29 February 2008
Reliant Q-Card readers dysfunctional on first night of Rodeo activities
Last night was the first night of the Rodeo cookoff festivities.
Laurence Simon reports that neither of METRO's Q-Card readers on the Reliant Danger Train platform was actually working. He adds,
The end of paper transfers is today, and METRO can't even keep the equipment running for major events. Or, if they borked the readers intentionally, they didn't bother posting notices saying anything about it.
They want to build more of these things in your streets.
Anyone else think that this is a dumb idea too?
Downtown parking meters are supposed to be a great improvement, just like the Q-Card system.
Unfortunately, when the systems break down and aren't repaired in a timely manner, they are just an annoyance. A truly "world-class" city (like, say, Mayor Daley's Chicago or Mayor Bloomberg's New York) would do a better job with such basic services.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/29/08 10:15 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
The Pat Lykos yarmulke controversy
"What Pat Lykos yarmulke controversy?," most people are probably asking.
Unless you read one of several local blawgs, you probably wouldn't know (since it really hasn't been reported).
It's now well past time for the local media at least to mention Lykos yarmulke controversy, especially since this post makes it so easy to research.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/29/08 09:33 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Dangerous time/place/behavior update (River Oaks again!)
KHOU-11 reports on another dangerous time/place/behavior situation:
Houston police are checking out leads and hoping the public will help track down two men who kidnapped a River Oaks resident Thursday.
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in the case.
The victim talked with 11 News a few hours after her terrifying ordeal.
"This is very scary this is happening in our city. Anywhere in our city,” said the woman, who didn't want to be identified since her attackers are still on the loose.
She said she was near the end of her morning walk when suddenly, out of nowhere, two men pulled her off the street.
"I was kicking and screaming and fighting to try and get away. They were large and strong, and threw me into the trunk of their car,” she told 11 News.
The two men drove away with the woman trapped in the back and fighting to get out.
The good news is the victim pulled on the emergency release latch in the trunk, and escaped the moving car.
So, be sure to add "mornings, River Oaks area, walking" to your list of dangerous time/place/behavior situations to avoid, if you don't want to become a crime victim.
This would be a great opportunity to break in Chief Hurtt's Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle. Just park that bad boy in River Oaks and put an end to this nonsense.
PREVIOUSLY: Hurtt: You're pretty safe in Houston, unless you wind up dead!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/29/08 08:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
28 February 2008
Mayor unveils latest strategy to curry favor with anti-Ashby highrise constituents
One of our early objections to the poorly-considered ordinance that Mayor White proposed when well-heeled constituents demanded he stop the Ashby high rise was the amount of discretionary power that it would have bestowed on unelected bureaucrats.
Since the development of that ordinance has pleased nobody so far, Mayor White has since unveiled an even more capricious plan to use an antiquated driveway law to hinder development that somebody, somewhere, might find objectionable (at least until he can win approval for the other ordinance to empower unelected bureaucrats with discretionary power to hinder development). The Chronicle's Carolyn Feibel reports:
The driveway law dates back to 1940, though its current form began to take shape in 1968. White acknowledged that reviving this broadly worded law might have a "chilling" effect on growth, so he circulated a memo Wednesday with criteria on how it would be applied. The memo said developments that meet three criteria will receive "more intense scrutiny" of their traffic loads. The criteria are:
•A location where 60 percent or more of the properties within a 500-foot radius are residential
•Driveways that feed onto local or collector streets instead of a major thoroughfare
•A net increase of 50 additional vehicles going to and from the development during rush hours.
To mitigate the traffic effects, developers might have to add turning lanes or lights, scale back the number of apartments, or change the type of stores, White said.Enforcement comes from the city's power to reject a site plan, which shows where driveways connect to public streets.
The city will use these "interim procedures" while gathering public comment through July 1, the memo said. By Aug. 1, the city will issue a new proposal for regulating traffic from high-density developments. But it was unclear if this meant a new ordinance or the adjustment or tightening of current ordinances or policies.
"We are listening to everybody's concerns," Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said. "It's an extremely complex process, and one size does not fit all."
Pardon us for being crude for a moment, but a better description of this confused political process actually rhymes with the councilmember's last name.
Alas, this is yet another example of the "leadership" coming from City Hall these days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/08 09:36 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
And from the newspaper that largely missed the Enron meltdown?
Today, the New York Times had this interesting tidbit tucked away in its latest story on Roger Clemens:
In a letter sent to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said it could not definitively say if Clemens had lied under oath during its investigation into his challenge of accusations contained in the report on baseball and drugs prepared by George J. Mitchell. But the committee said it believed that the Justice Department should pursue the matter.
Part of that pursuit could center on the Houston area, where federal investigators, even before the referral, had begun looking into whether Clemens received performance-enhancing drugs from local suppliers. That effort has led investigators to scrutinize the activities of at least one gym owner in Houston and one or more doctors, according to several lawyers with knowledge of the situation who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
This story still is not that interesting or compelling to me substantively, save for the fact that we continue to see both the New York Times and New York Daily News breaking stories that involve the Houston area -- with the local Hearst daily eventually left to reprint the AP rewrites of those stories.
So much for Jeff Cohen's little lecture about the name of the local Hearst daily.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/08 08:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
KTRK's Dolcefino continues investigation of county government (02/27/2008)
Last night, KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino continued his look at some of the relationships between Harris County government and private industry. A teaser won't really do this one justice (although it speaks volumes that County Judge Ed Emmett gets criticism from one county commissioner for daring to launch an investigation), so here's the link to the story. What a twisted web of cozy relationships!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/08 08:03 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Klein ISD superintendent: Most residents favor bond
A new Chronicle story by Kim Jackson quotes Klein ISD superintendent Dr. Jim Cain as saying most of the residents he has spoken with favor a bond proposal that includes $130 million to raze and rebuild Klein High School:
Klein school district board members posed several questions about components of a proposed $647 bond package at a Tuesday workshop, but suggested no major changes to the plan developed by a bond steering committee over a four-month period and honed by Klein ISD superintendent Jim Cain this past month.
Cain said he is still working on a final bond proposal to bring to the board March 4. He said he will continue to take input, comments, and suggestions from the public and staff through the end of this week. All information will be considered as the final recommendation is developed, he said.
At Klein Independent School District's March 4 regular board meeting ,the board will to vote call a May 10 bond election or not. The board can also make changes to the bond proposal before taking that vote, or leave it as presented to them by Cain.
[snip]
The proposed $130 million Klein High School project calls for the demolition and reconstruction of all but four of the school's older buildings some date back to the early 1960s and the relocation of the entire Klein High student body to the district's proposed fifth high school on Spring-Cypress Road during the two-year construction process.
Tuesday Klein board members did not propose alternatives to the Klein High School project, but did ask if some of the buildings scheduled for demolition and reconstruction could be remodeled instead, thus cutting down on the project's cost.
"How did you determine if the tower, which was built the same year as Klein Oak High School, should be torn down or remodeled?" said Klein board president Larry Allen.
Good question!
Laptops for high school students are still in the proposal (parents are going to LOVE footing the bill to repair or replace those things!), with the board president saying, "If we are going to be held accountable for student achievement, there has to include a significant technology component." And that component has to be school district-purchased laptops for all students?
Finally one board member asked what would happen if the bond fails. If the bond continues in its current form, residents should hope it fails, as it does not adequately address the current and future needs of Klein ISD's students.
PREVIOUSLY: Klein ISD's bond proposal includes a boondoggle
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/28/08 07:50 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (13)
Spivak: Barack Obama and me
This week's Houston Press has an interesting story by Todd Spivak on Barack Obama. Spivak covered Obama when he was an Illinois state legislator, and has some interesting insight on the presidential candidate.
We generally don't delve into national politics on this blog unless there's some local angle (and I'm not really trying to start a discussion about Obama's politics here, although I suppose it's fair game), but in this case I thought it was worth noting Spivak's story, because it's likely to get some national play, and it's an example of the gritty journalism at small newspapers that can inform down the line that appeals to me. From a local journalist.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/08 08:01 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (9)
27 February 2008
The indirect costs of public boondoggles
When public officials assure us that no public money will be expended on various boondoggles, we generally are skeptical. Sometimes, the language simply changes over time and the pol hopes nobody really notices (or tries to intimidate those who do notice with "dry riposte"). And sometimes, the indirect costs of the boondoggle really start to add up down the road, long after the political debate is over.
