27 August 2007
2pm press conference set from Minute Maid; Purpura, Garner out
Several media outlets just sent out email blasts that the Astros have called a 2pm press conference for an announcement.
The That Astros Show blog (run by a journalism student who covered the Astros for MLB.com this summer) says that Purpura and Garner have been fired.
We'll find out shortly.
UPDATE: KRIV-26 also reports that Purpura and Garner will be fired. Berman's sports department usually doesn't miss on these sorts of things.
So many Chron blogs, and not a peep on Chron.com about it yet! Maybe they're all too busy being radio personalities today.
UPDATE 2: Drayton McLane just announced that Purpura is out. Tal Smith will assume the GM role on an interim basis, and a search for a permanent GM will begin tomorrow.
UPDATE 3: McLane just announced that Garner is out. Cecil Cooper will assume the manager's role on an interim basis.
BLOGVERSATION: Fire Phil Garner.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/07 01:58 PM |
26 August 2007
Tomball okays red light cameras
Not wanting to be left out of the revenue-generating bonanza known as red light cameras, Tomball has approved a five-year contract with Redflex:
City Council also approved a five-year renewable contract with Scottdale, Ariz.-based Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. to install and operate a photographic traffic signal enforcement system at a minimum of four intersections — and up to 20 intersections — to record photographs and video of vehicles that run red lights.
Redflex will conduct an engineering survey to determine the intersections that warrant red-light cameras. Police Capt. Rickey Doerre said the Texas 249/FM 2920 and Texas 249/Zion Road intersections will probably rank among the top four to six that will be selected for the program.
TheNewspaper.com has examples of Redflex's ticketing expertise:
Arizona: Impossible Speed Camera Case Settled
Tennessee: Innocent Man Pays Dearly for Bogus Red Light Camera Ticket
Arizona: Black Man Sent White Man's Speed Camera Ticket
Colorado: Gardening Truck Accused of Speeding 102 MPH Over Limit
Texas: Innocent Man Faces Uphill Battle Against Camera Ticket
Tennessee: Red Light Camera Mistakes Pickup Truck for BMW
Tennessee: Red Light Camera Ticket Goes to Man Who Stopped
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/26/07 05:22 PM |
Maybe the Midtown homeless could fix the roads?
Here's a nice bit of excavation on West Alabama near the Spur in Midtown that has apparently been left exposed and unrepaired, since last Friday (at least):
It's a little hard to see at night, as we discovered the hard way on Friday night. Luckily, it didn't seem to damage the vehicle, although it seems to have gotten deeper over the weekend. It's unclear why so many trenches are simply left this way on major streets, instead of being filled in with asphalt.
Incidentally, while I was snapping photos of the hole this morning, a homeless man "working" the nearby intersection started screaming at me and rushed over. He told me I couldn't take photos of him without his permission, or he would sue. I told him I was taking photos of the pothole, but we could call 911 right away if he wanted to file a complaint about my photos with HPD.
He just kept on ranting and raving, and I finally left. Crazy people really don't respond well to reason or logic. That's one of many reasons they shouldn't be allowed just to set up shop/camp in dangerous intersections among traffic (and among people who are strapped in by seat belts and largely defenseless IN their cars) and harass motorists and pedestrians alike.
But it's Midtown, where neither policing nor public works seems to be a priority, and crazed homeless people really do believe they "own" the public intersections they are working, right down to photography rights!
RELATED: Midtown businesses want something done about the homeless (Andy Cerota, KTRK-13 News).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/26/07 10:59 AM |
25 August 2007
Whimsical transit policy: Left hand, right hand, what hand?
On Thursday, the Chronicle's Rad Sallee reported that METRO's real-estate division was about to spring into action:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board today will consider the purchase of a former rail bed between downtown and the 610 North Loop, as well as sites for new Park & Ride lots in Katy and Pearland.
Metro plans a commuter rail line from near U.S. 290 and Hempstead Highway to a future terminal for trains and buses north of downtown, although an exact route has not been announced.
Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts refused Wednesday to discuss the transit agency's interest in the property or provide a map of it before today's meeting, set for 1 p.m. at 1900 Main.
