28 December 2008

The Houston Way paves the way in Galleria-area land taking

Lately, quite a bit of attention has been focused on "the Chicago Way," the complex web of cronyism, patronage, and machine politics that can make (think both of the Mayors Daley) or break (think recent governors) Illinois pols.

Locally, we have The Houston Way, which doesn't factor into our state politics quite as prominently, but is no less intriguing when it comes to cronyism, patronage, and the benefits that always seem to accrue to the city's powerful and well-connected.

As Houston Chronicle reporters Carolyn Feibel and Bradley Olson make clear today in an outstanding followup to a March 2008 story by Mike Snyder on the city's abuse of its eminent domain power, The Houston Way hardly went away when Lee Brown finally was term-limited out of office and Bill White took charge (even though Mayor White's press staff surely loves it when journalists give the impression that White singlehandedly restored ethics to Houston government). Rather, one might say it reverted back to the more refined practices of, say, the Lanier Administration (more refined in the sense that we doubt any White Administration staffers will wind up indicted like various Brown Administration staffers, who were bunglers in The Houston Way really).

Recall back in March that we and other blogs commented on the story by Snyder, which described a lawsuit filed by two brothers contesting the city's effort to take their small Galleria-area property and make it into a so-small-as-to-be-useless "public park" that would conveniently double as ornamentation for a huge planned real-estate development. To recap Snyder's reporting: The brothers had acquired that property in 1982, and had been approached by the Uptown Houston District in February 2004 about selling it for parkland. In April 2004, Wulfe & Co. became interested in acquiring the land, and within a year had announced plans to redevelop a surrounding plot into the multi-acre BLVD Place mixed-use development. In July 2006, Wulfe & Co made a sizable offer for the land, which the brothers declined. In October 2006, the City of Houston said it wanted to acquire the land for a park. In May 2007, the city made an offer for the land, which the brothers declined. In November 2007, the City filed to acquire the property by eminent domain for the Uptown Houston District -- for more than a million dollars less than Wulfe & Co had once offered. At the time, Joe Turner, the City's Parks and Recreation director, said the move was justified, and that there was a "shortage of parks" in the area. The reporting noted that Ed Wulfe had a seat on the Uptown Houston District's board, and "is well-known at City Hall."

At the time, some of us didn't think this passed the smell test.

In today's intricate, detailed followup to the original story, we learn quite a bit more about this deal that makes it smell even worse. In no particular order, here are more of the damning details:

• The Hanover Company (which would acquire 1.48 acres of land from Wulfe & Co for a residential tower) stipulated that the brothers' property (which was adjacent) had to be a part of any deal -- and it eventually was, courtesy of the Uptown Houston District and the city's eminent domain power. Like Wulfe, Hanover President John Nash is a member of the Uptown Houston District board.
• In depositions related to the lawsuit, Joe Turner (the Parks and Recreation director) now says he did not want to seize the land for the park, that the idea did not originate with his office (which has not used condemnation to acquire parkland in his tenure), and that Councilmember Pam Holm pushed the idea and provided him a memo to sign off on backing the deal.
• Mayor White's March 2008 memo after some critical press coverage seems to betray the fact that there was no public-purpose behind the land grab.
• There still are no plans for the land's use as a park.
• Hanover executives and Wulfe are big contributors to Mayor Bill White, Councilmember Pam Holm, and Councilmember Peter Brown, all of whom supported the eminent domain proceeding enthusiastically.
• Councilmember Peter Brown's wife just happened to be an investor in BLVD Place, but City Attorney Arturo Michel apparently told Brown that this didn't represent a conflict of interest.
• Mayor Bill White and Councilmember Peter Brown are both resisting deposition efforts.

We'll leave it to readers to draw their own conclusions about this smelly, incestuous mess, although we suspect all but the most partisan cheerleaders for Mayor White will at least agree that it's a smelly incestuous mess.

We do take exception with one small part of the otherwise fine reporting by Feibel and Olson:

[C]ritics of City Hall contend that officials too often shape policy and decisions to aid developers.

That's not untrue, but a better description of The Houston Way is that officials too often shape policy and decisions to aid the city's powerful and well-connected (at the expense of the less powerful).

