Hello Harris County:

My name is Bill McLeod, William “Bill” McLeod, and I’m on your November ballot. Iam a proud Democratic candidate running for a judicial position right here in HarrisCounty. And I want to make a difference in our community, by using my life experiencesto assist me in my quest to fight for a better world.

To understand who I am -- why I believe what I believe and why I am running to rep-resent you in our courts -- there are some things you need to know about me. So Iwant/need to take this moment to talk directly to voters in Harris County, Texas. Thethings I want to discuss aren’t all easy to talk about, but they are all very important to me.And if I am going to pursue elected office to make a difference, I want to dive right intothem, no matter how difficult they might be, because that is how we make progress.

Let’s start here: I was born withwhite privilege. It’s a fact, a fact wedon’t talk about enough. I see theracism and inequity of our system. I abhor it. But I am still privileged. My best use of that privilege is to: acknowledge, understand and leverage my privilegefor justice instead of personal gain by staying in my lane in the fight.

My journey toward a louder and louder acknowledgment of my privilege and the fightagainst racism started from day one because I grew up around pain. As a child, I was re-peatedly bullied, and called names including “adoptee boy.” My pronouncing of wordsand names has gotten better, those that know me today, yes, it is better. I felt pain. Myred hair and my learning troubles where not yet celebrated by me as that space waslonely inside and very frightening and not understood, I grew up in the 1960’s.

Sometimes I see that despair in our young children today, I worry, and that stirs meto anger as I do not believe that any child should suffer alone and hide the darkness theyfeel behind tears. But that darkness is their light, as it was mine when nurtured with un-derstanding and support, being embraced in that lonely place is freeing and can unleashan amazing life journey. Even if a child does not seem to be reaching out, he or she is,trust me I know, so take the time and listen to a child that seems to be going down thewrong path, it is a cry for love, understanding, and help that we mustn’t push aside.

When I read words as a kid, they jumped around like James Harden driving to thehoop, I could not read from the pages of a book, but hold the book up in the mirror, I wasgood! I couldn’t understand why I had so much trouble when my two amazing brothersand my beautiful, loving sister were all so smart. No matter how hard I tried, these thingsdidn’t change. They were things I could not change about myself, things I simply had todeal with and personally overcome, never have wanted sympathy, as a matter of fact, Inever have written about my personal space, but felt the time was right and important to

share. I hope only that my sharing more about me helps thosewho look at me as a distraction, start to see my force as theirforce to be reckoned with by those who want to discount insteadof build. I have one brother who is still with us, And, his struggle with ad-

diction has been painful for him. My love for my brother, caring forhim in his space is personal as he growths through his pain, it ismy pain also as is the pain of losing a sibling. My sister who I to this day admire and cherish go to her at the

drop of a hat for support when needed at any time for any rea-son she is there for me as is her loving husband. You see askids our family was torn apart, and we were separated. The pain

of being away from my sister lives with me, as does the loss of my oldest brother. Butguess who took me to a place of healing and understanding my sister, which I will alwayslove her for her strength and unyielding love she has for me. We have cried a lot of tearstogether and spread to many ashes.

And I knew others had pain, and it angered me.It made me who I am: someone who fights againstthose who say that someone is different. Or“scary.” Or “not us.” Every time a racist politi-cian uses a dog whistle, it reminds me why Iam in this fight.

I want everyone to feel the oppositeof that pain. I want them to feel the lovethey deserve just for being human.Nearly a decade ago I found myself in aplace where I felt that kind of love, abeautiful, caring, loving church, anAfrican American church.

I love my church family and always will,and they feel the same about me. I knowthe safety our church brings to our mem-bers. Almost seven years after of being in thesanctuary on Sunday mornings, our men’sSunday school group was opened to me,which was a deep expression of trust andlove, I honor and respect to this day.

My life has grown immea-surably because of thelove and openness ofthe sharing and ex-pressions of under-standing of the worldexperiences that somany of my churchbrothers haveshared, allowingme the honor of

And Now, A Different Kind of Candidate Letterfrom Judicial Candidate William “Bill” McLeod

EVERY VOTE COUNTS! — HOUSTON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER© “OPEN LETTER” TO HARRIS COUNTY VOTERS

“OPEN LETTER”

M

being in their space, not to affirm but tolisten, laugh with and grow together.

