31 October 2005
Robison: Prop 2 proponents really no different from KKK
Clay Robison's Sunday op-ed is some pretty asinine journalism, even considering the source (who's an expert):
STATE Rep. Warren Chisum apparently was surprised when the Ku Klux Klan announced plans to hold a pre-election rally in Austin in support of his constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.
He shouldn't have been, because flies are attracted to garbage wherever they may find it.Chisum, a Republican from Pampa, isn't a cowardly cross-burner who takes delight in bashing African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. But his sponsorship of Proposition 2 on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot offers the KKK another opportunity to do what it does best — promote prejudice and hatred, albeit of a different brand than produced the racial lynchings of not so many years ago.
I am not equating the debate over whether homosexual couples should be allowed to marry to the long, often bloody civil rights struggle of blacks and Hispanics in America.
But....
I omitted the rest of the sentence that begins "But" because it contradicts the bolded paragraph. Robison is indeed doing exactly what he says he's not doing. Perhaps his frothing produced a shock from his keyboard, thereby causing his confusion.
There are reasonable arguments for and against Proposition 2. And then there is Robison's column, which really isn't the sort of thing one expects to find in a quality newspaper.
Jeff Cohen and the rest of the Chronicle's executive editorial leadership, of course, expect readers to believe that Robison can crank out work like this on Sundays, but serve as a completely objective bureau chief six days per week. That's laughable.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/05 09:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron's Casey has the pulse of GOP and taxes
The Chronicle's lefty metro/state editorialist and gossip columnist wants readers to think he's got the pulse of Republicans and taxes.
Really!
Here's the start of Rick Casey's most recent column of (mostly) unsourced gossip:
A friend of mine is a Republican precinct chairman and a skilled engineer who retired as a high-level executive with one of the big oil companies.He is a very smart man with a very sharp analysis of his tax situation.
Like the rest of us, he has watched taxes on his home rise at a rate higher than inflation, and certainly higher than his income from pensions, Social Security and investments.
Yet he knows that the appraisals of his home that lead to the higher taxes are accurate. Houses in his neighborhood keep selling for more and more.
He could sell his house and net a nice profit. But it's his neighborhood, his home, with room for his children and grandchildren when they come to town for happy visits.
So he won't cash in. He just gets taxed as though he did.
"They're taxing me on my unrealized capital gains," he says of the property tax.
[snip]
My friend the precinct chairman, not worrying about election to higher office, offers a solution that actually would work.
"Rather than have them tax my unrealized capital gains," he says, "I'd rather have them tax my income. Then the tax would be based on what I could actually pay."
As the baby boomers begin joining him in retirement in about two years, when their incomes shrink as their homes become more valuable, my bet is a whole lot of folks will start thinking like my friend the precinct chairman.
If Casey's unnamed friend is as self-centered as many baby boomers, of course he thinks shifting the tax burden to income from property ownership is the way to go! Why not shift his tax burden to a younger generation of workers if he can get away with it, as his own income drops?
Casey continues:
Already, many elected officials, including Republicans, talk off the record about the need to consider an income tax.
Has he been canvassing Republican officials at those Democratic brown bag lunches he speaks at? Or is he just engaged in the usual gossip?
It's really hard to take Casey seriously when he starts telling stories.
We are not yet in a climate where discussing it openly is safe for those seeking office.
Yes, those pesky voters continue overwhelmingly to reject the income tax proposals that are floated by liberal gossip columnists and bloggers!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/05 09:18 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron's Cohen breaks promise with readers
Way back on August 28, Chronicle reader representative James Campbell tried a gimmick on his struggling blog: Readers could submit questions for editor Jeff Cohen, and he'd post the replies "during the week of September 5."
Matt Bramanti at the Lone Star Times has been trying to get those questions answered ever since.
September slipped by. Now October is gone. We head into November tomorrow.
So Bramanti followed up with Campbell, who responded:
Well, since agreeing to do it, we’ve had two hurricanes and a World Series. I know he was close to finishing the questions I submitted to him but he got sidetracked by work.
Unlike the high-profile position of public editor at the New York Times, the Chronicle's reader representative position seems designed more as a PR position. One doesn't really envy the position of James Campbell, who frequently draws the task of defending the obnoxious (and sometimes indefensible). Still, this is pretty lame even by Chronicle reader representative standards.
Newspapers cover news. If the editor is too busy to answer questions about his newspaper because news has broken out, then he should never have promised to do so way back in August. Because the Chronicle's reader representative is oriented institutionally to putting positive PR spin on executive editorial decisions, Campbell can't really be expected to call his boss a phony over the matter.
But really, the only conclusions that can be drawn are that Jeff Cohen is a phony, and that following through on a promise to readers just isn't that big a priority to him.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/05 08:45 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
Downtown park public meeting Wednesday
The Houston Downtown Park Conservancy will present design ideas for the new downtown park at a meeting this Wednesday:
The Houston Downtown Park Conservancy will share initial design concepts for Houston’s new downtown park at a public meetings on November 2nd.
Wednesday, November 2, 2005, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hilton Americas Houston Hotel, 1600 Lamar, Room 340 (third floor)
Open to the public. Admission is free.
Valet service and parking in the Hilton garage is available, and curb parking is free after 6:00 PM.
PREVIOUSLY: Progress on Houston's world-class downtown park (bH), The Bill White Vermin And Solid Waste Memorial Park (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/31/05 07:24 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (2)
Asinine zero-tolerance policies
Chris Baker is discussing this zero-tolerance stupidity coming out of Cy-Fair ISD. (I guess you know where I come down on this issue.)
Zero-tolerance policies (in my opinion) are helpful crutches for lazy school administrators. It makes their jobs easier and reduces the amount of time they have to spend dealing with disciplinary issues.
What if a normally good student who gets good grades and has a record of good conduct accidentally brings an aspirin to school? Of course with today's zero-tolerance policies, that student faces suspension or expulsion. No ifs, ands or buts.
What if a normally good student is tired of getting punched by the school bully and decides to punch back? Of course, the good student is assumed just as guilty as the bully (who has a history of visiting the principal's office) and both serve the same punishment. (My neighbor just went through an incident like that.)
Zero-tolerance nonsense is just one more reason why parents are increasingly disgusted with one-size-fits-all public schools, and it's good to see parents fighting back and Chris Baker giving it some further attention.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/31/05 03:39 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
A teensy bit of government truth-telling
This notice is on the city of Houston's website:
Tax Rate Notification
The City of Houston adopted a tax rate that will raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year's tax rate. The tax rate will raise taxes for maintenance and operations on a $100,000 home by approximately $5.77.
Mayor White wants Houstonians to know that the preceding announcement should really say "Harris County Appraisal District," instead of "City of Houston."
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/31/05 10:02 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
30 October 2005
Texans will not go winless this season
The Houston Texans will not go winless this season, as they managed to stink less than another of the league's worst teams today, and pulled out a three-point victory at home despite generating only 237 yards of offense.
Area Exxon gas stations have been running a promotion for free coffee on Mondays after a Texans win. It's been a very cost effective promotion for them so far this season, but they will have to pay out tomorrow.
As we've noted previously, the local sports media has been slow to blame Charley Casserly for the Texans' woes this season. The Chronicle's Ken Hoffman, on the other hand, is pretty blunt in his latest Q&A column:
Just bought a bottle of chocolate milk and the expiration date was Oct. 31 at 4 p.m.
Are you kidding me -- 4 p.m.? They can now predict the "hour" my milk will turn sour? Do you know if they took into consideration the time change and it will really be sour at 3 p.m. Monday instead?
Bill "Cowboy" Lamza
I got a letter from Reliant Energy explaining why it's asking for a massive rate increase. Here's a way for Reliant to keep its costs down: How about stop wasting money by putting your name on a stadium so a football team can throw only nine passes a game and have an 0-6 record?
The Texans need to do that Scrabble move, where you dump all your tiles and pick new ones — from the general manager on down to the water boy.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong about David Carr. He's got the talent, but he doesn't have the support to help him out. He can't carry the entire team on his shoulders alone. If we could get any sort of offensive line to help him out, things would be much different. Were you at last Sunday's game? Did you see the defense play? Yeah, I didn't either. Say all you want about David Carr, but he's got my support. We need to look at Charley Casserly and Dom Capers.
Julie Swoboda
Actually, I think we don't need to look at Charley Casserly and Dom Capers. They're the biggest parts of the problem.
