31 January 2010
CoH expands curbside recycling
ON WEDNESDAY, COUNCIL voted to expand the city's curbside recycling program.
We liked the conclusion to KHOU-11's story:
The program is being paid for with federal stimulus money.
That's so... stimulating!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/10 12:25 PM |
KTRK: City slow to tear down abandoned properties
KTRK-13'S TED OBERG checks in on the City of Houston's backlog inspecting and tearing down dangerous, derelict buildings. Mayor Parker promises improvement, and tells Oberg to check back in a year's time.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/10 11:26 AM |
Gattis on the future of commuting
HOUSTON STRATEGIST TORY GATTIS argues that "point-to-point express buses are the future of commuting."
We hope someone in the mayor's office is reading, since METRO seems determined to sink several billion more dollars than voters approved (and probably can't afford) into an at-grade rail system that reduces traffic mobility.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/10 11:21 AM |
30 January 2010
Chronically clueless
AMERICA'S WORST BIG CITY DAILY thinks this "exclusive" content will entice you to purchase their product this weekend:
A Chron Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy certainly plays to the newspaper's strengths (they have mastered the genre), but why would anyone think it would help sell newspapers?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/30/10 08:00 AM |
29 January 2010
HCA: Stop me if you've heard this before
CORY CROW highlights the "Houston Way" angle of the proposed Galleria-area/Dynamo stadium complex.
You knew there had to be such an angle, right?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/29/10 08:07 AM |
28 January 2010
More on METRO land grab, "transparency"
THE EXAMINER'S MIKE REED continues his fine coverage of METRO with this story on the "University Alignment" land grab (along with helpful links to various documents).
In other METRO news, the organization was recently ordered by the state Attorney General to turn over information it was trying to hide from an interested public.
It is worth recalling this recent lie from outgoing Chairman David Wolff:
“We are transparent. We are accountable. Those who say we are not are not well informed,” he said.
It is also worth recalling this older lie from President and CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson:
We operate the METRO organization in a completely transparent manner.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/10 08:11 PM |
Subtraction by addition?
CHRON SCRIBE LISA FALKENBERG announces "I'm back"* from her maternity leave. Unlike Dai Huynh, who was sent packing by Chron management after her maternity leave, Falkenberg gets to stay**.
The Chron web team apparently just recently noticed she was gone, putting a notice on their columnists page. We're not sure if many readers noticed at all.
* With particular emphasis on "I" of course.
** Double standard, or just a double whammy for readers? You decide.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/10 05:15 PM |
Slampo: The Aloysius Chronicles, Part V
SLAMPO continues his fine series on carpetbagger Councilmember Al Hoang, alleged campaign-finance and voter-registration scofflaw.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/10 12:52 PM |
McGuff: Lee McGuire exits KHOU
MIKE MCGUFF posts that KHOU-11 reporter Lee McGuire has left the station for a new post in his hometown of Boston.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/10 12:48 PM |
A Galleria-area soccer stadium proposal?
ON TUESDAY, KTRK-13'S MIYA SHAY reported that a development group hopes to build a mixed-use complex to include a soccer stadium in the Galleria area near 59 and the West Loop. KHOU-11 and the Chronicle have since reported more of the details.
As reported, the proposal would much include less public involvement than the plans for a downtown stadium, which have been stalled over (former) Mayor White's request for Harris County to commit $10 million to the cause during a recession.
BLOGVERSATION: Swamplot, TBIFOC.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/28/10 07:57 AM |
27 January 2010
Brown/White legacy: The Crime Lab is still broken
LAST WEEK, THE CHRON'S BRADLEY OLSON reported that Council had approved $4.2 million for tackling the HPD Crime Lab's massive backlog of rape test kits. Unfortunately, only a small percentage was allocated for this fiscal year. While that alone illustrates it's a much higher priority for the new Annise Parker Administration than it ever was for the Bill White Administration, that in itself is more than a little shameful.