Notable recent examples of The Houston Way in action would include: Mayor White, Council, and Richard Vacar putting an airport shuttle company out of business at the behest of Yellow Cab, which wanted the business to itself; Mayor White's use of an archaic driveway ordinance to continue to frustrate a planned high-rise development (that had seemingly met existing regulatory hurdles) once well-connected supporters demanded it be stopped (this would be a key example of developers NOT shaping policy); Mayor White and Council extending the IAH Terminal C concession for the well-connected Jason Yoo despite the abysmal job he has done; and of course the unsuccessful effort to boot the Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation from its prime real estate (for developers never named?).

In a town with a columnist like John Kass, we might look forward to many scathing columns in the future about The Houston Way and all of its incestuous relationships and deals. Alas, The Plagiarist is more expert in The San Antonio Way than ours, the Teen Diarist's range is *ahem* limited as well, and the Houston Press gave up trying to write about politics years ago. Too bad.

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

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/28/08 10:32 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (9)

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16 December 2008

Surprise! Mayor White wants to be Senator White

It's official: Mayor White is running for the U.S. Senate.

His campaign and his supporters will portray him as a moderate Democrat, a businessman who gets things done. What they won't mention is that he's fond of stealth taxation (revenue streams), creating new regulations, and kicking undesirable problems down the road so he doesn't have to address them.

He's been known to shake down the mentally retarded for millions of dollars, award lucrative, non-competitive contracts to political faves, and to approve selling a portion of a street to a developer using suspect appraisals, afterwards admitting that the process was less than ideal.

He has favored liberal pet projects and policies over basic municipal needs.

Plus, he can be thin-skinned, and he doesn't appreciate dissent.

Supporters will say to look at how competently he's run the city; common sense would say former Mayor Lee P. Brown set such a low bar, it was hard to go anywhere but up.

This will be fun to watch play out.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/16/08 06:58 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (19)

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15 December 2008

Houston priorities: Clinton Climate Initiative before flooding

Last week, Texas Watchdog noted that Houston was one of many cities submitting a bailout wish list to the feds:

The two biggest items the city says it needs federal tax dollars for are:

+A city-wide flood control program. That comes to $221 million and 4,420 jobs.

+Infrastructure improvements to make way for the Metro Houston Intermodal Terminal near downtown. That’s a project priced at $175 million wih 4,870 new jobs.

In all, Houston is asking for $587.7 million in projects that the city says will create 12,500 jobs.

You may recall that the city recently decided to scale back $100 million-worth of infrastructure improvements due to the credit crisis.

In other city news, the mayor announced that 11 million square feet of city buildings will be retrofitted to meet the Clinton Climate Initiative's Energy Efficiency program standards.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/15/08 06:43 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (11)

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13 December 2008

Don't call METRO insensitive

A couple of weeks ago, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee held a press conference (give or take a day) accusing METRO of insensitivity toward Houston's small business community.

Yesterday, METRO sprang into action, holding a small business seminar. METRO's expensive blogger highlighted the exciting details:

Nadeem Ainuddin, METRO's senior contract specialist in procurement, had the audience laughing as he encouraged them to "bug" him and call him with questions, telling them that he, too, was once an entrepreneur and understood their issues.

Will Rep. Lee hold another press conference, applauding METRO's increased sensitivity (and humor!)?

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/13/08 12:58 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)

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11 December 2008

City borrows more money for pension obligations

A week ago, the Chron's Carolyn Feibel reported on a "positive" development in the city's looming pension nightmare.

Over at Houblog, Ubu Roi took a closer look, and came to a, um, different conclusion:

This article is pitched as good news, but what it really says is that the City just borrowed an additional $59 million to finance the police pension fund and $41 million just to pay the deferred interest on the previous $300 million debt. The last sentence of the quote makes it obvious that the first sentence is misleading. Worse, the math doesn’t add up. Here’s what happened, if we cut out all the smoke and mirrors.

Go forth and read. And shake your head.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/11/08 07:16 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)

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07 December 2008

What happens to Bolsover Street? (cont'd)

The Examiner's Michael Reed answers the question of what happens to Bolsover Street now that Lamesa Properties has been unable to secure financing for its Sonoma project: Pretty much nothing:

The 2400 block of Bolsover could remain undeveloped and in the possession of Lamesa Properties another seven-and-half years, according to the terms of the ordinance approving the street’s abandonment.

