21 January 2008
Borris and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
KTRK-13's Miya Shay sums up state Rep. Borris Miles' current situation:
1. He's facing a tough primary challenge from the man he defeated, Former State Rep. Al Edwards, 2. He's being investigated by the District Attorney's office, 3. He's being sued, with a hearing on Friday, 4. He's recently been in the hospital, recovering from pneumonia.
Whew...
Yep, pretty much.
What's needed in the Houston-area is an infusion of integrity -- on both sides of the aisle.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/21/08 07:55 PM |
20 January 2008
More on Metro's online chat
Last week Metro CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson participated in an online chat. I had the same experience as a commenter on Metro's blog -- unable to participate, showing no users online -- but apparently some folks were able to get in on it.
Mary Sit has posted follow-ups here, here, here, and here, as well as the transcript of the Q & A session (pdf).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/20/08 06:21 PM |
Randall O'Toole: Keep Houston free from urban planning
Today's Chronicle carries an op-ed by the Cato Institute's Randall O'Toole on the merits of keeping Houston free from the onerous regulations of urban planning. Here's an excerpt:
Though planners may have the best of intentions, such planning is likely to lead to higher living costs, more traffic congestion and dramatically reduced job growth.
We can see this by looking at other cities with zoning and planning.
In a sense, American cities have engaged in a controlled experiment with planning, with Houston and a few other cities doing very little, many other cities doing some planning and some cities doing highly restrictive planning.
Advocates of planning say that it will make cities more livable, but the results of many experiments across the country show just the opposite.
Cities with strong planning authority, such as Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif., almost invariably have the least affordable housing, the fastest growing traffic congestion and growing taxes and/or declining urban services. In the long run, these problems tend to suppress urban growth and job creation.
The national real estate firm Coldwell Banker reports that, in 2007, a Houston family could buy a four-bedroom, two-and-one-half bath, 2,200-square foot home for $170,000. The same house would cost more than twice that much in Portland and more than eight times as much in San Jose.
Such huge variations in the cost of housing from city to city did not exist 50 years ago. Today, they are mainly due to artificial housing shortages created by heavy regulations and land-use planning.
The entire article is here.
Last week Cory Crow had an interesting take on the issue of planning:
[...]its important to realize that the entire movement is being driven by affluent, predominantly, non-native Houstonians. You know, the folks that took advantage of lax zoning, low housing prices and a free regulatory environment to buy their homes. They are now trying to deny others the same opportunity afforded them. All in the name of "beautification" of course.
Or could it be that they just don't want "those people" (you know: the "unsophisticated") moving into their neighborhoods?
Just wait until Peter Brown is elected mayor!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/20/08 04:06 PM |
Dangerous time/place/behavior update
Via KTRK-13, we can add to our list of times/places/behaviors Chief Hurtt would encourage us to avoid if we want to stay alive:
People lining up to buy new Nike Air Jordans were robbed while waiting.
Eyewitnesses say the people were outside Greenspoint Mall this morning, when a guy with a gun told them to hand over their money. Several people in line panicked and broke the glass doors to the mall trying to get away.
No one was seriously hurt. But the robber made off with cash and wallets.
Be sure to add "Saturday morning, Greenspoint Mall, buying new Air Jordans" to your list of dangerous situations to avoid if you don't want to become a victim of violent crime. And the next time Chief Hurtt asks, "What are YOU doing to KEEP HOUSTON SAFE???," you can say you are avoiding dangerous time/place/behavior situations.
INTERESTING FACT: HPD has a storefront at Greenspoint Mall
PREVIOUSLY: Hurtt: You're pretty safe in Houston, unless you wind up dead!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/20/08 12:00 PM |
19 January 2008
Harris County's Housing Authority takes on national responsibility
KUHF-88.7's Jim Bell reports that as Harris County's Housing Authority has done such a capable job managing the local Katrina housing assistance and voucher program, it will now administer the program for 37 states:
The Harris County Housing Authority has taken over the job of providing housing assistance for Louisiana hurricane victims in New Orleans and more than three dozen other states. Houston Public Radio's Jim Bell explains.
