02 September 2006
A new Out-of-Town-Brown
The Chronicle's Alexis Grant reports on the hilarity that ensued at Council when the topic of Councilmember Peter Brown's vacation in France (and missed Council meetings) came up:
[Councilmember Peter] Brown missed two meetings last month while on vacation in Nice, France, where his wife spent the summer. During one of the meetings, a staffer or fellow council member put a sign on his chair that read "Out of Town Brown."
He missed the other meeting earlier this summer, also for a trip to Nice, one of Houston's sister cities. That trip was listed as city business because he met with Nice's mayor.[snip]
Brown was in his seat this week when Mayor Bill White briefed the council on the state of freight rail here. Brown pressed for details, asking: "Are we headed toward some kind of master plan that would identify priorities for the city in terms of mobility and protecting neighborhoods from noise?"
That brought laughs from several council members, and White smiled while considering how to respond.
"We adopted it last week when you were in France," he replied.
Ha ha ha! What great fun!
Not really.
It doesn't make much sense that a guy who campaigned so hard for so long to be on City Council doesn't take the job more seriously. In fact, it's annoying.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/06 03:22 PM |
Chron finally gets Sekula-Gibbs to answer important question
Congratulations to the Chronicle!
After several suggestions from this blog (and even a few emails), a professional journalist covering doctor-councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' bid for Congress finally decided to ask her (for the record) why she's not resigning her council seat to work full-time to introduce herself to the voters of the district (many of whom do not know her):
If Sekula-Gibbs wins the special election she will have to resign from the Houston City Council, even if she doesn't win the term that begins in January.
"To me, that's a risk that I am willing to take," said Sekula-Gibbs, whose council term runs through next year.
"I am not half-hearted in my commitment."
Asked why she is not giving up her council seat now to focus on the congressional race, she replied, "Because being on the City Council gives me a tremendous opportunity to speak out on issues that are important to our region. I cannot give up that position."
Kudos to the Chronicle for finally getting an answer to a question that should have been asked of doctor-councilwoman weeks ago. You would have thought doctor-councilwoman would have come up with a better answer, but maybe she didn't actually expect the local media ever to ask the question.
Democrat Nick Lampson, who is now the heavy favorite to win the Congressional seat, decided not to run in the special election, which he might well lose.
Elsewhere in the story, Kristen Mack quotes Houston bicyclist Bob Stein, which always pleases blogHOUSTON.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/06 03:11 PM |
01 September 2006
The perfect time to dump news in a black hole
When is the perfect time for the city to announce news certain to go into the media black hole?
On a Friday afternoon that kicks off a three-day weekend, of course!
[UBU ROI TAKES OVER FROM HERE!]
Yesterday afternoon, Matt Stiles reported for the Chronicle that the City of Houston is filing suit against four handpicked employees who formerly worked for Carol Alvarado in the Mayor Pro Tem's office. The "Bonusgate Four" were fired last March after the managers Rosita Hernandez and Florence Watkins arranged raises and bonus payments for themselves and the other two employees in the office, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta. The total amount that they helped themselves to was over $143,000. The extra payments came to light when a manager in the city's Finance and Administration department overheard two employees complaining how much council aides were paid.
Among several causes of action, the lawsuits in state district court allege that the employees committed fraud, theft and a breach of fiduciary duty in obtaining bonuses and pay increases that the city's Civil Service Commission found they didn't deserve.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/01/06 04:09 PM |
31 August 2006
West Houston residents blast MayorWhiteChiefHurtt on crime
MayorWhiteChiefHurtt were grilled by West Houston residents on Wednesday night, as 1,700 people turned out to a public meeting on (what else?) violent crime and inadequate policing. Here is an excerpt from the Chronicle's reporting:
Katrina fatigue erupted into anger and frustration Wednesday night, as more than 1,700 west Houston residents urged Mayor Bill White to send evacuees home to New Orleans.
One year after the city of Houston welcomed at least 250,000 evacuees, more than 100,000 New Orleans natives still remain. West Houston residents who gathered Wednesday at Grace Presbyterian Church to address increases in violent crime over the past year in their community said evacuees are to blame.
White and Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt had come to the church to discuss details of a new police division on the west side that will add 140 officers to the streets, increase investigative strength, bring gang activity under control and enforce traffic laws.While residents welcomed the news, many who filled the sanctuary to overflowing Wednesday night wanted to know when the city planned to cut assistance to evacuees through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There are about 3,000 Katrina evacuees who reside in the apartment complexes near Westheimer and the Beltway 8.