The latter phenomenon is described in this KHOU-11 report by Jason Whitely:
The copper-colored building on the edge of Houston’s skyline has been a long time coming.
“Our guys have been in a temporary facility for about seven or eight years now,” HFD Assistant Chief Jack Williams said.
The building is Fire Station 8 – Houston’s only station downtown.
The city used to have two, but it sold the first in 2001. That became the Downtown Aquarium.
Then the city moved another so the Toyota Center could be built.
So for the last five years, downtown firefighters have lived on leased land, which costs the city $23,000 a month.
Getting the firefighters their new super station has been a challenge.
It was supposed to cost $6 million, but the price tag has soared to $1.5 million more than the city expected.
Not to worry -- it's just taxpayers picking up the indirect costs of supplying moneymaking playpens for Tilman Fertitta and Les Alexander.
It's probably worth keeping these sorts of indirect costs in mind, though, when pols assure that taxpayers shouldn't worry about the latest, greatest public boondoggle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/08 11:00 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
KTRK sues (again) for sheriff's department emails
METRO isn't the only local public institution that is being less than helpful with regard to public information requests.
As KTRK-13's Ted Oberg reports, his television station has gone back to court to try to obtain emails that it thought the sheriff's department had already agreed to provide after earlier legal action:
Wednesday afternoon, KTRK went to court for the second time to get the sheriff to turn over emails.
The court filing asks a judge to hold Sheriff Thomas in contempt. The sheriff agreed last month to save emails his department had deleted. Now, they say they don't have to turn them over.
In early January, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas implemented a brand new email policy. Surprising even his own employees, he deleted 800,000 sheriff's department emails.
Since state law treats many emails as public records, Channel 13 thought the new policy was against the law and asked for a copy of the deleted emails. The station thought it had an agreement with the sheriff's department, but the sheriff later refused to turn the emails over which brought the station back to court Wednesday afternoon.
[snip]
It is the second time the station went to court to get the sheriff department's emails. On January 19th, a judge issued an order preventing the sheriff's department from destroying any emails. Six days later, the sheriff's lawyer agreed to recover any emails that were already deleted. The sheriff's department apparently put them on a back up tape for safe keeping. But when 13 Undercover asked for those emails under state law, the sheriff's department told the station state law doesn't require them to turn anything over from backup tapes.
Even if there's nothing in the emails, the department's behavior sure does suggest it has something to hide. It's hard for me to see merit in the department's argument that emails backed up to tape should be treated differently from emails not backed up to tape for purposes of public information requests.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/08 10:38 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
Downtown parking is always an adventure
We went downtown earlier to vote early at the Harris County Administration Building (which is little used, unlike the West Gray early voting facility) on Preston.
We parked on the street, and unsurprisingly, the first electronic parking meter was not working properly. The second one we tried was. A fifty percent functional rate seems about par for the course for these machines.
Imagine how bad it might be if Liliana Rambo's department were not "customer driven!"
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/08 10:17 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (11)
Another example of Metro's "transparency"
Tom Bazan sent out a heads up today about an easy open records request he has made of METRO that is inexplicably being dragged out.
You'll recall last week's news that the Texas Medical Center was still looking into how the Main Street Rail Line's stray current was impacting its buildings. The Chronicle story explained that METRO President Frank J. Wilson has been authorized to "execute a tolling agreement":
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board has approved plans to negotiate with the Texas Medical Center to extend the time that it can sue Metro over "stray" electrical current leaking from the light rail tracks.
The item was described on Metro's monthly board agenda Thursday as authorizing President and CEO Frank Wilson to "execute a tolling agreement," causing some observers to think it was about planned high occupancy-toll lanes on the Katy Freeway.
Instead, as Medical Center President and CEO Richard Wainerdi explained, a tolling agreement "extends the time in which a party has a right to any kind of remedy or action" to recover damages in court.
"In this case, the law is two years," he said.
Tom requested a copy of the "tolling agreement." Today METRO replied:
Type of Request:
Requesting the tolling agreement between METRO and the Texas Medical Center.The Legal Department at METRO has received the above-referenced request. Please be advised that the requested records are in the process of being located. METRO has up to 10 business days to notify you of one (or more) of the below-referenced actions:
a)the requested records have been compiled and can be made available for inspection and/or copying;
b)additional time is needed in order to compile the requested records;
c)the cost to make the records available will be more than $40;
d) that METRO is requesting an Attorney General opinion with regard to your request;
e)that NO records were located.
You will receive a letter notifying you of one of the above-referenced actions (post-dated) by no later than:
3/11/2008[signed]
Jacqueline Maldonado, Paralegal
As Tom notes in his email, the tolling agreement was discussed in a board meeting just last week, and there's a local news story about the agreement. And yet, the records "are in the process of being located." How hard could it possibly be to locate a copy of the tolling agreement that was just the subject of a Chronicle story AND was the subject of a board meeting discussion?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/27/08 08:10 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
KTRK's Dolcefino continues investigation of county government (02/26/2008)
Last night, KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino continued his look at some of the relationships between Harris County government and private industry. Here's a teaser:
Friends helping friends get huge government contracts.
Is that the way you want business done with your money?
Deep in the country northwest of Houston, you'll come upon the huge Hat Creek Ranch. It's a nice place.
You know who owns the Hat Creek Ranch? It's owned by Leroy Hermes.
Leroy Hermes is a noted architect. He's a community leader and founder of a firm with a long history of lucrative government contracts.
"Where does giving to the community cross the line to benefiting yourself ethically or unethically, that's what needs to be looked at," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
This pillar of the community finds himself part of an FBI investigation of public corruption. A federal conspiracy indictment charged developer Michael Surface with multiple crimes and claimed Surface got Hermes' firm to hire a particular consultant to help Surface get a city contract. Hermes' firm would then get to be the architect. Mr. Hermes was not charged with a crime.
Hermes says he hasn't read the now month old indictment. In a letter to 13 Undercover, he says he objects to any suggestion he is "dishonest, deceitful or otherwise corrupt."
But Mr. Hermes is one example why Harris County government and its contractors seem to make up such a small world. And that's why 13 Undercover has looked at the contracts for the Reliant Stadium complex.
The entire story is here.
PREVIOUSLY: KTRK's Dolcefino continues investigation of county government (02/25/2008).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/08 09:52 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 February 2008
KTRK's Dolcefino continues investigation of county government (02/25/2008)
KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino has been poking around in county government again, and last night he ran the first of a series of reports on apparent Harris County government cronyism and sweetheart deals. Here's a teaser:
You have to wonder why we've uncovered things in weeks that some Harris County officials claim they never knew for years about. Items like a big real estate deal involving lots of your money. Our focus is over who got the winning hand in the deal.
If it's a game of poker, Michael Surface better hope the FBI doesn't have a good hand.
The Houston developer is facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted of charges of conspiracy to bribe a city official, wire fraud and lying to the feds.
"Maintain they are not true and we look forward to our day in court to prove that," Surface said.
"What we have to do is make sure there aren't any county scandals," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
That's why we're investigating the players in a $35 million real estate deal on Murworth Street.
Flashback to1998. Michael surface was working for you. The $8,800 a month head of the Harris County Building Department. But his fortunes changed quickly. Surface leaves county government in May of that year and just months later he would be the big winner. Cashing in on a multimillion dollar real estate deal with Harris County for what is now the headquarters of Adult and Child Protective Services on Murworth.
And in this county, the revolving door is allowed.
Be sure to check out the entire story (and all the fascinating details) here. Dolcefino promises more on Harris County cronyism on tonight's 10 pm broadcast.
Traditionally, newspapers have done this sort of multi-part investigative/watchdog reporting on government. In recent years, though, the area's newspaper of record hasn't seemed very interested in this sort of coverage of county (or regional) governmental institutions. It's good to see other news outlets stepping in to fill the void.
UPDATE (02-27-2008): A reader passes along this 2002 Chronicle story, which covers similar ground.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/26/08 10:37 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
25 February 2008
Breaking down the $20 million
Tomorrow the council will meet to begin "deliberations" on Mayor White's plan to pay over three times the appraised value for some land downtown, plus engineer some land swaps for the owners of the Dynamo. Er, maybe for the owners of the Dynamo; it's not as if they've actually committed to anything. I've been digging through the agenda, which has two items to execute the deal, that I will summarize. (And let me add that this week's agenda has a number of other interesting tidbits, which I just don't have time to get into. Doubling the size of the bomb squad? Hmmmm.)