A New Orleans newspaper reports HUD handed this job to the Harris County Housing Authority to improve the rent voucher system, do a better job of finding housing for storm victims and paying landlords on time. Director Guy Rankin is now in charge of Disaster Housing Assistance in New Orleans, Houston, and in all the other states where storm victims were sent.
"The Harris County Housing Authority has been charged with helping those 250 housing authorities in 37 states take care of persons involved in Katrina and Rita. We're here to help people move back to New Orleans, and also those people who are here with their rental assistance through the Disaster Housing Assistance Program."
Rankin says the Harris County Housing Authority was placed in charge of the New Orleans and national housing assistance programs because it's done such a good job of helping storm evacuees in the Houston area.
"We dealt with it in Houston well, so it gained credibility, then we opened the DHAP center in Houston and that gained us more credibility. And then, quite frankly, they were having troubles in New Orleans, and they looked for who's the closest, who's the best, who can turn that project around and house people quickly."
What's interesting about this story is what's lacking: any mention of Houston's Housing Authority [edit: This is not criticism of the reporter; it's criticism of the city's Housing Department, as I try to explain here]. There was a time when Houston's Housing and Community Development Department (recently headed by FoB David Mincberg, currently a candidate for Harris County Judge) was involved with Harris County in administering the housing assistance program for Katrina evacuees.
Is Houston no longer involved in the program? Are there still problems with the city's housing authority, as brought to light by this April, 2005, audit?
These would be interesting questions for local media to investigate, as the answers may tell us something about candidate Mincberg's ability to manage public institutions.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/19/08 08:23 PM |
With annexation come responsibilities -- especially public safety
And then we see Kingwood having a problem with crime, thanks to a decreased police presence in the community (via KHOU-11's Dave Fehling):
Since annexation, its population has soared from around 40,000 to more than 60,000.
But with more people has come more crime.
“Property crime is on the increase in Kingwood,” Sullivan said.
Turns out some thieves also like the annexed Kingwood. They’ve been hitting some neighborhoods hard, stealing everything from laptops to lawnmowers. Is Kingwood becoming an easy target?
Houston police said some of the thieves they’ve recently caught are from Montgomery County, one from Tomball — outsiders hitting Kingwood possibly because they know patrols here aren’t what they used to be.
It’s down sometimes to just two HPD cars on the streets, according to Sullivan.
“It’s an impossible task so in comparison to what we had before; it’s not as good,’ Sullivan said.
But HPD is responding. An eight-officer tactical team is now assigned to the Kingwood substation.
Its commander said they’re targeting high crime neighborhoods, doing surveillance and other investigative work patrol officers would never have time for.
They said it’s already dramatically cut the number of car break-ins.
Still, officers said their numbers working Kingwood have dropped by one-third in recent years.
So despite the addition of the tactical team, “it doesn’t make us whole at all,” Sullivan said.
Not when the police presence was decreasing as the population was increasing. Bad guys can drive around and see there's no police presence. It's an invitation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/19/08 05:22 PM |
18 January 2008
HPD: Lower Westheimer is a criminal "honey hole"
KHOU-11's Jeff McShan reports on armed robbers who have seemingly taken over lower Westheimer:
Police are trying to catch a couple of restaurant robbers who have been terrorizing customers in the Lower Westheimer area.
Vera Wolf and at least a dozen others have been robbed at gunpoint since early December.
The suspect demands purses, wallets, cash and cell phones.
"I was concentrating on that gun and what I could do not to get shot," said Wolf.
Wolf and a friend had just left a restaurant in the 400 block of Westheimer.
"We were approached by a man on the sidewalk," remembered Wolf.
The gunman ordered Wolf to hand over her purse.
[snip]
"They think they're going to go out and make some fast cash," said HPD Sgt. Rich Nieto, with HPD's robbery division. "And they've been using the Lower Westheimer area as kind of a honey hole anytime they need some money."
We would note that there is a police storefront nearby, in the 800 block of Westheimer. Of course, it's the same storefront that was blitzed by taggers just over a year ago, so it seems not to be much of a crime deterrent.
Apparently, we can add "Dining on lower Westheimer, just blocks away from a police storefront" to Chief Hurtt's list of dangerous time/place/behavior situations.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/08 10:27 PM |
17 January 2008
Chief Hurtt rolls out BEAR (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response)
The Chronicle's Mike Glenn reports that HPD has added a massive armored vehicle (replete with acronym!) to its arsenal:
With a flourish that would have put Detroit automakers to shame, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt unveiled the department's latest addition to its fleet of vehicles Thursday.