Ouch!
I'm guessing Hoffman's not going to be getting many media perks from Charley Casserly the rest of the season.
UPDATE (10-31-05): Hoffman needs to take sports columnist Richard Justice to lunch after Justice's latest.
If Capers is indeed fired, we may never know if it was because the players weren't good enough or because he and his coaches weren't good enough.
Hoffman knows, as do most people in town who don't make their living on the Chronicle sports pages. Both Casserly and Capers deserve the blame. They both need to go after the season is over.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/05 09:07 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Houston buys $750,000 worth of Metro passes for city employees
Check out what Tom Bazan noticed on last week's city council agenda:
35. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing contract between the City and METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS for Purchase of Employee Transit Passes; providing a maximum contract amount - $750,000.00 - General, Enterprise and Other Funds - PASS
And Tom points out that this is not the first time the city has bought Metro passes for its employees.
So it turns out that while the city doesn't have the time to focus on the growing graffiti problem or the funds to address HPD's manpower shortage, there is time and money to help boost Metro's ridership numbers and bottom line.
Maybe this program will someday be in line for an audit by the Controller's office, just to see if the benefits match up to the cost.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 05:03 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
Red light cameras increase accidents (cont'd)
Accidents have increased in Philadelphia, PA, and in Fort Collins, CO, at intersections where red light cameras have been installed.
Also in Fort Collins, one second was added to the yellow light time at an intersection with a red light camera and look what happened:
Both accidents and red light citations dropped by more than half comparing the most recent month's data to the same time last year. Daily ticket revenue also plunged from $3000 to $1125, giving officials cause to delay voting on a new camera to see if revenue will rebound.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 04:53 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
It's full steam ahead at Metro's Real Estate Development Dept.
Last week I wondered what about a development project mentioned in a Metro board meeting agenda:
Request Board authorization for the President & CEO to negotiate, execute and deliver agreements relating to a transit oriented joint development project at the Cypress Park & Ride facility.
Here's the Metro press release with details:
The METRO Board of Directors today approved initial plans for a new 23-acre Cypress Park & Ride on U.S. 290 at Skinner Road, along with transit oriented development - a first for METRO at a Park & Ride facility.
The $31.8 million project, to be developed by NewQuest Properties, calls for a multi-level parking garage with 1,500 spaces and a "Town Square" area with 28,000 square feet of restaurant space and 92,000 square feet of retail space.
The four story, $17.5 million parking facility will be constructed first, and will be paid for by METRO.
NewQuest will then construct the Town Square at an estimated cost of $14.3 million.
The new Cypress Park & Ride will help ease overcrowding at METRO's Northwest Station Park & Ride on 290 near West Road. Also, METRO expects to realize more than $100,000 per year from its share of the development's income.
The project is the second announced by the Transit Authority this month. The first joint development of a transit property will be the $105 million development of the air space above the Texas Medical Center Transit Center.
Oh dear.
Do you think this Park and Ride will have any real security presence, or will non-operational cameras be used?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 09:02 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
Chron: young people can sink Prop. 2 (and save the Republic!)
The Chronicle's editorial board laments that more young people don't vote, in an editorial about Prop. 2:
The vote on Proposition 2 on the Nov. 8 ballot, a proposal that would ban gay couples' right to legally protect their families, offers young people a chance to make their influence felt.
Eighteen- to 25-year-olds vote at about half the rate of 45- to 55-year-olds, notes Rice University political scientist Bob Stein. Without home ownership, school districts and careers to worry about, the younger age group doesn't feel driven to participate. What a waste. If 18- to 25-year-olds voted their stated beliefs next month, they could show the country that Texans will not stand for bigotry.
(Oooo, a Bob Stein sighting!)
Why does the Chronicle think that if 18-25-year-olds voted their beliefs, they would vote against Prop. 2? Maybe, just maybe, young voters WILL vote their beliefs -- and vote in favor of it! (Even notoriously-liberal California passed a Defense of Marriage Act with more than 60% of the vote.)
The editorial should also include a big non sequitur warning because of the first and last paragraphs:
THE past year has not been very empowering for young adults. Just starting to earn a living and newly eligible to vote, they have witnessed a cavalcade of events beyond their control: disasters in Asia, terrorist bombs in Europe, interminable warfare in the Middle East. At home, officials are under investigation for endangering national security.
[snip]
There's not much voters can do about natural calamities, stateless terrorists or dishonest, unelected public officials. But Texas' young voters can exert amazing leverage on the home front next month. They need to vote — and show that hateful legislation is an embarrassment in 21st century Texas.
Natural disasters, terrorist bombings and dishonest public officials relate to Prop. 2...how exactly?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 09:01 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (11)
29 October 2005
Casey acts as Mayor's PR man on tax increase
The state legislature recently passed "truth in taxation" legislation that requires certain taxing entities to acknowledge that resultant increases in property tax revenues be labeled tax increases if the taxing entity chooses to set a tax rate that effectively produces new revenue. The rationale behind the legislation was to force taxing entities to acknowledge the growing problem of property-tax appraisal creep, instead of simply saying "what can you do?" and blaming appraisal boards. Anne Linehan touched on this in her earlier post on the fireworks in Council earlier this week, when those who favor larger government and higher spending were forced by the legislation to acknowledge they were setting a rate that would result in a significant increase in property-tax revenues.
Chronicle gossip columnist and metro/state Rick Casey, of course, is one of those who favors larger government and higher spending, but rather than simply shoot straight, Casey's style is always to smear and attack those with whom he disagrees. Here's his latest work:
Meanwhile, the two Harris County legislators responsible for the new "truth in taxation" law, Sens. Tommy Williams and Kyle Janek, should have been laughing up their sleeves.Their little scheme has succeeded in forcing local officials to admit to raising taxes while they themselves continue to get a free ride.
Yet Williams and Janek and the rest of the Legislature raised taxes considerably last year. You don't remember? They did it by not lowering the state sales tax.
The result: State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced two weeks ago that monthly state sales tax revenues were up 14 percent from a year ago.
That formulation sounded familiar. Sure enough, in watching the tape of the debate in Council that is the subject of Casey's column, I heard Mayor White use the bolded soundbite almost verbatim. It's not the first time that Casey has shamelessly stolen the words of other people without proper attribution, but one wishes he would be a little more honest with readers if he's simply going to act as Mayor White's PR man.
Substantively, although the soundbite is clever, it's really comparing apples with oranges. Yes, the sales tax rate has been set, and increased sales do indeed produce increases in tax revenues, all things being equal. However, to my knowledge there are no boards that have ever convinced local merchants to raise prices in order to produce a certain amount of revenue in a taxing district (but we have seen some interesting relationships between property taxing entities and appraisal boards), so the comparison starts to break down. Furthermore, consumers can always cut back their spending if they feel sales taxes are excessive. Homeowners have much more trouble cutting down on their property "consumption" if they feel tax rates are too high!
Rick Casey may not like the fact that the legislature has responded to disgruntled property owners by passing "truth in taxation" legislation, but his characterization of the issue as simply a concern of a few activists just doesn't ring true. And, as usual, his infantile attacks on those with whom he disagrees and his carrying water for political favorites really seem more appropriate for the opinion pages, not the metro/state news pages.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/05 09:58 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
(Revisionist) analysis poses as DC bureau news
Bennett Roth of the Chronicle's underwhelming D.C. bureau seems hardly unable to contain himself over the Libby indictments:
The criminal charges against the vice president's chief of staff are rooted in the controversy over the Bush administration's initial justification for invading Iraq.
With the U.S. military casualty rate in Iraq reaching the 2,000 mark this week and no weapons of mass destruction yet uncovered, the indictments against Lewis "Scooter" Libby could add fuel to the national debate about the wisdom of going to war.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said Friday the indictments were "not about the propriety of the war." Nonetheless, the dispute over whether Saddam Hussein had stockpiled dangerous weapons sparked the legal case.
Patrick Fitzgerald says his case is "not about the propriety of the war," nonetheless a Chronicle reporter knows better!
Arrogance and hubris are hardly exclusive to the pols (of both parties) in Washington, it would seem.