Agenda Item 15: $15,942,042 out of the Reimbursement of Equipment/Projects Fund to pay for five blocks of land on the east side of Hwy.59; also the abandonment and sale of Jackson Street from Capitol to Rusk. Plenty has already been said about the disparity between the assessment and the asking price for this land. What I find equally odd is the street abandonment -- this is not the previously discussed land swap, which has to do with the sixth block making up the site. Jackson Street is four blocks away, on the other side of Hwy 59. So what is the point of this? Well lookie-see to whom it's going: "..to the abutting owners of Block 100, Macey Family Properties II, Ltd." If this is being "sold," exactly what is the city's asking price? And why isn't it subtracted from the purchase cost of the other five blocks? Supposedly, it is, but nowhere in the ordinance is the city's land assigned any valuation, or subtracted from the purchase cost.
LAND :
Parcels QY7-015, QY7-016, QY7-017, QY7-018A, QY7-018B, QY7-019 (Fee).. . . . . . . . . . . . $15,442,042 .00
Estimated demolition costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$400,000.00
Estimated closing costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .$100,000.00
TOTAL CONSIDERATION, DEMOLITION COSTS, AND CLOSING COSTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,942,042.00
Perhaps someone can do some back-of-the-envelope calculations using HCAD records and determine how much off the original asking price we got, at $49.25 per square foot (taken from the agenda item)?
So why is the city handing over a street to Macey that has nothing to do with the stadium?
The abutting property owners plan to assemble the property being abandoned and sold into their abutting property to create a contiguous site for development.
So not only is the city buying land from former Council Member Macey at over three times the assessed value, we are giving him a street for his profit, too! And it just keeps getting better. Remember, I said they hadn't committed to anything. From the attachments: a letter to council members, et al. that includes the following informative Q&A:
Has there been some agreement with the Dynamo to locate on this site?
No. The Dynamo have been consulted in connection with its site selection process, which has been extensive and thorough. So have other potential users, such as TSU. There have been many criteria which would make the East Downtown site suitable for a sports venue or other economic
development activities . Those advantages include proximity to a major employment center; proximity to the expanded rail service; availability of parking; and a central location in relation to residential population centers .
So the Dynamo haven't agreed to use the practice facility, and they haven't agreed to use this site. Amazing how trusting Hizzoner is. This is far from the only stunner in this letter, but the full text is too long to include here. I hope to post it later.
Then there's Item 15A, the sixth block involving the previously mentioned land swap. It's another doozy. The city is selling a tract known as Block 193 (aka 319 St.Emanuel) to a company known as 800 Dowling LP, in return for $250,000 and block 220. Then we're turning around and leasing Block 193 back for five years + three one-year extensions, for an amount that escalates from $175,000/yr. to $250,000 per year! Up to $150,000 in closing costs will also be paid for by the city. All money is coming from Fund 8300: Water and Sewer Operations. Yes, that's right, Mayor White is not just grabbing money out of Public Works Equipment and Projects fund to buy land -- now he's tapping money that comes from people's water and sewer bills! (Make no mistake. Fund 8300 is a precise identifier: that's where all revenue from the water/sewer bills goes.)
Is anyone else's jaw on the floor yet? Pick it up, we're not through yet. Why, you ask, is the city going to the expense of leasing back the very property it's selling? Because the equipment and office supply warehouse for the entire city sits on that site!
And the kicker is, despite all that, not one person is signed up tomorrow to discuss it. But two citizens are signed up, to discuss that horrible travesty of private development and the free market, a privately funded condo tower, unwanted by its neighbors. Maybe a certain local news organization didn't think this was the most important thing we needed to know about the Dynamo today:
Boxer De La Hoya likely to be part of Dynamo ownership. Nothing like news of a popular sports celebrity becoming involved (the day before a critical vote) to help things along.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose An Eye, It's a Sport
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 02/25/08 08:51 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
Chron: HPD report details latest crime lab problems
Last Friday (the day that damning news often goes to die), the Chronicle ran an important story by Roma Khanna on the latest problems with the HPD Crime Lab. Here are some choice excerpts (although we strongly encourage readers to follow the link and read the entire story):
Months before the troubled Houston crime lab shuttered its DNA division for a second time, analysts and a supervisor warned investigators of continuing problems, including contamination, questionable procedures, and lost evidence, according to a police investigative report obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
So serious were the issues that DNA section leader Vanessa Nelson described the division as "clearly out of control." She told Houston Police Department internal affairs officers to consider halting DNA testing altogether in September — four months before police management made the move to close it.
[snip]
The internal affairs investigation started in response to allegations that Nelson and two midlevel supervisors had improperly coached DNA analysts on a routine skills test in August. Investigators concluded managers indeed had discussed the proficiency test, in violation of policy, and recommended that Nelson and a midlevel manager be fired.
Nelson resigned in January to avoid termination, and the Texas Department of Public Safety hired her to lead the DNA division of its McAllen crime lab. Attempts to reach her Thursday were unsuccessful. Nelson's departure left Houston's DNA division without a supervisor and forced HPD to suspend DNA testing for the second time in six years.
In the course of investigating the cheating allegations, Nelson and others in the DNA division told officers of other troubles at the lab, including attempts to misrepresent the chain of custody on an evidence sample and orders for analysts to do work they were not trained to perform.
The analysts' comments depict a DNA division far different from that police management described as reformed and poised for excellence in 2006 after it earned national accreditation for the first time and resumed DNA testing after an interruption of more than three years.
PR sometimes gets ahead of facts in MayorWhiteChiefHurtt's Houston.
Chronicle staff were kind enough to post the PDF of HPD's internal report (11 MB) to Chron.com at the request of several bloggers. From my reading of it, Khanna's conclusions certainly seem sound. One particularly damning aspect of the report concerns the "coaching" in which some analysts, according to their testimony, felt pressured to change their conclusions in an evaluative situation. What if a man's life were on the line, instead of simply a question on a proficiency exam? Would there have been pressure to deliver a certain answer? Would there have been competent analysis period? This was pretty sober reading, especially after all the positive PR that had previously emanated about the new and improved crime lab.
In Khanna's story, Irma Rios (the crime lab's current director) assures that everything is fine, that problems have been identified and corrected, and that these are expected growing pains (everyone move along, nothing to see here). Unfortunately, this report makes the Rios Pollyanna routine hard to believe. Indeed, it leaves one wondering if MayorWhiteChiefHurtt have been any more effective than MayorBrownChiefBradford at managing the dysfunctional HPD crime lab.
Maybe the problems simply cannot be solved, and it's well past time to consider scrapping HPD's crime lab for an independent regional crime lab. Or maybe this latest crime lab scandal will convince Chief Hurtt he needs to run for DA a few years down the line!
What say you?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/25/08 08:49 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
24 February 2008
Sarnoff details new Midtown development
Anyone who has driven through the Elgin/Louisiana area of Midtown recently has probably noticed some serious construction (and occasional lane closures). The Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff reports on the big development:
One of Midtown's largest landholders has revealed plans for a nearly five-block real estate development around the intersection of Elgin and Louisiana.
Crosspoint Properties has already started construction on a three-story retail building at the corner. And it just fenced off most of the block on the other side of the street between Smith and Louisiana with signs advertising the project, called The Mix @ Midtown.
Crosspoint's George Levan said he believes the revitalization of Midtown and lower Westheimer as restaurant and entertainment destinations will carry over to his project.
"We're looking to play off that trend," he said.
Levan has already leased 50,000 square feet of the building under construction to 24 Hour Fitness, which will open a "Super Sport" concept with a basketball court and swimming pool.
An attached garage will have space for more than 300 cars.
The health club will take the top two floors, and the ground level will have 25,000 square feet of space for shops and restaurants.
[snip]
The attraction is the area's proximity to downtown, a growing residential base and accessibility to highways, he said.
To that end, Crosspoint is planning another 50,000 square feet of retail space on the fenced block.
The retail space could be combined with other uses, Levan said, but construction is not likely to start for at least another year.
[snip]
When it's completed, possibly in 2010, The Mix is expected to have more than 300,000 square feet of retail space.
Accessibility to highways?! Doesn't he realize how close the development is to METRO's transit backbone? It was highly politically incorrect of him to mention highways and not the transit backbone!
