Keynote Speaker
The Honorable Harold Ford Jr., Former U.S. Representative, D-Tenn.;
Chair, National Democratic Leadership Council
Harold Ford, Jr. served Tennessee in the United States Congress for 10 years. Described by President Bill Clinton as "the walking, living embodiment of where America ought to go in the 21st century," Ford is now Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, visiting Professor of Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, and Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch and Co, Inc.
During his 5 terms in the Congress, Ford's focus was results. Having served on both the Financial Services and Budget Committees, his passion for free enterprise and balanced budgets and confidence in American ingenuity to overcome any foe bolsters his belief that America's best days are in front of us. The challenge and opportunity to grow America's economy, strengthen our moral stature and standing in the world, find ways to free us from our dependence on oil and modernize our military to better be able to fight the enemies of democracy and tolerance around the world continues to inspire his work today. He believes that government is most effective when it's working for the betterment of everyone.
Ford is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he got his B.A . in American history, and the University of Michigan Law School. Ford also serves on the Pentagon's Transformation Advisory Group (TAG), an assembly of current and former military commanders, political figures, academics and business leaders who advise the Pentagon on how to modernize our armed forces to meet and defeat 21 st century threats. Ford is also an overseer on the board at the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
Ford lives in Memphis and Nashville and has offices in New York and Nashville.
Lunch Colloquium
Max Sherman, Chair Emeritus in State and Local Government
Max Sherman was Dean of the LBJ School from July 1983 until September 1997. Prior to his appointment at the LBJ School, he was Special Counsel to the Governor of Texas. From 1971 to 1977 he served in the Texas Senate, leaving in 1977 to become President of West Texas State University. He has a J.D. degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in history from Baylor University.
Over the years, Sherman has held numerous national and state appointments to boards and committees studying such topics as higher education (management effectiveness and financing), intergovernmental relations, mental health and mental retardation, hazardous waste management, infrastructure needs and financing, and energy and conservation. Here are some of them:
Membership and service on boards: National Academy of Public Administration, Center for Public Policy Priorities, Leadership Austin, Austin Area Research Organization (AARO), Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Humanities Texas, Federation of State Humanities Councils, and member of board of the Austin Community Foundation.
Leadership positions: Vice President of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation (2004 to present); President of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (1988-89); President of AARO (1998); National Committee on Innovations in State and Local Government for the Ford Foundation (1985-98); Commissioner with the Government Ethics Center of the Josephson Institute of Ethics (1989-1998); Chair of the Texas Board of Human Services (1994-1999); Founding President of the Foundation for Insurance Regulatory Studies in Texas (1991-present).
Awards: Price Daniel Public Service Award (2005)--Baylor University; Public Administration Educator of the Year (2004)--Centex Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration; Texan of the Year (1999)--Texas Legislative Conference; Austinite of the Year (1997)--Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; Distinguished Alumnus (1992)--Baylor University.
During his tenure as State Senator, Sherman was recognized by Texas Monthly in 1973, 1975, and 1977 as one of the ten best legislators; the magazine cited his integrity, intelligence, and "genuine sense of public service."
Panel 1 Speakers
The Honorable Juan Garcia, Texas State Representative
Representative Garcia is a second-generation naval aviator and attorney.
Garcia graduated with honors from UCLA, where he gave the 1988 commencement address. He earned his law degree from Harvard and his master's degree in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1992.
After completing his naval officer and flight training, Garcia received his "Wings of Gold" at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Lieutenant Commander Garcia flew 30 armed missions in the Persian Gulf, was the top aide to the deputy Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, and served in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Constellation in support of the enforcement of the no-fly zone in Iraq. His military awards include the Joint Commendation Medal, the Naval Commendation Medal, and the Naval Achievement Medal.
In 1999, Garcia was one of 16 Americans selected to serve as a White House Fellow, the nation's premier leadership development program whose alumni include Henry Cisneros and Colin Powell, and worked as a special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Garcia left active duty in 2004 and continues to serve as an instructor pilot at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi with the Naval Reserves. He practices civil defense law with the firm of Hartline, Dacus, Barger, Dreyer & Kern.
Garcia and his wife Denise, who met while classmates at Harvard Law, have four children, including twin eight-year-old boys, a six-year old daughter, and a three-year old son. They live in Corpus Christi.
The Honorable Donna Howard, Texas State Representative
Representative Howard has served as president of the Texas Nurses' Association (District 5) and a Health Education instructor at UT. She was a co-founder of Advocates for Eanes Schools and helped start the Texas Education Crisis Coalition, both grassroots organizations advocating for Texas public schools. Howard has served on the boards of the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, Common Cause, and the Texas Freedom Network, and is currently a board member of the Expanding Horizons Foundation, supporting low-income housing and education.
