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Friday random ten: In the good old summer time

Jul 3rd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

OK, maybe “good” isn’t a word most people use to describe the summers around here, especially this one so far. But let’s not let that stop us from reviewing a fine selection of summer-themed songs:

1. Summertime Blues - The Who
2. Fourth of July, Asbury Park - Bruce Springsteen
3. Summer Song - Joe Satriani
4. Surf’s Up - The Beach Boys
5. A Summer Thing - Zoot Sims
6. Heat Wave - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
7. Centerfield - John Fogerty
8. Fifth of July - Eddie from Ohio
9. Summer - War
10. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - Meat Loaf

I think I may need a cold drink now. What’s heating up your playlist this holiday weekend?

Posted in: Music.
Tagged: Friday random ten · theme lists

Texas Lege app for your iPhone

Jul 3rd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Have an iPhone? Want to have facts and contact information about your Texas Legislature at your fingertips? Then take a look at MyTexasLege, now available for download. From their press release:

Created by a former Texas House staffer, My Texas Lege provides all the important information needed to contact your member of the Legislature including staff contacts.

“Contacting your elected officials and their staff should never be a difficult endeavor. We have created two versions, a paid version (Plus) and a free version (Lite), so that everyone with an iPhone can find their elected officials in seconds,” stated Mynor Rodriguez, designer and developer of My Texas Lege.

Utilizing the new powerful iPhone OS 3.0, My Texas Lege Plus allows you to direct dial the members’ offices, use Google ™ Maps to find district offices, and email the member and their staff from your phone. It will be regularly updated to reflect office staff changes.

Starting in Fall 2009, My Texas Lege Plus will include 2010 Texas Campaigns Expansion Pack providing information all the state races.

“Over the past year, we have seen the dramatic changes innovative use of technology can bring to government. My Texas Lege is one more tool that can make government work for you.”

Mynor is a blogging colleague of mine - he used to have a blog called The Red State, which is no longer active, and he’s still a member in good standing of the Texas Progressive Alliance. There are a couple of other ways you can get Lege info on your iPhone. One is via the Texas Legislature Online, the official state site, which has a page that’s optimized for PDAs. The MyTexasLege app has some advantages over the TLO site - most of MTL’s data is stored on your smartphone, so it’s accessible even when you have no connectivity, and it has details about things like staff names and email addresses, more biographical info, and better search capabilities. There’s also an app called Pocket Patriot, which can be found here, put out by a lobbyist firm called The Patriot Group. They’re a Republican shop, with clients like Texans for Rick Perry, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Bob Perry, so needless to say I would not recommend their application. They also don’t have a free version, for what it’s worth. Anyway, the Lege may be out of session again, but Austin and district offices are staffed year-round, and the campaign season will soon be upon us. If you like having that information handy on your iPhone, you should check out MyTexasLege and see what you think.

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: iPhone · My Texas Lege · Texas · The Lege

Earle is running for something

Jul 3rd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Well, he’s taken the first step towards running for something, anyway.

Democrat Ronnie Earle today filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission to run for office in 2010 but did not specify which office he will seek.

The former Travis County district attorney has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor.

He filled out a one-page, hand-written form designating a campaign treasurer, which is required for candidates to start serious fundrasing. He listed himself as treasurer.

As Gardner Selby notes, there’s already some activity around Earle’s potential bid.

Earle’s action also comes after separate online efforts to draft State Sen. Kirk Watson and/or Earle to run for governor next year. Both Facebook pages surfaced recently; neither prospect spoke up for or against the pitches, though Watson has said he’s going to mull his political options probably until the end of the summer.

In some Democratic circles, there’s just that much unease at possibly ending up with former Fort Worth Rep. Tom Schieffer as the likely nominee; some are uncomfortable that his career has been entwined with the successes of George W. Bush. Another hopeful is Mark Thompson, the party’s nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission last year, while Kinky Friedman, who ran as an Independent in 2006, is considering a try as a Democrat.

Peek at the draft-Watson site here. See the draft-Earle site here.

The pro-Earle site, hatched this week by pro-Democratic blogger Vince Leibowitz of Tyler, lists 45 members including Democratic consultant Jason Stanford, who managed Democrat Chris Bell’s 2006 campaign.

The pro-Watson site, which surfaced about 10 days ago, was created by Katie Naranjo, an Austin Democratic activist. The site lists 448 members including Democratic super-bloggers Karl-Thomas Musselman and Matt Glazer, who also are site administrators, Philip Martin and Charles Kuffner.

I haven’t joined the Draft Ronnie Facebook group mostly out of laziness. I’d be perfectly happy to have Earle as the nominee, and I’ll certainly support him in the primary if Watson goes elsewhere. Who knows, maybe I’ll even change my mind if the two square off. A ticket with Earle for Gov and Watson for Lite Gov would be exciting, if it came to that. That’s rather Austin-centric, though, which is why I’m still kind of hoping Earle gives the Attorney General race a good long look. A Watson/Royce West/Earle teamup would be pretty cool.

In the end, as long as all the races get covered by respectable candidates, I’m perfectly happy for there to be some contested primaries. As I’ve said before, I think the fact that there’s this much interest among Democratic candidates for statewide runs next year suggests to me that there’s a real belief that we can win some of these things, a quality that was in distinctly short supply in 2006. Let there be multiple candidates up and down the ballot - maybe we can capture some of the leftover energy from last year, and put a few of those new-to-the-process folks to work. Every little bit is going to help, and if we show enough signs of life at the local and grassroots level, maybe that will convince the national folks that Texas needs to be part of the plan for 2012.

Anyway. Here’s Vince’s post that announced the Draft Ronnie website. It’s drawn support so far from Faith Chatham, McBlogger, and Eye on Williamson, which can credibly claim to have been on the bandwagon before it was cool.

UPDATE: Burka, who was generally favorable to the idea of a Watson candidacy, thinks Earle can’t win.

Posted in: Election 2010.
Tagged: Attorney General · Democratic primary · Election 2008 · Election 2010 · Election 2012 · Facebook · Governor · Kinky Friedman · Kirk Watson · Lite Gov · Mark Thompson · Ronnie Earle · Royce West · Texas · Tom Schieffer

Lawrence looking at Commissioners Court

Jul 3rd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Something I’d realized recently is that almost everyone in city government who is or would have been term-limited out is running or has run for another office. Mayor White is running for Senate. City Controller Annise Parker is running for Mayor. Council members Ronald Green, Pam Holm, and MJ Khan are running for City Controller. Former member Adrian Gonzalez was in his last term when he got elected Sheriff last year. The odd one out was Toni Lawrence, but that may not be the case any more.

So we hear current City Council Member Toni Lawrence is eying her next move, possibly toward County Commissioner. Multiple people have told me that Lawrence is seriously considering running for Commissioner Jerry Eversole’s seat, whenever that becomes available. She has already begun privately gauging support. Contacted last night, Lawrence said it was definitely something she is looking at. This apparently, after another formidable female elected official decided to take a pass at the seat… again, whenever it becomes available, which of course, it’s currently NOT.

Perhaps the FBI will step in and make CM Lawrence’s decision easier for her, though given that she just moved into the precinct, barely in time to be qualified for the ballot, perhaps she’s already decided. In any event, an open County Commissioners Court seat is one of the ultimate prizes in our government, and if Eversole jumps or gets pushed out of the race you can be sure it’ll be a free-for-all to replace him. I’m confident there will be some Democrats in that mix as well; I know there are recruitment efforts going on now. Certainly, as a challenge to an incumbent, even one like Eversole, it’s a steep climb. I don’t recall the exact numbers offhand, but CC Precinct 4 is redder than Precinct 3 - it’s slightly on the Republican side of 60/40, so any Dem would be a heavy underdog, even in an open seat. Still, you can’t pass something like this up, and if the stars line up and you hit the jackpot, it’s huge.

Oh, anyone have a clue who the “formidable female elected official” that declined to run might be? Leave a comment and let me know.

UPDATE: Stace has more, and his post suggests former City Council member Addie Wiseman as a potential candidate.

UPDATE: I’ve received some feedback that that the “formidable female elected official” in question is State Rep. Patricia Harless, who was in line to be appointed to the seat in the event that Eversole resigned. The word now is that Eversole will stay till the end of his term, and Harless will run for re-election to the State House.

Posted in: Uncategorized.
Tagged: Addie Wiseman · Adrian Garcia · Annise Parker · Bill White · Commissioners Court · District A · Election 2008 · Election 2009 · Election 2010 · Harris County · Houston · Houston City Controller · Houston City Council · Jerry Eversole · Mayor · MJ Khan · Pam Holm · Patricia Harless · Ronald Green · Toni Lawrence

Hog hell

Jul 3rd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Shannon Tompkins gives us an update on the feral hog situation.

Feral hogs seem to be everywhere. At least they are in Texas, where we are cursed with the nation’s largest population (an estimated 1.5-2 million animals and growing) of the amazingly destructive, prolific and adaptable non-native wild swine.

Yes, feral hogs are challenging to hunt and outstanding on the plate. But those are their only positive attributes. They cause more than $50 million a year in losses to Texas agricultural interests, what with their rooting and wallowing and appetites. They probably do that much or more damage to rural and suburban lawns and gardens and other property.

