16 March 2005
Continuing Astrodome speculation
Apparently every month or so, we are going to get the latest Astrodome rumblings. Today the Chronicle has a story:
Astrodome Redevelopment Co. is continuing to look at whether it makes good business sense to spend hundreds of millions to turn the building into a mammoth, luxury convention hotel.
The company, selected by the county to propose a plan for the Dome, is waxing positive about the hotel but will not issue a report on whether it can obtain financing until summer, county officials said Tuesday.
"They are working vigorously to nail down the final piece of the feasibility study," said Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees the Reliant Park complex.
Astrodome Redevelopment is considering leaving the shell of the building intact and essentially gutting the inside. Seats might be replaced with about 1,000 hotel rooms, convention-type meeting rooms, restaurants and possibly retail stores, a cineplex and other entertainment sites.
Because, of course, Houston really needs more hotel rooms. Also, I'd like to learn who the developers are in Astrodome Redevelopment:
Astrodome Redevelopment officials did not return calls.
The story assures us that property taxes won't be used:
Astrodome Redevelopment is looking to convert the building solely with money from private investors, Loston said. No property tax funds would be used, Surface said.
But there are always other ways to get tax money.
Razing the Astrodome also would be expensive, probably costing $10 million to $30 million, Loston said.
The county spends about $1.5 million annually to host a few events there. If it were mothballed, the county still would spend $500,000 annually on minimal operations.
The county owes about $50 million on bonds issued to pay for Astrodome renovations in the 1980s.
We can continue to shake our heads.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/16/05 01:37 PM |
15 March 2005
Red light camera money to go to school districts?
This Chronicle story about SAFEclear and red light cameras being topics of discussion in Austin today, has this interesting bit:
Although sentiment in the Legislature has run strongly against red-light cameras for several years, Houston Chronicle interviews last week indicated that the Senate is less enthusiastic than the House about banning camera enforcement, and the Senate fate of Elkins' bill is uncertain.
Knowing that, Elkins submitted an amendment to the tax bill Monday that would only allow cities using red-light cameras to keep $1 of paid citations.
The rest of the money would go to the state comptroller and then be redistributed to the school district where the violation occurred. Elkins won easy approval through a voice vote.
Well! That certainly would put a crimp in Mayor White's plan. But since the cameras are all about safety, surely he won't object.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/15/05 12:07 PM |
14 March 2005
Chron discovers ongoing pension plan problems
The Chronicle's Dan Feldstein begins his recent article on the continuing precarious state of municipal pension finances in a peculiar manner:
City officials told the truth last year when they said new agreements lowering worker pensions would improve city finances and offer better job security for city employees.
But the whole truth, not just the happiest part, can be found in a new city bond prospectus — a 198-page document that must be candid under penalty of law.
An overview of city finances used by bond investors, it says that city retirement benefits might have to be cut again in the future and that taxpayer contributions to the pension funds will continue to rise.
This weblog hasn't been around all that long, but we've criticized Mayor White's funny pension numbers before, and we've called attention to an astute Houston Business Journal article that pointed out much of the reduction in the massive unfunded liability in the resolution touted by Mayor White (and repeated in the city's only newspaper) was a result of transferring the "asset" of the Hilton Americas hotel to the pension plan.
Just a few days ago, Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen spoke of journalists who "act as independent watchdogs of government."
Unfortunately, the Chronicle has thus far seemed inclined to repeat Mayor White's spin on the pension plans instead of engaging in more critical "watchdog" coverage -- so to many Chronicle readers, Feldstein's articles probably come as a surprise.
Of course, the Chronicle's lack of critical coverage when the Brown Administration was helping create these problems in the first place wasn't exactly "watchdog" journalism in an ideal state either.
RELATED: Fitch downgrades Houston bond rating
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/14/05 10:17 PM |
Lucas Wall makes the mayor's case for a parking authority
Last week, Lucas Wall gave us a cliffhanger ending in his Move It! column about downtown Houston parking woes:
The mayor's office has been plotting reform of Parking Management. Next week we'll review the plans to revamp how the city handles street parking.
KHOU-11 gave us a heads up more than two weeks ago, that Mayor White was yearning for a parking authority to take over management of downtown parking, and today Wall gives us more details:
White has appointed Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, whose district includes downtown, to chair a task force on parking reform. He's asked Alvarado to determine if the city should make Parking Management its own executive department with a citizen oversight commission or create an independent parking authority with an appointed board of directors. Such authorities are common in other major U.S. cities.