As KTRH-740's Chris Baker pointed out earlier, HPD's manpower problem predates Katrina. Although it is true that Katrina refugees figure prominently in the recent rise in violent crime, the fact is that HPD's worsening manpower problem and leadership issues predate Katrina, and until recently nobody in the White Administration or on Council was even talking about hiring more officers.
One councilmember (who, incidentally, is one of the sponsors of tomorrow's event honoring Houston's bumbling police chief) actually tried to deflect blame for HPD's manpower shortage from Mayor White and Council to President Bush! Here's KTRK-13's reporting from tonight:
By 2008, Mayor White and Houston's police chief hope to bring the ranks up to 5,000 officers. It's achievable, but what happens the year after that or five years after that? With another 600 officers expected to retire over the next three years, Mayor White says he's committed to a long term hiring program.
The plan calls for seven cadet classes through June 2007. That's an addition of nearly 500 officers, assuming those classes are at capacity. It also calls for more aggressive overtime programs using the nearly 30 million in federal monies and various recruiting programs. How realistic is this?
Houston city councilmember Adrian Garcia said, "It was realistic until President Bush signed a pension reform bill."
Garcia estimates that 40% of HPD's workforce is eligible for retirement. But that's not his only concern.
He said, "Filling those classes is going to be a challenge. The type of officer that we are hiring today has a job waiting in corporate America and we don't offer corporate America salaries."
As the recruiting wars continue, Garcia says he and the mayor, along with the police chief and other city leaders, are now working on a long term solution to the current crisis.
Councilmember Garcia, Mayor White, and other councilmembers preferred to ignore the problem until recently (not that someone watching KTRK would know from that weak reporting), and it's only gotten worse. The current leadership at HPD, which has produced widespread dissatisfaction among the rank and file, doesn't exactly provide the city a recruiting edge, either. But maybe the crew that gathers to honor Chief Hurtt with cajun appetizers tomorrow will find a way to blame dissatisfaction with HPD's leadership on President Bush also.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: KHOU-11, KPRC-2, KTRH-740.
BLOGVERSATION: Lou Minatti, Polimom.
UPDATE (09-01-2006): Councilmember Michael Berry is discussing Houston's "public safety crisis" on his show on KPRC-950 today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/31/06 11:22 PM |
A helpful PSA from HPD
Look what HPD posted today:
License Plate Obstruction Information
August 31, 2006 -- Recently there have been some questions regarding State of Texas traffic laws. The below information may be useful:
[snip]
QUESTION 2: Is it permissible to have protective material covering a license plate or to have a frame around the license plate?
ANSWER: The law prohibits protective material to cover a license plate. The law also prohibits a license plate frame from obscuring the plate number or the wording “State of Texas” or “Lone Star State.”
Texas traffic code, section 502.409 state in part:
“A person commits an offense if the person attaches to…a number plate…decal, emblem or other insignia that is not authorized by law and that interferes with the readability of the letters or numbers on the plate or the name of the state in which the vehicle is registered…”
These laws were passed to simplify identification of license plates by citizens and the law enforcement community from both the front and back of the vehicle. The general public needs to be aware that they must have a license plate on the front and back of the vehicle. The public also needs to know that any material that covers or blocks any portion of the license plate needs to be removed. This includes most dealer, sports and school alumni license plate frames. This law originated with state toll road authorities experiencing an alarming degree of violations at toll facilities due to the use of devices that render the characters and state on the license plate undetectable to toll road cameras.
Red light cameras begin generating revenue tomorrow!
You'll be relieved to know that all money from camera fines will go toward police overtime. I still think all revenue should go to public schools instead. And I certainly hope City Controller Annise Parker adds this program to her audit list.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/31/06 06:18 PM |
30 August 2006
Chief Hurtt to be honored on Friday
There's an email making the rounds that a fair number of readers have forwarded to me, and maybe other readers will be interested in it:
You Are Invited To A Reception Honoring
Harold Hurtt - Chief Of Police, City Of Houston
Friday 1 September 2006, 6-8 PM
at the
Red Cat Jazz Cafe - 924 Congress - 77002
(between Main and Travis Streets)Hosted by:
Houston City Councilmembers
Jarvis Johnson - Peter Brown - Adrian Garcia - Ronald Green - Sue LovellHouston Citizens Chamber Of Commerce
Marlon Barabin, PresidentHouston Lawyers Association
Latasha Lewis, PresidentAfrican-American Police Of?cers League
Mitchell Ruf?n, PresidentComplimentary Cajun Hors D'Oeuvres
Valet Parking AvailableRéspondez S'il Vous Plaît: [email address removed by blogHOUSTON]
Sadly, the blogHOUSTON crew did not receive the email, so we apparently are not invited to honor the police chief.
