If you like the current state of affairs in Texas government, Austin entrepreneur Mark Katz is not the man you want as lieutenant governor.  The New York native, who has launched successful delicatessens in Austin and Houston, is running as a Democrat because he would like to implement big changes, he said during an interview at the News Connection offices.
Katz doesn't think Texas should be satisfied to have the nation's highest rate of high school dropouts and teen pregnancies. He doesn't think Texas Child Protective Services workers should be the nation’s lowest paid with among the biggest caseloads.    

     Texas should use its position as a national energy leader to promote a greener environment, instead of leading the nation in both production of carcinogens and release of carcinogens into the atmosphere, he says.

     Statutorily, the job of Texas lieutenant governor is very powerful, Katz said,  adding that when Bob Bullock and William P. Hobby held the job, Texans looked to their lieutenant governors as a source of leadership and initiative in solving state problems.  That the office currently has low visibility and incumbent David Dewhurst has poor name recognition is a reflection of his small accomplishments while in office. Katz says Dewhurst's major triumph is setting up a fingerprinting system to thwart food stamp fraud, an initiative that has yet to prove functional and, as of now, is delaying aid to hungry people, he said.       

     While Katz has two opponents in the Democratic primary, his eyes are set on ousting the incumbent, who he contends is even more out of touch with the needs and problems of the average Texan than Gov. Rick Perry.

   While the incumbents are praising a frugal state government for its role in helping Texas weather the economic downturn better than most other states, Katz sees a state that is squeezing its middle class for benefit of the economic elite. The candidate left New York in the late 1970s when it became very difficult for persons of middle income to enjoy a good quality of life.  He moved to Austin, Texas and quickly established Katz's Deli as a successful 24-hour restaurant, popular with the affluent, middle class and college students.  He found the atmosphere of the city very accepting and enjoyed the fact that there were great public schools for his children.   

     Katz is worried now about Texas public schools, noting that, of the 900,000 person increase in student population growth this decade, 870,000 comes from minority groups.  He worries about de-facto segregation as mid to upper income families send their children to private and parochial schools.  To combat decreasing performance and increasing dropout rates, Katz wants schools to get more children into the pre-K program and provide more incentives for teachers who are successful in struggling schools. He says that everyone in the state will eventually pay when public schools do poorly, as those lacking education and skills become a burden on the state. He also sees a larger role for government in health care, citing a recent study that shows Texas women who are uninsured are 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than women with easy access to medical care.     

     The personable restaurant owner has high visibility to those familiar with his eating establishments, but has also been active in politics, including an unsuccessful run for Austin Mayor in 2003.  He's been active in philanthropy with a fous on helping people with AIDS. Relying on his outsized personality and name recognition to win the Democratic Primary, Katz expects to need to do some serious fundraising to be competitive in the November election with Dewhurst, who has millions of dollars available to fund a statewide campaign. Katz plans on using the internet as a medium to raise funds, build awareness and organize supporters. You can visit Katz's website at: marckatzforltgov.com.