(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Doug Wieskopf.)
My name is Doug Wieskopf and I work as a librarian for the City of Houston. I also help represent thousands of city workers in contract negotiations with city management as part of the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) bargaining team. My wish for 2008 is a simple one - a contract with the City of Houston that ensures a livable wage for every city worker and quality services for every Houston resident.
As many of you know, we've been locked in contract negotiations since last April. Even though we're now huddling through the cold and damp of winter, some sunshine is beginning to shine down on our fight. Our pressure on the city has resulted in some city departments - like libraries and the police - raising the salaries of their lowest paid workers. And last month the city agreed with us that $10 an hour is the absolute minimum any city worker should make. These are hopeful signs, but this is not to say that spring has sprung, that everything is coming up roses and we have no fighting left to do.
Right now, roughly a thousand of my co-workers still make less than $9.83 an hour - the federal poverty rate for a family of four. And the city's latest contract offer wouldn't set a $10 an hour floor until 2010. Overall, Houston city workers make 21 percent less than municipal workers in other big Texas and U.S. cities - and we have the second worst pay among eight Texas governments surveyed by the city. Despite these dismal numbers (all of which come from city sources, by the way), Houston officials are offering an annual across-the-board raise of just 2 percent for the next four years - not even enough to keep pace with inflation.
The city administration likes to say that these tiny across-the-board raises will be supplemented with pay-for-performance raises. But the city's performance pay system is broken. In the last four years, only 36 percent of city workers on average have received performance pay raises in a system vulnerable to favoritism. If we're going to lift our workforce up to the standards of other cities, we need full and fair across-the-board raises.
As Jeff Caynon, the president of Houston's firefighters, noted on Off the Kuff, the City of Houston has been trying to do too much for too little for too long. While the population of the city of Houston grew approximately 8.5 percent from 2000-2006, the number of city workers actually fell by 9 percent. It's time for the city to make a serious investment in public services. All we need is a little foresight and some good will, and we can ensure 2008 marks a bright new future for everyone in Houston.
Doug Wieskopf is a Senior Library Services Specialist for the city and a member of the HOPE bargaining team. He's been with the city for 29 years.
01/04/08 | permalink | comments [0]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Gus Allen.)
Houston real estate is gonna be so exciting in 2008!!! Here are just a few of the continuing trends Swamplot will be covering in the coming year:
(This is probably wishful thinking, though. The more retail-and-dining deadweights that disappear, the more attachment soppy inner-loopers will feel to the second string of ragtag hangers-on that remain: When they finally kick the bucket, will we be forced to mourn Quarter Price Books and Zimm's Wine Bar?)
Gus Allen blogs about all aspects of Houston real estate at Swamplot.
01/03/08 | permalink | comments [3]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Jay Crossley.)
Perhaps 2008 is the year that Houston begins to lose its pimples.
We are in a comparatively good position to address the future because we are such a young city. More than forty percent of our expected 2035 population will be born or will move here between now and then, and more than 50% of the built environment in 2035 will be built over that same time. We have options for laying out our fixed transit system and doing the final touches on our roadway system that other urban areas simply do not have because their built environment is already too laid out.
The METRO board voted in 2007 to build our 2012 transit system to reach the four largest employment centers in the City Region as well as our biggest colleges and universities. This is a strategy not pursued in Dallas, Los Angeles, Portland or any other major US city investing in light rail systems at this time. Our existing Main Street Line is the most efficient light rail line in the country in terms of boardings per mile of track, at 45,000 boardings per day on 7.5 miles of track. To some extent, this is a silly thing to say, considering Boston's light rail system has 200,000 boardings a day and Toronto's has 322,000. Yet we have a better start than any city in recent history, and the next five lines promise to be just as smart an investment.
If we prove successful in spreading this efficiency across a 32-mile system, we will set the bar for future transit development in growing urban regions. This will be just the beginning of building the most efficient regional transit system in the country, a crucial element in our goal to reach a state of sustainable prosperity for the entire region.
In 2008, when METRO begins the process of construction, there will be two key opportunities for Houston to shine that we cannot afford to pass up. The first is that METRO, the City of Houston, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and many other entities need to make the effort not only to mitigate the negative effects of construction but also lay the groundwork for 30 years of quality economic and community development around our urban transit system. Secondly, the codes that dictate the urban form of the City of Houston must be rewritten to provide a reasonable framework for the development of a city that will support a high quality of life for a large human population far beyond the next 30 years.