Two things do stand out in the email, though.
First, it's interesting to see which Councilmembers actively support the bumbling, soft-on-crime police chief.
Second, they are holding the event from 6-8 pm on a Friday night. That's going to make it tough for Chief Hurtt to blast out of Houston and off to Phoenix for the weekend. That doesn't seem very accommodating of the organizers!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 11:08 PM |
METRO generates familiar complaints on southeast side
In departing from the METRO Solutions plan approved by voters in 2003, METRO is having some familiar problems on the southeast side:
More than 120 people attended the formal public hearing, which was held to elicit comments for the final impact statement and as a precursor to the Metro board's selection of an option which considers local preferences.
The Southeast corridor is part of Metro's plan to link destinations throughout the city to the existing Main Street rail line.
The draft statement analyzes two proposed routes for the corridor: one that would turn on Scott Street from downtown before turning on Griggs and ending near the Palm Business Center, and another that would turn off of Scott onto Wheeler and again onto Martin Luther King Boulevard, before ending somewhere near the Palm Center.
The Scott/Griggs alignment was the route chosen by southeast area voters in 2003 when they approved Metro's plan for light rail line in the area, and some say the transit company ought to stick with that.
Anitra Brown's story for the Chronicle may be found here.
As we have noted before, METRO is on the most solid ground when it closely adheres to the METRO Solutions plan approved by voters in 2003, and gets into shakier territory when it chooses to depart from that plan.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 10:20 PM |
KHOU: TXDOT will consider Camacho I-45 tunnel proposal
KHOU-11's Wendell Edwards checks in on Gonzalo Camacho, who apparently has managed to get TXDOT at least to listen to his proposals to use tunnels to expand I-45:
When he heard TxDOT was studying how to expand the North Freeway Camacho developed his own concept.
He designed what he calls the 1-45 Parkway, complete with two underground, double-stacked tunnels.
“I wouldn’t call this a light idea. If you go onto the website you can find a lot of information. It’s probably close to a year of research. And I’m talking 24/7,” said Camacho.
[snip]
“We are going to take a look at that and study that as one of the options that might be permissible within the confines of the space that we have and perhaps the economy that we will have as well,” said Norm Wiggington, TxDOT spokesman.
TXDOT will surely look at many proposals it receives, but it remains to be seen if the tunnel concept (which we have discussed before) is viable.
Camacho's tunnel proposal is located here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 09:11 PM |
Chron.com editorial page linkblog goes stale
Earlier in the week, we read with some dismay on Dwight Silverman's blog that he would be taking off for the week.
Apparently, there is only one person in the mighty Chron.com empire capable of updating the link blog, so when Silverman is unavailable, it just sits there, stale. So, in case anyone wants to check out what local blogs caught Silverman's eye last Friday, they're right there for the clicking. Still.
But who knows -- given the timely Editorial LiveJournalists, we could possibly see a staff editorial over the next few days on one of those very topics that a blogger hit last week. So it kind of works on one level.
UPDATE (09-01-2006): Chron.com has made what we hope is a permanent change to the page, replacing Silverman's whimsical linkblog with the Blogburst widget that was previously located on the metro/state page.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 08:58 PM |
Banjo Jones: Hearst targeting free community newspapers?
Banjo Jones calls attention to what appears to be an online survey intended for employees of the Houston Chronicle. Here's the intro screen:
Welcome to the Houston Chronicle Community Newspaper Survey. We're gathering information on local publications and need your input. Please provide as much information as possible. Responses will be tabulated by the Market Research Department.
All Chronicle employees who return a completed survey will have the chance to win some great prizes!
