08 November 2005
Will HPD's new camera truck lead to confiscated cars?
There's a brand-new pickup truck decked out with video cameras cruising around town.
While people are making u-turns and gawking as it passes them, it seems that truck is helping the city make money and fight crime.
What kind of reaction has it been getting? "That's exactly what they say. What is it doing?" said HPD's Shawn Palin.
He calls the F-150 the AutoVu.
In the back, four cameras are mounted and read the license plate numbers of every vehicle they pass.
An onboard computer tells the officer if that vehicle has unpaid parking tickets.
"See, it's reading a plate right now. In my patrol car right now, I have to type the plate in. That slows it down. Plus the issue of I have to look at the computer and the keyboard to type things in. Now I can just drive by the vehicle and it'll pick it up," Palin said.
Not only does it save time, the city figures it'll help collect more money in unpaid fines.
"The vehicle is able to search more tags than the parking enforcement officers can do manually. It's an automated system, so we're being more efficient at our job," said Houston Municipal Courts Assistant Director Liliana Rambo.
My question is, when the high-tech truck finds a vehicle with unpaid fines, what happens? Is another ticket issued, or does something like this happen:
Several major cities are testing the AutoFind camera system for the purposes of scanning, ticketing, and sometimes seizing parked vehicles. Made by AutoVu in Montreal, Canada the $80,000 to $100,000 system uses a set of cameras mounted on a car and connected to a sophisticated optical character recognition program loaded onto a laptop. The software can examine 1,000 car plates per hour.
[snip]
Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and Tampa have also either tested or deployed this technology which competes with Bootfinder, a system used by two Connecticut cities and Arlington, Virgina. New Haven, CT uses the technology for car confiscation and has generated $1 million in revenue in six months by seizing 1,800 cars. One woman had her Dodge Neon towed right out of her driveway while she was in the kitchen. She only owed $85 in back taxes.
Should Houstonians get ready to have their cars confiscated for unpaid parking tickets? Now THAT'S a world-class revenue stream!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/08/05 09:27 AM |
07 November 2005
Mayor White wants world-class internet bubble
KHOU-11's Doug Miller reports on a last-minute campaign pledge by Mayor White:
Mayor Bill White stated Monday that if he wins re-election, one of the first things he'll do is push forward a plan to make the entire city of Houston Wi-Fi accessible.
He claimed that he would call for bids within the first three months of his next term and plans to place the necessary equipment atop utility poles throughout the city.
Having solved HPD's manpower shortage, the unfunded liability in the municipal employees' pension plan, graffiti, and potholes, Mayor White apparently feels free to move on to those sorts of quality-of-life matters that will surely make Houston world-class!
Oh, wait, those other basic problems aren't solved?
Never mind.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/07/05 09:39 PM |
06 November 2005
Our technocratic-progressive mayor is all about efficiency
Anne Linehan ran across this AP story by Wendy Benjaminson on Mayor White.
Here's a telling excerpt:
While White gets high marks for efficiency, city officials and advocates for the poor have begun to question whether speed is the only factor in running a government.
"It's efficient the way he gets things done, but we have an obligation as elected officials to oversee what's happening," said City Councilman Gordon Quan. "We're kind of an afterthought sometimes."
The downtown park deal, Quan said, required $10 million of city money for the $58 million project. Quan said he and other council members wanted to know more about the park's design, who it was intended to serve - children or tourists - where visitors would park and other issues before they approved it.
But, he said, the mayor pushed the vote through and told Quan and other questioning members he'd get them the answers they needed. Quan said he's still waiting.
"I guess I was spoiled by democracy" in the administration of Lee Brown, who as mayor for the six years before White was elected oversaw a traditional bureaucracy and worked more closely with council, Quan said.
[snip]
And while White talks about a bloated bureaucracy that slows down his projects, the size of the city government has barely changed under his administration - down only 311 people in a workforce of almost 22,000 since he took office in January 2004.
And, no studies have been done on whether the use of the private sector has actually saved any city money.