The 12-ton behemoth, which resembles a Brinks armored car on steroids, is called a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle, or BEAR.
"It's the 'baddest' bear," Hurtt said.
The armored truck will provide HPD with greater level of protection and mobility at SWAT scenes, officials said.
As one commenter wryly noted on Chron.com,
hhmmmm...in all the years I've followed the news...no one has ever shot at a moving SWAT truck...it's like giving a porn star a metal condom...
At the very least, though, it gave our bumbling police chief a photo op (although Michael Dukakis-style photo ops have been out of style for a while). As for the bigger problems at HPD.... *chirp* *chirp*
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/17/08 11:18 PM |
Incoming TSU Prez visits with media
Earlier in the week, John Rudley, the sole finalist for the presidency of Texas Southern, met with local media.
Here are the various accounts of the meeting: Chronicle, KTRK-13, KHOU-11, KPRC-2.
The TSU Board of Regents should formalize Rudley's hiring at its meeting in a few weeks.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/17/08 10:23 PM |
16 January 2008
Leaving town stirs up the news
Whenever I leave town for a few days, interesting news seems to break.
Two such items popped up while I was away this time.
First, reports surfaced of allegations of some boorish behavior by state representative Borris Miles (D) at a party:
The Harris County District Attorney's Office is investigating a complaint that state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, made threats and brandished a gun at a holiday party last month.
According to witnesses, Miles entered a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, confronting guests, displaying a pistol and forcibly kissing another man's wife.
David Harris, who threw the party for his property management company, said he believes Miles, an insurance agent, was angry at him for investing in a rival business."He was saying things such as, 'I told you to get out of the insurance business. There ain't room in this town for the two of us. I'm going to come after you and take you down,' " Harris said.
[snip]
Rumors about the incident have swirled for weeks in both Houston and Austin. Harris agreed to speak publicly about it last month only after being contacted by the Houston Chronicle. It was not until Friday, however, that the District Attorney's Office confirmed the investigation.
[snip]
Last July, Miles shot and wounded a burglar who police said was trying to steal copper from the lawmaker's 9,000- square-foot Third Ward home. Miles, who had a concealed handgun permit and was not charged in the incident, said the shooting was self-defense.
Women, liquor, and guns! The stories may not be true (although the use of the plural term "witnesses" could suggest trouble for Mr. Miles), but they are certainly entertaining.
Less entertaining, but still worth noting, is the news that METRO's transit backbone requires more repairs because of shoddy construction. Here's the Chron reporting/METRO press release (who can really tell the difference any more?):
The downtown and Midtown segments of Metro's light rail line will be closed during parts of the next two weekends to fix problems the transit agency blames on faulty construction.
In December, Metro's board of directors authorized KBR Inc. to repair the problem at a cost of up to $812,000.
The closures will last from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and on Jan. 19-20. Buses will shuttle passengers in the closed segments at 12-minute intervals, Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said.
Roberts said the work is to fix persistent trouble with the cables that carry current from power stations along the route to the rails. Metro says the problem caused parts of the line to shut down on three occasions.
The cables, enclosed in boxes between the rails, expand during power surges, which causes them to rub against each other and the boxes, Roberts said. Metro contends the cables were not properly suspended inside the boxes to prevent chafing.
METRO should serenade inconvenienced customers with mariachi bands and provide scratch-off cards.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/08 11:16 PM |
Apparently, all the news has been covered
KTRK-13 has the scoop on some just-barely-news tonight:
It's happened again. A bird was attacked in Katy, but not just any bird. It's over eight feet tall, bright purple and the guy inside is getting sick and tired of being pushed around.
This big bird's office is the easement along Frye Road where he advertises mattress sales most weekends. Sunday he was attacked on the job.
"I saw shadows behind me," said the mascot Kyle Lincecum.
First came the shadows, then the mascot says came the push.
"Then I turned around and he shoved me real hard," he said.
A couple of assailants took part.
"One was videotaping while the other was harassing me," Lincecum said.
