| Campaign News |
A fund-raiser for Judge Triana to kick off her re-election campaign and to
help her retire her campaign debt will be held on:
October 18, 2007
5:30-7:30 p.m.
at The Belmont
305 W. 6th St.
Austin, Texas
Sponsorships are available.
For more information, please contact Pat Crow at 512-926-0165 or at
mexicrow1@yahoo.com.
|
|
Please join us for a fundraising reception for our friend and district judge Gisela Triana, to express our appreciation for everything she has done for our community and our legal system, and to help her retire the debt she incurred in running for office.
|
| Campaign
Staff |
Pat Crow, manager
David Butts, consultant
Glen Maxey, consultant |
| Contact
Info |
Gisela Triana Campaign
5504 Fort Benton Dr.
Austin, TX 78735
Phone: 512.301.9102
E-mail:
gdt@texas.net |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
I was raised by... |
|
I was raised by a loving family of Cuban immigrants. My
parents fled Castro's communist regime in 1962. Both of my
parents were Republicans and under their influence, at the age
of eighteen, I voted Republican in my first election. Soon
thereafter, when I began to understand the differences between
the two parties, I started making my own political decisions
and I made a conscious choice to become a Democrat. I have
never been as proud as when I served as a national delegate to
the Democratic Convention in 1996.
Click here to see the text of Gisela's speech to the 1996 State Democratic Convention
|
|
|
 |
Gisela D.
Triana was born on April 20, 1966, in Houston, Texas.
Her parents were Cuban immigrants that fled Castro’s
communist regime in 1962 with little else than each
other. Her father, Lorenzo Triana, joined the United
States Army, became a successful businessman, and later
went on to become a professor at San Antonio College.
Her mother, Gisela M. Triana, raised three children
while going to college and completing medical school.
Dr. Triana is currently a practicing physician in San
Antonio. Gisela is married to Bret Doyal, a family law
attorney, and together they have four children: Avery,9,
Blake, 6, Giselita, 5, and Adan, infant.
Judge Triana grew up in San Antonio, and graduated top
ten from
Tom C. Clark High School in 1982 at the age of 16. She attended the
University of Texas at San Antonio, received a Bachelor
of Arts Degree in Political Science, and graduated magna
cum laude in 1985 at the age of 19. She came to Austin to attend the
University of Texas School of Law, from which she
graduated in 1988 at the age of 22. She was admitted to the Texas State
Bar in 1988 and began working as a prosecutor in the
Travis County Attorney’s Office. As an Assistant County
Attorney, Judge Triana prosecuted misdemeanors and
represented family violence victims in obtaining
protective orders.
After leaving the Travis County Attorney’s Office, Judge
Triana began working as a staff attorney in the
Elections Division of the Texas Secretary of State’s
 Office. In that capacity, she interpreted and defended
the election laws of Texas. In 1991, Sharon Hanko, the
legal Director of the Elections Division, and Gisela D.
Triana opened up a general law firm, Hanko & Triana,
which primarily concentrated in family and criminal law
matters. In 1994, Gisela was appointed to Austin’s
Municipal Court where she presided over Class C
misdemeanors, approved search and arrest warrants, and
arraigned and magistrated people arrested in Travis
County. She closed her criminal practice and solely
concentrated on civil matters until she was elected as
the Justice of the Peace in Precinct 5 of Travis County.
As a Justice of the Peace, Judge Triana presided over
civil and criminal cases, as well as, Small Claims
Court. Civil cases comprised about 80% of her docket.
Judge Triana served as Justice of the Peace until she
was unanimously appointed by the Travis County
Commissioner's Court to the County Court at Law bench.
On January 7, 2000, Judge Triana was sworn in as your
County Court at Law No. 5 judge by Texas State Senator,
Gonzalo Barrientos. She was
elected with over 66% of the vote in the Democratic
Primary. In the four
years she has presided as County Court at Law Judge,
Judge Triana has worked hard
to stabilize the Court's docket and dispose of its
backlog. She decreased the
docket almost in half, from 3465 active cases to 1867.
Judge Triana was unopposed for re-election in 2002. Judge
Triana has taught judges all over Texas on legal matters
such as emergency protective orders, arraignment and magistration.
She has been a faculty member of the University
of Texas International Office’s U.S. Law Program, which
instructs foreign judges and lawyers on United States
Law. Judge Triana has worked hard to be a good and fair judge.
Although Judge Triana's parents were Republicans, at the
time that she came of age to make her own political
decisions in her early twenties, Judge Triana made a
conscious decision to support the Democratic Party. She
has volunteered in the effort to get democratic
candidates elected by walking blocks, phone banking, and
putting up yard signs. She is and has been an active
member in several democratic associations including the
Capital Area Progressive Democrats, Central Austin
Democrats, Austin Tejano Democrats, West Austin
Democrats, and Capital Area Democratic Women. She has
used her own time and money to participate in local and
State Conventions, and was honored to be elected to
serve as a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention in 1996.
Community involvement has always been important to Judge
Triana. As a lawyer, she provided free legal services
through Austin Lawyers & Accountants for the Arts,
Volunteer Legal Services, and Legal Line,
and she became a member of the Pro-Bono College,
which is an organization whose members
 provide at least
75 hours of free legal services to indigent clients.
Judge Triana has participated in mock trial programs for
at-risk kids, helped build a house for Habitat for
Humanity, and volunteered at the Special Olympics.
She has served as the Chair of Middle Earth/Youth
Options, a local organization that ran the only
homeless shelter for runaway teenagers in Austin, and
has served on the Children’s Justice Act Task Force,
which reviews and evaluates the State’s investigative,
administrative, and judicial handling of child abuse
cases. She also has served as the Vice Chair of the
Austin Downtown Commission, and on the Austin
Women’s Political Caucus’ Policy Council.
Currently, Judge Triana is on the Board of Austin
Recovery, an organization which provides services to
people that have substance and/or alcohol dependency
problems and are indigent. She also serves on the
Travis County Child Protective Services Board,
trying to improve the lives of children that have been
abused and neglected. Judge Triana is also a member of
the Girl Scout’s Mirror Project. She is a Board
member of the American Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees. She has taught religious
education at St Ignatius Catholic Church and is
currently active at the University Catholic Center,
where has been a Eucharistic minister.
When not working, Judge Triana devotes her time to her
Husband Bret, and her children, Gisela Loren, 5, Adan
Bret, 8 weeks, Avery 9 and Blake 6. |
|
|