Everyone knows full well that business owners are worried, remembering torn up streets and closures in the wake of the construction of the Main Street Line. Those that wish to blame METRO for all of the problems associated with completely rebuilding the utility and street infrastructure of much of Downtown seem fairly unrealistic predictors of what we should expect during construction of the next 5 lines. METRO, along with the City and various other groups, did miss an opportunity for people-positive public policy. We can overcome this shortfall the second time around.
The METRO Board of Directors, the vast majority of whom were not sitting on that board at the time of the construction of the Main Street Line, have already committed considerable resources to having employees of the transit agency working full time in the communities that will be affected, getting to know businesses, understanding local heritage and culture, and using these contacts to guide METRO's work.
METRO has apparently made offers of relocation assistance to those businesses that will be removed through eminent domain. Property owners will be fairly compensated for these takings. We must insist on no less. At the same time, METRO must avoid any inkling of improper valuations like that surrounding the sale of a city street to a private developer in the Village this year.
METRO is headed in the right direction with the opening of neighborhood storefronts for business owners and residents to voice their concerns and get answers about the coming light rail lines. Let's hope they keep their minds wide open over the next several years in thinking of ways to better mitigate interruptions as well as ensure that transit is a positive element in the community.
Fair treatment for existing businesses and residents, as well as community and economic development, will require a tremendous wave of work from actors outside of METRO and the City of Houston. LISC, the Tax Increment Refinancing Zones, Neighborhood Centers, and others should now be considering economic development strategies, including community land trusts, business development and financial assistance, and even incentives for community-positive dense development around the light rail stations.
Neighborhood groups should fully understand what is coming and should mobilize their residents to participate in the development of streetscape standards and the investment in community resources such as pocket parks and community gardens. The City of Houston alone is expected to grow by perhaps 1 million new residents by 2035, a 50% increase. Each neighborhood should plan to shoulder its share of the growth. We cannot simply allow wealthy neighborhoods to push the growth to less wealthy ones.
The TIRZs should be making substantial investments in the commons to improve walkability and accessibility, and to add green enhancements. One of the most promising measures that the TIRZs could take would be to build shared parking facilities to decouple development decisions from the daunting challenge of building Houston style parking.
The City of Houston itself should plan for a dense urban zone to complement this major infrastructure investment, beginning with an additional investment in walkability. Each of the coming 52 rapid transit stations should be surrounded by at least a half-mile fabric of walkability. The City should commit to rebuilding all damaged sidewalks and filling in all holes in walking infrastructure within these areas in conjunction with the unveiling of new transit service in 2012, starting with the Main Street Line.
This effort should extend throughout the City, for the dual purpose of treating citizens across the city fairly and understanding the effect of walkability investments independent of transit investments. In conjunction with H-GAC's livable centers program and TIRZs and neighborhood groups, the city should completely retrofit dense regions with good mixes of residents, jobs, and errands, with ADA compliant, pleasant, green, walkable sidewalks.
The extent to which METRO, the City, and these other organizations can fairly work with the business community and neighborhoods to bring about a livable urban environment will affect the future quality of life for millions.
The single greatest catalyst for change outside of METRO's development of the transit system itself will come from the Urban Corridors project undertaken by the City of Houston and funded by METRO. This effort should bind the transit system to the surrounding communities and will determine the pleasantness and utility of the future urban fabric of the region.
Current city and county policies pervert the marketplace heavily towards suburban development in greenfields and a wasteful separation of uses, which greatly increases our dependence on auto travel. The City should first remove disincentives for positive urban growth and then develop new standards with community input that will allow balanced thriving neighborhoods all over town. The benefits of urban living should be accessible to Houstonians of all income levels. Survey after survey shows that huge amounts of Houstonians wish they lived closer to jobs, shopping, schools, and other people, but the current market, shaped by city policy, does not allow them this choice.
The code can, should, and will change. Houston can revolutionize urban governance by dedicating all city departments to the adoption of the Citizens' Vision developed by Blueprint Houston.