Last week, I wrote about how parking authorities tend to operate -- like unaccountable government entities. Just what we need more of!
Several questions come to mind after reading Wall's column. First and foremost, isn't there anything more pressing for Mayor White to be focusing on right now? Like maybe HPD's manpower shortage, or HPD's crime lab that still needs a special investigator/master (not to mention accreditation!), or the municipal employees pension fund mess that isn't quite as cleaned up we've been told, or reclaiming $40 million worth of loans owed to the city? The list could go on and on.
The second question relates to this:
Earlier this month, White appointed Richard Lewis, information technology director, as acting director of Municipal Courts, which includes the Parking Management Division. The mayor has hired a new parking director from out of state, who he wouldn't name but said is scheduled to start next month.
It's very odd to see that bolded part when, in an editorial today, the Chronicle complains about government secrecy:
Today marks the start of Sunshine Week, an effort by the newspaper industry and other news media to promote the value of open government and to enlist public support for it. This year the observance coincides with increased reluctance at all levels of government to reveal information to the public that owns it.
Why did Wall let the mayor get away with not naming the parking director who has already been hired? Is open government a pick-and-choose proposition at the Chronicle?
Third, he mentions that one of Councilwoman Alvarado's choices is a Parking Management department with a citizen oversight commission. Would that citizen oversight commission be elected or appointed? If appointed, who does the appointing; and will they be average citizens, or well-connected, prominent Houstonians? You get my drift, I am sure.
My fourth question involves this:
Alvarado is meeting with constituents. White wants the new parking governance structure in place by year's end.
Is Councilwoman Alvarado meeting with anyone besides her constituents? It would probably be a good idea to meet with people who actually drive into downtown too, not just those who live downtown. Wall quotes at least one person who said she won't be patronizing downtown establishments if parking and parking enforcement are so citizen-unfriendly. Implementing an authoritarian parking entity would probably not be helpful to downtown tourism.
And last, Wall suggests the city drop Saturday parking meter enforcement. Gee, thanks! Where was he last year when this idea sailed through Council?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/14/05 11:14 AM |
09 March 2005
Total smoking ban voted down (Updated)
According to this Chronicle story, Council has voted down the tougher smoking ban and is now contemplating the mayor's proposed version:
Houston City Council today rejected a proposal to ban all smoking in restaurants, and took up Mayor Bill White's compromise proposal to ban lighting up in restaurants but not restaurant bars.
The 10-3 vote, with two members absent, was on a proposal by Council Members Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Gordon Quan, who offered it as a compromise on their earlier measure to ban smoking in all restaurants and free-standing bars.
The story also has a bit more on the impact a total ban might have had on the city's convention business:
Jordy Tollett, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the city would lose the annual convention of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America in July 2007 if the council passed a total ban. The convention would pump as much as $10 million into the local economy and fill as many as 12,000 hotel rooms, he said.
"We're not a No. 1 tourist destination," he told the council's Neighborhoods, Housing and Redevelopment Committee earlier this week. "We're fighting for every convention we can ... A total ban is going to cause us hardships. It's economics for me."
Tollett said the city also could lose other prominent conventions under such a ban because convention organizers sometimes want the option of providing separate smoking areas for those who attend.
[snip]
Tollett said a complete smoking ban likely would dissuade a small percentage of conventions from coming to Houston. But he said this could still hurt the city's hopes to double its convention business in the wake of renovations to the George R. Brown Convention Center and the opening of the city-owned Hilton Americas-Houston convention center hotel.
Sekula-Gibbs told Tollett that a complete smoking ban would bring four conventions to the city for every one that would be lost. Tollett disagreed, saying he would support a total ban if that were true.
UPDATE: Council has now approved Mayor White's plan that bans smoking in dining areas of restaurants, but allows it in bars.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/09/05 11:49 AM |
Promote smokefree restaurants instead of creating new regulations
Today, supposedly, City Council will vote on a smoking ban, unless there is another tabling of the measure.
The Chronicle editorial board has come out in favor of -- you'll be so surprised -- a tougher ban than what Mayor White has proposed.