On Friday, Sallee reported that METRO decided it might be worthwhile to think over the matter and talk to other local actors before barreling ahead:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority shelved a planned vote Thursday to buy a former freight rail bed for commuter rail, after learning - to board members' surprise - that the city plans a bike trail there.
Board member Rafael Ortega said news that Metro is interested in the route had "created some concern in the community." He suggested that Metro should "communicate our regret to the city of Houston and TxDOT for jumping the gun."
Chairman David Wolff said that was not necessary, but agreed that the agenda item had been premature. Metro staff will discuss the proposal with Houston officials before a vote is rescheduled, he said.
Wolff said the property, now owned by the Texas Department of Transportation and formerly by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, was considered as a possible route from the northwest area to a planned terminal north of downtown for buses, light rail and commuter trains.
Whoops!
As noted in an earlier post, transit policy in Houston certainly does have its whimsical aspects, and this is a nice example.
We're fairly sure this planned acquisition will return to the agenda at some point, however. METRO usually is persistent about pursuing what it wants.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/07 01:23 PM |
Perils of at-grade (freight) rail/vehicular traffic interaction
Christof Spieler of the transit advocacy group Citizens' Transportation Coalition posts an interesting 1953 report on Houston's problems with at-grade rail lines, and continues with a discussion about the surprising salience of the report's observations and recommendations to Houston's ongoing policymaking with regard to freight rail operations. Here's Spieler's conclusion:
What’s ahead is a process of prioritizing. TxDOT’s Houston Freight Rail Study has proposed hundreds of individual projects: grade separations, street closings, added track, relocated yards. We do not have the money to do all of them; the hardest task will be to figure out which to do first. Equally important is doing them right; some of the projects in the Study make sense, but others could damage neighborhoods rather than help them. And all this needs to happen in coordination with other agencies: TxDOT’s highway plans, METRO’s light rail and BRT lines, and the county’s commuter rail proposals.
We’ll only get good results here if the public is involved. It’s absolutely critical that the District keep the public informed and seek neighborhood input on overall goals and on specific projects. And it’s important that neighborhoods that are living with freight rail lines pay attention.
The good news is that this could be a win-win. It’s possible to design projects that will make neighborhoods quieter, safer, and easier to get around in, reduce traffic jams at railroad crossings, and take trucks off the roads by reducing railroad congestion.
The excerpt I've bolded is the only reference to METRO's light-rail operation in the entire post, which otherwise focuses on freight rail.
METRO, of course, is planning a massive expansion of at-grade rail lines in the near future. If the Main Street Danger Train line is any indicator -- and it would seem to be a better empirical indicator than editorializing from pro-METRO blogs and newspapers -- then the further expansion of at-grade rail lines along busy vehicular traffic corridors is likely to result in an increase in the number of dangerous rail/traffic intersections and associated vehicular traffic congestion.
Those two problems of at-grade-rail/traffic interaction figure prominently in the 1953 report cited by Spieler, so it's interesting that he focuses exclusively on the impact of freight rail (and not passenger rail). It's not really surprising, though, since CTC has long championed running light rail down busy Richmond (even as it told gullible local journalists that it merely wanted all options studied, and didn't prefer any alignment, something we now know was untrue). Running at-grade rail down Richmond will contribute to vehicular gridlock along Richmond and will create more dangerous intersections along the street, so we're not entirely surprised that Spieler restricted this discussion to freight rail lines, even though the same logic should apply to the Richmond light-rail alignment his group has long favored.
Transit policy formation in Houston often has its whimsical side, even from organizations that construct really nice graphics.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/07 01:15 PM |
It's time for another installment of "We're as good as Dallas!"
From time to time -- usually around sporting events -- the Houston daily runs one of those insipid articles on the presumed "Houston-Dallas" rivalry. Typically, comparisons are made across several categories, and we are advised that Houston really does compare favorably with Dallas!
With the preseason Texans-Cowboys NFL game coming up tonight, the Chronicle's latest effort to boost our municipal self-esteem is posted here.
It's not clear that Dallas residents or journalists ever give so much thought to their alleged Houston "rival." But it's nice of the editors at the Houston daily to try to make us (or maybe themselves?) all feel better about things from time to time.