A spokesman for the city said Monday in addition to the five years the agreement allowed for the completion of the retail-residential project and some traffic-related construction, an additional three-year extension can be granted at the “sole discretion” of the director of Public Works.

Under the terms of the sale of the street, the additional time could be allowed “for extenuating circumstances,” city spokesman Alvin Wright said.

Those circumstances were not defined by the ordinance, which went into effect Aug. 21, 2007.

The sale of the street was contingent on completion of the project “as substantially presented to the community” and the installation of left-turn bays approaching Kelvin Street and Morningside Boulevard at the Rice Boulevard intersections within five years of that date.

An extension by the Public Works director, which does not require council action, could push that date back to Aug. 21, 2015. Failure to grant an extension request cannot be appealed by the property owner.

According to Wright, “The developer has satisfied all commitments and contract requirements to date, and there are no others until Aug. 21, 2012.”

That seems to have worked out well...for Lamesa Properties.

PREVIOUSLY: Bolsover appraisals raise questions over abandonment process

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/07/08 01:29 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)

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10 November 2008

'We stopped in because we saw the bulldog'

How many of you have been driving down the freeway, when a giant inflatable gorilla caught your eye, and you said, "I gotta go shopping!"?

Well, if some city councilmembers have their way, the big advertising balloons will be a thing of the past:

The gorillas — along with the giant eagles, balloon rockets and Uncle Sams that sometimes appear on the rooftops of car dealerships and other retail outlets — contribute to visual clutter and pose a potentially dangerous distraction to drivers, city officials say.

The City Council could vote on the ban at its Wednesday meeting. If approved, the ban also would prohibit flashy and motion-driven devices, such as dancing wind puppets, spinning pinwheels, pennants, streamers and strobe and spotlights.

"I call them attention-distracting devices," said Jeff Ross of the city's planning commission. Ross said getting rid of them will make Houston more competitive with other cities that have banned them, such as Dallas, Austin and St. Louis.

"They distract the eye, create potential safety obstacles, obscure permanent signage and create visual blight," said Tommy Friedlander, who chaired Mayor Bill White's On-Premise Sign Task Force.

Banning inflatable balloons is what will make Houston more competitive?? What about the sports stadiums? And the light rail? And the Pavilions?

What about the smoking ban? And the second city-funded convention center hotel? And the downtown park? And the skate park?

Shoot, if all that was required was banning some inflatable balloons, why didn't someone mention it sooner? Think of all the tax dollars that could have been saved!

Back to the story:

Shane Rhodes has a giant, inflated bulldog on the roof of his car dealership on Long Point.

"We get three or four customers a month who say, 'We stopped in because we saw the bulldog,' " Rhodes said.

I'm not sure how common that shopping strategy is, but to each their own. That's what makes America great.

Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck isn't sold on the ban:

Officials said holiday displays and residential lawn decorations would be exempted from the ban. The prohibition would apply only to attention-getting devices used for commercial purposes.

That troubles Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck. She asked how the city would distinguish between attention-getting devices and the holiday lights, bows and sparkly stars installed in Rice Village and the Galleria area.

"Both (are) used for commercial purposes," Clutterbuck said. "We deem those as tasteful and the others as tacky."

That's not the Ready! Fire! Aim! spirit Houston's known for! Why get bogged down in those pesky details?

Fittingly, the city already HAS an ordinance banning "attention-getting devices," but the city's Andy Icken complains it's unenforceable. How Houston-like!

For a strong close, here's Councilman James Rodriguez selling the ban:

They just make the neighborhoods look bad, they lower property values," he said of the inflatable animals. A giant duck that sits atop a check-cashing store in the Gulf Crest neighborhood has prompted residents to complain to his office, Rodriguez said.

"Their homes are their sanctuaries, and they want to go out into their backyards, and they look up and see this big duck."

It's what we all dream of -- a backyard view that doesn't include a giant duck.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/10/08 07:33 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (19)

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05 November 2008

Election '08: The next day

As expected, the Harris County GOP took quite a pounding last night, although it was not the complete sweep that seemed like a real possibility.