The assailants got away. Consider though this is the fourth time the mascot has been attacked. Each one happened around this same Katy intersection.
"They just look like hellions and ruffians and they say, 'There's a big bird, I'm gonna get it,'" the mascot's owner Russ Vogel recounted. "Sometimes I don't think they're aware of whose inside and it's a person just like them."
It is not nice of hellions and ruffians to attack people in bird costumes, but it is good that KTRK has gotten the word out (and that it's apparently such a slow news night that they were able to devote time to this problem).
In case the hellions and ruffians are roving hellions and ruffians, people in bird costumes citywide now know to watch themselves.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/08 09:55 PM |
METRO undercover cops bust loaded vagrant, ticket him
KHOU-11's Jason Whitely reports that METRO undercover cops (we never thought we would actually use the term without derision!) actually busted a panhandler, and the guy was loaded (with cash):
[P]anhandlers, especially the aggressive ones, are hard to catch in the act like the one undercover officers ran across in downtown Houston Monday afternoon.
"He asked the lady for money and she refused,” said METRO Police Capt. Mike Raney. “He continued the request for more money. The officer was standing just a few feet from the panhandler at the time."
Police stepped in and questioned 42-year-old James Dillon but were not expecting what they were about to find on him.
When Dillon did not have any ID, plain clothes police officers searched him. Looking down in one pocket they found a wad of $1,700 in cash. Looking in the other pocket they found even more money and another citation for panhandling issued last month.
The homeless man’s cash added up to $3,426.78.
And he was caught asking for another quarter.
And here's where it gets REALLY good:
Dillon told officers he had been saving his money but could not deposit it in a bank since he had no identification.
He got to keep the cash but was written a new ticket for panhandling.
We're sure the city is going to collect on that one. And that the vagrant has learned his lesson and will stop pestering people downtown. Because that's how things work in a place called Perfect.
Ever get the feeling you are living in a theater of the absurd?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/08 09:36 PM |
Chron's Stiles assumes new role
Carolyn Feibel posts that reporter Matt Stiles will be moving on from the City Hall beat to a wider-ranging role at the Chronicle:
Yes, folks, the rumors are true. Matt has moved on from the City Hall beat. Or so he claims. But he's going to keep his stick in the fire -- as the Chronicle's government watchdog reporter here in Houston, he'll be reporting on city, county and even state government and doing what he does best: keeping our taxpayer-funded officials and workers on their toes.
Congratulations to Stiles, who has already done his fair share of this type of reporting on the City Hall beat and will no doubt produce some excellent local journalism now that he has the watchdog remit.
It's also a nice move by the Chronicle, which could do a much better job at this sort of reporting in the area -- especially Harris County. We are pretty sure Stiles will not be imitating some of his colleagues at 801 Texas Avenue, whose idea of watchdog reporting seems to be following around the local TV guys.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/16/08 08:19 PM |
15 January 2008
Chron.com's front page
...has a new look.
First impression: You have to scroll (way) down to find the local headlines -- past the reader photos and blogs, past the video section, and past the news bizarre and celebrity buzz sections.
Which makes sense, I suppose, since that's the direction the Chronicle has been heading for quite a while now -- less substance and more fluff.
Anyway, what do you think of the makeover?
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/15/08 07:19 PM |
Commissioner Eversole wants a do-over
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole has decided to deal with at least one of the issues uncovered by KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino:
Acknowledging "numerous errors" in previous campaign-finance records, Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole said today that he planned to review old reports to ensure they comply with the law.
Eversole, a commissioner since 1991, blamed "ignorance of applicable laws" for errors on state-mandated campaign reports that detailed his fundraising and spending.
In a written statement from prominent Republican campaign consultant Allen Blakemore, Eversole said he had retained former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels to handle his future campaign reports.
He also said he asked Eckels, who resigned as the county chief executive last year and now works for the Fulbright & Jaworski law firm, to review his past reports and fix any errors.
Eversole has been under media scrutiny since late last year after KTRK-TV (Channel 13) aired reports questioning Eversole's use of campaign funds.
The Houston Chronicle also has reported that hundreds of the four commissioners' campaign expenses, particularly Eversole's, were labeled with vague descriptions such as "public relations" and "misc." Such designations could encompass everything from meals to purchases at boutique gift shops, and offer few clues about what was purchased or who benefited from those purchases.