White said efficiency is all that matters.
"I start by articulating the policy and goal that the brightest, the most qualified and experienced should make the decision. Nobody successfully argues against that," White said.
Give him points for dropping the "aww shucks" nonsense and being honest about his elitism.
Because of the city's strong-mayor form of government, a majority of Council generally has to be united to present any sort of argument to Mayor White's various initiatives. That rarely happens.
In various places, I've referred to Mayor White's political philosophy broadly as technocratic-progressivism. Despite the image he is crafting to run for higher political office, Mayor White is hardly an enemy of bureaucracy or of the size of government generally (indeed, declines in the city workforce have tended to come at an already undermanned Houston Police Department). He does seem to believe in convincing the private sector to "pitch in" on municipal affairs when it's in their interest to do so, as the story makes clear. He is certainly left of center on some issues, which the story does not make clear. But the story really nails Mayor White on what seems to be his belief in rule by "experts" -- sometimes to the detriment of more democratic rule, as Councilmember Quan only belatedly seems to have discovered. That's the main reason I describe Mayor White's political philosophy as technocratic-progressivism.
In the edited collection The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science: Transforming the American Regime, Thomas G. West writes the following:
The complete picture of modern government is hard to see, because its scope is so big. But the basic principle is clear. The administration state is animated by a pervasive distrust of private associations (family , church, business, fraternities, clubs, political parties, and lobbyists) and a corresponding confidence in the capacity of public officials to direct the lives of the people. Government responds to the alleged or real deficiencies of private institutions by setting up agencies, staffed by what it claims to be scientifically trained neutral experts, to oversee the details of one or another of the vast areas of American life that used to be handled by local government or private choice. [Emphasis supplied]
Professor West is criticizing the transformation of the national government in his essay, but the bulk of his critique applies just as well to Mayor White's view of himself and local government. Whether it's the creation of an unneeded municipal parking authority that will be unaccountable to voters or consumers, or the creation of a draconian freeway towing program that is controlled by politicians and not motorists, or the deployment of limited police resources to harass and ticket downtown pedestrians just trying to get around and make a living, or the effective substitution of a less stringent revenue-limitation proposal for a popular referendum that limited-government activists had been working on for some time, or the substitution of a real-estate developer's desires for METRO rail routes and bus services as opposed to the actual plan approved by voters, or the installation of intrusive red-light cameras that presume the owner of a car is guilty if the camera snaps its license plate and that may cause as many problems as they allegedly alleviate, Mayor White is all about deploying the power of local government to solve "problems" as he perceives them, efficiently, without regard for pesky little matters of popular consent/control or concerns over the proper scope of government. As he frequently says, he was elected to solve problems after all!
For the most part, council has been willing to go along with the technocratic-progressive mayor on most of these issues, and the mayor has been very good at winning support from those who call themselves conservatives (albeit not limited-government conservatives). Like the mayor says in the story, it's hard to argue against "the brightest, the most qualified and experienced."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/06/05 09:31 PM |
Mayor White to reappoint Billy Burge to Sports Authority board
Look what's on the City Council agenda for this week:
REQUEST from Mayor for confirmation of the reappointment of MR. WILLIAM F. BURGE, III, as Chair, to the HARRIS COUNTY-HOUSTON SPORTS AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS, for a two-year term
Two more years of the comes-unhinged-if-you-criticize-him Billy Burge.
He also is the president of the Grand Parkway Association Board of Directors.
Why does the old guard keep getting reappointed to these positions? Aren't there any new faces out there? Maybe with some new ideas? Or an ounce of common sense? Or the ability to relate to the average taxpaying citizen?
I blame it on Houston's cocktail-party circuit. No doubt that's where these things are decided.
(Thanks to Tom Bazan for the heads up.)
PREVIOUSLY: Billy Burge: THE best reason to shut down the Sports Authority! (bH)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/06/05 09:10 PM |
04 November 2005
Will Houston (finally) be world-class if we have an NHL team?