The Crossing has alwaysbeen there for me and together Denise, and I attended our church until

she was laid to rest after alengthy battle with cancer.Our church family wasalways there for my soul-mate Denise, who I lovedvery deeply in life, whohad to leave me. But beforeshe did, she gave me somuch love to share withthe world; I can only honorthat gift every day whichbrings peace to my soul.

Cancer is evil; it takes beautiful peopleaway from us before their time for no rea-son. But cancer does not discriminate. It’sour health care system that discriminates.

Denise had to continue working afterher diagnosis because of the muchneeded and unaffordable treatment if shedid not have the company insurance, aluxury few people have -- and can afford.After a few months, with her health declin-ing, her company fired her and told hershe could go on Cobra, if you did not knowCobra ends, and does not wait for ourhealth to improve the days go fast with thefeeling of desperation on your heart, thatdesperation was on mine. What we wentthrough was something no one shouldever have to deal with. Especially whilethey are fighting for their life. So when Iexpress my beliefs about health care as ahuman right and not a privilege, that’s thepassion you hear in my voice. I am speak-ing for those whose voices that have beensilenced by the injustice, called a healthcare system we are currently under -- andyes, I do mean under. But I believe a newday is coming!

Please do not mistake my broken-heart for anger, but understand: while Ihave passionately fought for real health-care support, Republicans in the State ofTexas continue to slash social programsand justify their behavior through dema-gogic scare tactics. The far right labelsevery policy to safeguard people from cor-porate corruption, the Insurance IndustrialComplex, and pharmaceutical price fixingas “liberal socialist giveaways,” usually fol-lowed by a racist slur toward the blackcommunity or immigrants who simplycome here for a better life.

Politicians who don’t see the need forpeople to have that kind of basic supportfail the empathy test for public servants.

They spend time getting corporate hand-outs instead of handing out turkeys duringthe holidays. When they do charity, it’s tomake themselves feel better, not fightpoverty and hunger. It’s no way to run acounty, and it’s no way to run a country. It’snot leadership.

I want to make a difference, and Iknow making a difference means givingtime and resources to those who need

them year-round. ANYONE who knowsme from the day I stepped foot on thegrounds of Thurgood Marshall School ofLaw knows I work hard and work longhours to succeed.

For me, the difference is a strength.The people I have always gravitated to-ward have seen it that way, too. Specialeducation for me and my other friends inelementary school was something that weneeded to be wanted and thankful for itsadvantages. I do not see learning chal-lenges as a flaw, but celebrate the abilityto connect and a way to help make a dif-ference in a person’s life.

By helping a child hold on to theirdreams and goals that are fortified inadulthood, long after the child moves onand no longer after the child can remem-ber the community of angles making thatdifference is itself the magic of love. Bymaking that child stronger, allowing a starin each child’s eye to shine in a way thatmight not have transpired is a blessing toeveryone in our community.

I will bring that same philosophy into thecourtroom. I will bring value to our societyand our community at large and ensure thatEVERYONE has access to the RE-SOURCES of the court, that serves blackand brown neighborhoods and other commu-nities of color, and anyone else who comesbefore the bench, with fairness and justice.

Amazingly, I have been criticized byRepublicans in the past because I believethat outreach is the responsibility ofelected official in the judiciary, and I willtake the time to reach our communitiesright here in our backyards. The fight forjustice includes social justice!

Getting into neighborhoods and talk-ing and listening with the people of Har-ris County about what they see, feel,struggle with and the victories that aretheirs to own matters.

Fighting the school-to-prison pipeline matters.Fighting income inequal-ity matters. Our contin-ued fight for all of ourmarginalized communi-ties matters. Fighting forexcellence, and equal ed-ucation for every childmatters. Continuing tofight for “ALL” of ourneighborhood schoolsmatters. I think you getmy feelings on needingto stand up and fight forwhat is right and notwhat is easy.