Errors on campaign reports can result in fines by the Texas Ethics Commission, but the Harris County District Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into whether Eversole misused thousands of dollars in campaign contributions for his own benefit.
"A number of errors were pointed out in our past reports. They were a result of poor reporting practices and ignorance of the applicable laws. I have taken the criticism to heart and adopted a "best practices" approach to my campaign finances. I have made a dramatic shift in procedures and practices," Eversole said in the statement.
It's big of Commissioner Eversole to take time out from his Starbuck's visits, golf course outings, and gym workouts to attend to, you know, his actual commissioner duties. It would have been even better if he had been attending to his duties all along. And it's never a good sign when one tries to use the old "ignorance" excuse.
How much money does he get paid again?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/15/08 06:59 PM |
14 January 2008
Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson will chat online Tuesday*
File this under "Short Notice" (see update below):
Got a question for Metropolitan Transit Authority president and CEO Frank Wilson?
If so, get to a computer at noon today, log onto www.ridemetro.org, then click on "chat" to take part in an hour-long once-a-month online chat room.
Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said in a statement Monday that Transit Chat "will give our customers an opportunity to ask Metro's top executives questions about Metro's programs and services, from the Q Card to the new light rail lines we're building."
"It will be live, but we do ask participants to exercise the same principles of politeness mandated on our blog," Roberts said. "Our guidelines: Be respectful, no name-calling, stay on topic."
Note: You can't call in to converse by voice, or send a text message by phone, or chat by e-mail.
Participants will type their messages into a window on the Metro Web bag and read the replies there.
UPDATE: As Matt Bramanti notes in the comments on the Chron.com story, this chat is scheduled for Tuesday -- tomorrow! The story is written for tomorrow, but posted on Chron.com today, not noting that the date for the chat is Tuesday. I have edited the headline and this post accordingly.
So, by all means available, head to Metro's site tomorrow and chat away with the dude. Respectfully, of course.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/14/08 03:09 PM |
Soccer stadium land could cost $20 million! (updated)
Remember how Mayor White has said time and again that a new soccer stadium would not require the city to contribute public funding?
Well, today Carolyn Feibel reports that through some kind of government financing-magic, Mayor White will have to find up to $20 million for the stadium land:
The city could spend up to $20 million to buy six downtown blocks for a Dynamo soccer stadium, and it remains unclear if the team would reimburse the costs.
The blocks that officials are eyeing — just east of U.S. 59 in the warehouse district — have a total appraised value of about $5.1 million, according to the Harris County Appraisal District, or HCAD.
But local property owners who want to sell have been asking for triple or even quadruple the appraised values, as the area is seen as "hot" for development.
"I do not believe the appraisal value reflects even half of the market value," said Dan Nip, chairman of the East Downtown Redevelopment Authority. HCAD has appraised properties in the six-block area at $12.50 per square foot.
But asking prices by nearby owners have been $30 or more per square foot, Nip said. "If you have the whole square block, you can get as high as $40-$50."
City officials have not said how they would pay for the property. Mayor Bill White said he doesn't want public funds used for the actual stadium construction.
The property is bounded by Texas, Dowling, Walker and Hutchins streets.
Four of the six blocks are owned by former Councilman Louis Macey, who represented District C from 1976 to 1979. A fifth block is owned by HBS Warehouse Associates, and the sixth block is subdivided between two other owners, according to HCAD records.
But wait! There's more:
"It's important for us economically to have the Dynamo here because if we don't have a stadium for them, they're going to go somewhere else," said Councilman Peter Brown.
But Brown said the city should insist on plans for mixed-use development and shared parking around the future stadium.
"We built George R. Brown and Minute Maid Park without a master plan; we just sort of let development happen around them," Brown said. "This is an opportunity to take a more mature approach ... it's how you buffer the adverse impacts."
No concern for the "adverse impacts" on taxpayers' wallets, of course. Councilman Brown doesn't have to worry about such things.
And we all know a "more mature approach" involves lots and lots of money. Gigantic sums of public investment. No wonder Mayor White's position is, "we do not plan to provide any answers to specific questions."