The Greater Houston Restaurant Association argues that no government-recognized study shows secondhand smoke in restaurants is unhealthy. But there are plenty of studies showing secondhand smoke is hazardous almost anywhere it is encountered. Restaurants do not inhabit a separate, pathology-free universe, nor do they operate outside the laws of physics.
[snip]
The object of regulating air quality is not to accept and set in stone Americans' high cancer rates. Studies showing that restaurant patrons and workers get cancer at the same high rate as other people are no excuse to tolerate unhealthy air, whether outside or in enclosed spaces where Houstonians spend much of their time.
Studies, studies, studies. Certainly we have learned by now that if someone has an agenda, someone can also find a study to promote that agenda. Yes, there are studies that say secondhand smoke is harmful. There are also studies that say it isn't. And there are people who have disproved the studies.
But I especially like the editors' reasoning in the bolded sentence: even if studies don't show a higher rate of cancer for restaurant workers and customers, there is still no excuse to have unhealthy air, so sayeth the Editors from On High.
How come the editors never once suggested that Houstonians who don't want to be exposed to secondhand smoke visit the website of the Harris County Health Department, where there is an extensive listing of all smokefree dining places in the Houston area?
Isn't that a less heavy-handed approach -- promoting smokefree establishments -- as opposed to forcing every restaurant and bar to bow to the wishes of some (30) anti-smoking advocates? I bet if you put it to a vote of the citizenry, a smoking ban would be tough to pass.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/09/05 08:24 AM |
07 March 2005
Harsher smoking ban jeopardizes convention business
KPRC-2 is reporting that if City Council passes a harsher smoking ban than what Mayor White has proposed, the city could lose some big business:
Sources told Local 2 Monday that if the ban passes, the city could lose convention center business.
Officials with Alcoholics Anonymous, the National Retailer Federation, the National Convenience Store Operators and the National Tobacco Retailers Association threatened to pull their conventions out of Houston.
"I want to be careful that we don't hurt ourselves economically," said Jordy Tollet, with the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
He gave council members copies of a letter from the National Tobacco Retailers Association, which has scheduled a 2007 convention in Houston.
"There's 15,000 hotel room nights for tobacco dealers, so roughly, that's somewhere between $15 and $20 million that would be lost on our community," Tollet said.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/07/05 07:08 PM |
Chicago likes SAFEclear
This Chicago Tribune article says that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is looking to Houston's SAFEclear program as a model for how to address Chicago's traffic woes:
Daley wants to implement quick-response towing operations--deploying them even faster than the Minuteman trucks operated on expressways by the Illinois Department of Transportation--on Chicago streets, starting downtown.
"We are attacking the root cause [of congestion] by removing wrecked and stalled vehicles a lot faster than we did in the past," said Houston Mayor Bill White, who was elected on a promise to make easing traffic congestion his No. 1 priority. "It's like giving a raise to everybody, because they have more leisure time, because the traffic is flowing faster."
Each minute a disabled vehicle is on the highway results in four minutes of worsening traffic backups, White said. Despite a booming automobile-centered population, commuting times have been reduced as much as 20 percent in Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, officials said.
I still think the root cause of congestion is a high number of vehicles on the freeways at the same time. I don't think the root cause is stalled vehicles on the shoulder.
It's interesting that the mayor has some stats to give to the Chicago Tribune. I have been wracking my brain and can't remember the city releasing a study that backs up his claims that a disabled vehicle equals four minutes of traffic backup, and that commuting times have been reduced by 20 percent.
Maybe the study is forthcoming. Any day now.
There is more in the article about SAFEclear, mostly positive, but it does mention the sad story of the elderly man who was killed when he ran across the freeway, while a SAFEclear wrecker was hooking up his van for a forced tow.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/07/05 12:19 PM |
Is the Chronicle going to push for a Houston Parking Authority?
Here are the first paragraph and the last paragraph from today's Move It! column. See if red flags start flying for you:
Last week's debacle with commercial vehicle loading zones has reinforced my view that downtown parking illustrates all that's wrong with municipal government.
[snip]
The mayor's office has been plotting reform of Parking Management. Next week we'll review the plans to revamp how the city handles street parking.
Uh oh. Has Lucas Wall been chatting with Mayor White? Let me guess what parking reform means: a Houston Parking Authority.