Feral hogs compete with native wildlife for food and space, even eating their neighbors. Biologists call feral swine “opportunistic omnivores,” meaning they’ll eat just about anything they can grab or root from the ground. They are tough on amphibians and reptiles — lizards, frogs, snakes and such — and will devastate turtle nests, as folks along the Atlantic Coast discovered when they found feral hogs plundering egg-laden nests of endangered sea turtles.

[...]

With [so many] negatives associated with feral hogs, its no wonder states that are not yet infested with the animals or have small
populations are taking drastic measures to prevent the pigs from establishing or spreading.

North Dakota is the latest state to pass a law making it illegal to import, transport or possess a feral swine; hunt or trap them; sponsor, promote or assist in hunting or trapping feral swine; or profit from the release, hunting or trapping of a feral hog.

A person convicted of violating those prohibitions faces a fine of as much as $5,000 per violation.

North Dakota’s ban on hunting, killing, transporting or releasing feral hogs or profiting in any way from those activities is meant to address the main way feral hogs are expanding their range. People are trapping, hauling and releasing feral hogs to establish populations that can be hunted, and from which money can be made.

Such releases are blamed for the much of the viral-like spread of feral hogs over the past two decades.

By removing economic incentives of establishing a feral hog population (landowners can’t legally charge hunters to hunt the animals; guides can’t charge to take people hog hunting) and even criminalizing possession of the animals, North Dakota hopes to prevent introduction of the destructive swine into their state.

Amazing how much destruction people can cause when they don’t care about the negative effects of their actions on others. Makes it a little easier to understand why we needed legislation to restrict carbon emissions, doesn’t it?

Posted in: The great state of Texas.
Tagged: feral hogs · hunting · North Dakota · Texas

That’s a wrap for the special session

Jul 2nd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

I don’t know if it’s a record, but a little more than 30 hours after they gaveled in yesterday, both chambers adjourned sine die today, bringing the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it special session to a close. As noted yesterday, the two bills deemed to be actual needs, SB2 to extend the life of the state agencies that had been left hanging in June, and HB1 to appropriate bond money for transportation projects, passed easily. The third item on the call, addressing comprehensive development agreements (CDAs) for toll roads, which was considered by the Lege to be optional, withered on the vine in the face of stiff opposition and a preference to do nothing rather than fight it out. With nothing else to do - nobody really expected Governor Perry to extend the call for anything else, despite the numerous other bills that were pre-filed, just in case - they called it quits. And a grateful state breathes a sigh of relief, not to mention a bunch of newsies and bloggers that were looking forward to a peaceful holiday weekend.

One is left to wonder why Perry bothered with the CDA agenda item when it became clear so rapidly that it was going nowhere. Burka in particular thinks it was a mistake.

The governor’s fight for more toll roads and more Comprehensive Development Agreements makes no sense politically. It puts the spotlight directly on his most controversial policy. It’s a heaven-sent opportunity for Kay Bailey Hutchison to differentiate herself from Perry, but when I spoke to a Hutchison adviser today, I heard the same line, that she does not want to engage with the Perry at this time. If not now, on the best issue for her, when?

We all know that Rick Perry couldn’t lead a pack of starving dogs to a side of beef, but luckily for him he has a primary opponent - a theoretical one, anyway - that likes to keep her powder really, really, really dry. I’m sure she’ll have something to say about this eventually, once she figures out what it is.

Speaking of Burka, I’d like to recall these words of his from late May, when the word “chubbing” first entered our vocabularies.

As everyone knows, the Democrats’ stalling tactics are an attempt to derail the Voter I.D. bill. It won’t work. This is Friday. They have to chub until Tuesday midnight. Not a chance.

And even if the Democrats were to succeed in chubbing Voter I.D. to death and other bills the D’s don’t like (TDI Sunset, Top 10 Percent), it wouldn’t matter. Perry will call a special session to pass the voter ID bill. Why are they fighting battles that they can’t win–and, worse, will hand Perry a victory?

As we now know, the Democrats did successfully chub through Tuesday at midnight; in fact, they were so successful at pushing voter ID off the calendar that they eased up on the brakes towards the end. And as we also now know, voter ID will not be taken up in this special session, and barring anything unusual it won’t be taken up at all again. I had my reservations about this choice of strategy as well - I thought if there was any chance of beating it in a vote, which might have happened with the Rs having only 74 voting members due to Rep. Kuempel’s heart attack, it should have been taken - and for the same reason, but in the end a successful strategy is one that works. This one worked, and I think that should be recognized.

Finally, in the matter of things that deserved a second chance but didn’t get one, I’ve pasted a press release from Rep. Garnet Coleman regarding CHIP beneath the fold. KBH may not know how to attack Rick Perry’s lack of leadership, but Coleman certainly doesn’t suffer from that malady.

UPDATE: In case anyone was curious, Governor Perry is satisfied with how the session went, as is Speaker Straus.

Continue reading →

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: CHIP · chubbing · Election 2010 · Garnet Coleman · Governor · Joe Straus · Kay Bailey Hutchison · Rick Perry · Senate · special session · Texas · The Lege · toll roads · TxDOT · voter ID

What The Dew is planning to do

Jul 2nd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

I linked to this Statesman article yesterday in regard to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s expectations for the Senate in the special session. It also contained this bit about Dewhurst’s view of his future:

Dewhurst, in his first interview since before the regular session ended June 1, reiterated earlier statements that he continues to mull whether he might run for the U.S. Senate if incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison returns to Texas to challenge GOP Gov. Rick Perry.

“Right now, I’m planning on running for re-election as lieutenant governor,” he said, noting that “there’s not an opening in the United States Senate” because Hutchison has not made her intentions official.

“If the Senate job came open, I would probably give it a hard look,” he said. “I think that seat needs to stay in Republican hands.”

Well, some of us - me, for instance - think that the Senate job won’t come open before the 2010 filing deadline. Given that AG Greg Abbott is raring to run for Lite Gov, that may put Dewhurst and all of the dominoes that are lining up behind him in an interesting position. An Abbott-Dewhurst primary could be as nasty and expensive as the Perry-Hutchison one is shaping up to be. They’ll have more than enough money to generate their own “yuck factor” as well. Just something to keep in mind.

Posted in: Election 2010.
Tagged: David Dewhurst · Election 2010 · Greg Abbott · Kay Bailey Hutchison · Lite Gov · Rick Perry · Senate · Texas

Smith bashes Perry for vetoing HB3148

Jul 2nd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Rep. Todd Smith takes Governor Perry to task for vetoing HB3148, which would have exempted some teenagers who had engaged in consensual sex with a minor less than four years younger than themselves from having to register as sex offenders.

Gov. Rick Perry vetoed one of the most morally compelling bills I have ever filed in the Texas House.

I authored the bill because of heartbreaking letters received from parents and grandparents describing how their son or grandson has been permanently scarred because of a consensual teenage relationship. All the bill would have done was to give a judge discretion to not place a teen on the sex offender registry for having consensual sex with someone who was at least 14 and not more than four years younger than the defendant.

Perry apparently believes that every teenager who has a consensual relationship with someone more than three years, but less than four years younger should be labeled for life as a sex offender.

The purpose of sex offender registration is to protect children from child molesters. The monitoring and supervision of nonthreatening people wastes law enforcement resources and detracts law enforcement from closer scrutiny of the sex offender for whom registration was intended — those who are dangerous to children.

HB 3148 was passed by a vote of 131-12 in the House and unanimously in the Senate. Sixteen witnesses testified in committee in favor of the bill. There was no opposition.

In his veto statement, Perry said that “sex offenders would be eligible to petition a court for an exemption from sex offender registration, regardless of the age of the victim.” That is simply not true.

The bill expressly stated that the victim must be at least 14 years old with the perpetrator less than four years older. He said he feared this bill would not protect young victims, but it only would allow a judge to grant an exemption when it is in the best interest of the victim. Some of these “victims” are now married to the “perpetrators.”

The bill wouldn’t change the criminality of the offense of statutory rape, which is a punishable crime. It only gave certain teens in consensual relationships an opportunity to ask a judge for an exemption from lifetime registration as a sex offender.

Good for you, Rep. Smith. There’s “tuff on crime” and there’s being smart about crime; HB3148 was an example of the latter, while Perry’s needless veto was the former. The people affected by it deserved better. EoW has more.

Posted in: Crime and Punishment.
Tagged: Rick Perry · sex crimes · Texas · The Lege · Todd Smith · veto

Not everybody isn’t hiring, Part Deux

Jul 2nd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Bad economic times are good times for Texas prisons to fill their vacancies.

Texas has just 1,262 correctional officer jobs now open, compared with more than 3,700 openings just over a year ago. Officials say more people have become guards because of pay incentives and the struggling economy.

“It’s the economy. No doubt about it,” said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. He chairs the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee that oversees prison operations.

“When there’s not many choices for employment, and the oil patch slows down, these prison jobs start looking real good,” Whitmire said.

Texas prison guards start at about $26,000 a year. After eight years, the salary tops out at about $34,600. Even with the pay raises, Texas still ranks low nationally in correctional officer pay. Last year, it ranked 13th among 16 southern states, according to prison officials.

The economy has to be pretty bad for those jobs to look attractive, if you ask me. HPD and the Harris County Sheriff’s office, both of which pay better, have similarly benefited. And hey, it’s government spending that even conservatives approve of.