MORE: I've been thinking about the evolution of Mayor White's language. In early stories, we'd get a quote from the mayor using the words, "no public funding." But as time went on, we'd see stories that included the words, "no property taxes." And now Cory Crow notes the fine-tuned wording in today's story:
Mayor Bill White said he doesn't want public funds used for the actual stadium construction.
A differentiation between land and stadium? There are millions of dollars of wiggle room in that language!
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/14/08 05:09 AM |
13 January 2008
Chron Froot Loop Bureau gets more sophisticated
We haven't seen much lately from Chronicle's Froot Loop Bureau, which once featured writers who seemingly watched the morning TV news with their breakfast and then posted accounts of their TV watching to Chron.com.
It seems that the Froot Loop Bureau has now adopted somewhat of a different tactic when it comes to letting the TV guys do the initial work for them: Just fire off public information requests asking for all the stuff previously requested by the TV guys.
Nice!
Even nicer is the declaration that the correspondent is "a journalist" and that any questions about the request should be communicated via email or phone. Because that's more timely, after all.
That Froot Loop Bureau doesn't miss any tricks!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/13/08 09:29 PM |
Lack of data won't hinder city's effort to stop Ashby high rise*
As he noted here, Neal Meyer has written a post about a meeting he attended last week regarding the Ashby high-rise ordinance Mayor White is pushing at the behest of Southampton residents. (Did any local media attend the meeting?)
What stands out is how capricious and ill-defined this ordinance seems to be. Not to mention that it will move broad powers from elected officials to the city's public works director -- an alarming thought, indeed, after you read some of the things the public works representative had to say.
Anyway, give it a read, and be glad someone attended the meeting and wrote about it!
(*The title refers to an answer given by an official in response to a question: "We don't know yet. We are limited by the lack of data."
Remember, this is an ordinance Mayor White attempted to fast-track ... when the city lacked data.)
KEVIN WHITED ADDS:
That's a good essay by Neal Meyer that ought to be read in its entirety.
Two snippets in particular really caught my eye, though.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/13/08 07:36 PM |
Mayor White warns Council to stick with his agenda
Did you see Carolyn Feibel's post last week on Chron.com's City Hall blog, about Mayor White's warning to the new city council?
Bill White began today with a little lecture to the newly-constituted council. He laid out three rules of diplomacy for everyone to follow, while half-apologizing if he came off as schoolmarmish.
Nevertheless, White made clear he wants council members to do their homework, read reports, go to committee meetings, and traffic in specifics, not loose rhetorical generalities.
His strongest admonition: don't exaggerate!
When giving examples of unacceptable exaggeration, White seemed to be alluding to the growing controversy over the 23-story Ashby high-rise proposed near Rice University, and the city's consideration of a traffic ordinance to limit its density.
Translation: Let my communication team set the agenda and the tone for issues, especially divisive ones.
Mayor White has to be especially relieved that Addie Wiseman has been term-limited out of Council.
Mayor White's warning comes off as heavy-handed considering councilmembers are elected by their constituents, not the mayor. Councilmembers answer to their constituencies, not Mayor White. But as we have seen in his previous two terms, Mayor White is a master at building consensus behind the scenes, and if he can't build a consensus (a rarity!), he won't press forward with an issue. Most of all, though, he does NOT appreciate surprises.
White also seemed to make a preemptive statement against those who might contend he is interfering in the Ashby high-rise plan because the neighborhood is home to politically active, influential and affluent residents.
"The most modest citizen and the most humble dwelling has every right of the most powerful citizen, no matter how much money they have," White said, apropos of nothing, it seemed.
Might that be directed at Councilman Jarvis Johnson, who said this when the initial Ashby high rise brouhaha erupted?
But Councilman Jarvis Johnson, who represents District B in northeast Houston, said residents of the poor and working-class neighborhoods he represents had a difficult time getting a sympathetic ear at City Hall when they complained about single-family housing developments with no parks or other amenities.
"The city said there were standards that we set that (the developers) followed," he said. "How can this community (Southampton) push the envelope so much?"
It's not hard to figure out why Southampton residents are getting preferential treatment, no matter how hard Mayor White and his press office try to characterize it otherwise.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/13/08 07:52 AM |
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