Robert Kagan provided a useful corrective in advance of the indictments, in a Washington Post op-ed several days ago:
The Judith Miller-Valerie Plame-Scooter Libby imbroglio is being reduced to a simple narrative about the origins of the Iraq war. Miller, the story goes, was an anti-Saddam Hussein, weapons-of-mass-destruction-hunting zealot and was either an eager participant or an unwitting dupe in a campaign by Bush administration officials and Iraqi exiles to justify the invasion. The New York Times now characterizes the affair as "just one skirmish in the continuing battle over the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq." Miller may be "best known for her role in a series of Times articles in 2002 and 2003 that strongly suggested Saddam Hussein already had or was acquiring an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction." According to the Times's critique, she credulously reported information passed on by "a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on 'regime change' in Iraq," which was then "eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq." Many critics outside the Times suggest that Miller's eagerness to publish the Bush administration's line was the primary reason Americans went to war. The Times itself is edging closer to this version of events.
There is a big problem with this simple narrative. It is that the Times, along with The Post and other news organizations, ran many alarming stories about Iraq's weapons programs before the election of George W. Bush. A quick search through the Times archives before 2001 produces such headlines as "Iraq Has Network of Outside Help on Arms, Experts Say"(November 1998), "U.S. Says Iraq Aided Production of Chemical Weapons in Sudan"(August 1998), "Iraq Suspected of Secret Germ War Effort" (February 2000), "Signs of Iraqi Arms Buildup Bedevil U.S. Administration" (February 2000), "Flight Tests Show Iraq Has Resumed a Missile Program" (July 2000). (A somewhat shorter list can be compiled from The Post's archives, including a September 1998 headline: "Iraqi Work Toward A-Bomb Reported.") The Times stories were written by Barbara Crossette, Tim Weiner and Steven Lee Myers; Miller shared a byline on one.
[snip]
Many such stories appeared before and after the Clinton administration bombed Iraq for four days in late 1998 in what it insisted was an effort to degrade Iraqi weapons programs. The Times was not alone, of course. On Jan. 29, 2001, The Post editorialized that "of all the booby traps left behind by the Clinton administration, none is more dangerous -- or more urgent -- than the situation in Iraq. Over the last year, Mr. Clinton and his team quietly avoided dealing with, or calling attention to, the almost complete unraveling of a decade's efforts to isolate the regime of Saddam Hussein and prevent it from rebuilding its weapons of mass destruction. That leaves President Bush to confront a dismaying panorama in the Persian Gulf," including "intelligence photos that show the reconstruction of factories long suspected of producing chemical and biological weapons."
This was the consensus before Bush took office, before Scooter Libby assumed his post and before Judith Miller did most of the reporting for which she is now, uniquely, criticized. It was based on reporting by a large of number of journalists who in turn based their stories on the judgments of international intelligence analysts, Clinton officials and weapons inspectors. As we wage what the Times now calls "the continuing battle over the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq," we will have to grapple with the stubborn fact that the underlying rationale for the war was already in place when this administration arrived.
Of course, the Bush Administration built its case on multiple factors (WMDs being the rationale favored by Colin Powell and Tony Blair), although those factors are beyond the scope of this post, which is simply to point out that Bennett Roth's revisionist narrative is overly simplistic (and likely ideologically tinged) analysis posing as news coverage.
Kagan's op-ed is worth reading in its entirety.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/05 06:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Chron obsesses over tired story
The Chronicle devotes yet more column space to the story of Councilmember Carol Alvarado's strange indifference towards actually obtaining her college degree, and the University of Houston's unusual speed in approving her waiver and granting her a degree after her political opponent pointed out her degree claims were inaccurate:
Within a few hours on Oct. 21, Alvarado obtained the bachelor of arts degree, retroactive to December 1992, after her District I opponent, attorney John Parras, distributed UH documents showing Alvarado had not been awarded the degree she had claimed for years.
UH officials said she had failed to complete a writing proficiency exam required to graduate in December 1992, when Alvarado completed her course work.
The writing proficiency requirement since has been dropped, and students who completed all other requirements can receive degrees, [UH Communications Director Eric] Gerber said.
[snip]
Requests for waivers typically are submitted on forms filed by students, but they can be submitted by advisers on behalf of students or simply noted on various documents, said Gerber.
"There is a general approval for the waiver to be granted," he said.
In the case of Alvarado, the waiver was noted last Friday on what is called a graduation certification check list after an audit of her course work.
"Turnaround time can vary widely, ranging from as little as one day to as long as two or three weeks, depending on the complexity of the request being made and the academic records involved," Gerber said.
Gerber said Alvarado's case was straightforward enough to be quickly resolved.
Many of us who have dealt with the University of Houston know from experience that Councilmember Alvarado's experience in getting this matter resolved so quickly is hardly the norm. One can understand that the university would like to accommodate a high-profile local pol as quickly as possible as it's in the university's interest to do so, but it strains credulity for anyone to suggest that the rapid disposition of Councilmember Alvarado's matter is the norm.
That said, this story really is over. Voters surely have enough information by now to decide whether this is anything but a trivial matter, and the Chronicle surely can find some local news that needs to be reported.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/05 06:14 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
28 October 2005
A sports column just waiting to be written
Friend Tom Kirkendall picks up on a theme we've sounded here previously -- the fact that Texans GM Charley Casserly has been nearly immune to criticism until very recently.
Kirkendall goes on to refer to Chronicle columnist John McClain's previous fawning over Charley Casserly, and writes:
I would like to read an article by Mr. McClain that is based on thorough research that details the personnel choices of Mr. Casserly, compares those choices to alternatives that were available at the time of such choices, and analyzes why the choices that were made have come together to make the Texans the laughingstock of the NFL.
That's a great idea that we'll second, with one caveat: It doesn't have to be McClain. Any sports columnist who wants to tackle the topic is fine by me.
And why not? It's a good story just waiting to be written, and one that fairly cries out for treatment by a professional sports journalist with the research tools and time to do it properly.
Banjo Jones has gotten things off to a good start. But a truly comprehensive column would look into potential free agent signings over each year, potential salary cap impact, alternate draft picks, and the like.
How about it, local sports writers?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 05:19 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron runs chopped AP coverage of base closures
Today, the print version of the Houston Chronicle and Chron.com both ran an edited version of an Associated Press story on a House vote on base closures that will affect Ellington Field locally.
The fact that the Chronicle D.C. bureau did not cover this story of local relevance is about what we've come to expect. The editing of the AP story is also curious.
Beneath the [Read More] link, I've posted the original AP story as posted by the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The bolded portion represents what the Chronicle and Chron.com chose to cut from their versions.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 04:59 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Neighborhoods complain about graffiti; Mayor continues to "review"
The Chronicle has posted two "This Week" stories that cover Houston's worsening graffiti problem.
Kim Jackson reports on discussion of the problem at a Spring Branch meeting:
Spring Branch civic association members, police and government officials agreed last week to join forces to discourage the spread of gang membership and graffiti.
About 75 residents and a panel of state and local officials threw out several ideas and potential solutions to the problems at a town hall meeting focused on curbing the spread of gangs and graffiti in and around northwest Houston.
First on the list, several said, is the total elimination of graffiti, which often attracts other blight, and gang activity into an area.
"I am the father of a son who got sucked into the gang culture and it almost ruined his life," said Greg Rudichuk, a Spring Branch Oaks resident.
"All parents out there should know we must clean up our neighborhoods and keep them clean in order to keep the gangs out."
Tom Manning reports on the problem in the Heights:
Dean Swanson's bus route is getting shorter and shorter.
Since his retirement, Swanson, a Heights resident, has been operating Houston Heights Historic Tours, a bus tour of the neighborhood that gives visitors a chance to see some of the historic buildings in the Heights and hear the stories behind them.
But lately, Swanson said he has been forced to alter his tour routes because of the increase in graffiti that's been appearing on buildings in the Heights. It's a problem that continues to increase, he said, and one that he wants to see stopped.
"I'm getting ashamed of what I show people," said Swanson, who lives in the 800 block of Harvard and is also the Restoration-Historical Committee Chair of the Houston Heights Association. "I have to avoid certain places because there are things people don't need to be seeing."
In August, Swanson said he sent a letter to Mayor Bill White's office with some 20 addresses of buildings that fell victim to graffiti vandals in the previous two weeks. Not only did he say that he hardly received any response to his inquiry, but since then, the problem has gotten worse.
"The only response I got was from the former captain of Central Patrol, who said he forwarded it to the new captain and the gang unit," Swanson said. "I just wanted to see what they can do, but I haven't heard anything."
Graffiti eradication simply isn't a priority for Mayor White and his Council.