PREVIOUSLY: We may not be world class, but we're as good as Dallas, Houston elites: We're not inferior to Dallas! Really!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/07 12:21 PM |
23 August 2007
Newspaper vendor killed in west Houston
The Chronicle reports that another street vendor has been killed while peddling newspapers, this time in west Houston:
A 70-year-old man selling newspapers by the side of the road died Wednesday after a car struck him near the intersection of S. Dairy Ashford and Westheimer, police said.
A man was driving a white Chevrolet Camaro north in the center lane of S. Dairy Ashford about 4:15 p.m. when he lost control of his car and swerved into the left lane across the median and struck a white Saturn sedan that was stopped waiting in the left turn lane, said Sgt. L.H. Leffler of HPD.
The Camaro then struck the man selling newspapers in the median and hit a tan Toyota SUV before coming to rest on top of the median, Leffler said.
The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The headline identifies the street vendor as a "pedestrian," which isn't quite right. He was a newspaper street vendor.
The story also reports that the vendor was selling newspapers "by the side of the road." Later, the report is that he was "selling newspapers in the median." It's unclear why Chronicle copy editors don't catch such discrepancies before stories are posted.
We assume that the newspaper being sold was the Chronicle (we've never seen the New York Times or Wall Street Journal distributed this way in Houston). After this latest fatality, we urge the Chronicle to abandon the dangerous and annoying practice of employing street vendors to distribute its newspaper in the middle of busy streets. Streets are dangerous enough for Houston drivers, and are no place for impromptu markets, no matter how badly the Chronicle's circulation figures continue to sag.
PREVIOUSLY: Chronicle vendor killed in unsafe work environment, Chron sues for constitutional right to sell papers in streets.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/23/07 07:01 PM |
22 August 2007
Buh bye, Billy Burge
Longtime Sports Authority Chairman Billy Burge has decided (agreed?) to leave the quasi-governmental agency:
Billy Burge, who played a major role in building Houston's three professional sports venues, will not be reappointed to the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.
Burge said he had served long enough on the authority — 10 years — and Mayor Bill White said he wanted to inject new blood into the authority.
Commissioners Court recommended Tuesday that the authority's vice chair, J. Kent Friedman, take the chairman's job.
White also has nominated Friedman, and the City Council will take up the matter at an upcoming meeting.
The authority's chairman must be approved by Commissioners Court and the City Council.
It appears a bit of a power struggle contributed to the decision:
Burge said his decision to leave the authority comes two months after he asked the board to consider whether Janis Schmees, hired as the authority's executive director a year ago, should be replaced. The board rejected the idea.
"Janis Schmees is doing an excellent job, hustling and trying to find sporting events for Houston," Friedman said.
During that same meeting, the board debated the chairman's role and whether the chairman could make decisions without the board's approval.
Burge said he helped make executive decisions at the sports authority in the six months between former executive director Oliver Luck's resignation and Schmees' hiring last summer.
"Last week, I visited with (Burge), and he said he wanted to move on," White said. "I think it's good for boards and chairs to turn over from time to time."
We still agree with Paul Bettencourt and Tom Kirkendall: The Sports Authority's mission is complete; the agency should be dissolved. There are other local agencies that can be "hustling and trying to find sporting events for Houston."
But, back to Mr. Burge: Now he can fill his days attending Grand Parkway meetings, and supporting Harris County Judge Ed Emmett in his election bid.
But he probably doesn't have a future in radio.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/22/07 07:59 PM |
BTC meetup, Friday night
Lose an Eye, It's a Sport announces a Friday night blogger gathering (of sorts).
The Byzantio Transportation Consortium will be getting together for some '80s music courtesy of Houston's best cover band, Molly and the Ringwalds, this Friday at the Continental Club at 7pm.
We may retire afterwards to the West Alabama Ice House to chat about transit policy, the Texans, or whatever comes to mind.
Lose an Eye writes more about the Byzantio Transportation Consortium (a grassroots organization!) in this earlier post.