Posted in: Crime and Punishment.
Tagged: economy · Harris County Sheriff · HPD · John Whitmire · Texas · Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Cork recycling

Jul 2nd, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Isiah Carey asks “Have you ever heard of cork recycling?”

I’ve heard of bottle recycling, plastic recycling, and even computer recycling but never cork recycling. Apparently, some Houston area liquor stores are on a campaign to recycle corks from wine bottles. In fact, one store in The Woodlands will donate 2 cents for every cork turned in by its customers. That money will be used for cancer research and care. The store I encountered has plans to match the 2 cents for every cork turned in.

As a matter of fact, I have heard of cork recycling. What I hadn’t heard of was where you could do it locally. Unfortunately, Carey’s post doesn’t really answer the question. And even if it did, it wouldn’t really be economic for me to drive up to the Woodlands to drop off some wine corks. Maybe as single stream recycling gets introduced to more neighborhoods in Houston, wine corks can be added to the list of accepted items, if they aren’t already.

Posted in: Elsewhere in Houston.
Tagged: cork · Houston · recycling · The Woodlands · wine

Two out of three ain’t bad

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

So of the three items on the call for this special session, two of them are sailing along. SB2, the Senate bill to keep state agencies like TxDOT alive, has already passed the full Senate by unanimous vote and will be taken up by the House tomorrow, where HB2 passed out of committee. HB1, which issues a bunch of transportation bonds that had been approved by voters in 2007, also passed out of committee. SB1 was still in committee as I blog this, but it should pass easily enough.

And then there’s SB3 and HB3, the bills to authorize comprehensive development agreements for toll roads. Those two aren’t doing so well.

Legislation that would allow state transportation officials to continue contracting for privately built toll roads derailed this afternoon in the Senate, amid an angry backlash over plans to toll a Dallas-area expressway that is being built with taxpayer money.

At the end of a sometimes-heated hearing, Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, acknowledged that Senate Bill 3 — which would extend the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation to continue entering into comprehensive development agreements (CDAs) — cannot pass.

“This issue is controversial and right now, we don’t have the votes,” Ogden said.

“I think we pass the bills that are essential — SB 1 and 2. SB 3 is optional … and right now, I don’t see it getting out of this committee.”

The controversy over SB 3 had started earlier in the day as nearly a dozen senators told Senate leaders they intended to “tag” the bill — meaning it would not get a public hearing as planned.

But Ogden said he prevailed on senators to allow the hearing to proceed. Tempers quickly flared after North Texas senators learned that of three CDAs that are in the pipeline now, one project is being built with federal stimulus money — and drivers on a restricted lane will still pay tolls.

A similar fate befell HB3 in the House committee. Both sides noted that very little would be affected by waiting until the 2011 session, and there’s plenty of opposition and uncertainty around them to think that passage any time this week could happen. While Lt. Gov. Dewhurst says that a deal is in the works for a minimalist version of the bill, I think Sen. Ogden’s view that this is optional and can be dropped is likely to carry the day. That just leaves the question about whether Governor Perry will go to the mat for it, or if he’ll just let it go and claim victory for the things that do pass. We’ll see. EoW has more.

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: David Dewhurst · privatization · Rick Perry · Senate · special session · Steve Ogden · Texas · The Lege · toll roads · TxDOT

Adding Tim Cole amendment to the call

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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As you saw from the Senate’s pre-filed bills, there are a number of items being pushed by legislators that aren’t a part of the call for the special session. If one believes Governor Perry, it’s unlikely that anything else will get added, at least if the session is on track to finish up by the weekend as hoped. Nonetheless, here’s one thing that ought to be given strong consideration as an addition. Via press release from State Sen. Rodney Ellis’ office:

Senator Rodney Ellis, Representatives Ruth Jones McClendon and Marc Veasey joined Ruby and Cory Session, mother and brother of Tim Cole, for a press conference today urging Governor Perry to add a posthumous pardons constitutional amendment to the call of the special session. Tim Cole was posthumously exonerated in 2009 and today would have been his 49th birthday.

In September 1986, Tim Cole was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. He professed his innocence until he died in prison of an asthma attack in 1999. The real rapist, Jerry Johnson, attempted to confess to the rape beginning in 1995. In 2007, he wrote to Ruby Session, Tim Cole’s mother, confessing to the crime and not knowing that Tim had already passed away. In May 2008, DNA evidence revealed that Tim Cole was innocent and that Jerry Johnson was the true rapist.

This past regular session, the Texas House and Senate passed resolutions honoring Tim Cole, and in April, Judge Charles Baird exonerated Tim Cole in a “court of inquiry.” On May 27, Gov. Perry signed HB 1736, The Tim Cole Act, which increased compensation for the wrongfully convicted and family members of persons who were posthumously pardoned. Unfortunately, HJR 98, which would have authorized a constitutional amendment to give the governor the power to grant posthumous pardons, failed to pass the House.

Because HJR 98 did not pass, the governor has said he does not have the constitutional authority to grant Tim Cole a pardon.

“Nine states have granted posthumous pardons on at least ten separate occasions since 1977. President Clinton granted a posthumous pardon in 1999 to Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper, the first African-American commissioned officer in the United States Army. I don’t think we need to pass a constitutional amendment for Gov. Perry to pardon Tim Cole, but if the governor thinks we need it then he should add it to the special session call,” said Senator Ellis.

While it is unclear that a constitutional amendment is really needed, state legislators and the Session family have asked Gov. Perry to add a posthumous pardons constitutional amendment to the special session call so that he will grant Tim Cole a pardon for actual innocence.

“Since 1985 our family has been in a marathon race to clear the name of my brother Tim Cole. We are now in the final stretch toward the finish line of justice. To deny Tim Cole a pardon now is like firing the false start gun and saying try again. It is the Governor’s duty to take the baton of injustice off of our family and pardon Tim Cole,” said Cory Session.

Neither HJR98 nor its enabling legislation HB2596 ever made it onto the House calendar. Its Senate companion SJR11 did make it to the calendar, but fell victim to the chubfest, while its enabling legislation SB223 passed both chambers but was vetoed because SJR11 died in the House. It’s very likely the case that SJR11 would have passed the House had it ever been brought up, and as this seems like a fairly non-controversial item with a high do-good factor, you’d think it’d have a chance at a second chance. Up to the Governor, that’s all you can say. Grits has more.

Posted in: Crime and Punishment.
Tagged: constitutional amendments · innocence · Marc Veasey · pardon · Rick Perry · Rodney Ellis · Ruth Jones McClendon · special session · Texas · The Lege · Tim Cole

Support the Central City Co-op

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

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Some of you may know that my wife, Tiffany Tyler, has been working with Central City Co-Op. Last year, she helped launch the farmers market they run at Discovery Green - she was its first manager - and has continued to work with them on their Board of Directors. Central City is embarking on its first capital campaign this summer. She sent the following email to friends and supporters of Central City, which I’m reproducing here:

As most of you know, I’ve spent the past 2 years working within Central City Co-Op. I’d been a co-op shopper and member since 2003, and took the opportunity after my corporate severance to become more involved in this community-based organization. I am now chairman of its Board of Directors.

The Co-op has a central mission of bringing fresh, organic produce to people in the Houston community at a reasonable price. We use a network of local farmers and a national distributor to source our produce, and a group of strongly committed volunteers supporting the equivalent of 3 paid staff to make the business work. This includes our Wednesday operations on Taft Street AND the Farmer’s Market at Discovery Green on Sundays. Each market day, remaindered unsold produce is donated to feed the least fortunate in our community. In 2008 we donated over $10,000 in produce to support SEARCH, the Salvation Army and the Beacon at Christ Church Cathedral.

Our volunteers and staff have worked in area schools to do nutrition education and outreach, including Healthy Harvard Happenings. We work now with the Urban Farm Belt coalition to help develop more community-based gardens so that people in the inner city will have access to the fresh produce they need to have balanced diets at reasonable cost. Our Sunday operation at Discovery Green provides free booth space to community service groups to bring their messages of caring for the environment and each other to the masses of park attendees each weekend.

We pride ourselves on being a Texas not-for-profit corporation, serving our community. We do not have IRS 501 C3 status, however, and this presents challenges as we apply for grant funding to grow and expand our educational programming. It also hampers us when we need to replace capital goods. Things like refrigerators, computers, shelving and scales do break. The margins we use to keep our prices low don’t allow us a lot of wiggle room. So we need a capital campaign.

We have begun our first capital campaign this summer, with a goal of raising sufficient funds to replace and expand our refrigeration system, buy new shelving and replace our scales. We have multiple projects planned throughout the summer and fall to meet this goal. Our summer projects include:

- a car wash ticket sale for Bubbles Express. Now through the 22nd of July, purchase a Choice Wash ticket from us for $8 (the same $8 they charge you if you drive up), and the Co-Op keeps $4. We all like clean cars, right? And the Bubbles on Washington Avenue is really convenient. And did you know that they RECYCLE the water in their carwash? Each 18 gallons used in a typical Choice Wash gets used for 2 or 3 cars (depending on how dirty they are). And of course it is filtered and then sent to the treatment plant. So there’s no groundwater contamination AND it uses very little water. Doesn’t it just make you want to buy a block of tickets from me right now? They’re good through 22 December, so you can stock up!