I don't receive any community newspapers where I live, but I filled out the survey anyway, just in case the Chronicle wants to toss some of those great prizes (!) towards non-employees.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/30/06 08:37 PM |
Kashmere principal unwelcome at meeting to save the school
Isiah Carey posts a report of how some in the Kashmere High School community are working hard to save the school:
The Insite was at a meeting of African American ministers who came together to hammer out a plan to save Kashmere High School. It was held at New Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist church on Kelley. But the meeting went really wrong. Attending the meeting were Carol Mims Galloway, Rev. Willie Jones, Senfronia Thompson, Shelia Jackson Lee, Kevin Hoffman and a host of others. But things went sour when the principal of Kashmere, Dr. Charlotte Parker, showed up. Apparently, she was invited by HISD Board Member Kevin Hoffman.
[snip]
Dr. Parker was recently appointed to the school - replacing the former principal...Some community leaders were very upset with that decision. So, when Hoffman had his turn to speak to the group he also invited up Principal Parker. She gave the group a folder of information on how they can help improve the school. But after about 15 minutes Pastor Jones got up and abruptly told Parker her time was up and to leave. He also told her the meeting wasn't about what they could do at the school but what HISD should do to save the school. Pastor Jones also chastised HISD Board Member Kevin Hoffman.
Well, okay. They aren't really working so hard. This group of community activists had a high profile temper tantrum because they think HISD hasn't poured enough money into Kashmere. Never mind that HISD has poured tons of money and resources into Kashmere over the past couple of years and is doing even more this year. No, that's not enough.
At this point HISD is doing all it can for Kashmere. HISD cannot force students to learn. HISD can make sure it has everything in place to facilitate learning and provide extra help and tutoring, but Kashmere High School is now at the point where the students and parents will decide if the school succeeds.
Meanwhile, one person leaving the meeting told The Insite she didn't believe the gathering of ministers produced any results to help Kashmere.
That's not surprising. Disappointing, yes, but not surprising.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/30/06 07:38 PM |
City controller's audit plan for FY 2007
Controller Annise Parker has posted the Fiscal Year 2007 audit plans on the city's website. Notably missing from the list are any operations of the Housing and Community Development Department, which have proved to be so embarassing in the past, despite the evidence that little has changed. (Item #40)
Just as an aside, you know things are bad when the Federal Government thinks you're wasting its money and starts cutting back on the money flow.
The City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department has decided to delay issuance of the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Neighborhood Facilities Renovation. The reason for this delay is that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has reduced the City's Community Development Block Grant allocation by $3,630,000 for Fiscal Year 2006 (July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007). The Department does plan to issue the RFP in December 2006 for funding in Fiscal Year 2007 (July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008).
One would think that maybe the $750,000 in city funds that went to propping up Metro's ridership figures buying bus passes for city employees would be audited, or LARA would be checked over, or maybe even someone would follow up to see if HOH has reimbursed HUD -- but then again, the city would rather spend $200k and try to get out of it entirely (see item #48), so why bother?
What's Ms. Parker auditing in FY 2007? A whole lot of "safe" things:
- Some Aviation Dept construction contracts
- HFD's fleet maintenance
- City-wide Purchase Card activity (Well, that was fun over at TSU--who knows what we'll find here?)
- PW&E's Landscaping and Beautification projects
- Vehicle Maintenance: Did you change the oil?
Exciting stuff, eh? Certainly nothing that's going to cause problems for the mayor or the folks lined up at the trough labeled "Houston Development." Well, there are three items on the list which might prove interesting:
- Taser Acquisition, Distribution, & Use. I'm not holding my breath on that one, as most of the criticisms of the idea have to do with law enforcement issues, not cost effectiveness.
- Long-Term Contract Relationships: An examination of whether the city is really saving money by skimping on hiring employees and contracting out jobs instead. Of course, I would be interested in that. :)
- Parking, Car Rentals, and Hotel Concession: Checking up behind the entertainment industry in this city to make sure they've remitted the taxes like they should have. Hmmmmm... see item #19.
There's more; you may want to check it out, but my read of this is that in an election year (most of these will be completed in the first half of 2007), Controller Parker isn't going to risk causing any problems for Mayor White's last re-election bid.
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 08/30/06 01:35 PM |
29 August 2006
HPD's manpower shortage, leadership continue to raise concerns
KTRK-13 ran a story earlier that's become all too familiar. As Kevin Quinn reported, a Houston man was involved in a non-injury traffic accident and called 911. He suspected the other driver was intoxicated, which he reported. He and the other driver waited for a cop for two hours. Additional calls were made to 911. Finally, he gave up on an officer showing up, and informed 911 that he would file a report with a substation. The driver suspected of being intoxicated drove away.