You know what else would make Houston world-class? NHL hockey, of course:
With the NHL back in business, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said this week that he is working toward expanding his business to pro hockey.
Alexander said that not only has he made his interest known to NHL officials, including commissioner Gary Bettman, last month he began talking with investors should he be able to buy a team to move to Houston.
"I am trying to get a team. I am trying," Alexander said. "I went to see the commissioner. I told him about my interest. I can't disclose teams, but I've been talking to people (in the NHL) and to investment bankers.
Oh brother.
Laurence Simon has the takedown on this looming boondoggle -- a boondoggle that will no doubt cost Houstonians dearly; after all, the Aeros can't even afford to pay for their own damn ice. And Alexander requires Houstonians to pay for a parking garage...while he gets the revenue from it!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/04/05 11:26 AM |
FBI, MS-13 shootout in east Houston
There was a shootout last night in East Houston:
One alleged gang member was taken into custody and two others were killed after authorities said they opened fire on undercover FBI agents in east Houston.
The agents were investigating MS-13 gang activity when they were ambushed by five men on Liberty at Lockwood.
The agents fired back killing two suspects and wounding two others. A fifth suspect was also taken into custody.
Yikes!
Houston may not have enough police officers (and with MS-13 gang activity and the increasing problem of graffiti, the shortage is very apparent), but gosh darnit, we are going to have a lovely AND world-class downtown park! The homeless and the gangs will love hanging out in the beautiful, leafy park that Mayor White thinks will be teeming with strolling Houstonians.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/04/05 11:12 AM |
03 November 2005
Sekula-Gibbs criticizes mayor on healthcare priorities
Doctor/councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is not happy that a majority on council voted to raise taxes even as Mayor White is cutting municipal health services:
THE city of Houston is raising taxes while cutting back services. One of the targets is our health department, which so many Houstonians count on for a variety of services, from animal control to immunizations to restaurant inspections.
On Oct. 26, City Council rejected a proposed new tax rate of 64.173 cents per $100 valuation. This would have maintained taxes at the 2005 level and prevented increased property taxes based on runaway appraised values. Instead, council voted to set the rate at 64.75 cents per $100 valuation, which will result in an increase in tax revenue. Just two days before, council was informed that Mayor Bill White approved cutting 18 health department positions. These two important decisions announced in one week show how homeowners' tax bills are rising while basic services to the city's most needy are decreasing. This is a breach of our responsibility.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/05 09:30 PM |
Nothing like an endorsement after the voting starts
With early voting coming to a close, another Council endorsement trickled out of the Chronicle yesterday: Incumbent Toni Lawrence for District A.
The election will be held on Tuesday. The value of an endorsement so close to an election and at the close of early voting is unclear. But at least the endorsers feel good about themselves. And that's important!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/05 08:02 AM |
01 November 2005
Temporary red light camera delay
Red light cameras that were supposed to be in place Tuesday at busy downtown intersections already face a snag.
The cameras designed to catch red light runners were supposed to begin a trial run Tuesday morning, but the five contract companies involved have not signed their contracts with the city. The city wants to put five cameras at five different intersections to catch drivers who speed through red lights.
Violators will be identified from the license plate and will get a ticket in the mail. The cameras should start working in a few more days once the executives ink the deal.
No doubt, Mayor White is carefully checking the contracts for any sneaky shenanigans.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/01/05 10:32 AM |
30 October 2005
Houston buys $750,000 worth of Metro passes for city employees
Check out what Tom Bazan noticed on last week's city council agenda:
35. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing contract between the City and METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS for Purchase of Employee Transit Passes; providing a maximum contract amount - $750,000.00 - General, Enterprise and Other Funds - PASS
And Tom points out that this is not the first time the city has bought Metro passes for its employees.
So it turns out that while the city doesn't have the time to focus on the growing graffiti problem or the funds to address HPD's manpower shortage, there is time and money to help boost Metro's ridership numbers and bottom line.