The system (i.e., money) in place isand has been out of control, doing nothingbut attacking our national treasures: ourchildren. Our Black andBrown schools are particu-larly under attack, threat-ened with closure by theTexas Education Agency.

Our schools have in-creasingly become milita-rized, even as they havebecome more under-funded. Police, iron-fisteddisciplinary measures, andearly childhood suspen-sion rob children of theirfuture during early elemen-tary school. High stakestesting reduces resourcesand strains their teachers.Schools get chartered by corporate giantsor closed in favor of other corporate ex-periments that steal resources from ourkids and hand deliver them to right-wingpoliticians in Austin’s greedy towers. Childdetention centers open up at the samerate as private prison expansion, fillingICE contracts to enrich the donors of cor-porate class politicians.

Right here in Houston, we’ve had tofight as a community with everything withinus to make sure that defenseless childrenare protected, and are not jailed in a facil-ity located on Emancipation Avenue -- justdown the street from the home stadium ofour world champion Houston Astros.There’s nothing more ironic than putting ababy jail on Emancipation Avenue, a streetnamed for freedom. Our baseball team,down the street from a baby jail, cele-brates home runs with thousands cheeringthe home team on. Shame on us! Whereis the outrage? We should be calling forthat place on 419 Emancipation Avenue tobe closed immediately. As should all of theother baby jails in existence, and the onescurrently being built or in the works.

And to make matters worse, the con-tractor, Southwest Key, is a $478 millionper year non-profit with a CEO who makesroughly $1.5 million per year in salary.Southwest Key previously hired a borderguard who only escaped child pornographycharges due to the statute of limitations.They also want to put a charter schoolon-premise so they can reduce thecorporate school to prisonpipeline from a pipeline to ahallway, OMG this cannotbe allowed!

For all of these rea-sons is is why I am fighting. Children donot need to be separated from their fami-lies, treated as less-than, or arrested. Theyneed to have people around to love thembuild and guide them, social growth pro-grams which are added value to a child’slife at a fraction of the cost of detention

centers, juvenile homes and mass com-moditized foster care centers.

The curtains in my chambers, if I amso lucky to be elected by the people ofHarris County, will remain open so anyonecan see the true workings of blindfoldedjustice administered fairly and impartially.

My heart tells me there is an urgencythat we cannot just sit back and be un-seen; I want to be as effective in the court-room as I want to be outside thecourtroom. To have the opportunity totouch the soul and hearts of all our com-munities in Harris County is a requirementof the job, not a pastime to be used for po-litical gain.

Recently, an amazing advocate forchildren asked me: “Who loves a childmore than any other person?” Her answer:Parents, and often moms.

Still, mothers in Texas suffer one of theworst maternal mortality rates in the devel-oped world. As a result, the child suffersduring and after separation from theirmother. So we must fight back against dra-conian immigration policies, private insur-ance companies that fail to protect ourchildren’s welfare, and the foster care sys-tem being used disproportionately as ameans to break up our black and brown

families. And trust me, much of this willchange with new leadership, and new lead-ership is coming to the courthouse in Har-ris County Texas in the very near future!

All of these issues I’ve mentioned inthis open letter are all interconnected andare all near and dear to my heart. They areall issues I can take on in my way, as a fairarbiter of justice on the bench. I hope I canearn your vote in November (or even bet-ter, during early voting, starting October22nd) not because I want a seat of poweror even because I am a Democrat, al-though I am plenty proud of my party. Ihope I can earn your vote because I con-nect to issues, people, and the scales ofjustice in a personal way. And whenelected on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, Ipromise to stay honest, loyal and true tofollowing the constitution and the rule oflaw every day I wear the robe. In doing so,I believe I can bring love to communitiesand justice to our courts.

I hope you will join me in our fight.

With gratitude,

William “Bill” McLeod for Harris County CivilCourt at Law No. 4

WWW.MCLEODFORJUSTICE.COM

EVERY VOTE COUNTS! — HOUSTON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER© “OPEN LETTER” TO HARRIS COUNTY VOTERS

Pol. Adv by William “Bill” McLeod, Kirina McNamara. In compli-ance with the voluntary limits of Judicial Campaign Fairness Act.