Here is HPD's response to KTRK:
HPD says it does take drunk driving very seriously, but these 911 calls were considered a lower priority because no one was hurt in this accident and the man who was allegedly driving drunk was not causing any sort of disturbance. They say simply that other calls with higher priorities were handled first.Police say they can only cover so much ground these days. They note again that they are short staffed by about 600 officers.
For all their talk of public safety, MayorWhiteChiefHurtt seem to deliver much more in the way of excuses.
Meanwhile, KRIV-26's Isiah Carey reproduces an email from a police officer describing his experience in the immediate aftermath of Chief Hurtt's now-suspended chase policy. We can expect more stories like this when Chief Hurtt's no-chase policy is eventually reinstated (and if Mayor White's praise of Chief Hurtt yesterday is any indicator, the policy will eventually be reinstated).
HPD is short on numbers, and the bad guys increasingly seem to perceive MayorWhiteChiefHurtt as soft on crime. That's really not a very good mix.
UPDATE: KTRH-740's Chris Baker has this to say on his page on KTRH:
I watched CH13’s report and at first I shook my head then I got mad and now I am furious.
I wonder how many arrest for drunk driving this guy has? Is it none? Is it three? We will never know because there were no cops available to arrest him. How embarrassing for a city of this size to not be able to investigate a drunk driver for two hours.
It is embarrassing.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/06 10:39 PM |
Priscilla Slade is now teaching accounting...at TSU!
This is one of those stories where all you can do is shake your head and wonder at the sheer stupidity and incompetence that is out there:
Priscilla Slade, the former Texas Southern University president fired for her spending of school money on personal expenses, is teaching accounting courses on campus this semester.
Her return to the classroom comes four weeks after a Harris Country grand jury indicted Slade and three aides for allegedly violating the university's policies and state laws in paying for household furnishings and landscaping, among other things.Although the university's governing board fired Slade in June for her spending as president, she remains a tenured professor in the Jesse H. Jones School of Business, officials said today.
Slade's decision to resume teaching came as surprise to some administrators and faculty members, who assumed she would prefer a lower profile while facing criminal charges.
Noooo! Now why would anyone assume she would lie low while facing criminal charges???
She's probably just a victim of...something and, you know, it's not her fault. Ergo, there's no shame in her teaching accounting at TSU. Why, next thing you know, she'll be teaching ethics classes.
(via the Chronicle's Matthew Tresaugue)
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers, Lone Star Times.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/29/06 08:50 PM |
Who needs consistency?
In one of their two editorials today, the Editorial LiveJournalists criticize the United States for allegedly disrespecting the sovereignty of Nicaragua (with regard to upcoming elections).
In their other editorial today, the Editorial LiveJournalists criticize the United States for not disrespecting the sovereignty of other nations (the Editorial LiveJournalists insist the U.S. should make other countries equip their airports with more advanced explosive-detection equipment).
The headline for the second editorial is "Dumb and dumber." Insert whatever quip you'd like in the comments.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/06 08:46 AM |
Chron profiles new MediaSource boss
Yesterday, the Chronicle's Matt Stiles posted a nice profile of Fred Fichman, the new executive director of Houston MediaSource.
This excerpt seems worth highlighting:
[Fichman] said he sees MediaSource as a training ground, where budding producers and nonprofit groups can show their work.
He wants them to have better equipment and hopes to upgrade the channel's existing system to a video server, which would allow on-demand access to shows online.
"Because the technology is marching so quickly to improve the image, people really do have some power in their hands to be able to contribute," he said.
Fichman, who'll be paid $65,000 a year, said he doesn't know much about the controversy last year over a few shows among the scores of others on politics, neighborhoods and religion that don't raise concerns.
He doesn't think racy programs should be on a public channel.
"Somebody has to take responsibility for this," he said. "Somebody has to be the determination point if something comes close to crossing the line."
By the end of the Patti Garlinghouse/Garth Jowett era at MediaSource, the channel seemed to be more about the contempt of those two figures for anyone on Council who might criticize and attempt to regulate vulgarity on the channel than actually running a quality organization that could serve as a training ground for amateur A/V buffs and a respected community forum of sorts (we'll leave aside the question of whether user fees ought to support such entities in the first place). Fichman sounds a little different.