- a community garage sale. On Saturday 11 July, the folks at Fixers Automotive on Harvard at 11th are letting us use their space for a large community garage sale. We’d love to have your household goods for sale, and we’d love to have you stop by and clothe your kids or round out your household in some other way. Contact me for drop-off information. We’ll be selling from 8 am to noon on the 11th. And we’ll have carwash tickets there, too.

I encourage all of you to support Central City Co-op. I’ve found it to be a wonderful group of people who believe passionately in good food, good stewardship and strong community. We are always looking for more good folks to help, as well, so if the spirit moves you to learn more and become involved, please don’t hesitate to ask me for more information.

Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

You can also follow Central City Co-op on Twitter or join their Facebook group. If you want to help out with the car wash ticket sales, or just want to buy some car wash tickets, please send an email to ttcentralcity@gmail.com. Or just leave a comment here and we’ll get in touch. Thanks very much.

Posted in: Food, glorious food.
Tagged: Central City Co-op · Discovery Green · Facebook · fundraiser · Houston · organic food · Tiffany Tyler · Twitter

And they’re off

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

The special session gets started today, with the stated goal of being done by the weekend. House Speaker Joe Straus thinks his chamber can get everything done in three days, while Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is even more ambitious than that.

“The Senate will get it done in less than three days,” Dewhurst said in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday. “I’m actually shooting for having the bills come back from committee late tomorrow afternoon, and either passing them tomorrow night or Thursday morning.”

In a series of meetings before the session begins, Dewhurst said, senators are working to resolve issues and get their questions answered before the opening gavel falls at 10 a.m.. “They may have the (three) bills virtually memorized by (this) morning,” he joked.

On the agenda: Continuing the operations of the state’s transportation, insurance and racing commissions plus two smaller agencies; authorizing $2 billion in road-building bonds that voters have approved; and continuing the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation to negotiate private-public deals to build toll roads.

You can see the Senate’s pre-filed bills here. It’s probably safe to say that all of the ones after SB3 are unlikely to be brought up for floor debate. As far as the three bills that are on the official agenda, one of them is controversial.

The special legislative session that starts today includes measures to allow private companies to build more toll roads across the state — an idea opponents have dubbed “the largest tax increase in history.”

Gov. Rick Perry, who called the special session and sets its agenda, wants lawmakers to continue five state agencies that otherwise would expire, to permit highway bonds to be issued — and to authorize the continued use of comprehensive agreements that allow public-private partnerships in development of toll roads.

He said the work, left undone in the recent regular session, can be completed in a few days.

Opponents of privately run toll roads, however, hope the idea gets anything but a short, smooth ride.

“Concerned citizens are hopping mad about lawmakers’ rush to get home for the Fourth of July holiday rather than give due consideration to what some have dubbed the largest tax increase in Texas history, selling Texas highways to PRIVATE foreign corporations that charge 75 cents PER MILE in new toll taxes to access PUBLIC roads,” said a statement from Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, which plans to be at the Capitol in full force today.

[...]

Lawmakers allowed the agreements in 2003. In the face of critics’ outcry that the state was selling key assets, they later put a moratorium on new agreements, with exceptions. The ability to enter into such agreements is set to expire this year, requiring legislative action.

A proposal by Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, would extend the authorization for the agreements through 2013. It would allow specific projects that have been agreed upon by local entities to go forward. It also would allow new agreements with additional restrictions.

“We’ve been trying to work real hard to put in local control and protections for the citizens, and I think we’ve accomplished that,” he said.

Here’s what TURF had to say about Sen. Nichols’ bill, SB3. The DMN transportation blog, which notes that TURF will be rallying in front of the Capitol at 9 AM today, quibbles with some of their objections. It’s unclear to me from this article if the previous concerns about SB3 had been addressed. I’d guess the answer is yes, on the grounds that Governor Perry might have been critical of it if it contained language he wouldn’t approve. But that’s just a guess - we’ll know soon enough.

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: David Dewhurst · Rick Perry · Robert Nichols · Senate · special session · Texas · The Lege · toll roads · TURF

Schieffer on the trail

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

The main advantage Tom Schieffer has over his actual and potential rivals for the Democratic nomination for Governor is that he’s actually out there on the trail right now, and stuff he’s saying is in the news.

Schieffer is traveling across the state, introducing himself to Texans as a Democratic candidate for governor.

“It’s been a long time since we had any vision in this state, and I want to do something about that,” said Schieffer, 61. “This spirit of Texas is still alive. This is the election. This is the day. This is the hour to decide to change Texas again.”

Schieffer said he is running because the state must improve its education system and stop the high dropout rate, develop a better energy regulatory system, improve the healthcare system and focus more on the environment.

Schieffer said he can win the 2010 election no matter who survives the brutal Republican primary — Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

“To win, this campaign must become a cause,” he said.

Hard to argue with any of that, and full marks to him for his confidence in a matchup with KBH. That’s the sort of thing I had in mind for Schieffer as he introduces himself. Keep it up, Tom.

Although Schieffer is a Democrat, his past ties to Bush are not necessarily a bad thing, said Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg.

“You’ve got to have a candidate to attract independent voters and siphon off Republican voters … while holding onto the more liberal wing, which is a question mark, but nonetheless they may hold their noses and vote for Schieffer,” Polinard said. “If he has Perry as an opponent, he can isolate him as a far right-wing candidate. And it’s not like he’d be running against a person who’s enjoyed overwhelming support.”

The issue Schieffer will have next November if he’s the nominee is not with the Democrats that are habitual voters, whose tribalism ought to kick in as the bad guys say the sorts of things that get us all riled up. (Assuming he hasn’t done too many little things to tick them off.) The concern is with the more casual voter, who may or may not find him to be a particularly compelling candidate, and may stay home as a result. The way this was recently and poetically expressed to me was what the “give a shit” factor will be. It will help that there likely won’t be a high-profile third party alternative, but the level of support among the more sporadic voters is crucial and could be determinative.

Posted in: Election 2010.
Tagged: Election 2010 · Governor · Kay Bailey Hutchison · Rick Perry · Texas · Tom Schieffer · turnout

Bryan Shaw

Jul 1st, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

One gets used to disappointments with Rick Perry.

In late 2007, the appointment of Bryan Shaw, a Texas A&M professor and air pollution expert, to the three-member board that oversees the state’s environmental agency drew praise from a prominent government watchdog.

Tom “Smitty” Smith said then that Gov. Rick Perry’s selection “has lots of the skills and talents needed to figure out the impacts of air pollution across the state. Overall, I’m encouraged that this appears to be a very well-qualified commissioner.”

That was 19 months ago. This is now.

“His eyes are so clouded by the pollution in Texas that he couldn’t see a fact in front of him,” said Smith, director of the Texas chapter of Public Citizen.

In his short tenure, Shaw has rankled environmentalists who had hoped that a fresh day dawned with a scientist on the dais of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality — a frequent target of complaints over its stewardship of the state’s air and water.

As a commissioner, Shaw has sided with industry in some bitter permit disputes, advocated free-market approaches to solving pollution problems and supported the governor’s sharp criticism of potential federal regulation of climate-altering gases.

Quelle surprise, no? That’s our Governor for you, always meeting our low expectations of him. For more on Shaw, see Floor Pass and Sen. Kirk Watson’s statement in opposition to Shaw’s nomination to the TCEQ.

Posted in: Show Business for Ugly People.
Tagged: Bryan Shaw · climate change · Kirk Watson · pollution · Public Citizen Texas · Rick Perry · TCEQ · Texas · Tom "Smitty" Smith

Turner not running for Mayor

Jun 30th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

The Mayoral field for this November should now be set.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner announced today he would not attempt a run for mayor of Houston.

The 11-term Democrat representative’s announcement comes a little more than three weeks after he publicly acknowledged he was weighing a third run for mayor. Turner said he was considering a campaign after being asked by community supporters to get in the race.

“Although I believe the race is eminently winnable, a late entry into the campaign would have required that I drop every other project in which I am involved, community endeavors such as the Houston Astros Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Acres Homes and continuing my work in the Texas Legislature, to which I am deeply committed and thoroughly enjoy,” Turner said in a statement issued this morning.

Had he opted to run, Turner would have joined an already crowded field. Announced candidates include former city attorney Gene Locke, Councilman Peter Brown, City Controller Annise Parker, Harris County Department of Education Trustee Roy Morales and businessman T.J. Huntley. The filing deadline is in late September.

Earlier this month, Turner said he promised potential supporters he would consider a run after the legislative session concluded earlier this month.

I’ve got Turner’s full statement beneath the fold. I’d heard a couple of weeks ago that he was making calls to potential campaign contributors, as nobody serious gets into a race like this without some assurance that the resources needed to run a campaign will be there. Maybe he wasn’t getting the response he thought he’d need, or maybe he really just didn’t think he could commit to the race. I was somewhat skeptical that he’d jump in, so I can’t say that this surprises me. Greg has more, including some possible candidates in other races:

African Americans Rozy Shorter and Andrew Burks are considering contesting Sue Lovell for at large 2.

Green Party gay activist Alfred Molison has filed his treasurer designation to oppose District C City Council Member Anne Clutterbuck.

African American former assistant Texas Attorney General Lewis Cook has designated his treasurer to run for the District F seat MJ Khan is leaving and Richard Sedita has designated his treasurer for District G, the seat Pam Holm is leaving.