Both "This Week" stories cite HPD Assistant Police Chief Brian Lumpkin on the matter. Here's Manning's version:
When graffiti is reported to police, they forward the report to both the police department's Neighborhood Protection Corps and the city's Anti-Gang Office.
Graffiti that is reported by residents via the city's 3-1-1 Help Service Line is also reported to those entities.
"We're responsible for giving notice to buildings that have graffiti," said Assistant Police Chief Brian Lumpkin, who runs HPD's Neighborhood Protection Corps. "We play a role in identifying graffiti on private property, particularly property that doesn't have anyone there."
Once notice has been given on a property, the owner has 30 days to remove the graffiti. If that doesn't happen, the city will step in and remove the graffiti and, according to Neighborhood Protection's Web site, a lien will be placed on the property in order to recover the cost of doing so.
Judging by the explosion of ugly graffiti all over town, this system is obviously not working. And given the amount of graffiti that now covers the public infrastructure of the city, one would think it might become a priority for Mayor White, his Council, and his police chief.
If only they could figure out how to turn it into a revenue-stream possibility!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 04:21 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
Houston-area trees worth $205 billion!
KUHF-88.7 reports that the Texas Forest Service has completed a four-year study of Houston's trees and determined the value of our beautiful green canopy:
It took over four years, but the Texas Forest Service was able to count the trees in Houston and actually put a monetary number on what they're worth. According to the report, there are 663 million trees in the 8-county Houston region valued at over $205 billion. Pete Smith is the partnership coordinator with the Texas Forest Service. "That speaks volumes as to what they're really worth. That's just in the landscape. $456 million of annual environmental benefits, that's a big number. We really didn't have a good idea that trees were worth that much to us," he says.
Smith says the trees store $721 million worth of carbon and remove over 60,000 tons of air pollution every year.
The report points out that while Houston has an impressive urban forest canopy, 17-percent of those trees have been lost since 1992, a total of around 78 million trees. The losses are due in part to changes in how land is used and also because of invasive species of trees that are wiping out other species. Texas Forest Service Director Jim Hull says philosophies are changing. "In the past, maybe there could have been some things done that would have maintained some of these trees, but we're really looking now at establishing a baseline for the future," he says.
Save the trees! In my own little corner of Harris County we are losing more and more trees. Developers raze every last tree on a parcel of land to build something. Why? Why not save some, even if it's only around the perimeter? We are watching as a huge stand of trees is slowly being bulldozed on FM 2920 at Falvel Road. Also, various sections of land along Gosling Road are losing trees. Especially confounding is a new subdivision called Gosling Pines where there is not a single pine tree left standing! In fact, the development's landscaping includes...a few crape myrtles.
Trees add so much...it just kills me that many developers are short-sighted and find it easier to bulldoze them all.
RELATED: Trees for Houston
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/05 08:36 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (11)
Houston's property tax "cut" (wink, wink)
City Council voted to cut Houston's property tax rate on Wednesday and Matt Stiles reported on the disagreement over whether or not it's really a tax cut:
The council cut the city's tax rate by a quarter of a penny. But a new state law, passed with the goal of increasing elected officials' accountability to homeowners, forced the council to declare formally that it had raised taxes, since rising property values will bring in more city revenue.
The new rate — 64.75 cents per $100 valuation — means the owner of a $100,000 assessed house will pay the city $518 in annual property taxes with a typical 20 percent homestead exemption. The previous rate was 65 cents per $100 valuation, under which that homeowner would have paid $520.
The vote came after a contentious, 90-minute debate about whether the action amounted to a tax cut — or whether it was an increase.
"Ultimately, there will be some people whose taxes go up and some people whose taxes go down, because of the actions of the appraisal district, not the city," Mayor Bill White said.
The appraisal district determines the market value of property for taxation.
As Edd Hendee and Paul Bettencourt pointed out yesterday on Edd's morning show, the mayor is being disingenuous. He knows full well what the city's funding wants are and he knows how much the average homeowner's bill will rise each year to help fund the city's wants -- eight to ten percent -- so for him to say that the appraisal district is the bad guy and not the city, well, he knows better. But, of course, he hopes the average Houston homeowner will fall for it and not blame him.
Council members Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Addie Wiseman voted against the rate cut, saying that it was, indeed, an increase. They also said it didn't provide enough tax relief.
Sekula-Gibbs proposed a new rate of 64.17 cents per $100 valuation. That figure, she said, represented the "effective" tax rate, the amount that would keep revenue level with the previous year minus new appraised properties or exceptions.
The council, by a 10-5 margin, voted against considering her plan, which would have reduced the city's revenue for the current fiscal year by about $9 million, she said.
Wiseman, who had tense exchanges with White and others on the council, was adamant that the panel had increased taxes. She forced Councilman Adrian Garcia, who read the motion with the language required by the state law, to repeat the phrase twice.
"The decision here is to raise taxes, but by a smaller amount," said Wiseman, who later issued a news release describing her "outrage."
The debate grew so tense that Councilwoman Ada Edwards at one point interrupted, saying, "Ms. Wiseman, this is not your meeting. You have to have some respect for the decorum of this body."
The decorum, the process, the tradition. True politicians always value those things above any real substantive debate and action. No rocking the boat!
Good for Councilmembers Wiseman and Sekula-Gibbs. Texas homeowners ARE being run over, trampled on and spit upon, due to this state's broken taxation system. How much longer can governmental bureaucracies strangle the golden goose? We are going to find out.
Sedosi has some thoughts on this looming trainwreck:
The Municipalities? As seen here they are quite comfortable taking in 5-10% revenue increases annually while having a convenient scapegoat on hand to blame for rising tax values.
[snip]
The fact is next year the City of Houston will get a pay raise from taxpayers at a rate that is higher than the Cost of Living Index and population growth. Most of this increase will come on the backs of property owners who are already struggling under increased fuel and food prices.
Some will say that this isn't a problem, that the "issue" is Conservatives wanting to give more to the rich.
Except its not the rich that are going to be forced out of their homes, it's the poor and middle class that are feeling the crunch the hardest.
I would only add to those on-target points that even with a 65-exemption, many of Texas' retired homeowners cannot indefinitely afford property tax bills that increase much faster than their retirement funds do. Soon, very soon, Texas' system will have to be fixed and hard choices will have to be made. Unfortunately, many politicians prefer the ostrich-approach.
RELATED: Doug Miller's (KHOU-11) coverage, which gives the mayor and the city a pass. Miller needs some educatin' on Texas' property tax system with statements like this:
But of course, Houston's booming housing market brings higher home prices and higher home prices generally bring homeowners higher property tax bills.
No. On average Houston-area homes sell for eleven percent under fair market value. Which means that Houston homes are "worth" more than they are selling for. How did they get that higher worth? Appraisal increases that have nothing to do with a home's true worth! Appraisal increases, instead, are based on government funding wants.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/05 07:49 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
Local bloggers' voting suggestions
Sedosi and Matt Bramanti have each helpfully provided their own recommendations for voting on the proposed constitutional amendments.
The only proposition I am going to opine about here is Proposition 9, and I strongly support a NO vote, like Sedosi and Matt do. Here's Sedosi's take:
Prop 9: The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a six-year term for a board member of a regional mobility authority.
Position: Opposed The thought behind this amendment is that appointees need longer terms to do long range planning more effectively. What is lost here is that most long range planning is handled in 20 year increments, so this would have no effect on its efficacy one way or another. What this WOULD do is make regional transportation authorities even LESS accountable to the public. Some, of course, would view that as a GOOD thing. Of course, these same people tell you that your vote is important to them....
And Matt's:
Proposition 9: Against. Longer terms for mobility board members would only make them even less accountable to the public than they currently are.
Yes. We are looking for MORE accountability and transparency in our governmental bureacracies, not less.
It's also worth pointing out that the Chronicle's editorial board recommended voting YES. How unsurprising.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/05 06:56 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chron endorsements for council districts H and I
The Chronicle editorial board offered more Council endorsements yesterday. It's hardly a shocker that they like the incumbents in District H and District I. They might have posted all of their endorsements prior to the start of early voting, however.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 06:15 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
27 October 2005
Thanks Astros -- it was a wild ride!
Thanks to the Astros for making it to the World Series and giving us all something to cheer about and obsess over.
(now what are we going to do?)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/27/05 08:58 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (7)
26 October 2005
METRO ridership study posted
Further to this post from earlier, the final powerpoint version of the $250,000 ridership study commissioned by METRO is available here. The file is large (roughly 2 MB) and best suited for broadband internet connections.