We already have unaccountable government authorities to deal with, such as METRO, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, and the Houston Sports Authority. METRO is currently dealing with its first ever debt, the Houston Sports Authority had to issue new bonds to deal with a revenue shortfall, and the Toll Road Authority, which apparently has no debt or revenue shortage issues, does have a surprising ability to build roads at will, regardless of community input.
Now let's take a look at parking authorities in other cities and how they are structured. Miami has one:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/07/05 09:14 AM |
04 March 2005
SAFEclear tow truck drivers accused of double billing
KHOU-11 reports that HPD is investigating several SAFEclear wrecker drivers for "double-dipping":
HPD suspended three National Collision tow truck drivers indefinitely this week.
Investigators said they towed a vehicle just off the interstate for free, then negotiated a price to move it from there.
The wrecker drivers, HPD says, wanted to charge both the city and the vehicle's owner -- something the contract prohibits.
"You're going to have, out of the 200-plus drivers, some who feel like they can be under the radar and slip something in," said Bender.
11 News has learned HPD has suspended the licenses of five SafeClear drivers from three different companies. The owner of National Collision said, as far as his company is concerned, this is only a misunderstanding in a program that has had a lot of changes lately.
"I think it needs to be cleared out how this system is going to work," said Sam Said with National Collision. "If a customer is taken to a place and he wanted to be moved again, we want to know if it's going to be one tow or two tows. That's the biggest issue."
The city insists the contract is clear and that officers will continue to pull wreckers off the road if they overcharge stranded motorists for doing the same.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/04/05 07:30 PM |
Fitch downgrades Houston bond rating
Mayor White must be very pleased that Fitch released its latest Houston bond ratings this afternoon, when they are unlikely to receive much scrutiny or attention. It's certainly not good news for the mayor who touted his financial and business acumen in the last election:
Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'AA-' rating to the Houston, Texas $57.83 million taxable general obligation (GO) pension bonds, series 2005. Additionally, Fitch downgrades to 'AA-' from 'AA' the rating on the city's $1.7 billion in GO bonds and $33.5 million in certificates of obligation outstanding. The new issue is scheduled for a negotiated sale through a syndicate managed by Lehman Brothers the week of March 7. The Rating Outlook is Stable.
The bonds are general obligations of the city, secured and payable from a limited ad valorem tax levied on taxable property within the city. Proceeds from the bonds will fund a portion of the city's annual contribution to the municipal employees pension system and will refund a $22.9 million pension obligation note.
The rating downgrade is based upon large unfunded pension liabilities that are expected to increase over the near term, and upon a revenue limitation recently approved by voters that may exacerbate pension funding problems and also challenge the city's ability to adequately fund programs serving a growing population and service area. As a result, the city's credit profile has been sufficiently altered to warrant the rating change. The Stable Outlook recognizes recent significant efforts by the city to address the pension problem from both the asset and liability side. Positive rating considerations contributing to the high-grade rating include a resilient, broad economy, a moderate direct debt burden, and adequate general fund reserves.
As blogHOUSTON has noted -- while Mayor White and his council have been preoccupied debating a citywide smoking ban -- the city's municipal employees pension plan still suffers from a massive underfunded liability, to the tune of $850 million. Also, although most local press celebrated Mayor White's efforts in trimming the unfunded liability, it is worth pointing out that much of the "trimming" was a result of transferring the "asset" of the Hilton Americas Hotel to the fund -- and that given the recent performance of downtown hotels, that may well be more of a liability than an asset down the road.
There is some good news in the Fitch report:
Evidence of a rebounding local economy is provided by sales tax revenue collections, which registered a nearly 8% increase in fiscal 2004 after declining in fiscal 2003. Current projections anticipate a further 7% increase for fiscal 2005.
With those healthy increases in sales tax revenues, perhaps Jared Woodfill can encourage some members of council to be more resistant to the mayor's plans to create new revenue streams at every turn and be more critical of how the city is spending existing revenues.
RELATED: Houston bond rating downgraded (Joe Stinebaker, Chronicle).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/04/05 05:03 PM |
03 March 2005
City Council approves expanded MAP
The Chronicle has some details on City Council's approval of an expanded MAP to make SAFEclear more citizen-friendly:
The agreement with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to put another $1.1 million toward MAP seals a deal Mayor Bill White struck with a state legislator to save his controversial Safe Clear towing policy from being quashed in Austin.