Maybe this program will someday be in line for an audit by the Controller's office, just to see if the benefits match up to the cost.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 05:03 PM |
Red light cameras increase accidents (cont'd)
Accidents have increased in Philadelphia, PA, and in Fort Collins, CO, at intersections where red light cameras have been installed.
Also in Fort Collins, one second was added to the yellow light time at an intersection with a red light camera and look what happened:
Both accidents and red light citations dropped by more than half comparing the most recent month's data to the same time last year. Daily ticket revenue also plunged from $3000 to $1125, giving officials cause to delay voting on a new camera to see if revenue will rebound.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/30/05 04:53 PM |
29 October 2005
Chron obsesses over tired story
The Chronicle devotes yet more column space to the story of Councilmember Carol Alvarado's strange indifference towards actually obtaining her college degree, and the University of Houston's unusual speed in approving her waiver and granting her a degree after her political opponent pointed out her degree claims were inaccurate:
Within a few hours on Oct. 21, Alvarado obtained the bachelor of arts degree, retroactive to December 1992, after her District I opponent, attorney John Parras, distributed UH documents showing Alvarado had not been awarded the degree she had claimed for years.
UH officials said she had failed to complete a writing proficiency exam required to graduate in December 1992, when Alvarado completed her course work.
The writing proficiency requirement since has been dropped, and students who completed all other requirements can receive degrees, [UH Communications Director Eric] Gerber said.
[snip]
Requests for waivers typically are submitted on forms filed by students, but they can be submitted by advisers on behalf of students or simply noted on various documents, said Gerber.
"There is a general approval for the waiver to be granted," he said.
In the case of Alvarado, the waiver was noted last Friday on what is called a graduation certification check list after an audit of her course work.
"Turnaround time can vary widely, ranging from as little as one day to as long as two or three weeks, depending on the complexity of the request being made and the academic records involved," Gerber said.
Gerber said Alvarado's case was straightforward enough to be quickly resolved.
Many of us who have dealt with the University of Houston know from experience that Councilmember Alvarado's experience in getting this matter resolved so quickly is hardly the norm. One can understand that the university would like to accommodate a high-profile local pol as quickly as possible as it's in the university's interest to do so, but it strains credulity for anyone to suggest that the rapid disposition of Councilmember Alvarado's matter is the norm.
That said, this story really is over. Voters surely have enough information by now to decide whether this is anything but a trivial matter, and the Chronicle surely can find some local news that needs to be reported.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/05 06:14 PM |
28 October 2005
Houston's property tax "cut" (wink, wink)
City Council voted to cut Houston's property tax rate on Wednesday and Matt Stiles reported on the disagreement over whether or not it's really a tax cut:
The council cut the city's tax rate by a quarter of a penny. But a new state law, passed with the goal of increasing elected officials' accountability to homeowners, forced the council to declare formally that it had raised taxes, since rising property values will bring in more city revenue.
The new rate — 64.75 cents per $100 valuation — means the owner of a $100,000 assessed house will pay the city $518 in annual property taxes with a typical 20 percent homestead exemption. The previous rate was 65 cents per $100 valuation, under which that homeowner would have paid $520.
The vote came after a contentious, 90-minute debate about whether the action amounted to a tax cut — or whether it was an increase.
"Ultimately, there will be some people whose taxes go up and some people whose taxes go down, because of the actions of the appraisal district, not the city," Mayor Bill White said.
The appraisal district determines the market value of property for taxation.
As Edd Hendee and Paul Bettencourt pointed out yesterday on Edd's morning show, the mayor is being disingenuous. He knows full well what the city's funding wants are and he knows how much the average homeowner's bill will rise each year to help fund the city's wants -- eight to ten percent -- so for him to say that the appraisal district is the bad guy and not the city, well, he knows better. But, of course, he hopes the average Houston homeowner will fall for it and not blame him.
Council members Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Addie Wiseman voted against the rate cut, saying that it was, indeed, an increase. They also said it didn't provide enough tax relief.