Thanks to Tom Bazan for being persistent and obtaining the report.
It should have been posted by METRO on their website. For that matter, some of our enterprising local media might well have obtained it and posted it online.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/26/05 08:38 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro's September data
Royko beat me to the post -- about Metro's September ridership and fare data -- so I'll link to his comment and point out that Metro's numbers are not encouraging:
-- Train boardings are up, but Metro's counting method is misleading.
-- Ticket vending machine (TVM) revenue is down from September 2004.
-- Bus ridership declined from September 2004.
-- Fare box revenue is down from September 2004.
Is it any wonder Metro has decided to go into real estate development?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/05 11:21 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro's $250,000 ridership study
You'll recall that Metro commissioned a study to figure out why bus ridership has steadily declined over the past several years. We've offered our own (free of charge) reasons, but strangely, Metro officials still felt the need to spend $250,000 to figure it out. Tom Bazan got his hands on the study and here is the summary and the recommended fixes:
In order to make significant gains in ridership METRO must…
-- Improve the efficiency of the system – Commuters will not ride the bus if they believe their trip will be longer than if they drove alone.
-- Change the negative stereotype associated with riding the bus – Commuters shouldn’t need to justify to their peers why they are taking the bus.
In a market where 66% of residents are opposed to riding the bus, METRO must find ways to incrementally increase ridership.
-- Target segments of the population open to trying the bus
-- Target segments of the current riders open to riding more frequently
Ways to increase ridership:
-- Improve security at Park ‘n Rides and at stops
-- Improve security on the bus
-- Make it easy to find information on how to use the system, routes, schedules
-- Expand the number of direct and express routes, especially from Park ‘n Rides
-- Add more bus shelters
-- Initiate training for bus drivers focusing on people skills
And there you have it. That's what a quarter of a million dollars bought Harris County residents/taxpayers. Oh sure there are lots of pages in the Power Point study -- 70 to be exact -- but that's the summary.
You'll notice that the study does not recommend cutting bus routes as a means of increasing ridership. Amazing!
I'll add that stories like the one Rad Sallee brought us in August also show why Metro has a bus ridership problem:
Then there's Terrence Wilson, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident 24 years ago. Wilson, 49, depends on Metro buses and his motorized wheelchair to get around.
Because many streets in his Acres Homes neighborhood lack sidewalks, Metro built a concrete slab on the shoulder for his wheelchair, he said. But over the years, his regular bus was replaced with a circulating shuttle, and then Metro shortened that route. It no longer passes his home, and Wilson said he now rides his chair in the street for a risky 1 1/2 miles to reach the bus stop.
That doesn't seem ideal.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/05 09:47 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (9)
Floodgates are beginning to open on Casserly
Word must have gotten around the Chronicle that it's now okay to mention general manager Charley Casserly's name in connection with the awful play by the Texans so far this season.
Here's John McClain in today's newspaper:
It's mystifying how a team can fall so far so fast on both sides of the ball. Fans are certain they know who to blame.
Some are sure it's general manager Charley Casserly's fault because he's the one who drafts the players and signs free agents.
Others are sure it's coach Dom Capers' fault because he hires the assistants and approves the offensive and defensive systems.
In truth, the blame for this monumental collapse should be shared equally by Casserly and Capers. That's not a cop-out; that's a fact.
Thanks for clearing that up for us "fans."
Here's some clarity of my own for the bigshot professional sports columnist: Until recently, too many sports journalists in this town seemed convinced Charley Casserly was not at all to blame, if we are to judge by the dearth of criticism from the city's professional sports journalists of the GM's role in putting this terrible team together.
Of course Casserly and Capers are to blame. It's good to see some of our professional print journalists in town starting to come around to that view. It's still not clear why Casserly has merited such hands-off treatment for so long, though.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/26/05 08:32 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
25 October 2005
Chron profiles at-large position 1 council race
Matt Stiles continues the Chronicle's recent coverage of local political races with a profile of the contest for City Council's at-large Position 1:
Architect and urban planner Peter Brown is the front-runner in the race for Houston City Council at-large Position 1, but his two opponents say they believe their grass-roots campaigns could make the contest interesting.
Brown, retired Air Force officer Roy Morales and private investigator Michael "Griff" Griffin are vying to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited Councilman Mark Ellis.
Morales and Griffin say they can compete with Brown, who began campaigning six months after his 2003 runoff loss to Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, even though he's out-raised them in campaign donations by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Brown, 69, said his experience — he's overseen numerous city building and parks projects in Houston and other cities — uniquely qualifies him to accomplish his top goals: neighborhood revitalization and urban redevelopment.
A major force behind the Main Street Coalition, which pushed for the light rail line between downtown and Reliant Park, Brown said he would work to lure more residents back into the city from suburban areas.
The combination of weak opponents, Brown's name ID, and Brown's fundraising are probably going to result in Brown's election, but not everyone in Houston would count the dangerous, inefficient light-rail line as a strike in his favor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/05 10:42 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
Metro board meetings on Thursday
Metro board meetings are scheduled for Thursday and the notices contain some interesting items up for discussion. The first item of interest is the second entry in the Finance/Audit committee agenda:
Authorization for the President & CEO to negotiate, execute and deliver a contract for a credit facility for commercial paper
Commerical paper translation: An unsecured obligation issued by a corporation or bank to finance its short-term credit needs, such as accounts receivable and inventory. (We've brought up the issue of Metro and commercial paper before.)
Next up, this is from the Human Resources Committee agenda:
Authorization for the President & CEO to execute and deliver a contract for temporary personnel services
Metro recently announced layoffs.
Then we have this howler from the Operations Committee agenda:
*Status Report on METRORail Fare Enforcement
Well, since Metro's fare recovery rate is considered low by industry standards (15%), that report shouldn't take too long. (Actually, Laurence Simon has a report on fare enforcement.)
And here are the highlights from the Executive Session meeting:
1. Request Board authorization for the President & CEO to negotiate, execute and deliver agreements between METRO and Transwestern Development Company, L.P. dba Transwestern Commercial Services, LLC ("TDC") for a transit oriented joint development project located on the TMC Transit Center.
2. Request Board authorization for the President & CEO to negotiate, execute and deliver agreements relating to a transit oriented joint development project at the Cypress Park & Ride facility.
Hmmmm. We know what the TMC project is. What's going on at the Cypress Park & Ride?
With any luck, some intrepid local media reporter will have a full report on all these exciting agenda items.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/25/05 03:59 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
Casserly begins to draw fire locally
Not everyone at the Chronicle is on board with lady sportswriter Emily Davis' assessment that things are looking up with the Texans' offense. Indeed, columnist Richard Justice gets downright mean with Texans GM Charley Casserly on his blog (at least by recent Chronicle standards):
Bob McNair has offered no hint about what he'll do. But if he cleans out the coaching staff without firing general manager Charley Casserly as well, that would be ridiculous.
No matter what you think of the coaches - and it's hard to say anything good - the Texans simply don't have enough good players.
The national media also are beating up on Casserly today:
It's time to clean house in Houston. Dumping offensive coordinator Chris Palmer was only the beginning. At this point, head coach Dom Capers is the next guy out the door and general manager Charley Casserly isn't safe, either. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Quarterback David Carr isn't the only problem on this team. I don't see much help around him -- on either side of the ball -- and that's an issue that goes straight to the front office.
It's a shame that the early years of the Texans' franchise have effectively been wasted because of so many poor decisions.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/05 12:12 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (3)
Oh my: what was Metro thinking?
You will not believe what Laurence Simon noticed on a Metro bus this morning.
Seriously. Go check it out.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/25/05 09:11 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
Alvarado's one-day graduation-status change interests opponent, media
Of all the pressing problems that Houston City Council candidates might be discussing and debating, one wouldn't have thought that Councilmember Alvarado's strange indifference to actually obtaining her college degree would still be news this week.
One would be wrong.
KHOU-11's Doug Miller covered the story last night:
"I immediately started getting all of my paperwork from the alumni. I mean, they don't do that unless you've completed all the hours," Alvarado said.
[snip]
Last week, Alvarado's political opponent found out that she did not actually have the college degree she had always claimed she had earned. So he said someone from his campaign contacted a newspaper reporter, who in turn contacted Alvarado for comment. That was on Thursday. Within 24 hours, the University of Houston had issued Alvarado a college degree.