Fichman's comment about video-on-demand is interesting. Given the popularity of YouTube and podcasting, perhaps MediaSource (if it's going to exist at all) does need to consider using the web as well as its cable channel to promote the work of local audio/video (and maybe even blogging) buffs. Perhaps under the right leadership, MediaSource could even eventually serve as the local "web" hub that some local bloggers/podcasters have suggested would benefit the Houston web scene.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/29/06 08:28 AM |
28 August 2006
Mayor White puts his Chief's new chase policy on hold
Apparently, police union chief Hans Marticiuc and Councilmember Michael Berry weren't the only ones who didn't take kindly to being blindsided by Chief Hurtt's decision last week radically to change HPD's chase policy, without input from Council or the public. As multiple news sources are reporting, Mayor White has put the whole thing on hold. Here is an excerpt from Reggie Aqui's reporting for KHOU-11:
Days after the police chief announced that chasing suspects would be limited, Mayor Bill White on Monday announced that the city needs to take a step back.
HPD Chief Harold Hurtt did not want officers to chase people allegedly involved in minor offenses. That was HPD's policy until Monday morning.
"We have decided to hold the pursuit policy in abeyance until we can get it on the agenda of the public safety subcommittee, and we'll have discussions where we'll allow officers as well as citizens interested, individuals, to have additional comments," Chief Hurtt said.
Mayor White, who said he supports the chief's policy, asked the chief this weekend to suspend that policy.
"I think there was a ... breakdown in a process of reviewing that policy with council members and the union before it was announced," Mayor White said.
The mayor said he fully supports the chief and his autonomy. He also said he believes Chief Hurtt should be able to make his own policy but in this case, he believes the chief should have come to both his office and City Council.
Mayor White can make it sound as nice as he wants, but this amounts to a (needed and welcome) slapdown of his bumbling, handpicked police chief.
Of course, leave it to the Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists to come out solidly behind the Chief's now-aborted policy today. Way to be timely and relevant there, guys!
Yesterday, KRIV-26 reporter Isiah Carey posted on his blog that Hurtt and Marticiuc were meeting with their babysitter this weekend. It now seems likely that the babysitter informed the two that Mayor White would now be taking control of the issue, and that they should stop their attacks on each other.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: KPRC-2, KTRH-740, Chronicle.
UPDATE: KTRH and KPRC web reports are misquoting Chief Hurtt, who clearly says "interested individuals" and not "arrested individuals" in the video that is posted on the KPRC website.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Isiah Carey's Insite.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/28/06 02:27 PM |
Metro tells bike riders to take a hike
As the City of Houston and Metro continue to rake in windfall sales tax revenues month after month (we know this thanks to the tireless efforts of Tom Bazan), Metro is refusing to honor another of its 2003 referendum promises (Rad Sallee's Move It! column):
Last week, Metro officials told biking advocates that the agency has no immediate plans to put bike racks on all its buses — as called for in the 2003 transit referendum — but will consider phasing them in through 2008.
A perennially hopeful suitor, the city's biking community is accustomed to disappointment from Metro. There are far more bus riders than bikers, and when money is tight, guess who loses out?
Both sides were all smiles in 2000, when the agency said it would have all its buses equipped with racks the following year. The money went to Park & Ride expansion instead.
Hopes flourished again in 2004, when a $1.5 million to purchase and install racks was expected to be in the agency's 2005 budget. But a slumping economy and falling sales tax revenue hit Metro with its first annual shortfall, and the item disappeared.
As recently as May, a Metro spokeswoman said "we're reconsidering our timeline" based on cycling advocates' request that racks appear sooner than the 2008 time frame envisioned now.
At Wednesday's Metro board meeting, BikeHouston chairman Woody Speer made the perennial plea. He added that the newest bumper-mounted racks can be locked and unlocked quickly, minimizing bus delays, and do not interfere with automated bus-washing equipment.
Speer said the Houston-Galveston Area Council has $1.2 million in federal air quality funds that Metro could use for the program, but the money runs out this month.
[snip]
After Speer's remarks to the board, Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson responded that the agency would consider phasing in bike racks through 2008. But he said bike fans have taken an "all or nothing" approach.
"We look at this like we look at any other expenditure of funds, an investment in service," Wilson said. "We've heard all the arguments, we've done all the research, and to summarize as best I can, we're going to spend a significant amount of money to carry very little ridership in our estimation."
Oh gosh, I thought Frank Wilson was talking about light rail there for a moment.