To provide a true free market in 21st Century Houston region, I hope we will see the beginning of a real comprehensive plan for the City of Houston based on citizen values in 2008. City Council instructed the Planning Commission in the Summer of 2006 to develop a plan for how to undertake a comprehensive plan for the city, as called for in Houston city code. The Commission instead has decided to pursue something that they are referring to as a General plan, but which seems to be simply an automobile mobility study, a drainage study, and a neighborhood preservation study.
This will not address the major concerns of Houstonians, which have repeatedly been shown to include the following at the top:
Preservation of Green space
More walkability and access to jobs and retail closer to residences
Respect for the flood plains
Better air quality
The city can and must address its rampant unsustainability and can only do this by adopting the vision of its citizens and putting the ample, ready, and massive machinery of urban governance into gear to provide a major reduction in vehicle miles traveled, clean air and water, affordable accessible housing for all, a fair and open marketplace, and a cleaner environment over the next ten years. If we do less, we are letting the world down as well as future Houstonians.
A good life requires not only the freedom to live it, but the active community in which to live it. Both Richmondrail.org and Afton Oaks have recently shown the capacity of Houstonians to organize to provide greater public input, broaden the civic debate, and make issues clear and infrastructure choices relevant to every citizen. Should 2008 turn out to be the year that Houston loses its pimples, then we should expect Houston in 2018 to house a thriving marketplace of ideas with many strong organizations working and advocating for a variety of opposing views on the direction of our public policy and the further growth of our region.
The City of Houston has a major role to play in our nation's attempt to address global climate change and Mayor White is already working hard for the city to accept this role. There are many things to do for many different actors, from harnessing the skill and ingenuity of our energy industry for innovation and efficiency to each of us making personal decisions that will decrease our carbon footprint. The successful implementation of our fixed transit system and the complementary development of many different dense urban cores with walkable, livable places is essential to fulfilling this responsibility.
The elections next year will change many things for the country and for the region as well. No matter what party wins Harris County, the winning candidates are going to be talking about green issues, development of livable town centers, tweaking government to allow access for all to the local and global economy, and improvements to our quality of life. And of course, some day, the Texas Legislature and Governor will wake up and realize that the majority of Texans are urban and that a green future for Texas is primarily contingent on our urban form. I don't imagine this will happen in 2008, or the 2009 legislative session, but stranger things have happened. If the Dynamos threepeat in 2008, I'll take that as a sign that we might just look forward to a green session in 2009.
Jay Blazek Crossley does program development and research at the Gulf Coast Institute, a nonprofit think tank whose mission is to improve the quality of life in the Houston region. He grew up in Montrose, is the son of Jody Blazek and David Crossley, and recently returned to Houston after ten years in Austin, where he earned both a B.A. in Liberal Arts and a Master in Public Affairs from the University of Texas.
01/02/08 | permalink | comments [0]
What am I looking forward to in 2008? Taking back the Texas State House!
I'm ready to have a legislature that cares about kitchen table issues - those things that make me wonder if it's possible for families to have any forward progress in their financial situation - the cost of electricity, insurance, higher education and health care, to name some of the biggies.
The Republican leadership's focus on TAX CUTS! TAX CUTS! TAX CUTS! are just starving the baby. Texans are being starved slowly of all of our infrastructure and ability to get ahead sort of like a frog in a boiling pot of water doesn't realize he's cooked until it is too late. Not to mention we are being literally choked by the quality of air in the state. The purposeful neglect of our environment and park system is appalling.
All this can change when we elect talented, reasonable, fiscally responsible law makers who care about Texas - our beautiful state and diverse families.
It wouldn't be an end of year post without an End of Quarter mention. Yeah, today is the last day to contribute to campaigns and have it show up on the end of year financial report. I took a look around ActBlue today to see who is leading the online fundraising there. Here are the top ActBlue Texas House candidates by total fundraising:
1. HD-46 Challenger Brian Thompson: 88 donations, $10,095
2. HD-129 Challenger Sherrie Matula: 24 donations, $3010
3. HD-36 Challenger Sandra Rodriguez: 11 donations, $2200
4. HD-138 Challenger Virginia McDavid: 21 donations, $1885
5. HD-97 INCUMBENT Dan Barrett: 44 donations, $1684
Thompson and Rodriguez are challenging Craddick Ds (wave goodbye to Dukes and Flores). Barrett recently won a special election against an opponent who made a campaign issue of his pledge to vote for Craddick. Matula and McDavid are both challenging incumbent Republicans. Matula's opponent, 5-term Republican incumbernt John Davis, has drawn a primary challenger, mostly due to Republican disgust over his ethics problems.