The University said privacy laws prevent it from saying anything specific about Alvarado without Alvarado's permission and she hasn't given it.
But in a written statement, UH said students were once required to take a written exam before getting their degrees. According to the statement, "the Writing Proficiency Requirement or Exam, was dropped. Since that time, students who had enrolled under earlier degree plans have been allowed to petition to waive this obsolete requirement. Such requests are routinely approved."
"This has happened before and they've been able to resolve it before," said Alvarado.
It has surely happened before, but it's just odd that Alvarado was so indifferent towards actually making sure she had fulfilled the requirements of graduation. As the bolded portion goes, I filed graduation papers one semester before finishing my dissertation and actually obtaining the degree, and that was enough to get me on the Alumni Association mailing list, so that doesn't really explain the indifference.
The Chronicle also ran coverage of this story today, devoting two reporters to it:
Carol Alvarado's opponent continued to call for her resignation Monday, suggesting the two-term councilwoman used political influence to get a University of Houston degree in one day that she had claimed to have had for years.
Alvarado, who dismissed the issue Monday as "negative politics," said she was consulting with personal and UH attorneys about releasing her academic records in response to media questions while still maintaining some privacy.
Meanwhile, a UH System regent said the issue may be something for the board to discuss at a future meeting.
"It does seem strange that it could happen so fast, but I really don't have any information beyond what I read in the paper," said Regent Morgan Dunn O'Connor.
[snip]
Officials in the UH registrar's office Friday morning confirmed Alvarado did not have a degree. By late Friday afternoon, however, other UH officials said she did.
[snip]
Parras said he thinks Alvarado drew on her political contacts and influence to fast-track a waiver of the process that other, less prominent, students could not navigate so quickly.
Being somewhat experienced with how slowly and inefficiently administrative matters tend to move at the University of Houston's main campus, I also find it a little surprising that Councilmember Alvarado's status managed to change from non-graduate to graduate in part of one day. Furthermore, her indifference towards actually obtaining her degree is odd to me. Still, this doesn't seem to merit the amount of media coverage it's getting, especially when there are interesting races for other Council positions.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/05 08:06 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (6)
24 October 2005
Mack profiles at-large position 2 candidates
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack profiles the candidates vying to replace Councilmember Gordon Quan in the race for City Council's at-large position 2 today.
It's a quick and dirty look at the five candidates, unfortunately, because of the usual space limitations of the print edition.
Wouldn't it be useful if Chron.com beefed up its coverage of local elections with a timely local politics blog?
That's something on the wish list for 2007, I guess.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/05 09:41 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)
How did that make it onto the sports pages?
The Chronicle's David Barron did something that we didn't think was allowed on the newspaper's sports pages today: He criticized Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly.
Sort of.
Barron didn't actually criticize Casserly himself -- we're not sure if that's allowed on the Chronicle sports pages -- but he did repeat criticism of Casserly seen on the television:
Fox Sports analyst Jimmy Johnson certainly raised some eyebrows with this sound bite: "A long time ago, before I got into the NFL, Marty Schottenheimer once told me not to worry about the team owner — worry about the guy sitting next to him, whispering in his ear.
"So many times coaches are criticized when the blame should fall on personnel. (Texans general manager) Charley Casserly needs to be evaluated for some of the personnel decisions that were made when Dom Capers was there"
Raised eyebrows indeed! Because what would an NFL Super Bowl and college National Championship-winning coach know about these things?
Besides, we also learned from the Chronicle sports reporter Emily Davis today that the Texans' problems on offense are nearly solved after yesterday's 38-20 loss:
The Texans might not like the bed they've made. But they might be able to sleep a little easier now that things seem to be looking up on offense.
The Texans generated six net yards passing yesterday, and 139 yards total.
Apparently there's no reason for any Chronicle sportswriter to criticize Charley Casserly, since "things seem to be looking up on offense."
So if they get seven yards passing next week, will the Chronicle have Casserly in the running for GM of the Year?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/05 09:24 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
A light rail editorial sans rose-colored glasses
Of course, it's no secret that the Chronicle's editorial board members are big fans of Metro and specifically light rail. You'll recall these editorial highlights:
At the end of the day, the altered plan will bring several billion dollars of transit improvements quicker than the original plan. Not insignificant, the new plan offers Houston a chance to move ahead in a more united fashion to ease congestion and pollution.
And:
If Metro's proposal would produce public benefits faster and less expensively, why would anyone object? Here is a chance to reduce the government waste that frugal taxpayers decry.
The voters have spoken. Houston needs mobility improvements that include an expanded rail transit component as well as one of the nation's better bus systems. The next time Metro and the majority of voters in its service area say "Jump," their representatives in Congress should ask, "How high?"
Now take a look at an editorial board opinion that isn't colored by wishful thinking:
On Thursday, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada unveiled its latest justification for a 33-mile light rail boondoggle that would span the Las Vegas Valley. The county's transit authority hailed a report from the Parsons Transportation Group that says light rail is a cost-effective way to ease traffic congestion.
Although the Parsons group was paid gobs of public money for its work, these consultants clearly didn't consider county taxpayers their clients. If they had, they might have told the RTC's empire builders the truth about light rail: It costs a fortune, it doesn't relieve congestion, it never pays for itself and it actually hurts mass transit ridership.
AdvertisementDon't believe it? Download Randal O'Toole's recent study, "Rail Disasters 2005" at www.reason.org/ps336.pdf.
Mr. O'Toole's research, which is based on more than 20 years of ridership and transit data, exposes light rail cheerleading as delusional.
Cities with successful bus lines get a sniff of the federal subsidies available for mass transit and want a bite. Consultants and bureaucrats provide inflated ridership estimates. Local and state governments then bury themselves in construction debt, convinced that people will abandon their vehicles for expensive, inconvenient trolley rides. When the riders don't materialize, already high fares are raised to cover operational costs and bus service is slashed. Ridership drops, and taxpayers cover the debts.
The RTC and its light rail steering committee have to come to their senses and realize that there are no light rail success stories. The proposed line from Henderson to North Las Vegas is a multi-billion-dollar white elephant that will leave valley taxpayers trampled.
Doesn't the contrast just make you want to cry?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/05 05:05 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Whatever works
After losing both games in Chicago, the Astros have decided those "lucky beards" may be bush league. They've decided to trim the bushy beards down to goatees to see if that brings better luck.
Veterans Jeff Bagwell and Brad Ausmus made the call, according to rookie Chris Burke.
"I found out by word of mouth, through the grapevine in the clubhouse," Burke said in his Astros.com blog. "I saw a couple of guys at the sink shaving it up. They informed me that Bagwell had made the executive decision to remove the beards and hopefully change our luck."
And then there's this:
The winds of change may also be blowing through Minute Maid Park for Games 3, 4, and 5. The Astros are considering keeping the roof open.
The weather is expected to be gorgeous Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the 70s and overnight lows dipping as low as the 40s.
The Astros kept the roof closed during the NLCS against the Cardinals because of the noise factor, but may be leaning the other way this time around.
"We've talked about it," general manager Tim Purpura told MLB.com. "The roof opening and closing has more to do with fan comfort than anything else. Maybe we ought to open it up and showcase our city.
Purpura said MLB's input will factor into the decision.
Many players said they prefer to play under a closed roof because the crowd noise helps with the homefield advantage.
Showcase the city vs. noise advantage. I know which way I'd lean, but I'm not a baseball expert.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/05 11:53 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (11)
Frank Wilson: This is not your father's METRO
Metro has finally posted online the press release it issued last week announcing its new real estate development venture:
METRO, Transwestern Launch Visionary TMC Development
Oct. 21, 2005METRO and Transwestern Development Company of Houston today announced they plan to jointly launch a $105-million mixed use development atop the Texas Medical Center Transit Center.
The project, designed to serve as a "gateway" to TMC, will include a 175-suite, full-amenities hotel, including meeting facilities, lounge and ballrooms; 30 condominiums above the hotel; 35,000 square feet of retail space accessible by sky bridge; and an elevated park-like setting with a 168,000-square foot medical office building and a 15,000-square foot wellness center and spa.
[snip]
""This will give Houston its first good look at the new METRO," said METRO Board Chairman David S. Wolff, "leveraging our properties to create developments that give something of value to the community while creating ridership for our transit system."
METRO President and CEO Frank Wilson said transit oriented development and other innovations are illustrative of the Authority's transformation. "Our co-development in the Medical Center and the innovative approaches we're taking to build Phase 2 of METRO Solutions should make it clear to everyone that this is not your father's METRO."