We have an ongoing discussion in this comments thread from yesterday, so feel free to drop in and join the conversation We're especially interested in your thoughts on the area races, and what the new faces are likely to mean for Harris County government and criminal justice.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/08 09:29 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati |

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29 October 2008

Houston priorities: METRO over flooding

The Chron's Bradley Olson follows up on the city's plan to scale back projects because of the current credit crisis, and includes an example of the city's priorities:

The city has drawn up plans to roll back spending by around $100 million on parks, corroded water and sewer lines and other major infrastructure projects in what officials characterize as a cautious approach to the credit crisis.

[snip]

Marcotte and Issa Dadoush, who heads the city's General Services Department, said they avoided putting off projects for which design and engineering work had been completed; those that had funding or involvement from other governmental entities such as METRO; and infrastructure plans that had to be completed to comply with state or federal regulations.

Of course!

But this list didn't sit too well with some on Council:

"I am against reducing infrastructure improvements," said Councilman M.J. Khan, who noted that the city invested far too little in infrastructure in the previous decade and often paid the price when neighborhoods with poor drainage are flooded or water mains break. "I don't like when the first ax falls on infrastructure projects."

Councilman James Rodriguez said he did not understand why one neighborhood reconstruction project in his southeast Houston district was delayed, even though his constituents have been awaiting its completion for almost 10 years.

"I think it's unfair for them to have to wait any longer," he said. "I want to make sure that my district doesn't get shortchanged here. I understand we're in a financial crisis, but I want to make sure we look at alternatives."

It's a safe bet that Councilman Rodriguez's constituents aren't the "well-heeled, civically-active" types who rightfully wield more influence, as the Chronicle's editorial board likes to characterize it. They should not expect any help from the city's elites.

And the pretty train that stops running whenever there are a couple of inches of water on the tracks will continue to be a city priority, but infrastructure improvements to reduce flooding will be put on hold. That should work out well.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/29/08 05:10 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (8)

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12 October 2008

The county judge race

Here are a couple of stories from last week highlighting the current state of the county judge race:

The Examiner's Michael Reed gives us a detailed account of a recent debate, and the Chronicle's Liz Austin Peterson analyzes Mincberg's uphill battle. Chron-story bonus: a Bob Stein-sighting!

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/12/08 06:25 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

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07 October 2008

Quick, someone alert David Mincberg

Houston's traffic signals are up and running:

The last traffic light without power in Houston was near Brock Park in the city's far northeastern corner on Monday.

The signals at Brock Park and Tidwell still were dark as of 4 p.m., but crews were working on them, city officials said.

The other 2,426 intersections in Houston now have working red, yellow and green light cycles. So far, the city has spent an estimated $6.31 million fixing the signals — including costs for equipment, overtime and the hiring of more than 120 contract workers, according to Michael Marcotte, director of Public Works and Engineering.

Mincberg can get off his best buddy's back.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/07/08 06:46 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)

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05 October 2008

DPW to city: Please give us $3.5 million more for water meters, and we PROMISE results by 2012

Nevermind that the original project was supposed to cost $50 million and be completed in 2003. Then in 2006, it was guesstimated the project would cost $75 million and be completed in 2008.

So, here we are in 2008, and the Department of Public Works wants another $3.5 million:

Now, the Department of Public Works and Engineering is asking for another $3.5 million even as officials acknowledge that more than 200,000 of the devices installed by a Washington-based vendor have had to be replaced. The city has more than 400,000 water customers.

City officials originally projected the automated system would pay for itself by 2003; they now say it will not reach that point until 2012.

Mindful of past problems the city has had implementing new technology and software systems — some of which led them to take legal action against the contractor — the City Council tabled a vote on the $3.5 million request Wednesday.

[snip]

Public Works spokesman Alvin Wright said many of the water meter devices the city bought broke due to "water intrusion on a mass scale.

"At the time of the original implementation, the application of this technology in a water utility was brand new," he said, noting that Houston was the first city to implement an automated in-ground water meter system. "The industry has advanced significantly since that time with several generations of the product having come and gone."

Brilliant. New in-ground technology being used in Houston.

Wright said the department will recoup that amount and an additional $1.4 million in savings by 2012 and begin saving $4.5 million a year after that. Most of that is expected to come from needing fewer workers to manually record monthly water usage from meters.