During the 80th Legislative Session, Rep. Howard was appointed to the Higher Education and Culture, Recreation, and Tourism Committees. She co-founded the Legislative Air Quality Caucus; a bipartisan group of more than forty legislators that worked to bring together House members and state and local officials in an effort to begin a dialogue about how Texas can utilize the cleanest possible energy for the healthiest possible air. Rep. Howard has received recognition for her work on health care, the environment, and historic preservation from several organizations including the Austin Business Journal, the Texas Hospital Association, the Sierra Club, and the Heritage Society of Austin.
The Honorable Ruth McClendon, Texas State Representative
Ruth Jones McClendon has served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the past 11 years, representing District 120 in San Antonio. She is the recipient of the 2006 Regional and State "Legislator of the Year" awards from the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards.
McClendon is Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Resolutions and serves on the Education Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. She is also Chair of Budget and Oversight for the Pension and Investments Committee in the Texas House of Representatives.
The late Congressman Barbara Jordan is the historical leader that had the greatest influence on McClendon's life as a child growing up in Houston's Fifth Ward. McClendon says the formidable obstacles that she has faced have been few, "but discrimination has been an ongoing obstacle that we all must fight."
A graduate of Phillis Wheatley High School and Texas Southern University, she received a Master of Arts degree from Webster University and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Guadalupe College Theological Seminary. Representative McClendon is married to Lt. Colonel (retired) Denver McClendon and together they have four children.
Frank Alvarez, Chair Travis County Republican National Hispanic Assembly, 2nd Vice Chair Republican National Hispanic Assembly
Frank Alvarez currently serves as the 2nd Vice Chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) and the chair of the Travis County RNHA. Alvarez has contributed to various Republican campaigns throughout Texas (particularly in El Paso, Central Texas, and North Texas) and has worked for the Pottsboro Press, KXAS-TV (Fort Worth), Burges House and Gallier & Wittenberg Public Relations, the Republican Party of Texas and the State Bar of Texas. Currently he is working on the Comptroller of Public Accounts campaign.
Since 1988, Alvarez has participated in numerous county, district and state conventions of the Republican Party of Texas. In the past, Alvarez has been involved with community organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club and the Right to Life Pregnancy Center in North Texas. Currently he is a member of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church, where he serves on the Finance Committee. Alvarez has a bachelor's degree in political science and two masters' degrees, one in journalism and the other in administration. He resides with his wife and two children in Pflugerville.
The Honorable Sherri Greenberg, Lecturer and Fellow, Max Sherman Chair, LBJ School of Public Affairs (Moderator)
Sherri Greenberg served for 10 years as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, completing her final term in January 2001. In 1999, she was appointed by the Speaker of the House to chair the House Pensions and Investments Committee and to chair the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance. She served two terms on the House Appropriations Committee, and served on the Appropriations Committee's Education, and Major Information Systems Subcommittees. Other committee assignments included the House Economic Development Committee, Elections Committee, and Science and Technology Committee.
Greenberg's professional background is in public finance. She served as the Manager of Capital Finance for the City of Austin from 1985 to 1989, overseeing the City's debt management, capital budgeting, and capital improvement programs. Prior to that she worked as a Public Finance Officer for Standard & Poor's Corporation in New York, where she analyzed and assigned bond ratings to public projects across the country.
Greenberg has a B.A. in Government from UT Austin and an M.S. in Public Administration and Policy from the London School of Economics. Her teaching and research interests include public finance and budgeting, Texas state government, local government, education, housing, technology, and campaigns and elections. Her recent publications include State E-Government Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications, and Beyond the Bid: An Evaluation of State and Local Government Procurement Practices.
Currently, Greenberg serves as a board member and treasurer of Austin Voices for Education and Youth, and she is an appointed member of the City of Austin General Obligation Housing Bond Review Committee.
Panel 2 Speakers
Steve Bickerstaff, Professor, School of Law, University of Texas
Steve Bickerstaff retired from the private practice of law in 1998, after founding what is now the largest minority-owned law firm in the southwest United States. For two years thereafter he taught full-time at the University of Texas School of Law. He continues to teach part-time as an adjunct professor, lecture overseas, and publish works on voting rights and election law.
At present Bickerstaff serves on the board of directors of five different not-for-profit organizations and is the author of Lines in the Sand, published in 2007 by the University of Texas Press. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany (2000), a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar at the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy (2002), and a member of a Carter Commission team advising on elections in the Peoples Republic of China (2003).