It's not too late to help one of these worthy House candidates - or others equally worthy - by tossing some New Year's Eve change their way. ActBlue link for the whole list: here.
This our time. Time to Turn Texas Blue.
12/31/07 | permalink | comments [1]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Paula Harris.)
New Year, New Adventure, New Learning opportunities - they all are cause for excitement and energy and the expectation of opportunity. This is the time of year I spend time canvassing my brain for the appropriate theme for the new year. One idea I have as I move forward into 2008 is the theme "BACK to the BASICS". In these times of complicated problems and complex solutions, I just want to make sure that I examine and deduce everything in its most simplified manner. This will be a year of discovery and my learning curve is probably equivalent to that of an entering college freshmen. With that said, I will focus on uncovering the root cause and underlying issues as we look to identify and solve issues. This method will work in my personal, public service, spiritual and professional life. To further explore this theme, I engaged experts in simplification, a group of 7 year olds. I asked them as Charles Kuffner asked me "What are you looking forward to next year?". The answers were simple, concise and all similar. They are looking forward to
1. Their birthdays.
2. Holidays (Christmas and Halloween ranking highest)
3. Doing well in school.
4. Summertime.
It's that simple. I am going to take a page from their book because what I see and hear from them, in the simplest form, is
Another year of life
Valuable time with family, friends and God
Setting and achieving goals
Rest and time for self
With that said, I know that there will always be complex issues that need to be addressed, but as I approach the freshness and innocence of a new year that will be a completely new experience for me and my village I am headed "Back to the Basics" for 2008.
As the newest HISD Trustee that represents District 4 there is so much to look forward to. There are new relationships, new adventures, new goals and new achievements. We have a higher community focus on education that has not been experienced as of late. What makes this so exciting is the potential to have input, recommendations, solutions and volunteerism from a population that has not been engaged in our schools for this latest generation of inner city children. Our community leaders have indicated that they are ready and more than willing to take the challenge, roll up their sleeves and do the hard work that it is going to take to turn our schools and achievement levels around. The thrilling part of this equation is knowing that the extra commitment to our children will equate to higher student achievement. Gaining commitment from pastors, civic leaders, business leaders, parents and other stakeholders to engage on each campus through the campus "Shared Decision Making Committee" (SDMC) will be a monumental start. The SDMC is an educator and community group that sets school budget, policy, procedure and strategies for success. A strong SDMC can provide the support that our school leadership needs to begin the systematic positive change needed in our schools.
When I say "Back to the Basics", I am also defining the pilgrimage back to our strong community driven solutions, championed by the people and organizations that can put an enormous amount of sweat equity into our children. Historically, the reason we as a community have invested in our children was not because they were birth children or relatives. We have traditionally invested using the village mentality, that all of them are ours and their success is our success and their failure is our community failure. Our schools need help and I am turning to the very people who made sure that I was successful in school. My success in 1970's HISD classroom was not guaranteed by the governmental establishments, it was the community that made sure that the establishment provided the basics and the community made sure the tools were in place to take us to the next level. With that said, as the new school board member I will be depending on our community to be involved in our schools and to keep this high level of excitement, interest and alignment with our schools. My commitment is to work diligently to ensure that the programs, policies, strategies, resources and decisions made at the board level, positively affect student achievement in our community.
Let's look forward to 2008 as a year to declare "if it's to be, it's up to me". We have to heat things up, demand accountability from everyone who has access and decision making powers over our children and in turn our future. I not only welcome community involvement, our children need it and will depend on it.
Looking forward to 2008, the potential for positive change is great. If we take a page from the playbooks of our 7 year old advisors and remember to be excited about another year of life and the potential it brings, spend time with friends and family while you work for your community, set your goals and expectations high then work hard for success, and lastly never forget that in order to help others, you must take good care of yourself.