Shorter has been out there for awhile. Burks is a perennial candidate; his last race was for HCDE Trustee against Roy Morales in 2006. Molison ran twice in 2007, once in the May special election for At Large #3, where he finished tenth, and again in November where he was one of two candidates who ran against Clutterbuck, getting a shade under 6% of the vote. Cook has been in the race for awhile, but I don’t know much about him. Sedita makes five in District G, joining Mills Worsham, Oliver Pennington, Dexter Handy, and George Foulard.

Continue reading →

Posted in: Election 2009.
Tagged: Alfred Molison · Andrew Burks · Anne Clutterbuck · Annise Parker · At Large #2 · At Large #3 · District C · District F · District G · Election 2006 · Election 2007 · Election 2009 · fundraising · Gene Locke · HCDE · Houston · Houston City Council · Lewis Cook · Mayor · Peter Brown · Richard Sedita · Roy Morales · Roz Shorter · Sylvester Turner · The Lege · TJ Huntley

Special session starts tomorrow

Jun 30th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

2 comments

The special session everyone knew was coming to address the disposition of several state agencies begins tomorrow. So far, at least, the agenda hasn’t changed from the original call.

Gov. Rick Perry is being pressed to add issues ranging from children’s health care to voter identification to the agenda of the special session that begins Wednesday, but his answer is still no.

Perry, a Republican, made clear when he called the session last week that he wants lawmakers to take just a few days to complete must-do business left undone in the regular session, then be gone.

He hasn’t changed his mind, spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said Monday: “The governor has already announced what will be addressed during the special session and at this time doesn’t have any intentions to expand the call.”

“At this time” certainly leaves wiggle room for him. There have been plenty of other bills filed for the session in the event the Governor uses that wiggle room, including a CHIP expansion provision that already has majority support in the House. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t have is Perry’s support, so I wouldn’t hold my breath. As for voter ID, the best assurance we’ve got right now is this sentiment:

Rep. Betty Brown, R-Athens, said she has asked Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus for a commitment to address voter ID in the special session.

Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said he hasn’t – and won’t – ask Perry to add the issue: “I want to get in here and get it over with and get back home.”

Amen to that. House Speaker Joe Straus has a vision for how that will happen.

[Monday], three House bills [were] pre-filed that correspond to Gov. Rick Perry’s agenda: The Sunset scheduling bill for the transportation, insurance, racing and two smaller agencies; authorization of $2 billion in transportation bonds and creation of the Texas Transportation Revolving Fund, and extension of comprehensive development agreements to build roads.

On Wednesday, the Legislature will convene at 10 a.m. Those House bills will promptly be assigned to three House committees — Appropriations, State Affairs and Transportation— for the required public hearings.

On Thursday, the House is expected to have its first calendar for consideration. Committees are expected to have approved the bills the previous day, if everything goes on schedule.

On Friday, “if it is the will of the members to do so, we will conclude our business.”

According to the Straus memo, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, will author the transportation bond bill; state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, chairman of the Sunset Advisory Bill, will carry the Sunset bill, and Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, will carry the so-called CDA bill.

To expedite the three-day express schedule, a special briefing for House members and their staffs will be held at 1:30 Tuesday in the Capitol Auditorium to answer questions about the bills.

The question is what happens if one item on the call doesn’t get swift approval?

arried a bill that would have extended by six years the legal authority for TxDOT and regional mobility authorities to sign what have usually been 50-year contracts with private companies to build and operate (and profit from) tollways on public land. Authority for such leases expires Sept. 1.

The general understanding was that the legislation’s final passage was dependent on approval of a separate bill by state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, that would put limits on such contracts. Both bills passed the House and Senate, either with their original bill numbers or as part of the main TxDOT bill that died late in the session.

The question is, will that linkage still be the case in the special session? Nichols said Monday that it had better be, or the toll road item could end up in the ditch.

“I feel very strongly about it, and so do many” other senators, Nichols said.

Carona said Monday that he could see eliminating at least some of what Nichols had in mind if a toll road lease extension were passed that applied to only a handful of projects for which officials have already decided who — TxDOT or local toll authorities — will be in charge of the projects. That list reportedly includes extending the Texas 130 tollway north from Georgetown to Hillsboro, building the new Interstate 69 from south of Refugio to the Rio Grande Valley and adding toll lanes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

However, even in those cases, Carona said, “you’d have to have at least put some protections in there.”

[...]

So, what would Perry do if something close to [Nichols' bill] were attached to the extension legislation in the special session? Some officials said that such an amendment could be determined to be outside the scope of Perry’s call. Nichols disagrees with that.

Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said Perry’s staff is talking with Nichols’ office to discuss his concerns.

Carona said, “One source in the governor’s office indicated that any bill that contained the Nichols language would be vetoed. Another said that’s not necessarily so.”

Yes, well, we know how good Perry’s staff is at communicating the Governor’s intentions in these matters. I feel reassured, don’t you?

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: Betty Brown · Carl Isett · CHIP · David Dewhurst · Jim Pitts · Joe Pickett · Joe Straus · John Carona · Rick Perry · Robert Nichols · Senate · special session · Texas · The Lege · toll roads · Tommy Williams · TxDOT · veto · voter ID

Jeff Weems

Jun 30th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

We’ve been hearing plenty about the top of the ticket for Democrats in 2010, but there are still several slots to fill. One of them is the Railroad Commissioner seat held by Victor Carrillo. Via email to Carl Whitmarsh, here’s a name for you:

Jeff Weems is running for the Democratic nomination for Texas Railroad Commissioner in 2010, hopefully earning a chance to square off with Republican incumbent Victor Carrillo.

Jeff is currently the precinct Chair for Precinct 274. He is an oil and gas litigation attorney, representing exploration companies, service companies and landowners. Before becoming an attorney, he worked in the industry for years, first as a laborer on drilling rigs, next as a mud man, then as a landman. He has been an attorney for 19 years. He works with Harrison, Bettis, Staff, McFarland & Weems, a mid-sized Houston litigation firm.

Jeff is running because he knows the energy industry inside and out. He knows that the Railroad Commission can do so much more than it does now. The incumbent Republican commissioners are far too ready to take contributions from companies with matters pending before the commission, even when they are not up for election. Even more importantly, the current commissioners have demonstrated a bias toward the gas utilities when rate cases are heard, which ends up costing the citizens of Texas dearly. In addition, Jeff will balance the desires of the operators seeking to drill and complete wells with the need to protect Texas’ environment (such as in the Barnett Shale).

Won’t surprise me if Dale Henry, who was a candidate in 2006 and again in 2008, runs again. Mark Thompson, who defeated Henry and Art Hall in the 2008 primary for RR Commish, is currently running for Governor. There may be someone else out there as well - who knows, maybe Hall wants to take another crack at it - but at least we have one.

The potential contenders for all statewide offices at this time, as I know of them:

Governor - Tom Schieffer is in, Kinky Friedman and Mark Thompson say they’re in. Kirk Watson and/or Ronnie Earle may decide to join them. Former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger has been mentioned as well, but while everyone I’ve spoken to loves the guy, nobody as yet thinks this is likely.

Lieutenant Governor - Not a whole lot of chatter about this one just yet, but I’ve recently heard that State Sen. Royce West, who has previously expressed some interest in Attorney General, may run for this slot instead. Watson remains a possibility here as well.

Attorney General - Barbara Radnofsky is in. West and Earle are possible. State Rep. Patrick Rose has been in the conversation, but any buzz he’s had has diminished of late. 2006 nominee David Van Os is always a possibility, but the word I’ve heard lately is that he’s not considering it.

Comptroller - Haven’t heard a peep. Susan Combs may become the Kay Bailey Hutchison of the next decade, at least if no one serious ever challenges her.

Ag Commish - 2006 nominee Hank Gilbert is running. He may have company, but as yet I’ve not heard any other names.

Land Commish - I have recently heard the name of a potentially exciting candidate for this slot, but that person has not made a decision and the name was given to me in confidence, so that’s all I can say for now.

So there you have it. Regarding the Comptroller slot, Combs probably is the one person no one serious wants to run against. There’s a danger in that if there is a vacuum, it could get filled by a clown like Fred Head, whose buffoonish presence would be a drag on a ticket that had, say, Watson, West, and Earle/Radnofsky as the headliners. You can’t stop anyone from running - see “Kelly, Gene” for all the evidence of that you’ll need - but you can try to persuade someone with a bit more heft to challenge him in the primary if it comes down to it. A self-funder would be preferred, given the amount of funds that will need to be devoted to other races. Whether one can be found or not is the question.

Posted in: Election 2010.
Tagged: Ag Commissioner · Art Hall · Attorney General · Barbara Radnofsky · Comptroller · Dale Henry · David Van Os · Democratic primary · Election 2006 · Election 2008 · Election 2010 · Fred Head · Governor · Hank Gilbert · Jeff Weems · Kinky Friedman · Kirk Watson · Land Commissioner · Lite Gov · Mark Thompson · Patrick Rose · Phil Hardberger · Railroad Commission · Ronnie Earle · Royce West · Susan Combs · Texas · Tom Schieffer · Victor Carrillo

The whole “two thirds” thing is more flexible than you might think

Jun 30th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is mad as heck about some Senate rules shenanigans, according to the Statesman’s Jason Embry.

Wentworth, R-San Antonio, thinks that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst abused his authority in the recently completed legislative session, and he wants senators to change their rules in 2011 to prevent it from happening again.