Really! They promise this time!! What can possibly go wrong?

Last time we voted on this, we were told the technology had improved," Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said Wednesday, calling the number of devices that failed "staggering."

"We need to know has it truly improved and is the failure rate down to something that is reasonable."

There'll be lots of happy-talk and assurances, plus the argument that it's too late (and too costly) to go back to the old system, and council will vote yes. And in another year or so, we'll see another story about how DPW needs another few million to make it work, along with a new target date for savings.

Typical government.

Ubu Roi adds: I have never been a fan of this project from the start. It was rushed into by managers who wanted to look good to the previous administration, regardless of the cost, which they wouldn't be (and aren't) around to bear. As I've written before, here and elsewhere, the original projections were unrealistic, the technology untested, the application unprecedented, and the plan was completely flawed. Everything since then has been B'rer Rabbit trying to fight the Tar Baby.

(continued below the fold)

[Read More]

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/05/08 06:27 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)

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30 September 2008

HPD asks for another $1.25 million for crime lab

Talk about a money drain. From Chron.com:

The Houston Police Department is asking City Council to approve $1.25 million to hire outside scientists to review all tests done by the recently reopened DNA crime lab.

Limited DNA testing resumed at the crime lab in July, but the department still outsources the majority of tests to a Dallas firm.

The two consultants, Dr. Charlotte J. Word and Dr. Robin W. Cotton, would review every case involving DNA testing and check the processes and conclusions reached by HPD's in-house laboratory, according to Dr. Laura Gahn, the DNA lab's technical director.

The hiring of independent, outside consultants was a recommendation of the multi-year, $5.3 million probe of HPD's troubled crime lab, completed in 2007.

"Now, you have an extra level of oversight from outside, giving the public an extra level of confidence," Gahn said.

Right. An "extra level of confidence." The problem is, HPD's crime lab inspires little confidence, let alone "extra."

So, there goes another million down the drain. You may recall that, back in February, Crime Lab Director Irma Rios was interviewed by KHOU-11's Jeremy Desel, when she said that the those in the crime lab were "being good stewards of the public's money." And then she commented that cost was not a problem, which is evidenced by this multi-year fiasco. The only time money has been a problem was when the city didn't want to continue funding the Bromwich crime lab investigation. Now, after fighting that report, HPD wants to spend a million implementing one of its recommendations.

PREVIOUSLY: Crime Lab archives

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/30/08 05:09 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)

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05 September 2008

Annise Parker speaks out on BARC

A few months ago, several of us speculated that Annise Parker might be seriously eying a run for mayor of Houston, after White is term-limited out. Shortly after that, any suspicions I had on the matter were strengthened by the introduction of a regular City Controller's Report, delivered to employee mailboxes periodically. The lead article of the first seemed quite topical at the time, focusing on HPD.

Well, the second issue has just come out and, perhaps not coincidentally, the lead article is also quite up-to-the-moment -- if somewhat lacking in any mention of the reason for such topicality. The lead article "BARC Deserves the Best -- At Long Last", takes on (what else?) the city's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. As this is a city publication, and may not be available to the general public, the full text is below the fold.

[Read More]

Posted by Ubu Roi @ 09/05/08 04:14 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

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27 August 2008

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)

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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)

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24 August 2008

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)

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14 August 2008

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)

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13 July 2008

Bradford comes out of hiding, spreads the blame for the crime lab mess

Alan Bernstein's profile of Democratic Harris County District Attorney candidate Clarence Bradford (which has already generated discussion here and elsewhere) heads into almost virgin territory for this campaign, as Bernstein actually managed to entice Bradford out of hiding to talk about various scandals during his time as HPD Chief.

Given the (low) quality of the answers, one can certainly understand why Bradford's handlers prefer him hiding from the press.

Here are some sidebar comments on Bradford's notion of responsibility:

• "Anytime something goes wrong in the police department the chief is responsible. If the toilet doesn't flush in the police building, the chief has to take responsibility for that. That's part of the job"
• "9/11 happened when President Bush was president. I don't blame the president for 9/11 happening because he was president at the time, OK? Things happen"

Things happen, yes. But as the Bromwich reports made clear, life-and-death things happened with the HPD crime lab during Bradford's watch, and Bradford was part of the problem.