Sekula-Gibbs proposed a new rate of 64.17 cents per $100 valuation. That figure, she said, represented the "effective" tax rate, the amount that would keep revenue level with the previous year minus new appraised properties or exceptions.
The council, by a 10-5 margin, voted against considering her plan, which would have reduced the city's revenue for the current fiscal year by about $9 million, she said.
Wiseman, who had tense exchanges with White and others on the council, was adamant that the panel had increased taxes. She forced Councilman Adrian Garcia, who read the motion with the language required by the state law, to repeat the phrase twice.
"The decision here is to raise taxes, but by a smaller amount," said Wiseman, who later issued a news release describing her "outrage."
The debate grew so tense that Councilwoman Ada Edwards at one point interrupted, saying, "Ms. Wiseman, this is not your meeting. You have to have some respect for the decorum of this body."
The decorum, the process, the tradition. True politicians always value those things above any real substantive debate and action. No rocking the boat!
Good for Councilmembers Wiseman and Sekula-Gibbs. Texas homeowners ARE being run over, trampled on and spit upon, due to this state's broken taxation system. How much longer can governmental bureaucracies strangle the golden goose? We are going to find out.
Sedosi has some thoughts on this looming trainwreck:
The Municipalities? As seen here they are quite comfortable taking in 5-10% revenue increases annually while having a convenient scapegoat on hand to blame for rising tax values.
[snip]
The fact is next year the City of Houston will get a pay raise from taxpayers at a rate that is higher than the Cost of Living Index and population growth. Most of this increase will come on the backs of property owners who are already struggling under increased fuel and food prices.
Some will say that this isn't a problem, that the "issue" is Conservatives wanting to give more to the rich.
Except its not the rich that are going to be forced out of their homes, it's the poor and middle class that are feeling the crunch the hardest.
I would only add to those on-target points that even with a 65-exemption, many of Texas' retired homeowners cannot indefinitely afford property tax bills that increase much faster than their retirement funds do. Soon, very soon, Texas' system will have to be fixed and hard choices will have to be made. Unfortunately, many politicians prefer the ostrich-approach.
RELATED: Doug Miller's (KHOU-11) coverage, which gives the mayor and the city a pass. Miller needs some educatin' on Texas' property tax system with statements like this:
But of course, Houston's booming housing market brings higher home prices and higher home prices generally bring homeowners higher property tax bills.
No. On average Houston-area homes sell for eleven percent under fair market value. Which means that Houston homes are "worth" more than they are selling for. How did they get that higher worth? Appraisal increases that have nothing to do with a home's true worth! Appraisal increases, instead, are based on government funding wants.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/05 07:49 AM |
Chron endorsements for council districts H and I
The Chronicle editorial board offered more Council endorsements yesterday. It's hardly a shocker that they like the incumbents in District H and District I. They might have posted all of their endorsements prior to the start of early voting, however.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 06:15 AM |
25 October 2005
Chron profiles at-large position 1 council race
Matt Stiles continues the Chronicle's recent coverage of local political races with a profile of the contest for City Council's at-large Position 1:
Architect and urban planner Peter Brown is the front-runner in the race for Houston City Council at-large Position 1, but his two opponents say they believe their grass-roots campaigns could make the contest interesting.
Brown, retired Air Force officer Roy Morales and private investigator Michael "Griff" Griffin are vying to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited Councilman Mark Ellis.
Morales and Griffin say they can compete with Brown, who began campaigning six months after his 2003 runoff loss to Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, even though he's out-raised them in campaign donations by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Brown, 69, said his experience — he's overseen numerous city building and parks projects in Houston and other cities — uniquely qualifies him to accomplish his top goals: neighborhood revitalization and urban redevelopment.
A major force behind the Main Street Coalition, which pushed for the light rail line between downtown and Reliant Park, Brown said he would work to lure more residents back into the city from suburban areas.