MAP expansion includes doubling the number of officers on the freeways during peak hours to help stranded drivers. The funds, which come out of Metro's "general mobility" accounts, will also help pay for $50 courtesy tows given to motorists up to a mile of the next exit.
[snip]
Details of the funding arrangement remained fuzzy Wednesday. According to a transit authority document, Houston will use about $440,000 of its dedicated Metro mobility funds to integrate MAP and Safe Clear, with Metro funding the balance from a regionwide account. White, however, said none of the funding is coming from the city's mobility allocation.
Here's hoping someone can get a hold of the fuzzy details. I would like to see what juggling is going on to make this work. But that's not the only thing that gives me pause:
Whoever arrives first will take charge of clearing the incident. MAP officers may supervise and assist with minor fixes that can be done rapidly and safely. Tow truck operators first on the scene will continue to be responsible for immediately removing the car as required by their contract with the city.
The overly suspicious part of me wonders if wrecker drivers will be more aggressive to get to stalled cars first. I would like to see a provision that a motorist has a choice of either a MAP truck providing assistance, or a SAFEclear wrecker providing an immediate tow. We already know that if a MAP driver can't help, he will call for a wrecker.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/03/05 11:53 AM |
02 March 2005
Houston is on the political fad forefront
Politicians are fad followers, according to the Reason blog, Out of Control. Let's look at the list and see if we can recognize any of the trends:
If you’re an elected official and you want to be “with it,” there is of course the issue of big box retailers. Here you have two choices: ban them or clear the way for them by using eminent domain. In other words, don't just stand on the sidelines like a dope.
You have to show your love for hybrids by offering them special perks, you have to show that you’re hip to the technology scene by wi-fiing your town. Speaking of hip, you should offer tax breaks to performance artists or do anything possible to attract the “creative class” to your city or state.
Of course, you have to ban smoking, but that never goes out of style. You should get yourself a light rail system, a sports stadium, convention center, and possibly even a convention center hotel. How else are you going to make your home town “world class”?
And of course you have to push for anti-outsourcing laws like this one[...]
[snip]
And don’t let anyone tell you that the purpose of government is to protect rights. The purpose of government is to raise as much revenue as possible by any means necessary.
We started off a bit slow there, since Houston doesn't appear to be against big box retailers, but there is talk of eminent domain. We don't really appear to pick up steam 'til we get to the smoking ban, which is a hot topic right now for a few councilmembers, the mayor and 30 demonstrators.
And before you know it, we are on the cutting edge of political fads: we've got light rail, sports stadiums, an expanded convention center and even a convention center hotel! We must be "world class"! Woo hoo!
I haven't heard talk of outsourcing laws, but we do get points for a strong close, because we have a mayor who has dedicated himself to raising as much revenue as possible by (almost) any means necessary.
Isn't it great to be a fad-following city?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/02/05 07:20 AM |
Truck zone ordinance is in effect: ka-ching!
KHOU-11 reminds us that the city's new truck zone ordinance went into effect Tuesday:
"There's a truck here, no permit, nothing. This is a commercial zone. He got a $300 ticket," says Wilford Martinez with the Houston Municipal Courts.
That's right $250 or $300 are the new fines for illegally parking in Houston's new commercial zones.
Now, after weeks of warning, the city government has gone on the prowl for truck zone scofflaws.
"What we were finding was that a lot of individuals were parking in truck zones," says Barbara Sudhoff of Houston Municipal Courts, "and then the commercial vehicles had no place to park."
These new, red-topped parking meters indicate that a parking space is actually a loading zone. They're expensive: $5 an hour. And not just anybody can park here. These meters are for commercial vehicles only.
So to park there, you need to drive either a vehicle with a business logo or a vehicle with one of the new permits that cost anywhere from $5 to $1,200.
[snip]
Skeptical delivery truck drivers think this isn't about parking, they think it's about money.
"Money for the city. I mean, why else? Why would we have to pay to park in a truck zone when all the time before we never did have to pay to park in a truck zone?" says Baker.
Whatever the reason, there's no more free parking in downtown's truck zones.
There's no more free anything in Houston, it seems.
UPDATE: It appears that the city wasn't quite ready for the new truck zone ordinance:
Enforcement of downtown's new commercial vehicle loading rules began Tuesday after a couple months of delays, but a Chronicle survey found incorrect signs, missing meters and other confusion across numerous blocks.