Come hang out with us Friday night, if you're so inclined.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/22/07 12:24 PM |
21 August 2007
Houston's transit backbone has a spasm?
I was driving through Midtown tonight, and noticed that METRO's light-rail "transit backbone" was having some difficulties:
The Danger Train rail line was shut down in both directions at Main near Cleburne, with several METRO technicians working on some sort of problem, and several more METRO folks watching them work.
We probably won't hear about the problem on METRO's blog or website (those are devoted to positive spin, after all). Here's hoping METRO dispatched buses to get people around.
UPDATE: KPRC-2 and the Chronicle finally covered the news.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/07 09:24 PM |
John Lopez has left the building
For a couple of weeks at least, rumors have bounced around that the Chronicle brass is not happy about the newspaper's scribes working so many hours on local talk radio stations, and is especially unhappy about the sportswriters who are reading ads on talk radio.
Yesterday, Richard Connelly speculated that John Lopez might actually leave the Chronicle and take his chances on the radio side, working with sponsors.
Today, Lopez confirmed on his Chron.com blog that he is indeed leaving the newspaper. He will still be doing his radio show on KBME-790 (at least as long as that station is around -- it's hard to see four sports talk stations surviving), and he will also be involved in some sort of fantasy-bus-charter business. His full explanation is here. He does not say whether the Chron's talk-radio policies for sportswriters influenced his decision.
I have to say that if I were ever to land a newspaper column (not that I have ever tried, and not that it would ever happen anyway), they'd have to drag me kicking and screaming away from the keyboard. But apparently Lopez thought it was time to move on. Here's wishing him the best -- and that he'll keep blogging about sports, somewhere.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/21/07 07:02 PM |
20 August 2007
We're #1 (in commuting expense)!
Prolific commenter Vernon Guy passes along a Forbes article by Matt Woolsey that reports Houston is tops when it comes to commuting costs:
It's often said that the trip to work can kill you. But if you live in Houston, what really takes a beating is your wallet.
There, the average commuter spends 20.9% of his annual household costs on getting to work.
He's not alone. Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa, Fla., Kansas City, Mo., and Cincinnati also landed on our list of the country's biggest cities where transportation eats up a fifth or more of household costs. The study, by nonprofit research firm Surface Transportation Policy Partnership (STPP), draws on 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the most recent available. The study looked at annual transit costs such as gas, tolls and public-transit fare, as well as money spent on car payments and maintenance.
Robert Puentes, a metropolitan policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., says, "In Houston, the cost of transportation is the No. 1 household expense, above shelter."
But that's in part because Houstonians spend a lower than average proportion of their take-home pay on housing.
And that's the trade-off.
The percentage of household income Houstonians spend on transportation may be the highest in the country, but when combined with the amount residents spend on housing expenses, Houston's aggregate cost ranks them 14th, with the composite cost equaling 52% of household income.
Transit costs are high because Houston has few policies hindering sprawl, which in turn allows for cheaper housing. In San Francisco, which is much denser and has more prohibitive zoning laws than Houston, residents rank 22nd in commute costs but fifth in the combination of housing and transportation.
Please discuss in the forum.
BLOGVERSATION: Sit, Ubu, Sit, Houston Strategies.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/20/07 09:49 PM |
19 August 2007
1560 - The Game launches Monday
After a summer of sports talk shuffling and speculation, the new sports/guy talk station KGOW-1560 launches on Monday.
Here's the daytime lineup, courtesy of the 1560 The Game website:
6-10 John Granato
10-12 Richard Justice
12-2 Ken Hoffman
2-6 Sean and John
I didn't include any later shows, because KGOW isn't going to have any kind of nighttime signal for a while, so it's really kind of moot.
It will be nice to hear Granato in the mornings again, as Houston's current morning sports talk lineups are unlistenable (as is MOJO 950 KPRC in the mornings). Richard Justice has some great guests lined up for his launch. Ken Hoffman promises a great radio mystery guest on his first program (we hope it's not the mystery pooper!) and at least one excellent sports guest. I have no idea what to expect from the Sean and John show, beyond some good sports smack from the Cablinasian (but they can't be any worse than the Cynthia Hunt/Michael "Babe Pages" Berry fiasco on MOJO 950 KPRC last Friday or Rich Lord's program on KILT-610 in the same rough time slots).