The combination of weak opponents, Brown's name ID, and Brown's fundraising are probably going to result in Brown's election, but not everyone in Houston would count the dangerous, inefficient light-rail line as a strike in his favor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/05 10:42 PM |
Alvarado's one-day graduation-status change interests opponent, media
Of all the pressing problems that Houston City Council candidates might be discussing and debating, one wouldn't have thought that Councilmember Alvarado's strange indifference to actually obtaining her college degree would still be news this week.
One would be wrong.
KHOU-11's Doug Miller covered the story last night:
"I immediately started getting all of my paperwork from the alumni. I mean, they don't do that unless you've completed all the hours," Alvarado said.
[snip]
Last week, Alvarado's political opponent found out that she did not actually have the college degree she had always claimed she had earned. So he said someone from his campaign contacted a newspaper reporter, who in turn contacted Alvarado for comment. That was on Thursday. Within 24 hours, the University of Houston had issued Alvarado a college degree.
The University said privacy laws prevent it from saying anything specific about Alvarado without Alvarado's permission and she hasn't given it.
But in a written statement, UH said students were once required to take a written exam before getting their degrees. According to the statement, "the Writing Proficiency Requirement or Exam, was dropped. Since that time, students who had enrolled under earlier degree plans have been allowed to petition to waive this obsolete requirement. Such requests are routinely approved."
"This has happened before and they've been able to resolve it before," said Alvarado.
It has surely happened before, but it's just odd that Alvarado was so indifferent towards actually making sure she had fulfilled the requirements of graduation. As the bolded portion goes, I filed graduation papers one semester before finishing my dissertation and actually obtaining the degree, and that was enough to get me on the Alumni Association mailing list, so that doesn't really explain the indifference.
The Chronicle also ran coverage of this story today, devoting two reporters to it:
Carol Alvarado's opponent continued to call for her resignation Monday, suggesting the two-term councilwoman used political influence to get a University of Houston degree in one day that she had claimed to have had for years.
Alvarado, who dismissed the issue Monday as "negative politics," said she was consulting with personal and UH attorneys about releasing her academic records in response to media questions while still maintaining some privacy.
Meanwhile, a UH System regent said the issue may be something for the board to discuss at a future meeting.
"It does seem strange that it could happen so fast, but I really don't have any information beyond what I read in the paper," said Regent Morgan Dunn O'Connor.
[snip]
Officials in the UH registrar's office Friday morning confirmed Alvarado did not have a degree. By late Friday afternoon, however, other UH officials said she did.
[snip]
Parras said he thinks Alvarado drew on her political contacts and influence to fast-track a waiver of the process that other, less prominent, students could not navigate so quickly.
Being somewhat experienced with how slowly and inefficiently administrative matters tend to move at the University of Houston's main campus, I also find it a little surprising that Councilmember Alvarado's status managed to change from non-graduate to graduate in part of one day. Furthermore, her indifference towards actually obtaining her degree is odd to me. Still, this doesn't seem to merit the amount of media coverage it's getting, especially when there are interesting races for other Council positions.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/25/05 08:06 AM |
24 October 2005
Mack profiles at-large position 2 candidates
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack profiles the candidates vying to replace Councilmember Gordon Quan in the race for City Council's at-large position 2 today.
It's a quick and dirty look at the five candidates, unfortunately, because of the usual space limitations of the print edition.
Wouldn't it be useful if Chron.com beefed up its coverage of local elections with a timely local politics blog?
That's something on the wish list for 2007, I guess.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/05 09:41 PM |
Council votes on tax rate increase Wednesday
Maybe I need to get my eyes checked because here's another COH notice I seem to have missed:
Notice of Vote on Tax Rate
The City of Houston conducted public hearings on a proposal to increase the total tax revenues of the City of Houston from properties on the tax roll in the preceding year by 1.27 percent on October 12th at 9:30 A.M. and on October 19th at 9 A.M.