To back up for a second, I wrote a story for the Statesman last week about the fact that most of the bills that Gov. Rick Perry vetoed this year received few dissenting votes as they moved through the Legislature. As part of that story, I talked to Wentworth, who unsuccessfully pushed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to come back into a brief special session and override some of Perry’s vetoes.

Wentworth said that the measure had support from 26 of the 31 senators but Dewhurst would not recognize him to bring it up for a vote. And this part was not in that story — Wentworth said senators should change their rules in the next session to prevent that from happening again.

“If I have anything to say about it, we’re going to change the rules come January 2011,” Wentworth said. “We’re going to say, if you put a file in writing with the secretary of the Senate, 21 signatures that senators want to debate a bill, then the president of the Senate should recognize that senator the next day of the session.”

He added, “We’re not going to put up with this any longer. There are a number of senators that I’ve already spoken to that agree with me. It only takes 16 senators to adopt rules.”

Wentworth said Dewhurst told him that Gov. Rick Perry talked to him 20 times about stopping the legislation. And he said former Sen. Ken Armbrister, who works for Perry, “cajoled and threatened” six senators into opposing the measure, giving Dewhurst the cover he needed to not bring up the bill. (Asked about all this, Dewhurst spokesman Rich Parsons said only that the bill did not have the votes necessary to be called up).

Wentworth said there is an unwritten understanding between senators and the lieutenant governor that if 21 senators are willing to debate a bill, Dewhurst will recognize the appropriate senator to bring it up.

“The lieutenant governor should not abuse that power that we give him,” Wentworth said. “He should not have given his word to Perry that he would kill that bill.”

Just so we’re all clear, Wentworth was perfectly happy to scrap the existing two-thirds rule to bring voter ID to the floor. I’d have more sympathy for him if it weren’t for that. Live by the end-around, die by the end-around, you know? In any event, Burka thinks this is a bad idea on principle, and he thinks he has a better one.

If Wentworth’s plan goes through, it will change the nature of the lieutenant governor’s office. The proposal grants 21 senators the ability to force the lieutenant governor to recognize one of their number to bring legislation to the floor. By denying the light gov the discretion of when and whether to recognize members, Wentworth would weaken the office and rob the legislative branch of a counterweight to the executive.

If one of the arguments against Wentworth’s proposal is that it ties the hands of the lieutenant governor, another argument is that his idea is doomed to failure. All the lieutenant governor has to do is to take a look at the list, pick out one or two members to lobby, get them to remove their names, and –poof! — there won’t be twenty-one signatures any more.

I think that there is an easy solution to the problem of the Legislature’s inability to override the governor’s vetoes: start sooner. Quit wasting time early in the session. Get legislation to the governor’s desk early enough that he has to take action while the session is still going on. The Legislature could do what Congress does. After the November elections, each house should caucus in December. The speaker and the lieutenant governor will have a month to meet with members and get their committee preferences. At the caucus, the presiding officer-apparent announces the appointments for the upcoming session. And the Legislature can began holding committee hearings in January. The accelerated schedule will get bills to the governor’s desk in a timely manner so that he has to take action before the session ends, giving the Legislature a chance to override his vetoes.

In theory, Burka’s solution makes a lot of sense, and should be the norm in years where the Speaker is predetermined. As he admits, that wouldn’t have helped this time around, and may not help in 2011 - the most likely scenario is a House that’s nearly as evenly divided as it is now, with a 75-75 split a distinct possibility - or 2013, the first post-redistricting session, either. Other than that, it’s a great idea.

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: David Dewhurst · Election 2008 · Election 2010 · Election 2012 · Jeff Wentworth · Lite Gov · Rick Perry · Senate · Speaker's race · The Lege · two thirds rule · veto · voter ID

Texas blog roundup for the week of June 29

Jun 30th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

It’s Fourth of July week, and so it’s time for an extra-patriotic rendition of the Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup. Click on for the highlights.

Continue reading →

Posted in: Blog stuff.
Tagged: blog roundup · TPA

Neighborhood concerns about the transit corridors ordinance

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

I think most people who choose to live in Houston’s urban core would agree that density is a good thing as a general rule. Density done in a half-assed way, which has been Houston’s trademark, not so much.

Density hasn’t been kind to Cottage Grove, a small neighborhood with narrow streets, few sidewalks, poor drainage and scarce parking for the owners of its many new homes and their guests.

Like many neighborhoods inside Loop 610, Cottage Grove in recent years has experienced a flurry of construction of large townhomes that loom over 80-year-old cottages next door. Two or three dwellings crowd sites where one house stood previously. Streets are cluttered with vehicles parked every which way. Water stands in the streets after heavy rains.

“It was shocking to see this jewel of a neighborhood in this condition,” said former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, a senior fellow with the nonprofit Urban Land Institute who toured Cottage Grove two years ago. “It was about the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, to be honest with you.”

The issues in Cottage Grove and other central Houston neighborhoods are on the minds of city officials, neighborhood leaders and others as the city considers the first major revisions to its development code in a decade. The proposed amendments were prompted in part by indications that pressure for dense new development is spreading to the area between Loop 610 and Beltway 8.

Marlene Gafrick, Houston’s planning and development director, said her department’s proposal to extend Houston’s “urban area” from the Loop to the Beltway would give dozens of neighborhoods tools to protect their traditional character and quality of life, such as procedures to petition for minimum lot sizes and building lines.

Some neighborhood leaders on both sides of the Loop, however, worry the measures don’t go far enough to prevent flooding, protect open space or ensure adequate parking. They see the proposals as an extension of the same approach that produced current conditions in neighborhoods such as Cottage Grove.

You can see plenty of other examples of this. The part of north Montrose where I used to live before moving to the Heights is another good example, filled with narrow streets that used to house small bungalows that now feature fewer bungalows surrounded by three-story crammed-in town homes. Streets that used to have a few cars parked on them here and there are now full on both sides - some streets, like the block of Van Buren where I had resided, now restrict parking to one side only - making passage difficult. Longtime residents have been negatively affected by all this.

It didn’t have to be this way. A lot of these old neighborhoods had been in decline and really a shot in the arm from new construction. It just needed to be done in a way that recognized their needs and limits. Improving sidewalks and ensuring that the drainage system could take the increased capacity would have helped. Pairing all this new inner-core growth with expansions and upgrades to public transit, including a more aggressive approach to building out light rail, and making more mixed-use development possible where it made sense, would have made a huge difference. We can’t undo what has been done, but we can try to stop repeating these mistakes, and we can try to address some of the now more urgent needs these neighborhoods have. We even know what needs to be done. The question is, when City Council takes up the new ordinance in August, will we do it, or will we continue down the same path as before?

Posted in: Elsewhere in Houston.
Tagged: buses · Cottage Grove · form-based codes · Houston · Houston City Council · light rail · Montrose · pedestrians · sidewalks · Urban Land Institute · urbanism

Wilshire Village’s going-away photos

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

I ask for photos of the impending demolition of Wilshire Village Apartments, I get photos. And I echo Robert Boyd:

I just hope the developer, who thus far has been shown to have no particular vision (or much human decency) will preserve the oaks and magnolia trees that dot this property.

Amen to that.

Posted in: Elsewhere in Houston.
Tagged: demolition · Houston · Montrose · photography · Wilshire Village Apartments

The first domino

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Everybody’s been waiting to see what Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will do next year, in the anticipation that if he announces a run for something else, Attorney General Greg Abbott will announce that he’s running for Lite Gov, and the dominoes will start falling as others scramble to move up the ladder. Turns out that it may not matter what Dewhurst decides to do - Abbott may knock over that first domino regardless.

Abbott’s new political director was coy when asked about a tip that Abbott definitely is running for lieutenant governor.

“The dominos are all falling. We still have the special session to get through. It’s a game of speculation right now,” says Luke Marchant, who returned to Texas earlier this month to run Abbott’s political shop.

As we know, right now Barbara Radnofsky is running for AG as a Democrat, and Republican Ted Cruz is all set to go as well. All I can say is that they’ll both have company in the event this happens.

Posted in: Election 2010.
Tagged: Attorney General · Barbara Radnofsky · David Dewhurst · Election 2010 · Greg Abbott · Lite Gov · Ted Cruz · Texas

Will the Alabama Bookstop be spared the wrecking ball?

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

A commenter at Swamplot, who claims to have inside information, has the following to say about the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Alabama Bookstop.

1. Barnes and Noble owns Bookstop. They are closing it to move to the new location at ROSC.

2. Weingarten has no intent of demolishing the Alabama Theater. They have been marketing the space for re-use. They intend to restore the facade when a new tenant signs on.

Everyone knew that the Bookstop’s days were numbered. With the massive Borders Books just a few blocks away at Alabama and Kirby, and the new B&N opening soon, there couldn’t possibly be enough capacity to keep the Bookstop in business as well. The question that vexed everyone who cared about preservation was what would happen to the historic Alabama Theater building that currently houses the Bookstop. If this information is accurate, it’s the first positive thing I’ve heard about its disposition since Weingarten first announced the demolition of the original River Oaks Shopping Center.

The commenter had more to say about other matters, including this somewhat puzzling bit.

4. Weingarten’s long term interest in ROSC is to achieve the highest and best use for this property. They want to bring a higher density to the center that they feel is appropriate for its location.