On the topic of shameful, we enjoyed the quote from Councilmember (!) Clarence Bradford, under whose Crime Lab "leadership" so many problems developed (although the independent crime-lab recommendation is one we support).
Staying on the topic of shameful, we learn from Olson today that there is a backlog of firearm forensics in that same HPD Crime Lab. Councilmember Jolanda Jones is outspoken, as usual:
“The crime lab is still broken, notwithstanding what the previous administration said about it,” said Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, a criminal defense lawyer.
Pretty much.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/10 08:22 AM |
24 January 2010
Bill White's financial acumen (cont'd)
BILL KING comments on the City of Houston's questionable use of pension bonds over the last five years:
In addition to simply borrowing money to make up existing shortages in the pension plans, since 2004 the city has been borrowing funds every year to make part of its current contribution to the pension plans. In doing so, the city has accounted for these borrowed funds as “resources” to “balance” its budget. In any other form this would be deficit budgeting, which is specifically prohibited by state law and the City Charter and obviously is a practice that cannot go on forever.
From 2004 to 2009, the city used about $225 million in pension bond proceeds in this manner. Without these bond proceeds, the city would currently have a deficit in its general fund. In other words, the city would be broke and could not pay its bills had it not used pension bonds to make part of its pension contributions over the last five years.
The massive unfunded pension liability has also attracted the attention of John Diamond on the Baker Institute Blog.
BLOGVERSATION: Unca Darrell.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/24/10 09:48 PM |
More METRO absurdities
THE CHRON'S MIKE SNYDER APPEARS TO BE handling transportation reporting these days (he'll never be mistaken for Rosanna Ruiz), and the METRO cheerleading beat has some new offerings:
1. Outgoing METRO Chairman David Wolff said, apparently with a straight face, that he expects Houston and other municipalities to repay all the Mobility Funds METRO has handed over since 1987 -- $1.6 billion. Wolff said, "Originally, it was Metro's money. It was taken away in the '80s." Actually, it was originally taxpayers' money, but that's a nice display of METRO's entitlement mindset.
2. METRO board member Terence Fontaine, appointed by former Mayor Bill White last June, has resigned so he can take a job with METRO!
Fontaine resigned Thursday after six months on the board and will start work Monday as head of a new group focused on system performance and compliance, spokesman George Smalley said in a news release. Parker will name Fontaine's replacement on the nine-member board.
In his new job, Fontaine said Saturday, he will develop data that measures the most important elements of the transit agency's performance, such as on-time bus arrivals.
On-time bus arrivals?? A couple of paragraphs down, Snyder hints at a data measure that is surely more pressing than on-time bus arrivals: declining ridership. Readers of the Chronicle probably have no idea METRO continues to see monthly declines in riders and revenue, and we won't hold our breath that Snyder will actually report that information in any substantive way. The declines are a big reason why METRO needs the mobility funds repaid -- it faces a huge cash crunch with the voter-unapproved METRO Solutions plan ballooning to $4 billion.
Locally, is there a greater political cesspool than METRO? There are contenders out there, but no other local entity can claim the title of Numero Uno.
UPDATE: A certain someone emailed Kevin Whited (can't say whom, but the emailer's name rhymes with Bike Rider) to say that my post is incorrect. Apparently Chairman Wolff didn't say he wanted mobility funds repaid; rather, he wants them stopped. But that's not what Mike Snyder's blog post initially said this morning. Here's the blockquote of what Snyder originally wrote:
Wolff said he knew it would be unrealistic to expect Houston and other recipients to return the money all at once. But they need to start talking about a schedule and conditions for doing so, he said.
Emphasis added. I got that blockquote from the cached version of the post. The reason we need that is because this is what the blog post says now:
Wolff said he knew it would be unrealistic to expect Houston and other recipients to stop the general mobility payments all at once. But they need to start talking about a schedule and conditions for doing so, he said.