Bradford, though, admits that he hasn't read those reports -- reports for which area government spent millions so we could try finally to fix the problems of the crime lab -- and that he doesn't plan to:

The former chief, however, said he had no intention of reading all of the reports on the two-year, $5.3 million investigation of the crime lab by a team led by Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector.

Asked why, Bradford replied: "Because I was part of the process (of the investigation). I am familiar with the reports; I have read the summary of all of them."

The reports repeatedly fault HPD's "chain of command" for lax oversight. Bradford said he disagrees with some of the conclusions.

Any candidate for Harris County District Attorney who has pledged NOT to read more than a summary of the Bromwich reports on the crime lab should be disqualified from pursuing the office. That's just an astounding, damning, admission.

Moving on from the responsibility theme, Bradford does have in mind who's really to blame for mismanagement of the crime lab:

"What I should have done — which I didn't see until this all blew up — I should have at least annually gotten independent audits of the crime lab, as opposed to relying on, like the two previous chiefs had done, this particular supervisor ... stating the crime lab met all the federal standards," he said. "So, yes, that's when I dropped the ball. I relied too heavily on the people with the science and biology degrees."

The experts let Clarence the Delegator down! Oh, and so did the other member of Houston's Dynamic Duo at the time:

Bradford, 52, said he was unable to increase lab staffing because of tight budgets dictated by Lanier's successor, Lee Brown — whose law enforcement consulting company, Brown Group International, has employed him since his retirement.

So, this man who won't be capable of trying major cases in court because of lack of experience and has said -- in this profile even -- that as District Attorney, he will be a major public voice and manager rather than a prosecutor -- wasn't able to persuade Lee Brown, Council, or the public that perhaps funding to deal with some known issues at the crime lab would be a good idea? That seems like a guy who isn't likely to be a persuasive public-facing District Attorney either.

But he wants voters to know he's learned from the ordeal:

Bradford, with degrees in criminal justice, public administration and law as well as training by the FBI National Academy and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, considers the lab failures a plus for him now: "I am able to learn from those and move forward. ... That makes me more prepared to go in and deal with organizational issues such as these."

Defendants whose evidence was mangled as the leaders ultimately responsible for the Crime Lab fiddled, so to speak, will surely be pleased to know there's a silver lining to the mess.

Good for Bernstein for finally getting Bradford to answer some of these important questions. We suspect, given some of these disastrous answers, that we may not see Bradford answering many more press inquiries in the near future.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/13/08 10:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (1)

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21 June 2008

Councilmembers aren't impressed with Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson

Michael Reed of the River Oaks Examiner provides some background on councilmembers' reactions when the consent agreement with METRO first came before Council over a week ago:

While voicing varying degrees of support for rail, Pam Holm, Jolanda Jones and Ron Green said they still had unaddressed concerns about the protection of the neighborhoods and the small businesses that would be affected.

“Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part,” Jones said of questions she submitted to the Metropolitan Transit Authority the day before the June 11 meeting. “I still need answers to those questions.”

[snip]

Green, however, said while he feels the Metro board is competent, “there is a serious management disconnect” when it comes to keeping the council informed.

[snip]

When White said Metro had communicated at several public sessions, many attended by Chief Executive Officer Frank Wilson, Jones responded that at meetings she attended, community concerns and ideas were ignored.

Calling Metro’s attitude at that time “disrespectful,” Jones said, “He (Wilson) told us what he wanted to say … They could have had 1,000 meetings.”

[snip]

After the meeting, Wilson told Examiner broadcast partner ABC-13, ““The delay of a week in a 100-year project is insignificant."

And indeed it was, but it is interesting to see local pols publicly voice doubts about METRO. METRO's leadership IS incredibly arrogant, and does all it can to keep the public in the dark. METRO and Mayor White just wanted this consent agreement to pass so METRO can get on to the ground-breaking. While METRO says ongoing dialogue will continue, METRO, under the leadership of Mr. Procurement Disaster, will do what it wants. As Councilwoman Jones said, Frank Wilson says what he wants to say. Period. He's just not interested in differing opinions.

That's how METRO operates, and that's how Mayor White enables Frank Wilson.

PREVIOUSLY: METRO's consent agreement sidesteps committee vote

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/21/08 12:21 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (9)

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