I have to say a special thank you to my esteemed panelist of advisors who are wise beyond their 7 years and I wish each and every one of you the best that the new fresh year has to offer.
Paula Harris is the newly-elected Trustee for HISD District 4.
12/31/07 | permalink | comments [2]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Maria Gonzalez.)
As the vice president and chair of the PAC of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, I am looking forward to 2008 with great anticipation. We will have a great opportunity to further establish our support for progressive and GLBT friendly candidates. Building upon our extraordinary success in 2007, which included being victorious in 16 of our 17 endorsed races, including the first group to endorse the HISD bond issue, the Caucus will continue to be one of the most active political groups in the city.
The Caucus will have a slate of endorsed candidates ready for the March primary. With a record number of individuals seeking our endorsements in their races, including the judicial primary races, the Caucus will be very busy in January interviewing candidates. Our general meeting in February should be very lively as we will discuss and vote upon our endorsements for the Primary. Once we endorse, we will make sure that our endorsed candidates names become available to our vast support base represented in our database of over 30,000 registered voters in Harris County.
Once the primaries are done, we will focus on our next efforts, to endorse in the November elections. We will begin screening in late June and most of July. The interviews with candidates provide some of the most direct means of assessing individual support for our GLBT community. We ask very direct questions about our issues like support for non-discrimination, but as a broad political group we will also being asking about quality of life and support for education. At our August meeting, the Caucus will vote on its endorsements. This will be followed by efforts to inform our supporters who we recommend for office this November.
We once again hope to reproduce our extraordinary success of 2007 when we nearly had 100% of our endorsed candidates and issues win. You don't have to be GLBT to join the Caucus, just supportive of our community. The Caucus meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Havens Center, 1827 W. Alabama. We hope to see everyone there soon
Maria Gonzalez teaches American Literature at the University of Houston. She is the Vice President and chair of the PAC of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus.
12/30/07 | permalink | comments [0]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Stephanie Stradley.)
The year 2007 will mark the first year that the Houston Texans were more entertaining to watch than not. The previous years, for me, were more about being fascinated in the do's and don'ts of putting together a professional football team from scratch. It's not something I've witnessed up close with any other team. A lot of people found that to be a hard brand of football to watch, but I see it a bit like watching your kids grow. You see them fail and succeed, though it is hard to watch the failures.
Houstonians tend to fall into two categories in the post-Oilers era: 1. Those who are waiting for the Texans to be worth watching; and 2. Those who despised being teamless in Houston, and appreciate the Texans in the never-take-NFL-football-for-granted way. I clearly ended up in the second category. Like in politics, it's much more fun when you have someone or something you can support, instead of just rooting against someone or something awful.
So, what do I see for the Texans in 2008? Well, fortunately, this year I haven't had to already study in depth the top 10 draft prospects in the upcoming draft. The Texans clearly still have many needs, but it's encouraging to see how hard they are playing despite leading the league in players on injured reserve. (Getting killed by Indy in Indy is something that happens to a lot of teams, including some much better and healthier than the Texans). I think their hard play is due to the type of player the Texans have been drafting, and how much they respect and want to play for Gary Kubiak.
I've always been optimistic about the Texans as they have a top notch facility in a football loving town where professional athletes like to live. If you talk to any of the coaching staff, the one thing they will always mention is that owner Bob McNair is a great owner who gives them all the financial resources they need. I think with that combo, eventually the Texans will be seeing more success on the field.
In the meantime, the smartest thing the Texans have done is not just allowed tailgating (it was prohibited during the Oiler years), but they have encouraged it. This has created a fan community where little existed, and helped you endure some pretty ugly football at times. I think the New Orleans Saints fans' motto is "Win or lose, we still booze." I'm not sure that alcohol as a therapy for losing is a good idea, but I will say that some of the best barbeque I've eaten in my life has been at Texans tailgate parties.
If you would like to tailgate in the upcoming year but don't know who to tailgate with, I suggest visiting the TexansTalk website and posting something in the tailgate section of their message board. Lots of personable, helpful people over there who love to welcome other Texans fans to tailgate culture.
Hope your holiday season has been terrific and your upcoming new year better. If you want a delicious extra present, please click this link.