Owen Courrèges and Kevin Whited have long followed Metro, and I believe both have stated before that the Metro of old (you know, "your father's METRO") was nationally recognized as having a pretty good bus transit system.
Those who depend on Metro to get around probably long for the old Metro to return.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/05 11:12 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
Council votes on tax rate increase Wednesday
Maybe I need to get my eyes checked because here's another COH notice I seem to have missed:
Notice of Vote on Tax Rate
The City of Houston conducted public hearings on a proposal to increase the total tax revenues of the City of Houston from properties on the tax roll in the preceding year by 1.27 percent on October 12th at 9:30 A.M. and on October 19th at 9 A.M.
The City Council of the City of Houston is scheduled to vote on the tax rate that will result in that tax increase at a public meeting to be held on October 26, 2005 at 9 A.M. at City of Houston Council Chambers, 901 Bagby, Houston, Texas 77002.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/05 07:43 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
23 October 2005
Will sidewalk squatters have to evacuate during World Series?
The Chronicle's Cynthia Leonor Garza reports on the concerns of homeless people over the World Series:
From his makeshift sidewalk home just a block from Minute Maid Park, Frank listened to the radio Wednesday night as the Astros clinched the National League championship — and quietly rejoiced.
Frank, who is homeless and did not want to give his last name, said he was glad the Astros won, and that he waved at the passers-by honking their car horns throughout the night on their way to Main Street.
[snip]
As Houstonians prepare for the biggest sporting event to hit town since the 2004 Super Bowl, some of the city's homeless expect to be asked to leave the party before it begins.
Frank said he's trying to keep his living area clean and make it look presentable for visitors, but he's also prepared to move along — something he and other downtown homeless people said is inevitable when there's a game at the ballpark.
[snip]
"The city doesn't want them panhandling," said Kevin Walsh, a Salvation Army case manager, who said he expects most of the homeless will scatter on days the World Series games are played downtown.
He added, "All major cities have homeless. That's just part of the landscape, and we do the best that we can trying to deal with the homeless, ... and as long as they're moving they have the right to walk the streets as anybody else."
[snip]
Frank Michel, spokesman for Mayor Bill White, said that the World Series is very different from the Super Bowl, with fewer out-of-town guests anticipated. The city has no plans to round up or shift people, he said.
"As long as people obey the laws, they won't have a lot of problems," Michel said. "We don't expect that would be different for anybody, no matter where their home is."
So here's a question that apparently wasn't interesting to the Chronicle reporter and/or her editors: How is a "makeshift sidewalk home" consistent with walking the streets and obeying the laws?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/05 10:33 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
Will "lifestyle" remodel reverse decline in market share?
Safeway must be really pleased with the Chronicle's David Kaplan after this puff piece on the announced "lifestyle" remodeling of the Randalls chain that has collapsed under the California grocer's ownership.
Safeway has so mismanaged the Randalls chain to this point that one wonders if there's any chance of even holding the market share the stores currently enjoy, especially given the store closures that were recently announced.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/05 10:22 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Campaign season a good time to correct technical oversights
Campaign season is a good time for politicians to correct little "technical oversight[s]" that they've been (knowingly or unknowingly) fibbing about for years.
And so, the Chronicle's Lori Rodriquez reports on a little "technical oversight" that Councilmember Carol Alvarado's opponent brought to light this week:
In voter's guide information submitted to the Chronicle when she first ran for City Council in 2001, 2003 and this year, Alvarado says she attended UH from 1987 to 1992 and received her degree. Her City Council Web site and campaign literature also list the degree.
Alvarado's District I opponent, lawyer John Parras, said Friday he began looking into Alvarado's educational credentials after an anonymous tipster left a message on his campaign office phone that she had not graduated.
"As a lawyer, I decided to investigate and share the information with my campaign supporters. I personally went to UH to get written verification," said Parras. "I was shocked when I learned that it was true."
The UH verification documents, dated Thursday, say that Alvarado attended the college of social sciences from 1987 through 1992. "The student intends to pursue a degree, however has not yet formally declared a major and degree objective," the document states, adding it reflected Alvarado's academic record as of Thursday.
[snip]
After Parras obtained and publicized the verification documents, Alvarado said, she called the university and learned that she had completed her course work, but hadn't fulfilled a "written proficiency exam."
"I was never notified by university officials that I needed this," she said.
The requirement has since been dropped, Alvarado said.
She moved to Washington, D.C., soon after completing her course work, and did not request a diploma, she said. "I'd like to clear this up," she said. "This has no bearing on the job I've done over the years."
Didn't Councilmember Alvarado think it odd that she never received a diploma? And aren't most college students concerned about getting that piece of paper?
Even if Councilmember Alvarado did not deliberately mislead, her inattention to the details of actually graduating is a little surprising.
But is it really this troubling?
Parras called for Alvarado to resign the seat she has held since 2002.
"She's betrayed the public trust, and I believe she should do the only honorable thing, which is withdraw from the race and resign her seat," he said.
Generally, that is the sort of rhetoric one hears from a desperate candidate with no other issues and no good chance of winning.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/05 10:02 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
Bring home a win, 'Stros
Laurence is hiding under his bed, and I'm pouring a second, bigger margarita.
UPDATE: I'm with Sedosi: This Series is going to kill me....
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/23/05 08:15 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Progress on Houston's world-class downtown park
I missed this one a while back: Mayor White's press release on the ongoing development of the new downtown park:
October 12, 2005 -- Today, the Houston Downtown Park Conservancy shared preliminary design ideas for Houston's new downtown park with Mayor Bill White. The preliminary design concepts were prepared using public feedback received earlier this year outlining features that Houstonians felt would enhance our city. In addition to previewing these preliminary ideas with Mayor White, the design team of Hargreaves Associates, PageSoutherlandPage and Lauren Griffith Associates will present the design ideas at two public meetings in October and November. The design process began in July 2005 and will proceed over the next eight months. During this time, the design team will continue to incorporate feedback from downtown constituents and the public.
Nancy Kinder, Chair of the Houston Downtown Park Conservancy, also advised Mayor White that the Conservancy had accomplished its initial goal of raising $40 million for construction and design. The Park Conservancy will carry on its fundraising efforts throughout the project.
[snip]
“I am thrilled with the progress that the Houston Downtown Conservancy is making,” states Mayor White. “The design process is well underway and the ideas I saw today were exciting. I'm also very pleased to learn that the Conservancy has already achieved a major fundraising milestone.”
One meeting was held on October 12th, and another one is scheduled for November 2nd.
On the downtown park's website, there is an artist's rendering of what it might look like. It's lovely and very pedestrian-ish. Houston's homeless will be thrilled! And just think of the ticketing opportunities for Operation Jaywalking!
PREVIOUSLY: The Bill White Vermin And Solid Waste Memorial Park (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/23/05 10:56 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chron endorses Mayor White for second term
The Chronicle has glowingly endorsed Mayor White for reelection. Actually, glowingly doesn't quite describe it. It's so syrupy-sweet it'll make your teeth hurt. There are a few bits, however, that make me wonder what in the world the idealists are talking about:
First up was the issue of putting the city's massive unfunded liability for future pension payments to retired employees on a sound financial footing.
Transferring the pension mess to the underperforming, city-owned Hilton Americas might not be called "a sound financial footing." In fact, Fitch downgraded Houston's bond rating back in March citing concerns with "large unfunded pension liabilities," and recently expressed concern again, saying that it views "the city's debt financing of a portion of the city's annual contribution to both the municipal and police pension systems as an indication of financial stress and considers this funding approach an unfavorable credit factor."
Sound financial footing? That's questionable. But any downside to "fixing" the pension problem the way Mayor White did will probably not become apparent until after he's moved on to a higher elected office.
Recently, White achieved a major goal for his first term by securing approval from Houston firefighters for a new wage and labor contract that provides for a salary hike that aligns their compensation with other Texas cities.
Well, there were a few problems down that road, as Mayor White tried to play hardball with the firefighters, and in turn was dealt a rare public defeat by the city's firefighters. A new contract finally was approved, after all that played itself out.
White's strengths as a corporate manager have served him well in dealing with financial and technical issues, but they have backfired a few times when he rolled out new programs without first selling them to constituents.
An initial wave of criticism followed the launch of the Safe Clear freeway towing program due to concerns for low-income motorists who would face steep towing fees.