Emphasis added. How in the world does a professional journalist make an error like that? I mean, that's a sea change difference in meaning! And as a nice touch, nowhere in the post is there any indication the wording was changed. Just one of those *poof* things Chron.com loves to do.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/24/10 06:24 AM |
23 January 2010
Record of Decision for Grand Parkway F-2 segment
BLOGHOUSTON FRIEND CONNIE O'DONNELL posts the Record of Decision for the F-2 segment of the Grand Parkway. She notes that page 64 shows the preferred alternative route. I'll note that most residents in the area are opposed to the F-2 segment, but that's of no concern to officials and developers pushing for it.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/23/10 10:56 AM |
22 January 2010
Here's hoping Mayor Parker gets control of this near-rogue agency
METRO wants more land and more money.
Who ever would have seen that coming (aside from folks who are always derisively labeled "METRO critics" in the typical METRO cheerleading stories/blog posts)?
The Chron story did feature this bit of amusement from David Wolff:
“We are transparent. We are accountable. Those who say we are not are not well informed,” he said.
Baghdad Bob was more credible.
UPDATE: Barry Klein's comment on the Chron.com story is worth reproducing in its entirety:
At yesterday’s board meeting the Metro chairman admitted that four rail extensions will cost $1.5 billion. Combined with the $1.5 billion for the University line, the fifth extension, announced in December, the cost of the 30 mile Metro rail project is now $3 billion. Six years ago Metro won a referendum claiming that 22 miles of new rail in five corridors would cost $1.2 billion. All this was explained to the Metro Board.
So...instead of reading about the $1.8 billion difference between the cost projected on election day in 2003 and the cost today, and the several people who asked the Metro board for a new election because of the higher cost and other changes, we are reading about a relatively small amount of $100 million added to the 2009 contract for four corridors...Why is that fact more noteworthy than the additional $1.8 billion budget busting difference in the cost of five corridors?
Good question.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/22/10 08:53 AM |
21 January 2010
Slampo: The Aloysius Chronicles, Part IV
SLAMPO REPORTS THAT carpetbagger Councilmember Al Hoang has finally updated his scandalous campaign finance reports. And they still aren't quite up to snuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/10 09:58 AM |
Reed: METRO Galleria-area land grab will include part of Water Wall
THE EXAMINER'S MIKE REED reports on all the land takings that will be necessary in the Galleria area as METRO tries to move forward with its plans further to hinder traffic mobility in an already congested corridor.
Apparently, the METRO Cheerleader beat remains unfilled at the Chronicle, but maybe we'll eventually see what would have appeared there on METRO's expensive blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/10 09:52 AM |
19 January 2010
New cheerleader assumes Chron baseball beat
NEW CHRON BASEBALL BEAT WRITER Bernardo Fallas introduces himself on the former beat writer's blog.
And if you (rightly) thought the last guy was a cheerleader, get a load of this prose:
The Chronicle has a longstanding history of excellence in covering the national pastime in Houston. It extends from the press box to the Sports Department at 801 Texas.
[snip]
Of the folks I have had the privilege to meet and work alongside, I'm talking about outstanding professionals, respected and admired colleagues and, above all, great human beings.
[snip]
As I take on this challenge, I realize I have some pretty big shoes to fill.
Cheerleading is required of sports writers at America's Worst Big City Daily, and Fallas leaves little doubt that he'll be up to the task. And the new beat gets rid of that pesky problem of his cheering on the team that employs his sister.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/19/10 08:19 PM |
Jeff Cohen and Kathryn Kase are gonna be jealous!
THE VILLAGE VOICE HOUSTON CORPORATE WEEKLY encroaches on Chronicle territory this week with their *ahem* Alt-Weekly Eye for the Death Row Killer Guy.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/19/10 07:51 PM |
18 January 2010
TBIFOC: Brotherhood and Unity
IT'S MLK DAY in Houston, and that means it's time to turn over the commentary on Houston's competing MLK Day parades to Laurence Simon.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/10 05:28 PM |
[Previous 20 Entries] [Next 20 Entries]