The City Council of the City of Houston is scheduled to vote on the tax rate that will result in that tax increase at a public meeting to be held on October 26, 2005 at 9 A.M. at City of Houston Council Chambers, 901 Bagby, Houston, Texas 77002.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/24/05 07:43 AM |
23 October 2005
Campaign season a good time to correct technical oversights
Campaign season is a good time for politicians to correct little "technical oversight[s]" that they've been (knowingly or unknowingly) fibbing about for years.
And so, the Chronicle's Lori Rodriquez reports on a little "technical oversight" that Councilmember Carol Alvarado's opponent brought to light this week:
In voter's guide information submitted to the Chronicle when she first ran for City Council in 2001, 2003 and this year, Alvarado says she attended UH from 1987 to 1992 and received her degree. Her City Council Web site and campaign literature also list the degree.
Alvarado's District I opponent, lawyer John Parras, said Friday he began looking into Alvarado's educational credentials after an anonymous tipster left a message on his campaign office phone that she had not graduated.
"As a lawyer, I decided to investigate and share the information with my campaign supporters. I personally went to UH to get written verification," said Parras. "I was shocked when I learned that it was true."
The UH verification documents, dated Thursday, say that Alvarado attended the college of social sciences from 1987 through 1992. "The student intends to pursue a degree, however has not yet formally declared a major and degree objective," the document states, adding it reflected Alvarado's academic record as of Thursday.
[snip]
After Parras obtained and publicized the verification documents, Alvarado said, she called the university and learned that she had completed her course work, but hadn't fulfilled a "written proficiency exam."
"I was never notified by university officials that I needed this," she said.
The requirement has since been dropped, Alvarado said.
She moved to Washington, D.C., soon after completing her course work, and did not request a diploma, she said. "I'd like to clear this up," she said. "This has no bearing on the job I've done over the years."
Didn't Councilmember Alvarado think it odd that she never received a diploma? And aren't most college students concerned about getting that piece of paper?
Even if Councilmember Alvarado did not deliberately mislead, her inattention to the details of actually graduating is a little surprising.
But is it really this troubling?
Parras called for Alvarado to resign the seat she has held since 2002.
"She's betrayed the public trust, and I believe she should do the only honorable thing, which is withdraw from the race and resign her seat," he said.
Generally, that is the sort of rhetoric one hears from a desperate candidate with no other issues and no good chance of winning.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/05 10:02 PM |
19 October 2005
Red light cameras start clicking November 1
November 1st is the day Houston joins the ranks of red light camera (revenue generating) cities:
The City of Houston has identified five intersections with the greatest number of accidents. Starting November 1, 2005, cameras installed at those intersections will snap a picture of your license plate if you run the red light.
Here is the catch -- if you are caught running the red light you will only receive a letter in the mail, not a ticket. The letter will explain that you are part of an evaluation project. It is not known where these cameras will be installed, only that the testing phase will last the entire month of November.
The city is in the process of choosing a vendor. They are deciding between five different companies.
"We will make a final decision by December and hopefully kick off the program in full force by January of '06," said Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
In January, the city will start with 10 intersections that have the greatest number of accidents and in the months after that they will expand to as many as 15 intersections. At that point if you run a red light you will receive a ticket in the mail.
You just know that MayorWhiteChiefHurtt are giddy with excitement at the revenue Houston will soon be seeing. Will that money be dedicated to fixing the police manpower shortage? Pshaw! We have a museum to fund!
Here's one list of dangerous intersections, so the first five could be among those.
Another thing to keep in mind -- Houston will be able to issue red light camera tickets by treating them as civil penalties instead of criminal penalties. That difference makes it a bit tougher for the city to collect the fine.
The best resource for red light camera shenanigans (of which there will be none in Houston, according to expert-on-everything Bob Stein) is The Newspaper. It's highly recommended reading ... for those who don't have blood pressure problems. The Newspaper is where I found the Washington Post investigative story about intersections with red light cameras in the District of Columbia seeing dramatic increases in accidents, including those causing injury and death.
Safety, schmafety.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/19/05 08:26 PM |
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