And how equally audacious of Crosspoint to be undertaking construction of significant (world-class?) mixed-use properties without the assistance of local pols (who seemingly are willing to throw endless resources at developments like the Pavilions, Discovery Green, the soccer stadium that will make an iffy part of town like Manhattan, a second downtown convention center hotel, an Astrodome convention center hotel, etc.)! That could set a precedent.
BLOGVERSATION: Swamplot.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/08 11:12 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
Lucy ads are much more fun than actually promoting transit usage
Local blogger Christof Spieler posts some useful ideas on how METRO could better promote its services to the public:
[T]ransit still works in a world where documents — bus schedules, system maps, and brochures — are printed in large, one-size-fits-all, runs.
Consider an office building: several hundred people, all of whom need to get to work and get home every day. They should know what their transit options are. But a system map posted in the lobby won’t do the trick: it shows too much information, and that’s intimidating. But a custom map ... showing just the routes that stop nearby, would.
The technology is not difficult. The time involved is not prohibitive. And, once the map exists, it’s easy to convert for posting on a web site, printing in an employee manual, and otherwise making it available to people whom it would help. It would be entirely possible to put one of these in every large office building lobby, in every hospital and in every university in Houston.
It’s not good enough to simply provide transit. One has to make people aware it exists. And transit agencies ought to be using every tool they can to do that.
That's a very sensible proposal.
Unfortunately, as is the case all too often with METRO, the stylistic takes precedence over the substantive. People win awards, after all, for neat posters advertising museum exhibits (or was it advertising transit?), and not necessarily for customized transit brochures/maps that might actually boost disappointing ridership.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/08 10:52 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
It's a good thing newspapers are staffed with fact-checkers...
The Chronicle ran a correction that was notable for its length today:
An article in Feb. 18 editions repeated charges made by Republican candidate for Congress Dean Hrbacek that a law firm, Williams & Jensen, had ties to Jack Abramoff. The article also cited reports that the firm's managing partner, L. Steven Hart, traveled with a group of government officials and lobbyists to Scotland to play golf. After being contacted by Williams & Jensen concerning the accuracy of the article, the Houston Chronicle's re-examination has revealed that Hart's correct name is J. Steven Hart, that there is no credible evidence that Hart traveled to Scotland with government officials on one of Abramoff's trips or otherwise, and, also, that there is no credible evidence that Williams and Jensen has any "ties" to Abramoff or his lobbying activities.
Whoops!
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/08 10:40 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
Doctor-Congresswoman goes to Washington (update)
Remember back when Doctor-Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs headed off to Washington, managed to treat the existing Congressional staff so poorly they resigned, and then made all sorts of reckless accusations about that staff?
As the Chronicle's Alan Bernstein reports, none of those wild accusations actually proved to be true:
House officials now say their investigation of her charge found no wrongdoing by the six aides.
"Our computer security analysts did look into then-Rep. Sekula Gibbs' concerns around the integrity of computers in the office she briefly occupied and found no traces of purposeful erasure of data," Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the Office of the House Chief Administrative Officer, told the Houston Chronicle. "It was determined that any lost data may have been inadvertent or the result of standard methodology employed when any member of Congress transitions to another."In response to that written statement, Sekula Gibbs, who is running for the seat again in the Republican primary, said this week that with the help of House technology experts, she was able to recover most of the material she had accused the staff of deleting on purpose.
She had no further comment about the House findings.
An apology would have been in order, although silence from the Doctor-FormerCongresswoman is not a bad consolation prize.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/08 10:32 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
23 February 2008
Of failed federal guidelines and 9-volt batteries
Poor METRO. How many years has the Main Street Rail line been running, and still we are learning how poorly constructed it was:
Every year - in either March, April or May - METRO tests our 7.5-mile railroad track with a device called a track geometry vehicle.
This machine glides along the rails and employs ultrasonic testing to discover cracks or other flaws. It will detect warps, gage issues, curves, elevations and speed limitations, says Scott Grogan, senior director of rail operations.
"The most recent testing resulted in a permanent speed restriction of 15 mph, implemented at old Main northbound," said Grogan. Geometry testing revealed that the curve at Fannin and old Main did not meet the federal guidelines for allowable speed at that curve because of the elevation of the outside rail. That curve met the federal criteria for a Class 1 speed of 15 mph.
"It should have been 15 mph from the get-go," said Grogan.
Better late than never to figure that out, eh?
And Rad Sallee has an update on The Medical Center's battle with METRO over stray current:
Metro maintains that the current has caused no damage to structures along the 7.5-mile route. However, Metro and Siemens have repaired bridge anchors and other track facilities where corrosion was found or current leakage was unacceptably high.
A report by a Medical Center consultant, Corrpro, based on monitoring 161 locations at 13 facilities in the medical complex in 2006-2007, found three with current high enough to deserve continued monitoring. Two sites were underground pipes and the third was the Meyer Building of Texas Children's Hospital, 1919 Braeswood at Greenbriar, which houses administrative offices.
Who knew a 9-volt battery could wreak such havoc?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/23/08 05:15 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
22 February 2008
Dangerous time/place/behavior update
Via KTRK-13's Gene Apodaca, we can add to our list of times/places/behaviors Chief Hurtt would encourage us to avoid in Houston:
Some neighbors are on edge after two men tried to abduct a woman at gunpoint, in the middle of the afternoon from a grocery store in the River Oaks area.
The attempted abduction happened Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Rice Epicurean market on Westheimer near Willowick.
At the Rice Epicurean market, customers are shocked. Few can imagine a crime so dangerous happening right where they shop.
The incident happened Tuesday around 1pm. Authorities say a woman had just pulled into the parking lot and was getting out of her car when two men grabbed her. One of those men was holding a gun.
Authorities say the woman fell to the ground and began yelling. That's when witnesses came to her aid, scaring the suspects off.
Be sure to add "Tuesday afternoons, River Oaks area, grocery shopping" to your list of dangerous time/place/behavior situations to avoid if you don't want to become a victim of violent crime.
PREVIOUSLY: Hurtt: You're pretty safe in Houston, unless you wind up dead!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/22/08 11:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
Harris County DA debate posted on KHOU website
Earlier in the week, the GOP candidates for Harris County District Attorney squared off in a debate (Democrat Clarence Bradford was invited, but apparently is still hiding somewhere hoping never to answer a tough question).
KHOU-11 could not be bothered actually to televise this important debate over the public airwaves, but they did have a live webcast, and the video is also available (Part One and Part Two).
In my view, the debate further illustrated that there are two highly qualified DA candidates on the GOP side, and two others -- but maybe you'll have other thoughts after watching the debate. Feel free to discuss in the forum.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/22/08 10:24 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
They're not using the Danger Train?
KHOU-11 reports Med Center employees are using the free parking at the VA facility, leaving veterans (many of whom are disabled) facing a long walk:
He’s talking about the parking lot of the V.A. Medical Center and he’s not alone.
“It’s really, really hard to find a parking spot,” said fellow vet Carl Malbrought.
“It’s almost impossible if you don’t get here before 7 a.m. It’s really bad, really bad,” said Joe Davis who also served his country.
[snip]
It’s a problem caused by the high cost of parking elsewhere in the medical center.
It’s no secret that parking is at a premium at the medical center.
If you work at the medical center, it’s also no secret veterans park for free at the VA hospital.
So, apparently in an effort to save a few bucks, people who work elsewhere are parking here and busing to their jobs.
“I have witnessed three or four cars park and a van will pull up and these people will get out of their cars and get in this van and they zoom off and you can see they’re in medical attire,” said local veteran Isaac Boles.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/22/08 05:07 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
21 February 2008
Adventures in headline writing (cont'd)
The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto has a little fun with a Chron headline today:
How Many Voters Will Fit on a Swing?
"Bill Clinton Courts Texas Voters in Galveston Swing"--headline, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 20
This one is kind of fun too:
It is a mystery why professional editors working in 2008 don't use spell checkers.
And then there was the jaw-dropper that appeared on the Chron D.C. Bureau's blog earlier:
Somebody had the good sense to change that one after some critical comments, although it's stunning that it made it to the web in the first place.
Chron headline writing is always an adventure!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/21/08 09:20 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (6)
20 February 2008
Mayor White: Just give me $16 million for soccer stadium land and don't ask any questions (updated!)
Remember when Mayor White and Council extended a long-term no-bid airport concession contract last fall? And recall how Mayor White said he'd learned his lesson about transparency?
James Rodriguez, who represents Lambert’s area, and Anne Clutterbuck, a soccer fan, say they’d at least like to have a public hearing before spending $16 million on a possible stadium site.
But Mayor Bill White says it’s too early for public input.
“I think it’s fair if there’s a particular plan or proposal, which there’s not right now, to talk to the neighbors and the people who live right along there,” White said.
Nope, no particular plan or proposal. Just $16 million for a speculative land buy.
Except that taxpayer money is involved, Mayor White. If the mayor was buying the land with his own money, that would be different, but taxpayers have a right to ask questions about where their money is going.
Then, as noted here in the forum, Rad Sallee has a story in today's Chron that quotes Bob Eury (head of the Downtown Houston Management District) saying Metro will have no problem rerouting light rail tracks around the (speculative?) stadium. Eury also said any extra cost Metro would incur to change routing would be offset by added ridership the stadium would attract.
Right.
As FilioScotia wrote in the forum:
Metro will do this to keep the Mayor and the downtown business crowd happy, but it won't adjust the rail route on the west side to make residents along Richmond happy?
Yep, that's how it works.
UPDATE: A story on Chron.com says the vote has been delayed, and Mayor White has blinked:
Mayor Bill White said he could not rule out the possibility of some public funds being used for the stadium's construction. But he will negotiate for the Dynamo's owners to absorb the entire cost, he said.
But of course!
MORE: Let's visit the archives. This is from November 20, 2007:
White is seeking a deal that would not require the city to contribute public money. While AEG's proposal calls for the company to bear most of the construction costs, it still would require the city to provide millions of dollars in needed infrastructure improvements, city and team officials said.
This is from January 9, 2008:
"It's not going to be done the way it was done with other stadiums, where the taxpayers picked up the tab," said White said.
And this is from January 14, 2008:
Mayor Bill White said he doesn't want public funds used for the actual stadium construction.
And here's Oliver Luck from way back in 2005:
And among the first promises [newly named club president Oliver] Luck announced was a most important one that every sports fan should note: A soccer-specific stadium here would not be financed like every other sports mansion on the local landscape.
Financing will not be another tax burden on citizens.
Goooooaaaaalllll!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/20/08 07:20 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
Diligent HCAD civil servants find tax break for Mayor
In the latest Houston Press, Richard Connelly reports that in 2007, Mayor White received a pleasant surprise in the form of his property tax bill:
Houston accountant Tim Hebert is pissed about his property taxes. So he decided to do a little research at the Harris County Appraisal District Web site.
And there he learned that in 2007, while his taxes were going up, Mayor Bill White's Memorial-area home had gotten a huge tax break, with the assessment falling from about $2.8 million to about $1.8 million.
White's neighbors hadn't gotten the same break, just the mayor.
HCAD told Hebert the change came because new maps placed White's home in a floodplain, but that didn't make much sense — only his house was in the new floodplain? Hebert showed that other houses should have been affected by the new map as well.
"I don't have any personal beef with the Mayor," Hebert says, "but I hate the fact that the rest of us are getting slammed with ever-higher property taxes while His Honor gets a reduction of damn near $1,000,000."
Jason Cunningham, HCAD's residential property director, says, essentially, mistakes were made. Both in telling Hebert the reduction was because of a floodplain map, and in assessing White's house so high in the first place.
White, he says, has simply been the victim of "extreme overvaluing for years."
"These are very difficult areas to appraise," he says. "What we are really doing is correcting an error. It was just wrong."
Cunningham says an appraiser noted the value of White's home was too high during an overall look at the neighborhood. The homes of White's neighbors, he says, were more accurate and didn't need to be changed significantly.
Isn't it nice that our local civil servants worked so diligently to make sure hizzoner's property taxes were reduced? For the sake of accuracy. And not because he's a prominent pol. We're sure they work just as hard to give everyone a break.
In fact, if you've received such a nice break from HCAD in the last few years (out of the blue, not as a result of protest), please send me an email (publiustx-at-gmail.com). We'll append your success story to the post (but will remove your name for purposes of privacy). Who says we never post good news? I just hope the gmail server can handle the crush!
UPDATE (02-22-2008): The Chronicle's Matt Stiles has a straight news story on the topic, noting that thousands of Houston landowners can expect similar reductions because of changes in federal and local floodway regulations. We remain ready to post all such good news that we receive via email (to date, we have not received any)!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/20/08 05:37 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
19 February 2008
"Borrowing" as flattery?
Back on 15 February, in the wake of the Chuck Rosenthal resignation letter that praised the staff of the DA's office, attorney Mark Bennett crafted a particularly nice line on his blog:
Chuck closes his letter with praise for the ADAs:
I am extremely proud of the work that the ladies and gentlemen of this office do for the citizens of Harris County. They have too many cases, are under compensated, and are often unfairly criticized for the hard decisions they make in fulfilling their mandate to see that justice is done. The residents of Harris County need to appreciate the great work these folks do. As the saying goes, "If I were asked to lead a charge on Hell, I'd want these people in my ranks."
I expect those ADAs' response will be something along the lines of "gee, thanks." Until six weeks ago, they would all probably have followed Chuck on his charge into Hell; most of them now feel like, in the past five weeks, they have.
Fast forward to today's column from Lisa Falkenberg, who also seems to have appreciated Bennett's style:
That was nice of him to think of them, finally.
One might argue that, over the past six weeks, Rosenthal has indeed led a charge, not exactly on hell, but straight into hell, dragging along with him the unwilling participants within his ranks.
That's not as good as the original, but it's strikingly similar nonetheless (which may mean some Chronsters are better at the craft of "borrowing" than the Senior Plagiarist who also shares the Metro/State state pages, or the Chron business columnist who rips off old Chicago Tribune prose after it's linked on blogs).
Bennett offers Falkenberg an amusing apology for this misunderstanding on his blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/19/08 08:22 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
18 February 2008
Chron: Former councilman looks to clean up on city's Dynamo boondoggle
Related to Anne Linehan's post from Sunday -- today the Chronicle reported additional interesting details on Mayor White's proposed giveaway to the Houston Dynamo:
Houston has offered more than $15.5 million to buy five downtown blocks that could be a future site of a Dynamo soccer stadium.
The city council could vote on the deal this Wednesday. The purchase price assumes the land is worth $49 per square foot, almost quadruple the assessed value of $12.50 per square foot, according to Harris County Appraisal District records.
The five blocks are owned by various corporate entities controlled by former Councilman Louis Macey. To acquire a sixth block, owned by a different company, the city has offered to swap a block nearby that it already owns.
What a potential windfall for a former councilman!
Sorry, but this highly lucrative insider wheeling and dealing doesn't quite pass the smell test (even though the local media continually remind us that Mayor White's administration is the most ethical since... well, maybe ever!).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/18/08 10:27 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)
Council to consider signing bonuses to boost HPD recruiting
We've frequently commented on HPD's manpower shortage, which has been a problem for years.
The Chronicle reports that Mayor White and Council are finally attempting to boost recruiting via financial incentives:
In an effort to put at least 1,000 more officers on the streets, the Houston Police Department plans to offer signing bonuses of up to $12,000 to new cadets starting with the next academy class in March, officials said Thursday.
The decision to offer bonuses follows similar moves by other police departments and the military, all of which are competing for the same pool of applicants.
The city of Dallas, for example, has offered a $10,000 incentive to police cadets — even advertising the deal on Houston billboards.
And with a starting salary of $41,690, Dallas is reeling in recruits from Houston, where the base pay is just $29,000.
"The field has never been as competitive as it is right now, and you've got to do something," said Capt. Dwayne W. Ready, who heads up HPD's human resources division.
The proposal, supported by Mayor Bill White, is expected to go before the City Council on Wednesday.
Officials with the Houston Police Officers' Union, however, have criticized the bonus plan, characterizing it as a Band-Aid solution to a more serious problem of HPD's uncompetitive pay scale and warned it could hurt morale.
The department employs about 4,800 officers, and Police Chief Harold Hurtt wants at least 6,100 to keep pace with the city's population growth, said Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo, who oversees HPD's administrative operations.
Given the disparities in salary between Houston and Dallas (and similar signing bonuses in Dallas), city leaders may actually need to consider a boost in salaries along with the signing bonus.
Surely if the City of Houston can throw money at so many of the mayor's pet projects in a time of record revenues, it can actually fund essential city services (like policing) at the necessary levels.
RELATED COVERAGE: KTRK-13.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/18/08 10:13 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
GHP offshoot takes on Mayor White on air quality ordinance
The Chronicle's Jennifer Leahy reported last week that Mayor White's 2007 air-quality ordinance revisions have come under legal fire:
A coalition of Houston plant operators filed a lawsuit Friday against the city of Houston, alleging an air quality ordinance adopted by the city last summer violates state law.
"We filed to get the court's review because we believe the ordinance conflicts with state law, and we believe it's very difficult for our members to have a patchwork of regulations to follow," said Business Coalition for Clean Air Appeal Group spokeswoman Elizabeth Hendler.
Hendler noted that the group spent "several months" working with the city without success to find a compromise after the ordinance was adopted.
She said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a state agency, has authority delegated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air quality and previously regulated Houston facilities.
[snip]
The ordinance, described in the city code as an air pollution abatement program, states that a health officer will conduct air quality monitoring and evaluation and investigate complaints of violations of the Texas Clean Air Act.
Auto repair shops, gas stations, dry cleaning plants and used-car lots are also monitored and required to pay registration fees under the ordinance.
Fees range from $100 for a dry cleaning plant with fewer than six employees to $3,000 for a facility emitting more than 10 tons annually of airborne contaminants.
[snip]
Though the ordinance affects numerous small businesses, the BCCA Appeal Group is comprised of and funded by large chemical plant operators.
The BCCA Appeal Group was established in 2001 by members of the Business Coalition for Clean Air, an offshoot of the Greater Houston Partnership.
Expect Mayor White to defend his revenue stream vigorously!
It is interesting that he'll be fighting an offshoot of the GHP, and that some sort of accommodation short of legal action wasn't worked out behind the scenes.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/18/08 09:28 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
Area GOP primary candidate questions/answers
With a little encouragement from the blogging sidelines, local blogger Cory Crow has taken the lead in compiling and submitting detailed policy questionnaires to Republican primary candidates for several area offices.
As he receives answers and posts them on his blog, we'll update this post with links to his posts, along with an indicator of the date of the response and the race. As the general election approaches, we'll do something similar in a new post (and link to Charles Kuffner's interviews with the Democratic candidates as well). Thanks in advance to all the candidates who participate!
Without further ado, here's the list of responses to date:
Candidate (Office Sought, Date Answers Posted)
Jim Leitner (Harris County District Attorney, 02/18/2008)
Robert Talton (Congressional District 22, 02/21/2008)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/18/08 09:24 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
17 February 2008
Should we issue a missing persons alert for Clarence Bradford?
Chuck Rosenthal isn't the only local pol facing some legal difficulties.
As the Chronicle's Cindy George reported this weekend, Harris County District Attorney candidate Clarence Bradford remains a part of several lawsuits stemming from HPD's 2002 K-Mart parking lot raid:
A federal judge has declined another city request to end the 10 lawsuits filed by people arrested in a 2002 Kmart street racing raid.
It's the second time U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas has ruled that the lawsuits can go forward.
In a decision this week, Atlas wrote that the more than 100 plaintiffs could sue about whether the Houston Police Department had a "custom of mass detention without individualized reasonable suspicion."
[snip]
In 2005, the judge ruled that the police plan that led to the mass arrests was unconstitutional. In a scathing opinion, she called HPD tactics to detain and arrest people who were not observed violating the law "an unjustified, almost totalitarian, regime of suspicionless stops."
Civil rights lawsuits were filed after almost 300 people were arrested in August 2002 during a surprise raid on the Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer. The HPD operation was an attempt to combat street racing.
All of the cases name former HPD Chief Clarence C.O. Bradford, who is running as a Democrat for Harris County district attorney, and allege he knew about the plan. The lawsuits also accused police of brandishing firearms and being verbally abusive during the incident.[snip]
The judge also wrote that there is a genuine dispute about then-Chief Bradford's knowledge about that summer's plan.
Bradford lost his appeal of Atlas' decision to keep him as a defendant in the lawsuits.
The story contained no quote from Bradford.
The DA candidate's political team did issue a statement to the Chronicle in reaction to the Rosenthal resignation:
Former Houston Police Chief C.O. "Brad" Bradford, the lone Democrat running for district attorney:
"I said when I began my campaign last year that we need change in the District Attorney's office," Bradford's statement read. "I find the personal use of government property by government officials, including computers and e-mail, to be totally inappropriate. And there is no place in the District Attorney's office for racism or belittling of women."
A call to Bradford for further comment, was not immediately returned to the Houston Chronicle.
Not immediately returned, or not ever returned?
It seems that Clarence Bradford has nearly gone into hiding, which is odd behavior from a political candidate. He must really not want to answer any tough questions!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/17/08 11:04 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
Soccer stadium land on Council agenda
Thanks to Tom Bazan for noting what's on this week's City Council agenda (#16):
16. ORDINANCE appropriating a total of $15,542,042.00 from the reimbursement of Equipment/Projects Fund (Fund 1850), approving and authorizing the purchase of land known as Blocks 203, 204, 205, 218 and 219, SSBB, Harris County, Texas, from the following parties, as their respective interests appear: (1) Louis Macey, Trustee, on behalf of a trust created pursuant to an agreement dated November 17, 1997, (2) Louis Macey, Trustee, on behalf of undisclosed parties; (3) Macey Family Properties, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership; and (4) Macey Family Properties II, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership; approving necessary documents related thereto; finding and determining that public convenience and necessity no longer require the continued use of a portion of public street right-of-way consisting of Jackson Street between Rusk Avenue and Capitol Avenue, vacating and abandoning said public street right-of-way to the abutting owner Macey Family Properties II, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership and to LAM Block 100, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership, as their respective interests appear, for the appraised fair market value; approving the conveyance of the City’s interest in the real property underlying such street to the abutting owners Macey Family Properties II, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership and to LAM Block 100, Ltd., a Texas Limited Partnership, as their respective interests appear, for the appraised fair market value while reserving and retaining easement rights for the public utilities currently in place until the abutting owners grant acceptable permanent utilities easements to the City and move the utilities to such easements at their expense - DISTRICT I - RODRIGUEZ
It appears item #17 may be related:
17. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing the conveyance of land known as Block 193, SSBB, Harris County, Texas and the improvements thereon in exchange for (1) $250,000.00, (2) the acquisition of land known as Block 220, SSBB, Harris County, Texas, and the improvements thereon, from 800 Dowling, LP, a Texas Limited Partnership; and the entering into of a lease-back agreement by the City as “Tenant” and 800 Dowling, LP as “Landlord” of Block 193, SSBB, and the improvements thereon; approving necessary documents related thereto - DISTRICT I ‑ RODRIGUEZ
And perhaps item #46, too:
46. SET A PUBLIC HEARING DATE relative to proposed amendment of the Project Plan and Reinvestment Zone Financing Plan for Reinvestment Zone Number 15, City of Houston, Texas (East Downtown Zone) - DISTRICT I - RODRIGUEZ
SUGGESTED HEARING DATE - WEDNESDAY - FEBRUARY 27, 2008 - 9:00 A.M.
That's about $16 million, not including tax breaks and upcoming infrastructure improvements the Dynamo will require. Oh, and a street right-of-way that is no longer needed for "public convenience."
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/17/08 04:55 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
Myth or fact: Revisiting Rosenthal's detective-as-attorney gambit
The Chronicle's resident plagiarist Rick Casey couldn't resist piling on Chuck Rosenthal in today's newspaper. In the column, he presents an interesting 1986 story about Rosenthal as fact:
I do wonder what was his first clue that his judgment was impaired.
Was it in 1986 when he sent undercover cops to pose as defense lawyers to question jail inmates about drug offenses?
The allegations from 1986 were recently reported by Mike Tolson in a Chron recap of Rosenthal's career:
In 1986, for example, his tactics as a prosecutor were questioned when he was accused of sending two undercover police officers posing as defense lawyers into the city jail to talk with a defendant there on cocaine charges. The alleged trick was an attempt to learn more about a reported kidnapping. Even Holmes questioned whether his assistant, one of two prosecutors assigned to the case, had pushed the envelope on what was appropriate.
"The question is whether there was a breach in a privileged communication between lawyer and client," Holmes said at the time. "You are on dangerous ground when you do that."
Note that Tolson reported that the matter was alleged to have happened -- even though Casey reported it in his column as fact.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/17/08 01:56 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 February 2008
Best student protest ever!
The University of Houston Daily Cougar reports on a student protest that sort of fizzled:
They met, chanted and marched their way into an administrator's office before realizing that the official in question was out of town.
UH Students Against Sweatshops, a student organization dedicated to protecting workers' rights, marched into UH President Renu Khator's office Thursday afternoon after organizing a rally outside the M.D. Anderson Library."The clothes in the bookstore are not sweatshop-free," UH Students Against Sweatshops founder Timothy O'Brien said.
The group intended to get Khator to sign the Designated Suppliers Program, a document that would guarantee workers' rights and prevent harsh working conditions for workers who sew university logo apparel, according to the Workers Rights Consortium.
The group march ended almost 30 minutes later, when Assistant Vice Chancellor of Planning and Initiatives Dan Gardner told them Khator was not in Houston.
Maybe next time.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/16/08 11:07 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (22)
Houston weather: We're all going to die!!!! (or not)
Last night, we were treated to some local weather forecasters scaring the hell out of everyone once again.
Hail! Tornadoes! Flooding!
SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY SATURDAY, WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE!
We're all going to die!!!! (Okay, I made that last part up, but that's the feeling I got from watching some weather reports).
As of 10 PM tonight in central Houston: No deaths (at least related to weather -- this is MayorWhiteChiefHurtt's city, after all, so there were probably some homicides), no hail, no tornadoes, no flooding.
There was a bit of rain and wind as we left Hofheinz tonight after Cougar basketball. We did not fear for our lives.
We imagine Ken Hoffman will be having some fun with this one in a column.
MORE: This illustrates the point of the post nicely, especially some of the comments and inline responses.
BLOGVERSATION: Scott's Coffee House.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/16/08 10:15 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (12)
Not-news: Astrodome Redevelopment "expert" says redevelopment would be swell!
Unsurprisingly, an expert hired by Astrodome Redevelopment Corp. has reported that a convention center hotel (in a bad part of town with no real amenities or desirable features beyond a couple dozen sporting events per year) would generate MILLIONS for the city and have an occupancy rate even higher than Houston hotels in desirable parts of the city.
For some reason, the Houston Chronicle reports this as news:
A convention hotel at the Reliant Astrodome could net nearly $50 million annually four years after opening, a consultant said in a report released by Harris County Friday.
"Reliant Park is transforming into one of the largest, most versatile sports, entertainment and conversion complexes in the United States," hotel consultant John Keeling, vice president of PKF Consulting, wrote. "To our knowledge, there are no other hotels like the proposed (hotel) adjacent to" a major stadium and convention center.
Astrodome Redevelopment Co., which has proposed reinventing the Dome as a convention hotel, hired PKF to do the study last year.
[snip]
PKF estimated that the Dome hotel would have a 72 percent occupancy rate in its third year.
Downtown Houston cannot currently fill its hotels, despite a top-notch convention center, two sports/entertainment venues that are open far more than two dozen times per year, downtown commerce, and other amenities. It therefore boggles the mind that any objective analyst would therefore conclude that Houston needs another convention center hotel in an undesirable part of town (seriously, is Houston's South Loop on anyone's destination list on dates that do not involve the Texans, Rodeo, or soccer?).
Of course Astrodome Redevelopment's analyst came down exactly where one would expect. Why anyone would pay much attention to his sales job (let alone call it news) is another question altogether.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/16/08 10:01 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
Chief Lambert receives awards for METRO's security preparedness!
METRO's blogger Mary Sit announced on Thursday that METRO's security preparedness has been rewarded:
METRO received top honors Monday when the Transportation Security Administration recognized both our transit security system and our chief of police, Tom Lambert, for his excellent work.
The first award - called "Carrier of Distinction" - placed METRO in the top 5 percent of all transit systems nationwide for emergency preparedeness. As "Carrier of Distinction," our system was lauded for "superior performance in security program development, planning and execution."
"That's pretty significant," said Lambert.
Pictured above is Congresswoman Sheila Lee Jackson, Tom Lambert, and Kip Hawley, TSA's top administrator.
The second award recognized Lambert's leadership in chairing the 18-month-old "Police and Security Peer Advisory Group." Members of that group include: New York, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Amtrak, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
That's a pretty impressive list of huge transit agencies. How did Houston's METRO get to be the leader?
Just recently, we have Chief Lambert's less-than-stellar performance when a Danger Train driver ran over a cyclist:
Just after the collision, police said the 29-year-old physician riding her bike appeared to be at fault.
"We know that she was wearing headphones," Lambert said, "She was riding bike, not looking to what happened."
Actually, we now know the only accurate part of that statement was when Chief Lambert said she was riding a bike. The Danger Train driver has now been suspended for five days and will be retrained.
We can visit Kevin Whited's PubliusTX archives to recall numerous instances where Chief Lambert ran to the cameras after a Danger Train accident to berate the victim, and Houston drivers in general, for getting in the way of the train. Lambert even did his schtick for an ad.
How about the time a woman was raped at a METRO bus stop and METRO's response was to remind riders that they can carry a gun on a bus if they hold a concealed carry permit. And two years after that, a KHOU-11 story detailed that during a 10-month span, there were 326 crimes reported, many violent, at METRO bus stops, but METRO's police force was concentrated in the downtown area. METRO said there are just too many bus stops for METRO PD to patrol.
But perhaps his finest hour in METRO security preparedness was when he decided to remove all security guards at Park and Rides, thereby turning them into Park and Pillages. His excuse was that security guards were too cost prohibitive. The ensuing cluelessness was truly something to behold:
Metro's Park and Pillage (updated -- Metro's forming a Task Force!)
Lambert: Park and Rides just need technology -- where do we get some?
Metro's Chief Lambert on with Chris Baker today
Beware tailgate thievery at Park and Pillages
Thieves target park and ride customers
KTRK Crime Tracker: Crime up at METRO's park-and-pillage lots
METRO still looking at some technology for Park and Pillages
Chief Lambert: When a crime is reported, we'll rewind the tape
Most likely these awards are for METRO's Special Operations Response Team (SORT), an elite counterterror unit that Chief Lambert says has trained with experts from Israel, the FBI, Transportation Security Administration, and other U.S. transit agencies. SORT officers patrol light rail stations and bus transit centers.
Bad guys at bus stops and Park and Pillages need not worry.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/16/08 12:22 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
15 February 2008
KHOU: Rosenthal to step down (Update: He's gone)
KHOU-11 just sent out an email alert that Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal will be stepping down later today.
The Chronicle reports that Rosenthal has already resigned, but doesn't have much in the way of details.
We'll update the post as more stories are posted.
UPDATE: KPRC-2 has the story. KHOU now has a story posted. The Chron.com story has been updated. KTRK-13 has a story posted.
BLOGVERSATION: Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Defending People, Professors R-Squared, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/15/08 02:02 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
14 February 2008
Dolcefino: Who built the sheriff's fence (and why does it matter)?
KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino has paid another visit to the ranch of Sheriff Tommy Thomas. This time, Dolcefino is checking out the fence at the ranch and trying to figure out if the county's inmate labor program assisted in its construction. The stories are here and here.
The clips from The Shawshank Redemption were a nice touch.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/14/08 10:24 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
Second METRO online chat set for lunchtime Friday
Mary Sit announced that METRO's ready to take another stab at an online chat:
This Friday, February 15, you'll have a chance to chat with METRO during your lunchtime.
We promised you monthly Web chats - and exactly one month ago today, we launched Transit Talk, where 64 of you logged on to the conversation.
Our second monthly Web chat is slated for Friday from noon to 1 p.m. - and once again, our CEO and president, Frank J. Wilson, is scheduled to be our host.
Last month, the conversation ranged from Q Cards to sleepy bus drivers. This time, we are focusing on one subject: METRO Solutions. We are also using another generation of the chat software, which should make it easier for you to read when you log on.
All questions will be moderated, and only those that stay on topic will be posted.
Frank J. Wilson prefers a theme, not a free-for-all.
So if one wanted to get in a question about the Danger Train driver who hit a cyclist last week by not minding his/her stop sign, one would have to frame it in a Metro Solutions way.
Hopefully, the glitches that prevented some folks from participating last time have been addressed this time.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/14/08 05:11 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
13 February 2008
Clear Channel to sell two Houston stations
The Chronicle's David Barron posts that Clear Channel will be selling two of its Houston radio stations:
Under an agreement with the Department of Justice, Clear Channel Communications agreed today to sell two of its Houston radio stations to comply with anti-trust requirements associated with Clear Channel's pending acquisition by two private equity investment firms.
According to the agreement, Clear Channel will sell KLOL (101.1 FM), the heritage rock-and-roll station that now airs Spanish contemporary hits, and either KHMX (96.5 FM) or KTBZ (94.5 FM).
Houston is one of four markets -- the others being San Francisco, Cincinnati and Las Vegas -- where Clear Channel must sell stations to meet government anti-trust requirements.
It's unfortunate that none of the Clear Channel AM stations will be going on the block. But perhaps new ownership will bring improvements to the mostly dismal Clear Channel AM lineups.
BLOGVERSATION: Mike McGuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/13/08 09:36 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (8)
"Simple human error" shortchanges METRO customers
Did you see this KHOU-11 story earlier in the week, about METRO's fare boxes overcharging customers?
Anita Hamilton said her Q card was getting charged double to ride the 108 North Shepherd Park-and-Ride. She said she pays $1 in the morning, but then she noticed in evening commute that she was being charged $3.
"I was told that there were other people who were experiencing the same problem, the same bus I was riding, they were also being charged three dollars," Hamilton said.
Hamilton contacted Metro, and she said they're refunding the overcharges and giving her an extra $5 for her troubles.
"What we discovered is it wasn't actually her Q card that was the problem -- it was that the fare box hadn't been reset, which was simple human error," Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said.
As usual, Laurence Simon called it perfectly: Bandit boxes on the buses.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/13/08 08:22 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
Klein ISD's bond proposal includes a boondoggle
Klein ISD has been working on a bond proposal since last fall, and while the district desperately needs to address over-crowding, the proposal the district is trying to promote has a major boondoggle project in it: Instead of building two new high schools (#5 and #6), the district has now decided to build one new high school, then raze and rebuild Klein High School.
Raze and rebuild an existing high school? What an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars!
Initially, the bond proposal was upwards of $720 million, but currently has been tweaked down to $640 million, $130 million of which would go toward demolishing, then rebuilding Klein High School. And after the new high school (#5) is built, it would be used for Klein High students while their school is rebuilt! The new high school (#5) wouldn't actually begin relieving any of the overcrowding at other high schools until 2013!
Klein High is 45 years old and could use some remodeling, but it's not one of the district's overcrowded high schools. In order to best serve the community, Klein ISD needs to build two new high schools, and those schools need to be built where the new residential growth is. Currently Klein Oak and Klein Collins have the most serious overcrowding issues, because the schools that feed into them are in high growth areas. Building only one new high school will be not be sufficient to handle the continued booming growth in the district.
There is one other questionable item in the proposal -- $38 million to buy laptops for high school students. This is an exorbitant amount of money to spend with a highly doubtful return on investment. Laptops don't have a very long lifespan, and the district will face extra costs associated with firewalls, filters, repairs, etc. Or will parents be responsible for any damages to the laptops?
The bond proposal does appear to otherwise address sensible needs for the district (no $80 million Berry Center in this one!), but if the district persists with the plan to use 20% of the entire bond money on rebuilding an existing high school, the district could end up with a rejection similar to what Spring ISD experienced a couple of years ago.
Klein ISD superintendent Dr. Jim Cain and the Klein ISD board are seeking input from voters. Word is they have heard only from folks who live around Klein High School and who are overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal that gives them a rebuilt Klein High. If you live within Klein ISD, I encourage you to browse the links at the end of this post, and then let Dr. Cain and all the board members know where you stand on the bond proposal -- and do it soon. By March 1st, the district will be ready to move forward.
Houston Architecture Info Forum: Klein ISD Bond Plan 2008
Houston Architecture Info Forum: Klein High School #5
Klein ISD Bond Proposal (pdf; district overview -- light on specifics)
Klein For All website
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/13/08 08:21 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (12)
Note to Chron: Houston agency is not the same as Harris County agency
Having been late to the story, the Chron's Mike Snyder has now written a follow-up to the news that the Harris County Housing Authority has taken national responsibility for most folks still displaced by Katrina.
The only problem is Snyder is still referring to the Harris County agency as a Houston agency:
Houstonians hit ground running in New Orleans
[snip]
About a dozen staff, contractors and board members of the small Houston agency traveled to New Orleans on Friday to review the enormous task confronting them. Here in the city that embodies all that went wrong after the nation's worst natural disaster, they are preparing to oversee the final chapter in a long, contentious effort to house thousands of displaced storm victims.
[snip]
Here, Rankin and his staff have duplicated procedures they created in Houston for enrolling and counseling clients, ensuring that landlords are paid on time and apartments are in decent condition.
Why the nit-picking? Because Harris County's agency worked hard (and displayed competence!) to achieve success dealing with what has turned into a long-term situation. As Snyder notes about halfway through, Houston's agency hasn't been "given" the same responsibility:
Even before the Harris County Housing Authority was assigned to the New Orleans project, it had been given a greater share of the Houston program than the much larger Houston Housing Authority, which is assisting about 2,400 families.
Would the Chronicle appreciate it if we just started calling it the Press whenever we felt like it? They are two separate agencies, and a professional journalist should be able to make that distinction.
But just to take the weirdness one step further, Snyder then gets a reaction from Houston's Mayor White, not Harris County's Judge Emmett:
Mayor Bill White, who appoints the Houston Housing Authority's board, said the county authority's decision to take on the New Orleans program and others around the country required political courage.
Yes, the Harris County agency took on the program, but the feds first had to ask the HC agency to take it! And that offer wasn't extended to Houston's Housing Authority, for reasons we can guess.
UPDATE: A reader notes that the last link, which is an audit of the Department of Housing, does not relate to the Houston Housing Authority. Apologies for the confusion. There's no confusion, however, that the Houston Housing Authority is a different entity than the Harris County Housing Authority, and the HC agency should be credited for the capable job it has done.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/13/08 04:37 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
12 February 2008
KPRC: Danger Train driver who struck bicyclist ignored stop signal
Remember that bicyclist who was hit by the Danger Train a few days ago, dragged 50 feet, and trapped under the train?
The original notion here was that cycling, iPods, and the Danger Train are a bad combination -- but as KPRC-2's Elizabeth Scarborough reports, one should add "METRO driver error" to that mix:
A METRORail driver may have been responsible for a collision between a train and a cyclist, KPRC Local 2 reported.
A source close to the investigation said the on-board camera video was played at a high level post-incident meeting Monday afternoon. The source said the video showed the rail operator ran the light, while pedestrians in the crosswalk had a walk signal.
"Until we've come to a total conclusion on that, I'm not prepared to say what actually transpired," METRO Police Chief Tom Lambert said.
The cyclist was hit as she crossed the tracks on Fannin Street near Macgregor Drive shortly before 5 p.m. Friday.
Rail operators follow their own set of lights, which are white lines. Vertical means go and horizontal means stop.
The video showed the rail approaching the intersection with the light already horizontal. The cyclist was seen looking up at the train just before she disappeared under it. She was trapped until rescuers cut her bike apart.
Just after the collision, police said the 29-year-old physician riding her bike appeared to be at fault.
"We know that she was wearing headphones," Lambert said, "She was riding bike, not looking to what happened."
Lambert said Monday that he was no longer positive that the cyclist was at fault.
"Honestly, I don't know the answer to that," he said.
The METRO footage shown in the video version of the story posted on the KPRC website clearly shows a horizontal bar (the signal to stop), the bicyclist beginning to cross on what she probably assumed was a valid crossing signal, and the bicyclist disappearing under the train. The Danger Train driver seems clearly to be at fault for ignoring the stop signal.
And this brings us to a point that we emphasize frequently here: When you lay at-grade rail down already congested and busy streets, you leave little room for operator error (by pedestrians and by drivers of trains, auto vehicles, wheelchairs, and bikes -- as we've seen frequently). In contrast, rail that is segregated from vehicular and pedestrian traffic is going to be safer than rail that is not. We're not sure why pointing this out tends to agitate some people so much -- but we are pretty sure that we'll be posting similar sorts of stories when the same at-grade-rail mistakes are repeated down busy Richmond.
UPDATE: Well, what do you know -- the Chronicle decided to do its job and cover this story too (and there's even some additional information):
A video of the accident, taken from cameras on the train and released by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, shows the track signal displaying a horizontal line, which means the operator is not to proceed. Metro released a statement Monday saying the accident was "preventable" and that investigation is continuing.
The Chronicle has filed an open records request for the identities of the cyclist and the train operator — information Metro has routinely released in the past but declined to reveal about this accident.
The passenger, Mark Vance, said he was in the second seat from the front left of the tra