How long can four sports talk stations last in Houston?
BLOGVERSATION: Mike McGuff, Four DVRs, No Waiting (and more here).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/07 08:12 PM |
Months after approval, still no start to muni Wi-Fi build-out
The Chronicle's Alexis Grant and Matt Stiles report that Earthlink is already behind on its scheduled rollout of municipal Wi-Fi:
Months after the City Council approved a contract to allow EarthLink Inc. to blanket Houston with a wireless network, the build-out still has not begun.
The delay is prompting concern that the company, which publicly has said it is rethinking its business model, may be having doubts about whether to proceed in Houston as planned.
Mayor Bill White acknowledged Friday that the company is two or three months behind schedule. But he said EarthLink is obligated under contract to build the network within a certain time, so if there are significant delays Houston would receive compensation.
[snip]
The company has yet to sign an agreement with CenterPoint Energy to lease its light poles for the project, according to CenterPoint spokeswoman Leticia Lowe. City officials expected that to happen soon after the council approved the city's contract in mid-April.
[snip]
The city contract allows EarthLink to build a wireless network over Houston's 640 square miles. Residents, city employees and visitors then would be able to access the network for a fee through an Internet service provider.
The city agreed to pay the company $2.5 million during the next five years to serve as the anchor tenant.
But EarthLink officials, who declined to comment for this story, have expressed unease recently about the financial viability of wireless projects, which have yet to prove on a scale as large as Houston's that they will draw enough customers to make a profit.
The project here is expected to require an investment of about $50 million, according to EarthLink and city officials.
Fiscal reality may finally be setting in for Earthlink.
Local blogger and techie Larry Hendrick has been talking about the economics of municipal wifi and the holes in the city's plan for quite some time now, so this news probably comes as no surprise to him or his readers.
It will be interesting to see if Earthlink decides to proceed with the current agreement, bails on the agreement (with whatever financial penalties that apply), or tries to renegotiate with the City to charge even more for anchor tenancy.
BLOGVERSATION: High Tech Texan, Professors R-Squared.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/07 04:36 PM |
If only the proletariat would rally around the visionary architect-councilmember...
In her weekly politics column, the Chronicle's Kristen Mack profiles Councilmember Peter Brown, who desperately wants to be Houston's next boss, er, mayor. Here are some interesting excerpts:
Brown suffers from rich guy syndrome — he's the only council member who has original artwork from Monet and Picasso hanging in the hallways of his home — which causes him to be idealistic and creates blind spots in his thinking.
[snip]Government's job, Brown says, is to create a middle class and increase the creation of wealth. That requires a vision, which leads to a plan, policy, standards and then continuity.
[snip]
Brown is in the process of considering whether he can be a visionary mayor for the city of Houston. He's already adopted a potential platform: creating a global, green and good city. By that he means creating a "quality of place to attract people here," more parks and open space and addressing social issues head on.
Brown says he is being drafted to run for mayor in 2009. A group of friends, led by lawyer Jim Robertson, have formed an exploratory committee encouraging him to run.
Ah yes, the old reliable "Draft X" movement formed by "friends." For the good of the city (Peter Brown), county (Charles Bacarisse), state (Rick Noriega), or country (Fred Thompson/Al Gore). Completely spontaneously, of course! *wink*
Quite a few people likely share Councilmember Brown's concern for quality-of-life issues. However, one suspects that most Houstonians don't share Councilmember Brown's views on using the heavy hand of government to force folks to abide by the whims/wisdom of elitist planners like the Architect-Councilmember, who sometimes seems as out of touch with everyday middle-class life as Stanley Fish! For that reason, it seems unlikely we'll be calling him Architect-Mayor Brown in a few years, however much money he decides to spend on the race.
Matt Stiles has posted the Peter Brown Manifesto to the NewsWatch: City Hall blog. It is an entertaining read.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/07 04:21 PM |
Houston Zoo loses last rhino, gains toilet art
The Houston Zoo lost its last rhinoceros this week:
Bu, a gentle Southern white rhino who enjoyed a good scratching from keepers and a roll in his mud wallow, has died from complications of old age.