An Endowed Presidential Scholarship was created in Steve Bickerstaff's name at the UT School of Law in 2002 by his former law firm.
Paul Burka, Executive Editor of Texas Monthly
Paul Burka joined the staff of TEXAS MONTHLY one year after the magazine's founding. A lifelong Texan, he was born in Galveston, graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in history, and received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.
Burka is a member of the State Bar of Texas and spent five years as an attorney with the Texas Legislature, where he served as counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
Burka won a National Magazine award for reporting excellence in 1985 and the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and teaches in the Plan II program at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a frequent guest discussing politics on national news programs on MSNBC, Fox, NBC, and CNN.
The Honorable Jeff Wentworth, Texas State Senator
Senator Jeff Wentworth is serving his sixth term in the Texas Senate where he was president pro tem in 2004-2005 and where he was inaugurated as Governor of Texas for a Day on November 20, 2004. Senator Wentworth, a fourth-generation Texan, was first elected to the Texas Senate in 1992 after serving nearly five years in the Texas House of Representatives.
He is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence and serves on the Administration; Transportation and Homeland Security; and Intergovernmental Relations Committees. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Natural Resources Foundation of Texas and the Board of Trustees of the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
Prior public service includes five years in the Texas House of Representatives, one year as a university system regent, six years as a county commissioner, two years as a city attorney, three years as a Congressional assistant, and three years as a United States Army counterintelligence officer.
The Honorable Rodney Ellis, Texas State Senator
Rodney Ellis is currently serving in his sixth term in the Texas Senate from Houston. During his sixteen year tenure in the Texas Senate, the Senator has earned praise as a legislative leader on economic development, education, civil rights, tax cuts, criminal justice and workforce development issues.
Senator Ellis currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Organization. This Committee looks at ways to improve the efficiency of Texas state government. He also sits on the Senate State Affairs, Criminal Justice and Transportation and Homeland Security Committees. Over the course of his time in the Senate, Ellis has chaired the Senate Finance, Jurisprudence and Intergovernmental Relations Committees.
Senator Ellis currently serves on the National Commission on Energy Policy, the University of Texas Law School Foundation Board, the Rainbow PUSH board, and is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project, Inc. of New York. Senator Ellis is also the former Chairman of the Center for Policy Alternatives. Senator Ellis also acts as a special advisor to the World Forum, a body that aims to promote understanding and co-existence among the various cultures and civilizations in today's world.
Prior to his election to the Texas Senate in 1990, Senator Ellis served three terms as a member of the Houston City Council and as chief of staff to the late U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland. He holds a bachelor's degree from Texas Southern University and has a master's degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. In 2005, Senator Ellis was honored by the University of Texas with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Ellis also studied at Xavier University of New Orleans and the London School of Economics.
Rodney Ellis is married to Licia Green-Ellis and has four children.
The Honorable Ray Martinez III, Adjunct Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs (Moderator)
Ray Martinez serves as director of government relations for Rice University, where his responsibilities include coordination of the university’s legislative priorities and extensive interaction with government officials at the state and federal level. He also teaches election law as an adjunct professor of public policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin. Before joining Rice, Martinez operated a public policy and government relations law firm and concurrently served as a policy advisor on election issues for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Martinez has extensive experience in the public sector. Most recently, he served as a commissioner and vice chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan federal agency responsible for assisting state and local governments to improve the process of election administration. Martinez was recommended for the EAC by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, nominated by President George Bush and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.
During the Clinton administration, Martinez held several key posts, including: deputy assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs, where he was responsible for assisting former President Bill Clinton with various policy issues involving the nation's governors and other statewide elected officials; regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and special assistant to the president in the White House Office of Political Affairs. Prior to his service in the federal government, Martinez worked for the Texas Attorney General's office and as legislative aide for state Rep. Sylvester Turner.
Martinez has spoken extensively to national and international organizations on topics including health care, education and election reform. He has lectured at continuing legal education forums, keynoted numerous conferences and symposiums, and been interviewed extensively by media outlets including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Martinez has published commentaries in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun and Roll Call, and in 2006 published an academic commentary on improving voter confidence in Election Law Journal. Martinez serves as chairman of the executive board for the Overseas Vote Foundation, a nonpartisan organization working to improve the voting experience for uniformed and civilian American citizens living and working abroad.
A native of Alice, Texas, Martinez received his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and his bachelor's degree from Southwestern University. He is married to Beth Stanley Martinez, a clinical social worker, and they are the parents of two children, Sofia and Lorenzo. They reside in Austin, Texas.