[snip]
When state legislators threatened to outlaw Safe Clear, the mayor worked out an opposition-defusing compromise with politically powerful Houston Democrat Sen. John Whitmire.
This one really astounds me. The editorial board at Houston's lone major daily paper fails to mention the news that SafeClear must undergo a big overhaul due to a judge's ruling. That changes the whole issue, and the idealists in their ideal state either don't know about it or decided to ignore it! Wow!
After years of deadlock, White secured the support from Reps. Tom DeLay and John Culberson and from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison that resulted in Houston finally receiving federal transit dollars for light rail projects.
Eh, saying "light rail projects" is a bit generous. The revised plan (that voters haven't approved) includes one new light rail project, an extension of the "booming" Main Street light rail line, and many miles of (don't say Bus) Rapid Transit and commuter rail.
There's also plenty of unfinished business from his first term to deal with, including the lingering cleanup of the Houston police crime lab.
Not to mention a police manpower shortage, which the editorial fails to, uh, mention.
And then there's this:
Implementing the regional mass transit plan with additional light rail lines will be another challenge, as will hanging on to federal transit funding in the face of the current instability in Houston's congressional leadership.
The idealists are ever-hopeful, aren't they?
There are other things the editorial board doesn't mention, besides the police manpower shortage, including Prop. 2 (which the voters approved and which Mayor White is fighting), the mayor's desire to fund an African-American museum, the mayor's push for a grand new downtown park, the mayor's underwhelming interest in the growing problem of graffiti, the neverending problems at the Houston Emergency Center, the mayor's program to harass downtown pedestrians, and the MediaSource brouhaha.
RELATED: Sedosi has some similar thoughts on Mrs. White's love letter to her man.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/23/05 09:17 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
Real proof that longer yellow-light times reduce red-light running
I keep saying that lengthening yellow-light times is THE way to reduce red-light running, and here's why (via The Newspaper):
Mesa’s [Arizona] red–light camera citations dropped by more than half after the city added a second of time to the yellow arrow lights at double–laned left turns. Officials then doubted the effect would last as motorists got used to the four–second yellow light.
But it has. Mesa police said the number of red–light camera citations never recovered from the plummet it took in mid–November at the six intersections where the yellow–light times were changed. At those sites, camera citations went from 1,640 in November to 716 in December. In March, the cameras recorded 734 violations.
That was back in 2001. Mesa, Arizona, never did recover the lost red-light camera revenue and has now turned to speed cameras, coupled with lower speed limits.
During the red-light camera debate last December, two councilmembers asked Mayor White to consider lengthening yellow-light times, to no avail.
It is worth pointing out again that eighty percent of red-light running occurs in the first second after a light has turned red. Yes, there will always be a percentage of people who run red lights, but if the goal is to reduce that number overall and increase safety, lengthening yellow-times is more effective than revenue-generating red-light cameras.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/23/05 08:49 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
22 October 2005
Market Square to hold World Series viewing parties
Market Square is the place to be if you want to watch Game 1 tonight downtown in a big crowd:
The Downtown Entertainment District announced that the first viewing party will be held for the first game between the Astros and White Sox on Saturday.
Market Square Park and the adjacent parking lot will be transformed into Astros headquarters for both home and away games throughout the World Series pennant race, officials said.
The viewing parties will feature two screening areas, concessions and entertainment.
Patrons are invited to bring blankets to the events. However, no outside coolers, beverages, lawn chairs or pets are allowed.
The festival site will include street closures on Saturday and Sunday on Preston Street between Milam and Travis beginning at 3 p.m. Travis will close both days at 7 p.m. between Prairie and Congress, as well.
I kind of thought that maybe Minute Maid would be opened up (for a reduced price) so fans could watch the away games in the 'Stros' stadium. Ah well, it'll surely be a party downtown nonetheless, and the weather will be magnificent. Go 'Stros!
RELATED: Downtown Entertainment District information
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/22/05 07:54 AM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (3)
21 October 2005
I-45 expansion plan update
Plans to expand I-45, the North Freeway, are moving forward again. A Houston-Galveston area council committee approved the revised plan today. It'll now go before the Transportation Policy Council next week
The I-45 plan now expands the options the Texas Department of Transportation will study ... including putting part of the freeway in a tunnel or putting some of the additional capacity on the Hardy Toll Road.
TX-DOT Trasportation Planning Development Director Gaberiel Johnson argued for the plan to be approved reminding everyone I-45 is an evacuation route. Johnson, who is a member of the committee, says the plan needs to go to the next step.
John Wilson sits on the committee as well and says TX-DOT has addressed most of the concerns. But he says it's still not complete and feels it's premature to move the plan forward.
The different ways of expanding the traffic load will be studied in the next phase which could take a couple of years.
I wonder if our experience with Hurricane Rita will be the excuse expansion proponents offer up to push the plan forward.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/21/05 07:56 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Gasp: Instapundit disses Texas BBQ
Ahem. It appears that Instapundit has a problem with Texas BBQ:
IT'S THE SMELL OF TEXAS HOME COOKIN' -- and I don't mean that beef stuff they pass off as barbecue.
WHAT?! That boy needs to clear his head and get right with the Lord.
Laurence suggests that a family-friendly blogger (blogHOUSTON fits that bill!) invites Glenn to the Rodeo Cookoff in February. Okay then, come on down Mr. Reynolds and have some Texas BBQ!
We can also hold the next Houston blogger gathering at a Goode Co. restaurant, for some delicious Texas BBQ, if Mr. Reynolds wants to join us. =)
I do like this email he posted from an offended Texan:
Just because you hillbillies in Tennessee don’t have the money to raise cattle the way we do here in Texas, doesn’t mean you know how to barbeque. I grew up in Kansas City and have my share of time in Memphis and Chicago and used to be an apostate about barbeque until I moved to central Texas and saw the light. There is no piece of meat of any kind made in the world that can exceed a piece of brisket from the Kretz Market in Lockhart, Texas. They were making barbeque there when people in Tennessee were still living in trees and eating pig guts.
As some famous blogger might say, heh.
RELATED: LST is on high alert
MORE RELATED: Bernard Higgins at A Certain Slant of Light liveblogged a Texas-style BBQ beef brisket recently and adds the pictures to a post today, with an invitation to Instapundit. Mmmmmmm -- it looks deeee-licious!
EVEN MORE RELATED: bH commenter chw9989 has written up his own BBQ thoughts. Here's a small taste:
Barbecue brings out a passion for food in people that might otherwise be content to eat beef stroganoff from a box every night without ever wondering if there's something out there that's better. Everyone (I don't care where you're from) knows someone who knows someone with a great dry rub, or a family recipe for sauce, or some special way of roasting a certain cut that makes it delectable. Barbecue is one of the things in America that reminds us all of the connections we can make with one another through food - it's not just a meal, it's a regional identity, a family heirloom, an absolutely indispensable part of a family gathering.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/21/05 04:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
I-10 closed this weekend at the West Loop
Watch out for this freeway closure beginning tonight:
The Katy Freeway will be shut down all weekend beginning at 9 p.m. Friday.
The eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 10 Katy Freeway at Loop 610 West will be closed for construction between Washington and Silber until 5 a.m. Monday.
In addition, four connector ramps also will be closed during this time.
Texas Department of Transportation contractor crews will work to finish the demolition and removal of the out-of-service northbound lanes of the Loop 610 West south of U.S. 290.
The Chronicle's story also lists other closures and detours.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/21/05 09:53 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
Chronicle should put more Darfur reporting on news pages
The Chronicle's editorial board has written again on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan:
Recently, refugees began clearing out of camps and returning to their land to plant crops in the hopes that African Union peacekeepers, a negotiated cease-fire and ongoing peace talks in the Nigerian capital of Abuja would return this desert region in western Sudan to some semblance of normalcy. The razing of villages had subsided, though cynics contended it was because hundreds already had been destroyed.
The fact of the matter, according to accounts this week in the New York Times and elsewhere, is that the situation indeed has changed. It has grown worse.
[snip]
The escalating violence has hindered United Nations humanitarian efforts to provide displaced Sudanese with food and medical care.
These events are a grim reminder that the problems in Darfur are far from solved. The world must not divert its attention.
It's a welcome editorial, but what's weird is to look at the Chronicle's archives to see the extent of Darfur reporting on the news pages going back to June 1:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/21/05 08:04 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati |