30 August 2008

Labor Day weekend

Things might be a little quiet around here (unless something interesting pops up, such as a hurricane!), so here's hoping you all have a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/30/08 05:24 PM | Announcements | Technorati | Comments (2)

28 August 2008

Spanish language schools pose problem for Spring Branch mom

Yesterday, Paul Knight broke an interesting story on the Houston Press' Hair Balls blog about a Spring Branch mom who has had difficulty enrolling her kids in school because... they speak English (not Spanish). Really!

Today, Knight follows up on the story with news that the principal said he would allow one of the kids to attend a Spanish-only Pre-K class (although we're not sure exactly what this will accomplish, aside from cheap day care in a language the kid doesn't understand) -- but now the district superintendent is involved, and trying to resolve the problem.

These would be public schools.

Maybe the people who want to make English the country's official language have a point.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/08 01:24 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)

27 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/27/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/08 08:27 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

Thou shalt not question HPD (updated)

KHOU-11's Lee McGuire reports that some city councilmembers had the temerity to ask HPD for an accounting of previous funds that were allotted for recruitment advertising. This came about as HPD was requesting another $750,000 for the same thing:

Several councilmembers, including the budget chair, refused to back a request by the Houston Police Department for another $750,000 for recruitment advertising.

They said HPD has been unable or unwilling to provide information on how many recruits came on board because of the last round of advertising. Councilmember Green said he's been “banned” from asking questions of the HPD public information office and instead has been told to go through the legal department.

Councilmember Anne Clutterbuck said she was shocked that she couldn’t find HPD job openings on common job search Web sites, while the Dallas Police Department came up all the time. She said when she asked HPD about it, all she got back was “rhetoric.”

A councilman has been banned from asking questions??? No HPD jobs are listed on job search websites???

That's some fine leadership from Chief Hurtt.

UPDATE (8-28-2008) The Chron's Carolyn Feibel adds more:

The two-year contract with Patriot Advertising is for Internet and print media.

A previous one-year $300,000 contract with the company expired in April.

HPD also has spent $335,000 on television commercials that aired from February through July.

Councilwoman Pam Holm said Wednesday that council members had asked HPD to track results when the first Patriot contract was approved more than a year ago.

"Anyone renewing a contract needs to examine the effectiveness of money already spent," Holm said.

She added that she was surprised HPD did not produce any numbers from the first contract.

"How do we know if it's effective?" Holm asked. "Basically, what they told us was they didn't track it and they didn't have any way to track it."

Patriot Advertising's website is here and includes a quote on the testimonial page from HPD Capt. Dwayne Ready:

Thanks for the fast work on this. Reacting to market pressures is an unending task, and I appreciate the responses we get when things are needed in short order. Kudos to your and your staff.
-Cpt. Ready - Houston Police Department

Ahhh, the unending task of market pressures. That must be what's holding up the tracking report.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/27/08 05:58 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)

26 August 2008

HPD "cracks down" on the homeless...again

The last time HPD "cracked down" on the homeless was in September, 2007.

Almost one year later, it's time to do it again (via KHOU-11):

Three Houston Police divisions are preparing for a zero tolerance initiative against the homeless.

Starting on Tuesday, the Houston Police Department will crack down on the city's homeless. Some who know about the new initiative call it HPD politics, while others said it was a good move for safety. But whatever people said about the program, it was not a secret to those living on the streets.

Oooooo, zero tolerance! After today's sweep, stay tuned for the next crackdown in late summer 2009.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/26/08 04:52 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (18)

25 August 2008

Your Houston tax dollars at work

As the end of the city's fiscal year was approaching, what did city councilmembers do with the remainder of their office budgets? The Chron's Matt Stiles and Carolyn Feibel asked for all the spending records and wrote it up. Here's an excerpt:

Six council members bought new TVs with their budget funds. Some mounted large-screen TVs in common staff areas, while others bought each staffer TV sets for their desks.

Two new councilwomen, Wanda Adams and Melissa Noriega, bought five televisions each.

[snip]

Other council members who bought televisions with public funds include Ron Green, Jolanda Jones, M.J. Khan and James Rodriguez. In all, 22 new TVs were purchased for the council floor, at a cost of $8,705.

[snip]

District A Councilwoman Toni Lawrence said the council floor has too many televisions in use.

"Sometimes I have to close the door because of the TV noise," she said.

Be sure to read the entire story for more taxpayer-funded highlights, and don't forget the comments at the end of the Chron's story.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/25/08 05:06 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (13)

24 August 2008

Chron: School districts saved money with later start date; HISD: No we didn't

Last week the Chron's Jennifer Radcliffe wrote a story with the following thesis: School district utility bills have gone down since the Lege ordered later start dates:

Texas public school leaders may still be fuming about the legislative mandate that delayed the start of the school year until the last week of August, but advocates point to lower utility bills as a sign that lawmakers made the right choice.

In the first year, schools statewide appear to have saved millions of dollars in August utility bills. The Houston Independent School District's monthly payment to Reliant Energy, for example, dropped almost $200,000 between August 2006 and August 2007. Officials attribute about $66,000 of the savings to lower electricity costs.

You might already be able to see the problem with Radcliffe's story: She focused on August utility bills alone. Guess what? A later start date means a later end date, which means the possibility of extra utility usage at the end of the year. Might the savings have been offset by that? The Chron doesn't know:

HISD spends about $57 million a year on electricity, meaning $66,000 is a slight savings, officials said. And they said some of the savings probably were erased by extra days in May and June, but they couldn't provide the figures.

We heard from HISD's Terry Abbott who disputed Radcliffe's conclusion. Abbott said HISD advised Radcliffe the assertion might be wrong, and that HISD was running the numbers to see if the savings held up with the addition of the extra days at the end of the year. As it turned out, HISD's month-by-month electricity usage analysis did not show a savings; in fact, HISD's electricity usage and costs were higher for the 2007-08 school year when compared to the 2006-07 school year.

Abbott requested a correction or retraction from the Chron, but so far the editorial leadership has declined.

While Radcliffe's story features HISD, a sidebar notes August utility savings for fourteen school districts. In asserting that Texas schools "have saved millions of dollars," did Radcliffe get the last-month-of-school numbers for any of those school districts? If she did, they're not listed; therefore, Radcliffe's conclusion (millions saved) is not supported by her partial facts (August numbers only). To come up with that conclusion she needed to get complete utility numbers for all the districts.

Did any other districts try to warn her against using incomplete data? Unclear, but it doesn't appear the Chron is going to revisit the issue, and this will be the end of the story for Houston's daily newspaper of record.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/24/08 01:55 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)

Mayor to Mincberg: Quit using me in your ads

Last week the Chron's Liz Austin Peterson reported that Mayor White was not overjoyed with county judge candidate David Mincberg's presumptive use of the mayoral likeness in the wannabe judge's first TV ad:

Democrat David Mincberg makes liberal use of Mayor Bill White's name and picture in the first television ad of his county judge campaign, touting his work in the popular leader's administration and comparing their business experience and management styles.

However, he did not seek permission from White, who generally stays out of local races and has been working to cultivate a good relationship with Republican County Judge Ed Emmett.

White since has made it clear to Mincberg's campaign that he prefers people to ask permission before using him in a campaign ad, said Michael Moore, the mayor's chief of staff.

"He does not want that (ad) to be interpreted as an endorsement," Moore said Wednesday. "The mayor works well with Judge Emmett and has worked well with David Mincberg."

We are thrilled to learn Mincberg plans on running on his "accomplishments" as the city's multi-family housing czar, especially since one could argue that his time in that position appears to have been intended to fluff up his résumé for a future political run. Certainly, the city got its money's worth out of the $1 per-year salary arrangement:

David Mincberg had worked on this a bit, and the City has been grateful for his services, but he has been asked to pass off responsibilities for this because of other time commitments and pursuits.

The "this" referenced above that Mincberg failed to focus on was actually pretty important, as Mayor White described it:

Our central idea is that there should be effective standards and enforcement of standards on the habitability of multi-family units. They should include aspects such as lighting and the ability of law enforcement to get to where they need to, as well as those codes which could create a hazard for electrocution or fire.

As the titular head of the city's multi-family housing program, Mincberg lost interest, and Mayor White had to find someone else to carry on the important work. But that doesn't stop Mincberg from praising his time with the city on his campaign website:

David Mincberg understands that honesty and efficiency are the keys to any successful operation. David’s ability to think strategically is why in 2006, Mayor Bill White asked him to run the City of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department as a Dollar-a-Year executive. David turned down a salary and instead volunteered his time for this full-time position..

During his tenure as the Dollar-a-Year executive for the City of Houston, David Mincberg:

Managed the Housing Department

Established impartial systems for assessing and improving apartment safety, resulting in the Apartment Security Ordinance.(Ordinance #2006-1124)

Envisioned and created the Better Neighborhoods program by targeting Federal funds strategically to leverage impact.

And yet, in spite of those accomplishments, he was asked to move along so someone else who wasn't so preoccupied could get some work done.

BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/24/08 07:46 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)

22 August 2008

This week at METRO: Frank Wilson gets a raise; bad bus drivers keep on driving

KPRC-2 has a story posted about how METRO's "Three Strikes, You're Out" rule for bus drivers is just more hot air from the transit agency that could power its own wind farm:

Motorists reported some startling behavior by bus drivers, including road rage, speeding through school zones, cutting off other drivers by swerving into lanes, aggressive lane changes, and nearly running people over in crosswalks.

"We play just like baseball," said METRO Vice President of Operations David Feeley. "Three strikes and you're out. If you have a particularly egregious situation, we say goodbye pretty quick."

Despite that policy, Local 2 Investigates found some drivers remaining behind the wheel with as many as nine or 12 strikes, including numerous complaints alleging the same sort of dangerous driving behavior.

Here's the best part:

Overall, [VP Feeley] said dangerous driving complaints are down 23.9 percent from last year.

"We're doing something right," he said.

And:

Hers was among 7,236 pages of complaints reviewed by Local 2 Investigates, starting from July 2007 and continuing through July of this year.

The 7,200 complaints is a declining trend -- woo!

In completely unrelated news, Rad Sallee reports METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is getting a retroactive pay raise:

The Metropolitan Transit Authority board approved a 10 percent raise Thursday for president and CEO Frank Wilson, bringing his total compensation to more than $340,000.

Board member George DeMontrond said Wilson's annual performance review was "most satisfactory" and noted that he did not receive raises in 2005 or 2007. Wilson's new base pay will be $307,340.

DeMontrond said the increase in base pay — 21 percent since Wilson was hired May 3, 2004 — was "nominal" in view of inflation. The raise will be retroactive to May 3, 2008, said Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.

[snip]

Although his new contract details were not immediately available, Wilson in 2006 also received $20,000 per year in salary deferred until retirement, a car allowance of $12,600 and membership in the Houston Club. Roberts said those items have not increased.

He still has his car allowance. Because he's too important to ride public transportation.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/22/08 06:11 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (10)

21 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/21/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 11:29 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

Houston University?

Earlier in the week, both KUHF-88.7 and the Chronicle reported that University of Houston-Downtown officials would like to change the institution's name.

Some ideas that have been tossed out include Houston International University, Gulf Coast University and Houston University.

It's all well and good that UH-D officials want more glamor than "Downtown" offers. However, since the university is to remain a part of the University of Houston system, shouldn't the University of Houston remain part of the name (even if Downtown is replaced)?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 11:21 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)

KHOU: Council delays vote on drainage fund

KHOU-11's Lee McGuire reports on a drainage-fund proposal developed by Councilmember Khan and supported by Mayor White:

A plan to create a special fund in the city’s budget to act as like a detention pond for dedicated tax dollars was scheduled for a vote [Wednesday], but two members of the City Council asked to hold off on a vote for a week.

Council members Anne Clutterbuck and Pam Holm said they support the measure, but requested the extra time to gather additional comments on the measure from the community.

Even so, it appears the full council will vote to support the measure next week. The plan will funnel roughly $211 million into a dedicated fund over the next five years. That money will be used for infrastructure projects targeting neighborhoods that flood during heavy rainfall.

M.J. Khan, who chairs the flooding and drainage committee and developed this plan, said it cannot fix all of the city’s flooding problems.

“If you talk to the professionals in the engineering community, they will tell you that this is just a small portion of what is really needed,” he said. “The real numbers are upwards of two billion, or three billion. The important thing with this fund is that we’re not taking money from the general revenue fund – we are allocating money that we do collect and putting it in this dedicated fund before it goes somewhere else.”

Council member Mike Sullivan, who opposed the creation of a drainage enterprise fee during his campaign, says he supports this plan because it does not impose a fee or tax on residents.

“I’ve always said I think we can find funding to get the projects done without a tax,” he said while explaining his support for this measure. “Here we are.”

Houston Mayor Bill White explained that a dedicated budget pool for drainage improvement projects will allow future administrations to tap money for infrastructure projects without suffering the political consequences of cutting other areas of the city budget to pay for them.

This seems like a sensible move on its face. It's good to see Mayor White and Council trying to tackle the real problems in the city (without creating new revenue streams in the process).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 11:16 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

KHOU: Pierce Elevated parking to get makeover

This curious blurb appeared on KHOU-11's website yesterday:

Houston City Council approved a proposal to upgrade the lighting beneath the Pierce Elevated parking garage. They plan to spend almost half a million dollars to fix up the area.

The Pierce Elevated is a parking lot by day, but at night it turns into a campsite for dozens of homeless people.

Businesses in that area have been complaining about a lack of security for a while.

Is there that big a demand for nighttime parking in this area?

When we drove by the parking lot under the Pierce Elevated (or the Pierce Elevator, as Chief Hurtt once called it) tonight, it was pretty deserted aside from a few homeless people (and fewer of them than usual).

If anyone knows more about these plans, please enlighten us in the comments!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 10:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

Vacar/Chron: Full speed ahead with $1.2B IAH renovation!

Richard Vacar, who has been a proponent of an expensive renovation and expansion of Bush Intercontinental Airport despite significant planned capacity reduction by airlines, today is given a platform on the Chronicle news pages for his advocacy:

Hotels, parking lots, taxi companies and other businesses that rely on air travelers are expecting to see revenue fall as airlines cut capacity this fall. But Houston's airports won't share as much pain, according to the city's top airport official.

Some airports across the country are scrapping plans for terminals and parking garages because of dropping revenue, but both Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airports will continue with current plans, including Bush's $1.2 billion renovation and expansion of Terminal B, Houston Airport System chief Richard Vacar said.

"Really, compared to other airports, we're doing quite well," Vacar said. "I'm not trying to sugarcoat it."

Bush will see a 5.2 percent decrease in flights in September compared with September 2007, or a loss of 265 per week, according to data from the airport system.

Since the story mentions that some airports have scrapped expansion plans, wouldn't it have been an example of good journalism to cite some of the officials at those airports, and their rationale for not pursuing their expansion plans in a time of industry shrinkage? Or some independent expert, for that matter?

$1.2 billion is a significant amount of money. As commenter houtxcharles suggested here, a little more information wouldn't hurt before we charge ahead. Instead, as usual when it comes to big public projects, we get cheerleading from the area's newspaper of record.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 10:41 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)

Grand Parkway F-2 segment will require condemning many homes

Some new residents in Spring have just discovered what many of us have been railing against for a while now: The Grand Parkway F-2 segment is going to require the demolition of many homes (via the Chron):

Plans for the Grand Parkway have been on the books for 25 years, but only 28 of its proposed 185 miles have been built. Environmental and neighborhood groups have opposed the project.

It would include 11 segments traversing seven counties. The 12.1-mile Segment F2 would cut directly through the Lakes of Avalon Village, a subdivision with several hundred homes located on FM 2920 just west of Kuykendahl Road.

About 60 homes are in the right-of-way and would have to be demolished to make way for the parkway once construction began, Gornet said. Other homes, like Martin's, are just outside the right-of-way.

Houston's Planning Commission and Harris County's Public Infrastructure Department could not deny the developers the right to subdivide the land and sell houses on it because no government agency had committed to build the segment, officials said.

Developers sued the city in 1994 after they were denied the right to subdivide land that fell within a different section of the parkway's proposed alignment. They won $1.3 million in a case that was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The current F2 alignment was chosen in 2005 and was included in a draft environmental impact study the association published the following year, Gornet said. The developer applied to the Houston Planning Commission for the plat in late 2005 and received approval in 2006, he said.

Gornet said he met early last year with representatives from the Friendswood Development Company, a Lennar subsidiary that bought all the lots from Hudson, and told them the Grand Parkway would pose a problem for homes being built in its right-of-way.

The 60 homes mentioned in this story are only a portion of the homes in the way of the current F-2 alignment. There are many others, particularly in the Mossy Oaks subdivision, which will have to be demolished.

As for the developers, since the land was never bought up by TxDOT or HCTRA, there was no reason for developers to sit on perfectly usable land, waiting for something that might never happen. As the Chron's story notes, the current alignment was only chosen in 2005. While the subdivision in this story may not have been constructed then, there were many other homes in the way of the F-2 segment when the alignment was chosen. The Grand Parkway Association knows that and doesn't care.

And then there's the whole issue of whether or not this parkway is needed. Most of us who live in the Tomball/Spring/Klein area say no. Finish widening Kuykendahl, improve FM 2920, whatever. There are other options, rather than us having to sacrifice our communities.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/21/08 05:40 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (9)

Local watchdog/news group up and running

Journalist Trent Seibert passes along word today that his new watchdog/news group Texas Watchdog is now up and running. Seibert is joined initially by former Dallas Observer staffer Matt Pulle.

Texas Watchdog describes itself as "a news Web site and training center that scrutinizes the actions of government agencies, bureaucracies and politicians in Texas. It is an independent, nonpartisan entity founded on the belief that our American democracy depends on transparency in government."

Today's launch includes two stories with a state focus (examining Texas political money-men Fred Baron and Stephen Payne).

Seibert says that the Houston-based group will cover some state issues, but will also hit local issues. He adds that in addition to breaking news, the group hopes to provide training for citizen-journalists interested in watchdog journalism and government transparency/accountability, and will even offer some fellowships.

Here is a blog post from Nashville's Post Politics blog that offers some background on Seibert and the Texas Watchdog effort (Seibert hails most recently from Nashville).

We're looking forward to what a couple of dedicated watchdog journalists can turn up in an area where so much print "coverage" of municipal/county affairs (not to mention METRO) amounts to uncritical cheerleading. Just a friendly hint, though -- we'd like to see a blog and some RSS feeds eventually!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/08 12:29 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (5)

20 August 2008

Keeling: Local hotel occupancy down -- Build more!

Consultant/advocate John Keeling, who's never seen a boondoggle that didn't merit a glowing feasibility study (so long as clients were paying), makes an appearance in a recent Nancy Sarnoff report for the Chronicle:

Occupancy at area hotels is slipping, as the nation's economic troubles have resulted in weaker demand for business travel around the country and in Houston.

Areawide, occupancy is expected to dip about 1 percentage point by the year's end to 66.5 percent, hotel consultant John Keeling said at a meeting Thursday of the Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Houston.

"It's reflective of what's going on in the rest of the country," said Keeling, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in Houston. "Because we're better diversified, we're affected by it."

Last year, PKF predicted Houston-area hotel occupancy would reach 70 percent in 2008.

Instead of always quoting John Keeling's latest prediction that some project will make millions, local media might consider following Sarnoff's lead here (or Tom Kirkendall's lead here, or Cory Crow's lead here and here) and looking back from time to time on Keeling's predictions.

Of course, Sarnoff concludes by citing Keeling on Houston's need for more hotels. Some habits die hard.

BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/08 10:04 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

Do you have your tickets for Dynamo Democrat Day? (Updated)

An interesting post on a Harris County Democratic Party site indicates that the local Dems are working with the local sorta-professional soccer franchise to raise money for the party:

On Sunday, September 7, the Dynamo and the Harris County Democratic Party present Dynamo Democrat Day! Come see a terrific game from your 2-time MLS Champions Houston Dynamo, spend time with your fellow Democrats and support the Harris County Democratic Party at the same time! $5 from every $15 ticket will go to help the Harris County Democratic Party promote its message of change across the county.

Click Here To Buy Tickets (Promo Code: hcdp)

Dynamo Democrat Day
Houston Dynamo vs. KC Wizards
Sunday, September 7, 2008
2:00 PM
Robertson Stadium at UH
$15 - $5 of which goes to the HCDP

Click Here To Buy Tickets *(Promo Code: hcdp)

Hope to see you there!

What a nice deal: Dems help promote the professional soccer franchise in town, the professional soccer franchise in town helps promote Dems -- and surely wins some goodwill towards extracting all sorts of favors when it comes time to building that stadium that will make the east end of downtown more like Manhattan (oh, there we go being negative again -- who knows, maybe the Houtopians are right and it really WILL make Houston like Manhattan!).

Do you have your tickets yet for Dynamo Democrat Day?

ANNE ADDS: If the Dynamo can afford to give a portion of each ticket's proceeds to local Dems, why can't they raise funds for their new stadium this way?

UPDATE: Oliver Luck has responded to my email queries. Luck says that this promotion is actually taking place through the League of Women Voters. He says the promotion is not a "Dynamo Democrat Day," that the Harris County Democratic Party "gave the promo a misleading and unauthorized title" and that the Dynamo have asked the party to change this on their website.

Luck adds that the Harris County Republican Party will be participating as well, and that the Libertarian Party was invited.

On the question of whether the donations will be made by the Dynamo or by the individual donors to the respective parties, he said by individual donors.

Here is the promotional flyer that he passed along. Many thanks to Oliver Luck for the timely and informative response!

ANNE ADDS TO UPDATE: If the Dynamo can afford to give a portion of each ticket's proceeds to local political parties, why can't they raise funds for their new stadium this way?

UPDATE 2: The party donation aspect of the event appears to have been canceled, which seems like a good response.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/08 11:39 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (40)

19 August 2008

Chron primer on Katy Freeway managed HOV/toll lanes

The Chronicle's Rad Sallee offers a primer on the confusing mess of managed HOV/toll lanes coming soon to the Katy Freeway:

Sometime in late spring 2009, three important changes will occur.
1. Every vehicle on the lanes must have a transponder on the windshield. This can be either an EZ Tag issued by the county toll road authority or a TxTag from the Texas Turnpike Authority.

EZ Tags cost $15 and require an initial balance of $40. When the balance drops below $10, it is charged back up to $40 from the owner's bank account. TxTags are free and require a $20 balance.

2. The managed lanes will be open at all times for toll-paying drivers, regardless of the number of occupants.

3. Motorists who frequently commute with at least one other occupant may choose to register one of their transponder-equipped vehicles with HCTRA as an HOV. When the toll sensors recognize that the tag is registered, no toll will be charged.

It's important to note that if your car is registered as an HOV and you drive it onto the managed lanes during the HOV hours without a passenger, you're breaking the law.

If you drive on the managed lanes outside the HOV hours, you'll be charged the toll like everyone else.

Conversely, if the vehicle is not registered as an HOV, you'll always be charged the toll, even if you have a dozen passengers.

The tag can't be moved from one vehicle to another.

•Registered HOV users who want to drive the managed lanes alone occasionally, but also lawfully, can call the toll road authority 24 hours in advance and de-register for a particular trip. They will need to reregister afterward, though, or the toll will be charged for every future trip.

To make all this simpler, [HCTRA deputy director Peter] Key said, EZ Tag owners will eventually be able to call up their accounts online and change their registration status back and forth by clicking a box.

To make all this simpler? That Peter Key is such a jokester!

The Katy Freeway expansion brings much needed traffic capacity to the area, but the managed-lane experiment sounds like it has the potential to be a big confusing mess (and enforcement nightmare). But, lest we be accused of negativism, perhaps it will all work out peachy!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/08 10:37 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)

18 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/18/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/18/08 09:35 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

The Chron's bad few days

The Chronicle's substandard journalism has been taking more of a pounding than usual on blogs over the last few days (albeit not this one, because work, software maintenance, and life in general have been intruding more than usual on our blogging time).

Over at the Lone Star Times, Matt Bramanti takes the newspaper to task for incorrectly asserting cops had beaten a prisoner to death (but they did run a correction -- not always the case at the Chronicle).

Bramanti also notes that the Editorial LiveJournalists got the Russian president's name wrong (we haven't seen a correction on that one).

At Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Cory Crow picks apart a Chron story on the recent sales-tax holiday weekend.

National Review Online's Media Blog writes that Sen. Cornyn is unhappy with the Chron's repeated (mis)characterization of some healthcare comments he made. Unsurprisingly, a Chron editor was not available to discuss the matter with NRO.

And today, Bramanti is back at work, skewering the latest screed by Clay Robison, who moonlights as Hearst's Austin bureau chief when he's not penning such articles.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/18/08 09:30 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)

Frank Wilson: Go for the greed

As he was speaking to the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce last week, Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson tried to encourage Asian business owners to get some of the $2 billion worth of business five new light rail lines are generating:

"If you've never ridden the train in your life, or if you don't even like the train, look at this from self-interest and greed," said Wilson. "This program is as real as it gets. It's the time for you to start focusing on how to get involved, not just as users."

Sheesh. Between Frank Wilson and Raequel "9-volt battery" Roberts, METRO sure has picked some winners.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/18/08 04:41 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (6)

16 August 2008

Grand Parkway F-2 segment FEIS ready

The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Parkway's F-2 segment (the section that runs from SH-249 to I-45) is complete and comments are now being accepted.

Scroll down for the links on this page of the Grand Parkway's website.

PREVIOUSLY: Grand Parkway archives

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/16/08 07:21 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)

CNN's Houston "bureau"

Laurence Simon and Mike McGuff note that CNN is opening up a Houston bureau:

Each city will get one person who can provide "grassroots level" coverage of breaking news and other local stories, said Nancy Lane, senior vice president of newsgathering for CNN/U.S.

The mix of traditional general assignment reporters and "all-platform journalists" may be based at affiliate stations, colleges or even at home, Lane said, with the best available technology to file film and photo reports via laptop computers and PDAs.

Some of the new jobs may be filled by correspondents now with CNN's daytime and prime-time programs, the network said.

Besides Philadelphia and Seattle, the journalists will be located in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; the Raleigh, N.C., area; and Minneapolis, Minn., where the approach was tested and is in operation.

Er, not exactly a bureau. As Mike McGuff puts it, "Houston to get CNN reporter." How exciting!

RELATED: Houston to get new CNN news bureau (Houston Business Journal)

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/16/08 07:14 PM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)

14 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/14/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/14/08 10:27 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

Mincberg: I may not have a grasp of this county thing, but I've got business acumen!

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and his opponent David Mincberg squared off in a debate yesterday that appeared to showcase Mincberg's unfamiliarity with Harris County operations. The Chron's Liz Peterson has details:

In his first debate against Republican County Judge Ed Emmett, developer David Mincberg said Wednesday his experience in the boardroom and in the community has given him the business acumen and managerial skills needed to lead the nation's third-largest county.

But he stumbled somewhat over questions about the county's day-to-day operations as he sought to paint Emmett as an unethical politician who lacks big business experience.

Asked how he would speed construction of the Grand Parkway so it can be completed as quickly as the Katy Freeway was rebuilt, Mincberg accused the county of awarding contracts for road-building projects to favored campaign contributors without accepting bids.

Mincberg said the county should follow the state's lead when it comes to competitive bidding.

"Unlike the way the I-10 piece was put together, the county's process is not only likely to not go faster, it's likely to go slower," he said.

However, state law bars counties and other governmental entities from accepting bids for professional services contracts with architects, engineers and land surveyors, a fact Emmett quickly pointed out.

[snip]

Mincberg said he would have to review the contracting law, but he believed there was room for more transparency.

The Democrat also decried soaring property assessments and said he would look into the Harris County Appraisal District's appraisal rates while also searching for efficiencies in county government.

But the county has no authority over the appraisal district, other than appointing a member of its six-person board of directors. Also, HCAD is facing pressure from the state to increase commercial property values even further.

After the debate, held by the Houston Realty Breakfast Club political action committee, Emmett said Mincberg's unfamiliarity with county operations makes him an unsuitable candidate to become its chief executive.

We already know Mincberg won't tolerate any questions about his business dealings -- gutter politics!! -- and we know Mincberg wasn't focused on his job as the city's multi-family housing czar because of an old memo Mayor White wrote which the Chron's Matt Stiles obtained:

In this letter, the mayor writes to Houston attorney Tim Horan, asking him to replace David Mincberg, who stopped working on apartments policy last July "because of other time commitments and pursuits." Mincberg is now running for Harris County judge as a Democrat.

If past experience is the best indicator of future results, we already have a hint of how Mincberg will be as county judge.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/14/08 04:07 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (13)

13 August 2008

E&P: Chron, Express-News discuss "generic" features

Hairballs points us to an Editor and Publisher story that indicates that the Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News may be sharing some content in their features sections:

The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News are in talks to share some feature-section production and design efforts, according to Chronicle Publisher Jack Sweeney -- who said the move could include using similar generic stories.

However, he stressed that the changes are in the planning stage and would not dilute local stories from either newspaper. "There would still be local content," Sweeney told E&P. "It would be more of a layout and production thing."

The Chronicle and Express-News are both owned by Hearst Newspapers. The potential joint effort comes as both papers are seeing more niche products and feature efforts.

Perhaps MeMo will enlighten us on her diary about these possible changes.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/13/08 10:52 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)

11 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/11/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/08 10:59 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

18 police agencies got NYC CompStat proponents; Houston got Hurtt

In the latest issue of City Journal, Heather MacDonald pens a fine article on the spread of CompStat, the innovative approach to policing developed in New York City, across the county:

Since the late 1990s, more than 18 police commanders have left the New York City police department to run their own agencies elsewhere. This unprecedented migration has spread the Compstat revolution—the data-driven transformation of policing begun under New York police commissioner William Bratton in 1994—across the nation. Some of the transplants are well-known: Bratton himself now heads the Los Angeles Police Department; and his former first deputy, John Timoney, has led both the Miami and the Philadelphia forces. But the diaspora also includes lesser-known young Turks who rose quickly through the NYPD’s ranks during the paradigm-shattering 1990s. Now, as chiefs in their own right, they’re proving the efficacy of analytic, accountable policing in agencies wholly dissimilar from New York’s—in one case, achieving success beyond anything seen in Gotham or elsewhere.

The entire story is well worth reading. We wish we could say that one of those 18 police commanders wound up in Houston, and that CompStat was showing similar success here. Unfortunately, Mayor White plucked Harold Hurtt out of Phoenix when he might have hired a CompStat proponent.

Oh well. We encourage the candidates for the next mayoral election to give MacDonald's story a careful read.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/11/08 10:53 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)

10 August 2008

Chron offers underrepresented view on METRO service; METRO complains

Several days ago, the Chronicle ran a surprising article by Leslie Casimir on the challenges faced by some named commuters who do not have cars, and who must rely upon METRO to get to/from various points that do not always include downtown or the Medical Center.

Various complaints raised by real METRO customers in the story include:

* Slow commute times (10 minute drives by private car can take 2 hours using METRO)

* Lack of service outside the loop

* Multiple transfers

* "Service improvements" that mean discontinuation of bus routes crucial to some customers

None of these complaints will be new to blogHOUSTON readers, as we have regularly questioned METRO's increasing focus on expensive light rail in our spread-out, low-density city, as well as its focus on inner-loop real-estate development -- and whether there are enough resources to build the sorts of world-class trinkets favored by comparatively affluent activists/bloggers and people in the industry while still serving the transportation needs of less affluent people spread all over the city who rely on transit to get to work and the doctor and the grocery store and elsewhere, and can't just hop in the minivan to pick up some veggies from the Discovery Green farmer's market when the whim strikes on any given Saturday.

Generally, however, that perspective is NOT one that we see in Rad Sallee's stories, or that we generally have seen from many of his colleagues at the Chronicle, who have generally been cheerleaders for expensive light rail that may not be in the best interests of many people who rely upon METRO. So the Chronicle deserves credit for finally presenting the perspective of real users of METRO that have long been underrepresented in Chron transit stories.

Interestingly, METRO media relations official Raequel Roberts is not at all pleased at this underrepresented perspective getting the play it did this one time in the newspaper. Her letter to the editor is reproduced below the [Read More] link (since it may disappear). If the Chronicle hadn't been a METRO cheerleader for so long, Roberts' concerns about balance might resonate more. However, given the frequency with which the Chronicle uncritically reports on METRO -- almost sounding as if Ms. Roberts is providing the copy -- and the fact that one rarely hears from everyday users of METRO and their problems with the service -- it's harder to take Ms. Roberts complaints about balance seriously. In a sense, Casimir's story is some needed, and overdue, balance.

Around the local blogosphere, Cory Crow has posted some sensible thoughts on METRO's core mission failures, Tory Gattis questions whether Houston has its transit priorities in order, and Neal Meyer suggests that jitneys could be one solution to some of our transit woes (if they were not so heavily regulated -- good luck getting Yellow Cab, er, Council to ease up on that). Please feel free to add your thoughts to the discussion.

[Read More]

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/08 10:22 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (12)

City envisions a Houston "teeming" with pedestrians

The city's planning department has wasted two years developing a plan for central Houston that aims for urban planning utopia (via the Chron's Mike Snyder):

A vision of central Houston transformed by wide, tree-shaded sidewalks teeming with people walking from homes to jobs and entertainment lies at the heart of proposed new city policies.

Hahahahaha! "Teeming with people walking from homes to jobs and entertainment." Is Mayor White going to demand that Houston's weather model San Diego's? It's really hard to envision central Houston teeming with pedestrians when it's 90 degrees outside with high humidity. And frankly, I wouldn't want to be around people who've been out walking from home to job to entertainment. They'll stink.

After two years of work, Houston's Department of Planning and Development has released recommendations that cover pedestrian zones, building styles, driveway spacing and other elements of development in corridors served by Metro's light rail lines.

The goal is to produce urban environments where transit riders could walk to various destinations, reducing the need for driving.

Proponents of stronger local planning said the new policies would help the city accommodate population growth in its core without disrupting established neighborhoods or increasing traffic congestion.

"It's real progress," said David Crossley, president of the nonprofit Gulf Coast Institute. He serves on an advisory panel working on the proposals.

No, it's not real progress. It's many steps away from progress. Cars give us freedom to run errands, make appointments, get to jobs, all within a much faster timeframe than walking. We are much more productive with our personal transportation. Let's just imagine folks forced to walk from homes to jobs to entertainment. How does a mom do that with her kids while needing to stop off at the grocery store, the bank, and the cleaners on her way home?

Some real estate professionals and organizations, however, said the policies could increase costs and create more problems than they solve.

"It would be a mistake to use mandatory building requirements as a means to force Houstonians out of their cars and onto hot sidewalks," said Kendall Miller, president of Houstonians for Responsible Growth, a nonprofit group that seeks to limit new restrictions on real estate development.

It's amazing that some people can't see that.

The proposals encompass the existing Main Street rail corridor and the planned north, southeast, East End and Uptown corridors. Proposals for the University corridor, for which Metro only recently chose a final alignment, will be developed later, city officials said.

In all the corridors, the city would require a 15-foot pedestrian zone from the curb to the front of the building. Sidewalks would be on the 5 feet closest to the building, with the other 10 feet set aside for landscaping.

Also in every corridor, the city would enforce restrictions on the spacing of driveways so pedestrians would have to stop less often for cars pulling in and out of businesses. City officials haven't determined how far apart the driveways would have to be.

An area including downtown, east downtown and Midtown would be designated as the "core pedestrian zone," where the city's requirements would extend to design features such as bringing buildings close to the sidewalk and devoting a large share of the building facade to doors, windows or other features to avoid long stretches of blank walls.

Such requirements will deter projects through increased regulation and cost. If that's what the city wants, then just come out and say it. All these urban planning-types are yearning for a dream city that just won't happen in Houston. They can force developers to create according to this vision, but it doesn't mean people are going to start walking everywhere! It's too warm and sticky much of the year. As it is now, many of us have little interest in visiting central or downtown Houston, except when we have to. It's an unfriendly, uninviting place, what with mind-boggling parking rules, red light cameras, the Danger Train, homeless thugs, etc. Creating 15-foot pedestrian zones is not going to help drivers who are coming into the city for dinner or a show. It'll just be another deterrent.

The next step in the process is to draft an ordinance, said Suzy Hartgrove, a spokeswoman for the planning department. After review by the city Planning Commission and a series of public hearings, the plan would go to the City Council.

Which means it'll pass as long as it has Mayor White's blessing.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/10/08 05:59 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (24)

08 August 2008

Debris Game-worthy

From yesterday morning's traffic report:

A truck lost its load of adult diapers and turned over on the ramp leading from the southbound lanes of the West Loop to the eastbound lanes of the Katy Freeway shortly before 6:30 a.m. today.

The diaper spill was cleared at 11:28 a.m., according to TranStar.

The truck had been blocking one lane of the ramp and caused a lengthy backup during rush hour. Crews moved the truck and cleaned up its cargo of Depends diapers.

No injuries were reported.

We miss Chris Baker.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/08/08 06:10 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)

06 August 2008

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/06/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/08 11:01 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

Chron's Murphy ever the optimist on Astrodome Hotel boondoggle

Last weekend, both KHOU-11 and KRIV-26's Isiah Carey reported on the latest obstacles facing the Astrodome Hotel Boondoggle developers. Here's KHOU's characterization:

The battle over the future of the Astrodome entered a new round this week. On Friday, 11 News received a copy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's response to a group's proposal to convert the 8th Wonder of the World into a themed-hotel and conference center.

In a tersely-worded, 14-page letter to the Harris County attorney, the rodeo complained that the proposal would cut into event parking and interfere with rodeo events.

The livestock show bosses also said that they have “clearly defined” rights in its lease agreement with the county for the use of Reliant Park. It also claims the proposed development could interfere with the rodeo's ability to conduct its operations.

And here's Carey's characterization:

There could be a major stumbling block in the redevelopment of Reliant Astrodome. This comes as the Houston Livestock and Rodeo gets involved. The once eighth wonder of the world is almost like a stepchild now.

Long gone are the glory days, and the future may not be so bright. Leroy Shafer with the Houston Livestock and Rodeo says he has concerns with the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation.

It's the company that won approval from the county to redevelop the dome into a convention style hotel. Rodeo officials had a chance to review the preliminary lease the county has drafted with arc to redevelop the Astrodome.

In a letter obtained through open records, the rodeo points out several issues where their rights as a tenant in Reliant Park would be infringed upon by the developer.

Construction of a skybridge, a walkway and primary access improvements would impact the rodeo, Shafer said. A proposed parking garage and 4 years of construction would also have an effect on the annual scholarship drive.

"There are a lot of issues that are there," he said. "Are they insurmountable? I don't think so at all."

There's also an issue over naming rights of the dome. Shafer says Reliant still reserves that right even if a developer steps in.

Leave it to the Chronicle's resident cheerleader for the project, Bill Murphy, to put a much happier spin on the current state of affairs (although it apparently took a few days):

Despite their previous staunch opposition to the project, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Texans signaled that they may be able to coexist with a convention hotel that would be built in the Astrodome.

Their more conciliatory attitude toward the 1,300-room project was evident in recently submitted reviews of the proposed convention hotel lease.

"We will be pleased to work with the (Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., Astrodome Redevelopment Co. and the rodeo) in an effort to finalize agreements that protect the rights of all parties and allow for the successful redevelopment of the Reliant Astrodome," wrote Texans president Jamey Rootes in an Aug. 1 letter to the county attorney's office.

That's framed quite a bit differently than the TV news reports. The boondoggle developers ought to consider adding Murphy to their PR staff.

BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/06/08 10:41 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)

05 August 2008

Shay: City's pols really really like Jason Yoo

Miya Shay's latest editorial for the West University Examiner provides some interesting insight into the city's network of movers and shakers:

On a steamy Thursday evening, half a dozen former, current and future elected officials were among a hundred or so people gathered in the Museum of Fine Arts. No, they weren’t looking at the latest postmodern exhibition. Rather, everyone showed up to honor Diane Yoo, the newly crowned Miss Asia USA.

Now, we all know politicians never celebrate random beauty queens. Miss Yoo is stunning, to be sure, but she just happens to be the daughter of Jason Yoo, the man holding a very lucrative contract for airport concessions at Bush Intercontinental.

He’s also a very prolific political donor, writing checks ranging from $250-5,000 to many on City Council. As a result, they like him — really, really like him.

There was former Mayor Lee Brown gushing with praise; City Council members Toni Lawrence, Jarvis Johnson and Jolanda Jones all clapping at the appropriate times. Even former Council Member Gordon Quan showed up for support.

The pretty Miss Yoo also worked under Quan and Johnson, but she now works for her dad and has become a pretty prolific political donor herself (these things run in the family.)

I’m not going to spend a whole column talking about campaign donations, as currying favor with money is nothing new in the political arena, and the Yoos are simply following the footsteps of so many before them.

True enough, but we rarely see this sort of interesting background reporting when, say, Mayor White is bending over backwards to reward Jason Yoo for substandard performance as the concessionaire in Terminal C (which is more of a dump than one would expect from the main terminal of the hometown airline).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/08 11:10 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)

East End Chamber of Commerce Committee touts CompStat

An East End Chamber of Commerce committee is urging HPD to adopt CompStat (an approach to crimefighting that has been discussed here regularly):

The Crime Awareness Committee of the Greater East End Chamber of Commerce is endorsing and hoping to persuade the Houston Police Department to implement CompStat.

The crime-mapping system identifies and tracks established and emerging trends and enables law enforcement to share information in a more timely manner.

Committee members said they think the organizational management tool may help the police to better identify and combat pockets of crime throughout the city.

Committee chairman Larry Lipton hosted a recent meeting to detail the program. City Councilman Peter Brown gave a presentation about CompStat, which has been used in places such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City.

“This program takes data and gives it to police so that they can dispatch their forces efficiently,” said Lipton. “Our committee wants HPD to adopt this program.”

blogHOUSTON also wants HPD to adopt this program.

Unfortunately, CompStat proponents are going to have to work to convince the next mayor, because MayorWhiteChiefHurtt haven't shown much interest in the proven crimefighting approach.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/05/08 10:54 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)

04 August 2008

Pre-Edouard

Tropical Storm Edouard kind of snuck up on us. Personally, I didn't even know there was a storm until yesterday. Now, people are scrambling at the last minute to gas up their cars and buy provisions. While the forecasts predict it will strengthen to a low-grade category 1 hurricane, the local news media decided to show footage of Hurricane Rita and the clogged freeways. This causes many people to panic thinking they need to find Noah and his Ark. I drove around the Katy area and shot these pictures.

[Read More]

Posted by Jason @ 08/04/08 11:56 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)

Galveston County Daily News mocks media storm hysteria

Here's an excerpt from a fun post on the Galveston County Daily News blog:

You know how they used to tell you in elementary school that no question is a stupid question? That's not true.

At this morning's press conference, dominated by Houston television stations, one cameraman asked Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas how high the tides had to get before the city closed the Causeway. She really was momentarily speechless. Charlie Kelley, the city's emergency management coordinator, broke the silence by laughing.

If the tides get that high, the city has a lot more to worry about than closing the Causeway.

Nicely done!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/04/08 11:18 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)

03 August 2008

Houston, meet Edouard

Tropical Storm Edouard (which looks more like a typo than a storm name) has popped up, seemingly out of nowhere.

Here's hoping it doesn't grow into anything all that threatening, and we all get to have a good laugh at the Heller Hysterics that are sure to come.

It's best to be prepared, though, just in case.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/08 08:33 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (53)

Houston blog talk linkpost: 08/03/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/08 08:20 PM | Houston Blog Talk | Technorati |

Local pols should get behind UH flagship status

In an aggre-post on 27 July, we noted a San Antonio Express-news story on the possibility of our fine state adding a flagship university to the UT and A&M mix -- and urged Houston-area leaders to abandon the traditional Aggie/Longhorn parochialism to get behind pushing UH flagship status.

Several days later, Lisa Falkenberg elaborated on the same theme, urging "business leaders, foundations, alumni and other individuals" to get behind the move.

She left out another important set of leaders: area pols. For example, Mayor White and State Sen. Patrick can be pretty vocal on their pet issues (for better or worse). Why can't they get vocal about UH flagship status (in a truly bipartisan fashion)? Ditto other local pols.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/08 01:01 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)

01 August 2008

City: recycle or else (just throw it away)

Houston may be tops in buying renewable energy, but some city neighborhoods are not doing their part when it comes to recycling:

After enduring years of lagging participation, city solid waste officials are making good on a promise to kick some neighborhoods' recycling service from the curb.

Harry Hayes, the city's solid waste director, recently sent letters to residents in 43 Houston neighborhoods, threatening to stop collecting their recyclables.

The roughly 23,000 households were told that they must improve their participation rates to prove that servicing their neighborhoods is worth the cost, particularly in light of high diesel fuel prices.

Participation in those neighborhoods, city officials say, has fallen below 10 percent, with some as low as 2 percent. Other areas see as high as 70 percent participation, according to a 2006 survey.

"In too many cases, the department's trucks must drive through entire neighborhoods to collect only a few bins," Hayes wrote in the letter to residents. "Those neighborhoods that do not improve their set-out rates will be dropped from the program at the end of this calendar year."

How much gas is wasted and pollution created to have those recycling trucks drive around picking up almost nothing?

People have to want to recycle, or they have to be "encouraged" (forced) to recycle. Some Northern California cities do the latter by providing one small-sized trash can, several containers for recyclables, and a poster-sized diagram of what goes where. Since landfill space is at a premium in California, there is little alternative.

Thankfully, this is Texas where we still have the freedom to choose whether or not to recycle.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/01/08 06:01 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)

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