna Dukes on a proposed GOP map splitting Travis County into five congressional districts (June 17)

7) “A trial is a risk
– it is a roll of the dice …” – Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole on why she favors settling a lawsuit brought by the family of Nathaniel Sanders II (Aug. 26)

8) “I thank God this wasn’t a capital case.”
– Michael Morton, released from prison Oct. 4 after serving 25 years for the murder of his wife, after DNA and other evidence implicated another man (Oct. 7)

9) “It’s an absurd waste of tax money to spend police time and energy to break up a pure First Amendment demonstration.”
– The Texas Civil Rights Project’s Jim Har­ring­ton, assessing the city’s decision to arrest Occupy Austin participants (Nov. 4)

10) “IDEA uses very inexperienced teachers. That’s how they operate so cheaply and [CEO Tom] Torkelson can make $317,000 a year with 8,000 students.”
– Edward J. Fuller on a proposed AISD con­tract with a charter school operator (Dec. 9)

This article appears in 2011.

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