5. Before the crash last fall they were working on a plan to improve the walk-a-bility of the ROSC through landscaping and art. I believe the project is on hold right now. Its interesting how everyone is in favor of density (less driving and more walking) except when it affects something in your backyard.

I still don’t understand how adding a massive bookstore and a five-story parking garage contributes to “less driving and more walking”. There’s a discussion in the comments to that Swamplot post about how of course the ROSC is “walkable” because hey, you can park your car in the lot and then walk to any of the nearby stores. By that definition, the shopping center that includes the Costco at I-10 and Bunker Hill is walkable, too. The new ROSC may or may not be more pedestrian-friendly than the old one was, at least for those who drove and parked there. There are certainly things that can be done to make it so, some of which were explored in that comment thread - planting trees, widening sidewalks, etc. I seriously doubt Weingarten cares to spend any of its own money on stuff like that, but I’ll be happy to be proven wrong about that. When there’s mixed-use development in this area, as well as transit options to get residents in and out of there without needing to drive, then we can talk about density and walkability in a meaningful fashion.

Posted in: Elsewhere in Houston.
Tagged: Alabama Bookstop · Barnes and Noble · Costco · demolition · light rail · pedestrians · preservation · River Oaks Shopping Center · sidewalks · streetcars · Weingarten · West Gray

Another appeals court case to be proud of

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

By “proud”, I mean “deeply embarrassed”. Here’s Rick Casey discussing a decision by the 1st Court of Appeals in which the infamous case of death row inmate Calvin Burdine and his sleeping lawyer, Joe Cannon is referenced, and not in a good way.

“Like the ‘sleeping lawyer’ case, this case will stand as a significant embarrassment in the history of Texas jurisprudence,” wrote Justice Terry Jennings in a stinging dissent.

This isn’t a death penalty case, but a lawsuit in which child protection authorities sought to terminate a father’s parental rights. We Texans consider families so important that we give indigent parents a tax-paid attorney to represent them if the state tries to take away their children.

In this case, John Spjut (pronounced “Spyoot”) was appointed to represent Frederick DeWaynne Walker.

Spjut didn’t sleep through the trial. He simply didn’t attend it. Nor did he do much preparation. Walker testified he called Spjut’s office at least five times but never reached him.

Spjut’s bills to the county do not indicate any contact with his client. He did bill the county for filing an answer to the state’s termination lawsuit, writing two letters to Walker, and spending one hour preparing for trial. Total fee: $750.

But on the actual day of the trial, Spjut didn’t show. Instead, he sent his brother Dan to try the case.

It must have been a challenge. Without a lawyer guiding him, Walker had a hard time finding the right courtroom and didn’t show up until after lawyers for the state had put on their case against him.

[...]

By Jennings’ estimate, based on the trial transcript, Dan Spjut’s direct examination of Walker lasted less than four minutes.

The entire trial, Jennings estimated, took less than 45 minutes.

Yet the two other justices on the panel that heard Walker’s appeal ruled that his right to have a lawyer had not been violated. Justice George C. Hanks Jr., joined by Justice Jane Bland, wrote that Walker had to prove that he would likely have won if his attorney had done a better job.

Hanks wrote that Walker didn’t prove that the way Spjut conducted his defense wasn’t “the exercise of reasonable professional judgment.”

Jennings argues in dissent that Walker received “assistance” of counsel “far below that afforded to the criminal defendant in the infamous ‘sleeping lawyer case.’ ”

“Walker’s appointed trial counsel never discussed the case with Walker and then abandoned Walker on the trial date,” he wrote.

I guess if there’s somebody who can be called a “lawyer” that’s with you in the courtroom, that’s good enough. I wonder if any of the justices who render opinions like this have the same expectation of what a basic level of assistance would be from, say, a doctor or a broker.

Sadly, neither of the justices who thought this kind of lawyering was A-OK are up for re-election next year - we’ll have to wait till 2012 to render our own opinions. On a side note, in searching around for info about Calvin Burdine and his snoozing attorney, I came across this old blog post that detailed some fun and games then-District Court Judge, now State Sen. Joan Huffman played in Burdine’s retrial. I wish I’d have remembered it before her election last year, but oh well.

Posted in: Crime and Punishment.
Tagged: Appeals Courts · Calvin Burdine · death penalty · Election 2008 · Election 2010 · Election 2012 · First Court of Appeals · George Hanks · Jane Bland · Joan Huffman · Joe Cannon · Terry Jennings

Vetoing smart growth

Jun 29th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

Houston Tomorrow takes a look at one of the vetoed bills that I hadn’t examined before, SB2169, “relating to the establishment of a smart growth policy work group and the development of a smart growth policy for this state.”

The bill would have instructed the heads of many state agencies to appoint representatives to serve on a task force charged with bringing back suggestions for the Texas legislature for ways to prepare for the projected population growth in the state. As noted by the Legislative Budget Board, “no significant fiscal implication to the state [was] anticipated” because of the bill, and its primary outcome would be that “each odd-numbered year the group [would have been] required to submit a progress report to the legislature.“ The Legislative Budget Board report went on to state that were this bill to have passed “Local governments may benefit from policies developed by the smart growth policy work group, but any benefits will depend on what future policies recommend and the operating environment of each local government.” According to the bill analysis posted at Texas Legislature Online, the bill would not “expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.”

They note that the bill had bipartisan support - it passed 99-48 in the House (98-49 if you accept Rep. Todd Hunter’s “meant to vote no”), and unanimously in the Senate. More to the point, “Out of the 76 representatives from the 8 largest urban counties in Texas, only 18 (22%) voted against the bill.” All 18 came from Harris and the Metroplex, mostly from suburban areas. Alas, the words “smart growth” are considered dirty by the likes of Governor Perry, as you can see in his veto statement, where he pays homage to the idea of “local control” when it suits him to do so.

On a side note, the Statesman reports that the Governor killed numerous bills for which there was little to no opposition:

A dozen of the 37 pieces of legislation that Gov. Rick Perry vetoed late last week moved through the Legislature without a single opposing vote.

The various measures would have, among other things, changed the makeup of the Teacher Retirement System board, allowed authorities to more quickly erase criminal records when someone is arrested but not charged with a crime, and given college students more time to graduate before they faced tuition increases for staying in school too long.

Most of the other bills Perry vetoed drew just a handful of dissenting votes — fewer than five in the 31-member Senate or 10 in the 150-member House.

“There’s no check on the governor’s power to veto bills that have been through an entire process,” said Sen. Jeff Wentworth, a Republican from San Antonio who represents part of southern Travis County. Wentworth sponsored legislation that would have given lawmakers an opportunity to convene for three days after a regular session to override gubernatorial vetoes. It did not pass.

The Perry vetoes highlight the fact that most bills that pass the Legislature do so with overwhelming support, especially when they are locally focused bills such as several of those on Perry’s veto list. Lawmakers are particularly inclined to support legislation in the final days of the 140-day session, when they’re hit with a stampede of bills trying to make it to the governor’s desk before the clock runs out.

The scrutiny is more intense earlier in the session. Bills have to pass through numerous committees, often leading to hours of public testimony and several drafts before they even reach the floor of the House or Senate. Then the process begins again in the other chamber, and the two sides must ultimately reconcile the different versions of the legislation they approve.

It’s certainly true that some bad bills, as well as some bills that started out as good but then picked up some bad amendments (*cough* *cough* HB770 *cough* *cough*) can pass on near-unanimous lines. HB3588 from 2003, which authorized the Trans Texas Corridor, is a good example of that. Local and consent bills, which by definition aren’t controversial, also generally breeze through. Still, the Lege is designed to make it hard for bills to pass, and I haven’t heard anyone claim that the bills that got the axe this time around were ones that needed to be killed because of poor legislative oversight. These were Perry’s decisions for his own reasons, like them or not.

Posted in: That's our Lege.
Tagged: Carol Alvarado · Dallas County · Harris County · Houston · Houston Tomorrow · local control · Rick Perry · Rodney Ellis · smart growth · Tarrant County · Todd Hunter · veto

Pride

Jun 28th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

3 comments

So yesterday was the annual Pride parade in Houston. It was greeted by this sweet article in the lifestyle section.

Today’s Pride Festival will celebrate the diversity of the Houston area’s thriving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

That diversity includes the determinedly domestic life that Ben Austin and Bill Thomasson have carved out with their two children in a southwestern suburb.

The walls of their roomy Sugar Land home are filled with family pictures — Thomasson is one of 11 siblings — as well as multiplication tables, maps and pennants of potential colleges. Not that Ava, 7, and Elijah, 6, are ready to think about college just yet. Elijah’s interests encompass the world of sports, while Ava is expert on all things canine.

The couple adopted the children from state authorities while living in Oakland, Calif., after taking required parent-training classes and fostering each of the children for more than a year. Ava was almost 4 when she entered the system, and Elijah was just a month old.

[...]

Austin, an adopted only child who went to Bellaire High School, met Thomasson in a gym in Oakland, Calif., in 2002. He says the two fell into domestication almost immediately and in April 2004 made it official with a domestic partnership. Both men wear wedding bands.

Both men played college baseball, which gets Elijah’s approval.

“He just thinks it’s better to have two dads because they both play baseball,” Austin says.

Gotta admit, that would be a bonus. The story made a nice and necessary counterweight to this remarkably self-loathing op-ed from Friday.