He was 39.
His passing early Thursday leaves the Houston Zoo without rhinos for the first time since Bu and his companion Marci (short for Marcibit) arrived at the zoo in the summer of 1971.
The story is lengthy, but it never addresses whether zoo officials have any plans to acquire replacement rhinos.
Oh well, at least folks paying steadily increasing admission fees can enjoy new toilet art. How World Class!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/19/07 03:57 PM |
18 August 2007
Longer yellow-light times decrease red-light running (cont'd)
TheNewspaper.com highlights what happened at a red-light camera intersection in Springfield, Missouri, when the yellow-light time was increased:
Springfield, Missouri found that lengthening the yellow signal warning time at intersections that had previously been selected for the city's new red light camera program has now eliminated profit from the system. The city has decided to address this problem by moving its cameras to intersections where the yellow warning time has been shortened by at least half-a-second.
Just remember -- it's about safety, not revenue.
PREVIOUSLY: bH posts on yellow light times
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/18/07 08:47 AM |
17 August 2007
Recognition for the Chronicle
We all know the mainstream media hold themselves in very high regard. Why, these are professional journalists! These people went to journalism school, you know! Well, the American Thinker blog has put together a list of "professional" media oopses:
Offenses include lying and fabricating, doctoring photos, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, falling for hoaxes, and overt bias. Some are hilarious, such as an action figure doll being mistaken for a real soldier. Some are silly, such as reporting on a baseball game watched on TV. Some are more serious
Check out number 44:
Houston Chronicle, Light Rail Controversy (2002). Admitted bias. An internal memo outlined how the paper would promote the light rail project in Houston and do research into Tom Delay and other light rail opponents. That would be creating the news rather than reporting it.
Hugh Hewitt calls the list the "MSM Hall of Shame." It's always nice when the Chron is recognized for its work.
PREVIOUSLY: Houston Chronicle "Rail Memo" Mirror
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/17/07 04:57 AM |
16 August 2007
Emmett tweaks Bacarisse, "Friends" fire back
A couple of weeks ago, the Chronicle's Kristen Mack reported on a bit of political gamesmanship/fiscal leadership (the term you prefer depends upon your loyalties, I suppose) from selected-not-elected County Judge Ed Emmett:
At last week's Commissioners Court meeting Emmett slapped the hand of potential rival District Clerk Charles Bacarisse, who is eyeing a run for county judge. Emmett delayed a vote on Bacarisse's annual leadership retreat by questioning the cost to taxpayers.
This year would be the district clerk's eighth retreat to Moody Gardens for 23 of his staffers.
"It's a boondoggle trip down to Galveston," Emmett said. "Spending $8,000 to take county employees down there and miss two days of work for something called leadership could be perceived as a bad (use) of taxpayer dollars.
This week, the Friends of Charles Bacarisse fired back. Here's an excerpt:
Despite adding at least three newly created positions to his own staff, at an additional annual cost of roughly $197,000 to county taxpayers, newly appointed County Judge Ed Emmett has recently led the Harris County Commissioner's Court in denying a comparatively modest amount of funds for basic operations by staff members in the Harris County District Clerk's office run by Charles Bacarisse — a potential, but as-yet unannounced, GOP primary opponent to the little-known Mr. Emmett.
Let's first look at how Mr. Emmett is lavishly spending additional county tax dollars in his own office. To start, Mr. Emmett has created two new "policy" positions in the office of county judge: his new policy "director," who used to work for him in Washington, DC and who now makes approximately $85,000 a year (based on her $41.05 hourly wage at a full-time rate); and Emmett's new policy "analyst," who used to work for The Emmett Company and who now makes roughly $42,000 a year (based on his $20.19 an hour wage). These two new hires alone make for as much as $127,000 in new salary costs for policy advisors that Mr. Emmett's predecessor, Robert Eckels, did not require.