Stephanie Stradley writes about the Texans and other sports topics for AOL Sports' FanHouse and is a frequent sports talk radio guest. Last year, she was named the 2006 Ultimate Texan Fan.
12/29/07 | permalink | comments [0]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Matt Stiles.)
Next year will bring us a tale about a big port city, a place with aging infrastructure, schools facing challenges and a police department crunching crime statistics.
I should probably mention that there's a politically ambitious mayor in this story, too.
You think I'm speaking of Houston, right?
Well, not exactly.
In 2008, with all its promise of historic political contests in Texas and across the nation, the thing I'm most looking forward to is a great American television show.
I'm talking about The Wire, HBO's gritty urban drama set in Baltimore. Most people think the show is about organized crime, specifically the drug trade. It is, and isn't.
Entering its fifth and final season next month, The Wire really is about public institutions, the places critical to our society -- police departments, local political entities, public schools.
In The Wire, an impressively realistic and honest series that has never received the attention it deserves, these institutions get a critical look. And what we see isn't pretty: police officers paralyzed by bureaucratic brass, politicians making short-sighted decisions -- and schools (and the families that send their kids to them) often failing. It seems every institution also lacks the ambition to solve its problems.
This season, the show is tackling what some see as another troubled institution: the newspaper business. The show's creator, David Simon, is a former Baltimore Sun reporter who has complained that "the media, which is supposed to be the assertive watchdog of the political and social culture, the last hope of reform -- they're not here anymore."
As heartbreaking as it is entertaining, The Wire would be depressing without the characters, especially wily Officer James "Jimmy" McNulty (Dominic West). He, like others in the show, is flawed. He drinks, carouses and disregards the chain of command. But sometimes Jimmy and the others break through the roadblocks placed by the system. Those moments are magic.
Their triumphs, like ours, are often subtle, fleeting or incomplete. The show isn't tidy. The Wire is as real as television gets, and it masterfully explores the complexities of the cities we live in (and write about).
That's why I'm looking forward to 2008.
Matt Stiles is a reporter and blogger for the Houston Chronicle.
12/28/07 | permalink | comments [1]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Rep. Ellen Cohen.)
As I write this article, 2007 is coming to an end, and it would appear that the biggest event of 2008 will be the presidential election. That said, much can happen in 10 months, thrusting unknowns to the forefront and dramatically changing the landscape of predictions. Still, with whatever is in store for us, electing a President who will restore our country's position of respect, compassion and integrity throughout the world is paramount. Someone who will bring us as a nation together while continuing to respect diversity in all aspects of our lives.
Clearly, the next President needs, on a national level, to focus on many of the same concerns we in the state legislature are facing: health care, including the children's health insurance program, stem cell research, and mental health services. While recent research shows some very promising new forms of stem cell research, we can not and must not abandon the promise of what is being learned through adult and embryonic stem cell research. Regenerative medicine is vital to saving lives. Republicans and Democrats have voted in a very bipartisan manner to lift the bans set down by the present Administration that limits or stops research done on embryonic or early stem cells. All of this was brought home to me from both a very personal side regarding my late husband's spinal cord cancer and a visit I received from twin 6 year old girls living in West University who shared with me how this research could help with their juvenile diabetes.
The next President needs to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program and, we in Texas need to do the same. Of the 9 million uninsured children in the United States, over 1.5 million live in Texas. CHIP is the program designed to help the children of working families. As President Clinton often said, these families are the ones who "are working hard and playing by the rules". They are doing everything, but simply don't make enough money to pay for health insurance coverage for their children without some assistance.
The next President, and we in Texas, need to focus on education. As a nation we are falling woefully behind in the areas of math and science. As a state, if we expect to have employees who can reason, who can analyze figures, who can articulate intelligently varying points of view, then we have an obligation to educate our children. We simply must invest in our young people if we expect them to succeed in Texas, across the Nation and throughout the world.
Finally, the next President must continue to preserve the value of "separation of church and state". I spent a decade of my life working for the American Jewish Committee and have great admiration for people of faith. I also accept and affirm the right of people to question the existence of a deity. We must look at issues in accordance with our Constitution, not a specific religious ideology. From textbook rejections and staff dismissals from NASA to the Texas Education Agency, we must realize and respect our religious believes as separate and apart from the lessons learned by scientific experiments and calculations. Our science and faith are NOT in conflict, only the agenda of our leaders.