The gay parenting movement is still more evidence of the fundamental selfishness of post-Stonewall gay America. Whereas many gay couples can and do bring parentless children into their homes in an act of loving and giving, thousands of other gay couples who could have adopted use various technologies and arrangements to make babies that from the start have no mother or have no father. This cruel act — to one’s own child — is almost never criticized in the gay community, which is so focused on everyone’s freedom and self-esteem, it doesn’t seem to want to bother to notice that children are being hurt by being denied up front the right to have both a mother and a father.

The gay and lesbian community today is infected with what I like to call Equality Mania. That’s the belief that there is literally nothing more important than total equality between gays and straights, no matter what the costs. They are willing to sacrifice other good, important values in the name of gay equality — such as the religious freedom of same-sex marriage opponents, the welfare of children and (in the case of gays in the military) even national security.

I don’t even know where to begin. I mean, “Equality Mania”? Who knew a desire to be treated like everyone else was a disorder of some kind? I’m just dumbfounded. I think it’s safe to say this is an extreme minority position, one that’s in decline, but one that likely will never go away completely.

Anyway. To get the bad taste of that piece out of your mouth, here’s five great moments in Houston’s gay history, and here’s the news that the Caucus blog is back. Hope everyone had a happy weekend.

Posted in: Society and cultcha.
Tagged: adoption · gay marriage · gay rights · HGLBT Political Caucus · Houston · Sugar Land

Weekend link dump for June 28

Jun 28th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Six months (almost) down, six to go…

Curving a bullet.

The fringe, quantified.

The pundit-industrial complex.

I before E, except after the British government gets rid of it.

However beautiful the strategy, sometimes you have to check the results.

So, who’s next on the GOP’s list of voters to alienate now that they’ve done such thorough work with Latinos?

Good for you, Senator Dodd.

The Michelle Bachmann comic!

That which doesn’t kill science makes it evolve into something stronger. Via Falkenberg.

The math geek in me says it’s now (-Jon) + Kate + 8. Yeah, I know.

Possibly the best explanation you’re going to get for what South Caolina Governor Mark Sanford was doing last weekend. OK, we know it’s not true. But hey, some of the professional journalists who’d covered the story would have bought it.

And now, of course, “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” is now a part of the vernacular. Here are some other suggestions.

The first baseman who put the “cheese” in “machismo”.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Wayne Slater.

When wallabies get stoned.

Happy birthday, Derek Jeter.

Watch those roaming charges.

Posted in: Blog stuff.
Tagged: linkdump

Our local mental health crisis

Jun 28th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

Today’s must-read is this op-ed by Dr. Stephen Schnee, the executive director of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, about mental illness and the Harris County jails.

The Harris County Jail is now the largest mental health facility in Texas. Approximately 2,400 inmates a day are now diagnosed with a psychiatric illness that medically justifies the provision of psychiatric medications. There are almost as many psychiatrically ill inmates in the jail on psychiatric medications as there are patients in all of the Department of State Health Services hospital beds across the entire state.

Let that reality sink in.

How is this occurring? Several critical factors contribute to this disturbing trend. First, many individuals with a serious mental illness need early access to appropriate professional diagnosis and treatment and, often, supports to achieve and maintain stability in their psychiatric condition. These conditions aren’t, as a general rule, cured by medication. Stabilized, yes — cured, no. These individuals need education about the condition, available treatment options, impact on personal capabilities, stability and maintenance over time, etc. — all of which are made more difficult by the nature of these disorders affecting the information-processing organ of the body — the brain. These are neuro-chemical — disorders of the brain. And, if one throws into the mix that many untreated or undertreated folks with mental illness self-medicate with street substances, alcohol or both to ease the internal pain, one has a recipe for people recycling in and out of the criminal justice system because their behaviors run afoul of the law.

The discrepancy between the funded treatment capacity (8,500 per month) for only the three eligible diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression (let alone all the other serious psychiatric conditions for which people end up in jail) is huge. A conservative estimate of the incidence/prevalence of these three diagnoses in Harris County is 170,000.

There is a growing awareness among our key county officials that the county simply can’t afford to continue housing this growing population in the jail. More cost-effective options for certain misdemeanor offenses by people with mental illness are under active consideration. This will require literally building out an array of services and supports that don’t currently exist in the form or quantity necessary to effectively impact this subpopulation.

Yes, he’s talking about an expansion, probably a big one, in government services. I realize words like those will get knees jerking in certain quarters, but let’s face it: We’re already expending vast public resources on this problem, and it’s getting worse. We need to do a better job of it, and that’s going to require a different approach, for just as using the emergency room is the least efficient way to deliver health care to those who can’t otherwise afford it, using the jails to deal with the mentally ill has got to be the least efficient way of handling that problem. Perhaps if we were already doing something different, we wouldn’t have such severe and longstanding problems with the jails, and we wouldn’t feel the need to spend millions of dollars to build a new jail to house all the inmates we can’t current squeeze in. Point is, we’re paying for all this now. We may as well get a better return on our expenditures.

Posted in: Crime and Punishment.
Tagged: Harris County · jail overcrowding · jails · Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County · mental illness · Stephen Schnee

Hot enough for ya?

Jun 28th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Yeah, it’s really hot out there.

Houston’s relentless heat wave prompted the National Weather Service today to declare a “Heat Emergency,” a designation that air temperature and humidity is a potential health threat for all people and is particularly dangerous for high-risk groups.

The emergency designation is expected to last through Friday, said Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton.

Barton said the health department has accordingly invoked its heat emergency plan, which involves working with Metro to bring people to designated cooling centers, such as libraries, and generally urging people to take extra precautions to stay inside.

It is not uncommon for the weather service to declare a heat emergency in Houston, though it didn’t happen last summer. Such an emergency is declared when the heat index, a computation of air temperature and humidity, reaches 108 degrees on two more consecutive days.

The index reached 108 Wednesday and is expected to reach that level today and Friday. Houston’s actual temperature hit 104 degrees Wednesday, the hottest it’s ever gotten in June.

It’s pretty much a given that any time there’s an extra cold winter day somewhere, the global warming deniers point to it as evidence that it’s all a hoax. Here’s a recent example of that, from someone who unfortunately was in a strong position to emasculate the just-passed climate change legislation. This kind of thinking is stupid on many levels, not the least of which is that if a bit of unseasonably cold weather means global warming is a myth, then what does a record heat wave imply? Not that logic is a strong suit for the head-in-the-sand crowd, but you’d think this sort of thing might have occurred to them. Ah, well. At least so far there’s no evidence that this means a worse hurricane season is in store. I’ll take my silver linings where I can find them.

Posted in: Elsewhere in Houston.
Tagged: climate change · Collin Peterson · Gulf of Mexico · heat emergency · Houston · hurricanes · National Weather Service

Compost or else

Jun 28th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Go, San Francisco!

Trash collectors in San Francisco will soon be doing more than just gathering garbage: They’ll be keeping an eye out for people who toss food scraps out with their rubbish.

San Francisco this week passed a mandatory composting law that is believed to be the strictest such ordinance in the nation. Residents will be required to have three color-coded trash bins, including one for recycling, one for trash and a new one for compost — everything from banana peels to coffee grounds.

The law makes San Francisco the leader yet again in environmentally friendly measures, following up on other green initiatives such as banning plastic bags at supermarkets.

Food scraps sent to a landfill decompose fast and turn into methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas. Under the new system, collected scraps will be turned into compost that helps area farms and vineyards flourish. The city eventually wants to eliminate waste at landfills by 2020.

Awesome. Houston offers a separate compost pickup, but it’s voluntary and frankly I doubt more than one person out of ten is familiar with it. When the city decides to get serious about increasing recycling rates and cutting down on its landfill use, this is the kind of approach I want it to take. Speaking as someone who has a compost pile in his backyard, the marginal effort it takes to separate this kind of trash from the rest is miniscule. There’s no reason we couldn’t do this, and no reason I can think of that we shouldn’t. Via The American Scene.

Posted in: National news.
Tagged: compost · greenhouse gases · Houston · landfills · recycling · San Francisco

Saturday video break: It gives us those nice bright colors

Jun 27th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

No comments yet

News item: Kodak is retiring its iconic Kodachrome film after 74 years. I think you know what’s coming:

Makes you think that all the world’s a sunny day, doesn’t it?

Posted in: Music.
Tagged: Kodachrome · Kodak · Paul Simon · videos

We may miss the SUPERTRAIN

Jun 27th, 2009

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

As we have reported here often, the federal government is about to dump a lot of money on states to develop a handful of high-speed passenger rail corridors, and the good news for us is that Texas is home to two of the 11 routes highlighted for special focus. (Click here for the feds’ plan: hsrstrategicplan.pdf.)

The bad news? As I wrote in a short piece for the newspaper this morning, Texas is so poorly positioned to build its rail lines, it’s all but certain to be shut out of the big money. (Another take on the same theme, from San Antonio, is here.)

The reason for this, in short, is that other states are way ahead of us in laying the groundwork for building rail infrastructure and dealing with the funding issues for same. Christof gave a to-do list awhile ago. And we did at least get a bill passed and signed to authorize a study of high speed rail. But that’s just a baby step, and several other states are far ahead of us. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, or we’ll lose out on a lot of federal dollars in the next few years. That would be a huge missed opportunity, and a real shame.

Posted in: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Tagged: high speed rail · Texas · Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corp · The Lege

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