[snip]
A reporter surveyed loading zones on several blocks Tuesday. Among the findings:
--Old "truck zone'' signs remain at Milam and Walker and other locations. These signs were supposed to have been removed and replaced with new ``commercial loading zone'' signs that indicate a permit or meter payment is required.
--On McKinney between Travis and Main, there are conflicting signs. One indicates a loading zone but another states two-hour general parking is allowed. There is only one red meter to cover four or more spaces (most meters handle two spaces only).
--The wrong hours are posted on signs on Capitol between Fannin and San Jacinto, and at other locations. Those signs state the zones are in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. However, the rules are really in place only from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
City officials pledged to fix the numerous errors.
"If some of the old signs need to be changed, we will certainly do that,'' said Frank Michel, spokesman for Mayor Bill White. "If there are some that are incorrectly labeled, then we have to get them corrected.''
Barbara Sudhoff, Municipal Courts clerk, said that if a person is erroneously ticketed because the signage at a site was in conflict with the ordinance, the citation would be dismissed.
I'm sure the burden of proof will be on the truck driver.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/02/05 05:22 AM |
01 March 2005
Woodfill argues for conservative principles in city government
Today's Chronicle runs an op-ed from Harris County Republican Chair Jared Woodfill, whose contentions regarding councilmembers generally regarded as Republicans were reported and then criticized by the newspaper.
Woodfill answers the critical editorial as follows:
The reality is, this is not about partisan politics, it's about conservative principles.
The Editorial Board is correct when it states, "There is no Republican sewer line, no Democratic pothole." However, there are conservative and liberal solutions to the city's problems, and these solutions involve the size and role of government and personal responsibility.
As noted previously, we'll be looking forward to hearing some of those conservative solutions earlier in municipal policy discussions.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/01/05 06:09 PM |
City Council hears from public on smoking ban
Today and tomorrow are public comment days regarding Mayor White's proposed smoking ban:
Houstonians can voice their opinions to city council Tuesday and Wednesday about a proposed smoking ban that has sparked a heated debate in the Bayou City.
Houston City Council members will spend the two days discussing the controversial ordinance, which would outlaw smoking in most Houston restaurants.
The proposal, if passed, would mean smokers could no longer smoke inside the dining area of a restaurant. Currently, smokers can light up in designated smoking areas.
I heard on a KTRH-740 newsbreak that Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is planning on tagging the smoking ban because she wants a tougher one. That would be in line with what we heard previously about some councilmembers looking for a stricter ban.
I am guessing here, but since there was an anti-smoking demonstration downtown today, I would think Council heard plenty of support for the ban. Houston Communities for Safe Indoor Air is listed in news reports as the sponsor of today's demonstration; a Google search doesn't turn up a website for the group, but this site lists someone from MD Anderson as a contact.
UPDATE: A blurb on the front page of KTRK-13's website says this:
Protesters take to the streets with their message about a proposed Houston smoking ban. But is it tough enough?
Is it tough enough? Gee, which side do you think KTRK is on? I will give KTRK credit though, because its story tells us that, "dozens of demonstrators gathered outside city hall." Ooooo, dozens.
UPDATE (03-02-2005): A reader emails that Houston Communities for Safe Indoor Air does indeed have a website. Thanks for the information.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/01/05 04:54 PM |
28 February 2005
Heavy trash zero-tolerance
Mayor White's heavy trash policy, where people who put it out too early get cited, has some residents complaining:
"I've lived here 39 years and in that time, I've set my heavy trash out twice, and I get a ticket," he said.
He wasn't alone. Several of the mostly senior residents at the recent Kashmere Gardens Super Neighborhood meeting expressed uncertainty about Houston's new heavy trash schedule.
But confusion about their trash day — and how early they can place it in front of their residences — won't keep them from being ticketed under Mayor Bill White's zero-tolerance policy under which citations are liberally handed out to people who set tree limbs, tires, furniture and other big items early.
[snip]
Ignorance of the schedule or absentmindedness will not prevent tickets ranging from $50 to $2,000 for schedule violators, he [Houston Police Officer Tony Emanuel] said.
I wonder how much money the city has collected so far?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/28/05 08:41 AM |
27 February 2005
City should focus on loan-default "revenue stream"
On February 23, Anne Linehan called attention to a KHOU-11 report by Mark Greenblatt on the city's seeming indifference to multimillion-dollar defaults on city loans made to various downtown developers.