A third new hire by Mr. Emmett, director of his newly created "placement and employment" department, makes another $70,000 a year based on her hourly wage at a full-time rate. As with policy advisors, Judge Eckels likewise did not require a "placement" director, nor did he need the three different personal "assistants" of various stripes that Mr. Emmett now has. In fact, according the County Auditor's office, the county judge's staff under Mr. Emmett has expanded from 45 full-time positions at the end of February 2007 to 51 in the current pay period. We also understand there are significant renovations on the fourth floor of the county administration building at 1001 Preston to accommodate Mr. Emmett's growing empire. The total cost for Mr. Emmett's spending spree to local taxpayers is not yet clear.
We suspect that these developments have Friend of Bill and likely Dem Harris County Judge candidate David Mincberg smiling.
Incidentally, did anyone see our selected-not-elected County Judge on television discussing the flooding, in his lovely green Harris County polo shirt, with "County Judge Ed Emmett" featured on one side (link to KTRK-13 video)? I felt a little embarrassed for the guy, who either has trouble remembering his name or is really feeling insecure about being the selected-not-elected incumbent.
BLOGVERSATION: ABC13.com Political Blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/16/07 11:48 PM |
15 August 2007
Council approves West Dallas, Bolsover land deals
City Council officially approved Mayor White's $6 million shakedown of the Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation today:
The Houston City Council voted today to sell a 6.7-acre tract on West Dallas near Shepherd and Allen Parkway to the Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation.
The unanimous vote capped a long and sometimes heated negotiation between city officials and the center, which had occupied the land since 1963 under a 99-year contract that the city recently declared invalid.
[snip]
"It will be one of my great moments as a member of council, that we decided to do the right thing for the people that live there and to choose people over land," Councilwoman Sue Lovell said.
Declaring a (previously valid) lease invalid in an effort to shake down the Center (successfully, as it turns out!) shouldn't be a matter of pride, no matter how much the Mayor and his Council try to spin their shakedown after the fact.
Speaking of spin, Charles Kuffner posts this description of Mayor White's comments before this item was considered:
During the discussion of the agenda item, before the vote was taken, Mayor White spoke somewhat cryptically about a piece of direct mail that went out in the early stages of the city's negotiations with the Center that attacked the city's motives and made some statements that the Mayor called untrue. You could tell that he was upset about this - he specifically said that if the senders of that mail had really wanted to do something constructive, they would have given money to the Center instead of spending it on that attack mailer - though he didn't go into any detail about its origins. You could also tell that he hadn't spoken of this before in public, because everyone I asked about it, including folks who were representing the Center, didn't know anything about it.
Without seeing the alleged direct mail, I can't really comment on it. However, we do know that sometimes our mayor can be thin-skinned when it comes to public criticism, and we can understand that he would have preferred his Boot The Mentally Retarded Shakedown discussion to have remained private, instead of becoming a matter of public debate (and criticism). Picking on retarded children publicly isn't the best imagery for mayors with aspirations to higher political office, after all. It will be interesting to see if the Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists (aka Mrs. White) supplement the Mayor's spin later in the week!
In other land-transaction business today, Council approved the transfer of a section of Bolsover to a developer for $1.5 million:
This is not the first time the city has abandoned a road.
Not even in the Rice Village area.
But Houston Mayor Bill White says the way this one happened made him want to rethink the way the city does this in the future. “What we’ve done here is really try to make reasonable improvements.”
For two weeks the Mayor has been working on new procedures the city should follow when it sells public streets.
In this case the city got two appraisals for the property, which were nearly $1 million apart.
Mayor White says next time, the process shouldn’t be so haphazard.
If Mayor White (and the principal Councilmember who worked this deal, Anne Clutterbuck) truly thought the process was haphazard, they certainly could have slowed it down and brought more order to it. The fact is, there were some legitimate questions about the appraisal process and whether the city was getting proper value for the tract in question, and Mayor White didn't see that as a reason to slow or modify the "haphazard" process considerably. Presumably, Mayor White and Councilmember Clutterbuck think they secured a good deal for the city, although that's not completely clear at this point.
RELATED COVERAGE: KHOU-11, KTRK-13, Inside Central Houston.
MORE MAYORAL PR SPIN: Off the Kuff.
BLOGVERSATION: A Veneer of Certainty.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/07 11:32 PM |
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