So sorry bike riders, Metro has screwed you again. But you all must be used to it by now, since Metro has been breaking its promises to the biking community for five years now. Bus riders in poor communities feel your pain -- instead of that 50% increase in bus service that was promised in 2003, Metro has been slashing and rearranging bus routes right and left since the Main Street Line began operation.
As any kid will tell you, when Mom says "maybe," she means "no." The same is true with Metro -- when Metro says "we'll consider it," that means "forget about it."
MORE: Mayor White's a big biking enthusiast...I wonder what he thinks of Metro's unwillingness to put bike racks on buses?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/28/06 03:03 AM |
27 August 2006
City of Houston Agenda 8-29-06
Normally, I delete what I judge to be extraneous text, and often paraphrase in order to make the legalese a lot more readable; also, comments added are a mix of my own opinions, best guesses, snarking, and judgments, and therefore may not be entirely accurate.
The council meeting on Wednesday should be starting with another deceptively simple "Mayor's Report"; this one titled "Creation of Metro." Since it's been quite a long time since Metro was actually created, and I don't think Mayor White is going to waste time with a history lesson, this is either a song-and-dance celebrating what a wonderful organization Metro is to have around, or another major power play on the level of gutting Proposition 2. In other words, either he's going to put on a show to help Metro, which is beginning to flounder in the face of public opposition to rail, or he's about to try and make Metro completely unaccountable to anyone except the Holy Disciples of the Church of Smart Growth.
Following that item, the Controller and "city administration" will be delivering a report on the financial status of the city. Hopefully, we will find out then whether or not the city is sitting on a surplus, and how far over the trigger levels of Propositions 1 and 2 we are. At the very least, we will likely find out just how independent Controller Annise Parker plans to be of Mayor White. She was pretty slow to pitch in during the Bonusgate scandal, so this might be only a terribly boring recitation of numbers. On the other hand, if there are a lot of inconvenient figures laid out, with bold talk about required tax rollbacks, things could get interesting for Mayor White in the next few months.
Also see item #s 5, 19, 23, 24, 29, 32, and 40. I recommend taking your blood pressure medicine before #5. Be sure to visit regularly this week for follow-up on several of these items.
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 08/27/06 10:40 PM |
Alvarado: I'm as powerful as ever!
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that temporarily-former Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Alvarado may have lost her title following her ineptitude in overseeing the office's finances, but she still enjoys considerable political clout with Mayor White:
A payroll-padding scandal six months ago cost Carol Alvarado her job as mayor pro tem, but she kept a coveted piece of real estate along the horseshoe-shaped City Council dais.
It's a green, high-back chair just off center — the spot right next to Mayor Bill White.
The seating arrangement is just one example of how Alvarado has retained her City Hall clout six months after a scandal seemed destined to imperil it."Nothing's changed," the third-term councilwoman said in a recent interview. "I just don't have that title. Everything else remains the same."
Despite a cloud of uncertainty about an ongoing investigation by local prosecutors and the negative news about her employees taking unauthorized bonuses, Alvarado still has more access to White than her council colleagues.
She's the only member with an open invitation to attend his thrice-weekly senior staff meetings, and Alvarado remains a regular on the mayor's weekend bicycle rides through city neighborhoods.
He also lets her spearhead complicated issues, such as studying a tougher ban on workplace smoking, responding to a grass-roots effort to change a police immigration policy or modernizing the city's campaign-finance disclosure system.
And she's still performing many of the historical duties assigned to the mayor pro tem. She advises the mayor, helping advance his agenda. She also works with his staff to gauge the moods of council members on emerging issues.
It's not unusual for Houston mayors to designate one member of Council as their "go-to" member, and certainly Alvarado continues to serve in that role for Mayor White, who nevertheless does seem more inclusive of all councilmembers than his predecessor.
Ultimately, though, one has to wonder about Mayor White's political judgment with regard to his close allies. Alvarado's lack of oversight in the Pro-Tem's office combined with her occasional lack of decorum really seem to contrast with Mayor White's efforts to portray himself as a financially-oriented mayor who likes to lead by building consensus, and Mayor White's handpicked police chief (who reportedly spends lots of his weekends in Phoenix) isn't exactly establishing White as a mayor who's serious about crime. The mayor's judgment in these matters will surely interest opposition researchers if, as expected, Mayor White eventually does run for higher elected office.
UPDATE: Of course, this and another recent story do illustrate that it's very helpful to have Rusty Hardin on your side!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/06 05:57 PM |
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