Readers of the Chronicle found out about this news in February 26 print editions of the newspaper.
Apparently, city officials were able to get their talking points in better order for the Chronicle story. Recall the statements of John Walsh, the city's point man on this matter, to KHOU's reporter:
The Defenders couldn't find a single payment that the Magnolia Hotel has ever made to the city of Houston. When asked if that surprised him, Walsh said, "No. I can't vouch for the reason why it has taken so long for us to pursue the collection of these loans."
But Walsh says the city might not be able to collect.
"Then if we can't collect it, we'll just take our lumps and do the best we can."
After a few days, though, the mayor's spin machine has Mr. Walsh sounding much better for the Chronicle:
The city intends to "aggressively pursue" repayment by the owners of the Magnolia Hotel and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, said John Walsh, Mayor Bill White's deputy chief of staff for neighborhoods and housing.
Tom Kirkendall calls these defaults -- along with the city's partnership in the Hilton Americas hotel -- "two more examples of why the City of Houston should not be in the business of financing redevelopment projects."
It is worth noting that Mayor White effectively used the Hilton America's hotel to collaterize part of the city's underfunded obligations to the municipal employees pension fund, and that even with optimistic assumptions regarding that hotel's performance (which may not pan out), that pension fund remains underfunded to the tune of some $850 million dollars.
Clearing up matters with such short- and long-term revenue implications for the city deserves much higher priority than revenue-enhancement efforts such as red-light cameras, expansion of downtown parking meters hours and coverage, or parking authorities.
RELATED: Hyatt Regency in Foreclosure.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/05 05:54 PM |
25 February 2005
Mayor White really, really wants red light cameras
According to this Chronicle story, Mayor White says he will not give up the fight for red light cameras even if the state Senate passes the bill closing a loophole that would allow the city to use the cameras:
White said he believes the city may have the authority to use red-light cameras despite Thursday's House vote.
[snip]
Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said state law does not preclude municipalities from using cameras to issue criminal citations.
White said that may be an option, but acknowledged it would be difficult.
Under Texas law, running a red light is a Class C misdemeanor that can be regulated only by the state, even though local governments are in charge of enforcement.
Drivers who run red lights would have to be identified to issue criminal citations, but intersection cameras typically photograph license plates and don't clearly show the driver.
I don't know. The Legislature seems firmly against cameras. If the city can come up with another way to do it, my guess is the Legislature would tackle the issue again.
Then the mayor gives us a little pro-camera spin:
"I think the public overwhelmingly wants us to use the technology," White said after a lopsided vote in the House to ban camera enforcement.
I didn't know the city had done some polling on the issue. I would love to see the poll particulars, and not the mayor's interpretation of the results.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/25/05 12:42 PM |
24 February 2005
Woodfill comes out swinging.... but at what exactly?
The Chronicle's Ron Nissimov devotes a surprising amount of space today to Harris County Republican Party Chair Jared Woodfill, who is highly critical of cooperation by city council Republicans with Mayor Bill White:
The executive committee of the Harris County Republican Party has voted overwhlemingly to support Proposition 2 and to repeal Safe Clear. The local party's Web site has links to council voting records maintained by the city.Woodfill said the Harris County Republican Party has a good relationship with Republican council members and is not planning immediate action against them.
But he said the party is keeping a closer eye on them and may take more aggressive stances if they continue to vote for what he called liberal positions.
There are conservative alternatives to Mayor White's approach to municipal government, which may fairly be characterized as a technocratic-progressive approach that relies heavily on the mayor's considerable interpersonal skills, but Woodfill and the Harris County Republican Party haven't been been presenting them effectively (if at all). Woodfill has admitted he supported the SAFEclear program initially, and seemed only to get worked up over it about the time Mayor White gave in to public pressure and decided part of the $1 million windfall could pay for tows so that poor people wouldn't have their cars impounded and sold; Doctor-Councilwoman Gibbs deemed this "socialized towing," but after a motorist died while seemingly trying to beat a SAFEclear wrecker, Council finally stopped playing games and passed the changes. As for Proposition 1, there are probably many Republicans who wish that Woodfill had been more proactive when councilman Ellis actually helped write the legislation with the mayor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/05 11:25 PM |
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