This coming year presents us with a chance to compare where we are as a nation and a state and where new and innovative leadership can take us. We have a chance to restore our prestige as a nation and our leadership as a state. We must take advantage of this time in history to elect a President whose visionary leadership will secure the future, starting with the next generation.
Ellen Cohen is the State Representative for the 134th District in Harris County.
12/27/07 | permalink | comments [0]
(Note: I have asked a variety of people to submit an essay to me to be posted during the month of December, to be called "Looking Forward to 2008". This entry was written by Noel Freeman.)
I always look forward to a new year, and 2008 is much the same ... lose some weight, set new goals for my work with the City and community and build up my own business. What's different is that I'm presenting a challenge to Mayor White and several new members of City Council who have the opportunity to learn about some issues that are very important to me and have taken up a large portion of my time and effort over the past year.
Probably the biggest issue I have concentrated on has been flooding and drainage. We all know how important this issue is to Houstonians, and it is vitally important that we resolve to do more to make a difference in the coming year. After Allison, we learned a huge lesson - that we were $2.5-3 billion (yes, that's billion) behind on drainage infrastructure improvements. Mayor White has done a good job of increasing the budget for improvements, but sadly we are still budgeting less than $50 million per year (FY2008 was right around $45 million).
If you combine that with the $32-34 million we spend on maintenance and repairs, Houston still falls behind cities like Philadelphia, where the annual budget for similar programs and improvements is nearly $100 million. Nevermind that Philadelphia is physically about ΒΌ the size of Houston or that it has a half million fewer residents. At this rate, it will take 50 to 60 years just to bring our infrastructure up to today's standards.
With this in mind, it is my hope that Mayor White and our new Council members will take the lead and accept a challenge - to set the budget for drainage infrastructure maintenance and improvements at no less than $100 million for FY2009 and to set a five year plan to increase that number to $150 million by FY2013. I think this number is realistic and attainable.
Further, the City needs to look at real solutions to address developments that place a large added burden on our drainage infrastructure, such as big-box stores with multi-acre parking lots and residential developments that provide very little pervious surface to absorb water. Development can still continue, but there are better ways that can make a real difference.
2007 also saw a related issue hit mainstream and highlight the real rock-and-a-hard-place situations we in the City often find ourselves in. That issue was development in the floodway. You may have seen some stories on the news or in the Chronicle about some floodplain maps that changed. It may not have hit close to home for most of you, but it sure did for several thousand people who now find their properties in the floodway. I was glad to see the City remove some provisions from the floodplain ordinance that offered variances because it showed that we were finally getting serious about the floodway and moving to limit future flood losses.
Unfortunately, there were some unforeseen side effects of that change that have had potentially adverse effects on residents. I would like to see Mayor White and Council move to establish a buyout program specifically for properties in the floodway and dedicate at least 5-10% of the drainage infrastructure budget mentioned above to do it.
The way I see it, 2008 is a great opportunity to make a real difference. I've got six months to educate Council members about these issues, and if they accept the challenge and do to the FY2009 budget what I've proposed, six more months to see how much better and safer it makes our communities. Here's to 2008.
Noel Freeman works for the City of Houston's Department of Public Works and Engineering and is a member of the Texas Floodplain Management Association. He was a previous candidate for City Council and is pursuing a Master's degree in Public Administration from Norwich University.
12/26/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Stace Medellin
12/23/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Stace Medellin
12/23/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Matt Glazer
12/22/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Matt Glazer
12/22/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Ed Davis
12/21/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking Forward to 2008: David Baldwin
12/20/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Rebecca White and Meggin Baxter
12/19/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Christof Spieler
12/18/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Christof Spieler
12/18/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking Forward to 2008: Jay Aiyer
12/17/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking forward to 2008: Jeff Balke
12/14/07 | permalink | comments [5]
Looking forward to 2008: Hale Stewart
12/13/07 | permalink | comments [1]
Looking Forward to 2008: Jeff Caynon
12/12/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking Forward to 2008: Barbara Radnofsky
12/11/07 | permalink | comments [0]
Looking Forward to 2008
12/10/07 | permalink | comments [0]