Tag Archives: bond referendum

Precinct analysis: 2023 Harris Health proposition

PREVIOUSLY: Mayor’s race Controller’s race The nice thing about analyzing Harris County Proposition A is that I can use the precinct/district guide I got and used for the 2022 election, which is nice and clean and gives me totals that … Continue reading

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2023 election results: Statewide

There are a few items of interest here, starting with this. Property tax cuts, a raise for retired teachers and billions in investments in infrastructure, research, tech and energy appeared headed for passage as voters showed their approval for more … Continue reading

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Interview with Lesley Briones about the Harris Health System bond referendum

Today’s interview is about a vital issue that I suspect has gotten far less attention than it deserves. I’m speaking of the $2.5 billion bond issue to expand, improve, and renovate the public hospitals and other facilities of the Harris … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For the hospital bond

Good call. It’s unacceptable for a public hospital whose mission is to save lives to instead endanger them due to aging infrastructure that’s been neglected for too long. The pipe break was the second of three in 2020. Just weeks … Continue reading

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Omnibus 2022 election results post

It’s already midnight as I start writing this. I’m just going to do the highlights with the best information I have at this time. – Nationally, Dems are doing pretty well, all things considered. As of this writing, Dems had … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: The bonds

The Chron endorses a Yes vote for the Harris County bond propositions. The Castlewood subdivision in northeast Harris County was one of many neighborhoods blighted by Hurricane Harvey’s torrential rains. One too many floods inundated the shallow drainage ditches and … Continue reading

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Community meetings about the Harris County bond referenda

Ask your questions, get some answers. Harris County voters will decide in November whether to approve a bond package totaling $1.2 billion, with the vast majority aimed at road construction. On Monday, the county [began] a series of 24 community … Continue reading

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Harris County officially gets its $750 million from the GLO

With hopefully more to come, as well as something for Houston. Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday with the Texas General Land Office to receive $750 million in federal flood mitigation funding, and called on the agency … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court approves its bond package

But not without some bitching and griping. Harris County Commissioners Court voted Thursday to put a $1.2 billion package on the November ballot this year, with the vast majority aimed at road construction. Tensions flared when Harris County Judge Lina … Continue reading

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Houston will have a bond on the ballot

First I’d heard of this, but it should be pretty routine. Houston will ask voters in November to approve a $478 million bond program to buy fire and police vehicles, renovate or replace city facilities and give the city’s animal … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court plans to put a bond issue on the ballot

First one in seven years. Harris County voters will have more on their November ballot, after a divided commissioners court Tuesday took the first step toward a $1.2 billion bond package for police, parks, drainage and roads. Common with many … Continue reading

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Harris County ponders a bond election

First one in awhile. Harris County leaders will begin discussions Tuesday about whether to add a bond election to the November ballot. The bond would be a hybrid measure to raise money for roads, parks, flood control, and public safety. … Continue reading

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HISD approves its budget

First one for the new Superintendent. Houston ISD trustees on Thursday unanimously approved a $2.2 billion budget that will give teacher raises some have called long overdue and fund the upcoming school year when the district is expected to begin … Continue reading

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Early voting for the May 7 elections begins tomorrow

We all have at least one election to vote in, so get ready to get out there. On May 7, Texas voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on two proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, as well as … Continue reading

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We are making progress on the flood bond projects

Let’s not lose sight of that. Three years into Harris County’s historic $2.5 billion flood bond program, progress can feel maddeningly slow. After decades of underinvestment in flood protection, however, any completed project is a welcome improvement for nearby residents. … Continue reading

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Is there no way to fully close the flood bond funding gap?

Not looking great right now. For three years, Harris County Commissioners Court members have bickered, haggled and negotiated over the $2.5 billion flood bond program voters passed after Hurricane Harvey. Throughout all the discord over how projects should be prioritized … Continue reading

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Republican County Commissioners ponder another quorum break

It’s a thing they can do, and have done in recent times. They shouldn’t, not for this, but they can. The three Democrats on Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday proposed cutting the overall property tax rate for the third … Continue reading

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Let’s try again to fix that flood bond deficit

Hope this works. Harris County on Tuesday [unveiled] a new plan to address a funding gap for its flood bond program, which will rely more heavily on diverted toll road revenue instead of federal aid that may never arrive. The … Continue reading

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Flood Control District director to resign

Interesting. Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Russ Poppe submitted a letter of resignation to Commissioners Court on Friday, saying he plans to step down July 2. Poppe, 45, said the demands of the job, which have grown significantly … Continue reading

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State Reps to P Bush: Reconsider

Nearly all of the Harris County State Reps have written a letter to Land Commissioner George P Bush asking him to reconsider the ridiculous process that completely shut Houston and Harris County out of federal flooding funds. A bipartisan group … Continue reading

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P Bush tries to deflect blame on flood funding fiasco

You can run, but you can’t hide, George P. Bush. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush blamed local leaders Friday for Houston and Harris County’s failure to secure a single penny of roughly $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funds … Continue reading

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GLO to Harris County: Drop dead

Hard to see this as anything but a hatchet job. Houston and Harris County officials said the Texas General Land Office informed them Thursday they would receive nothing from the more than $1.3 billion in applications they submitted for federal … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court partially fills the flood bond funding gap

Good. Harris County Commissioners Court took initial steps this week to plug a $1.4 billion funding hole for its flood bond program by diverting revenue from the county’s toll roads system. Court members also laid out a “backstop” plan to … Continue reading

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Flood funding shortfall

Still trying to understand this. Harris County on Tuesday revealed a $1.4 billion shortfall in funding for flood control projects under the bond program voters approved in 2018, a massive miscalculation that threatens to cause construction delays and cost taxpayers … Continue reading

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Bike lanes for the Red Line

I approve. The belief that Northside Houston residents will bike to buses and trains if it is safer to do so is bringing more curb work to Cavalcade, paid for out the same pot of federal money that brought the … Continue reading

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Metro moving forward with its construction plans

As well they should. Carrin Patman greeted the supporter by grabbing both of his hands in a packed downtown Houston event space above a bustling sports bar. The buffet laid out for Metro’s 2019 election night watch party was thoroughly … Continue reading

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HISD needs a bond referendum

Easier said than done, though. Houston ISD appeared to be on track in mid-February to put a bond election on the ballot this November, taking a critical step toward asking voters for the first time since 2012 to let it borrow money … Continue reading

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The post-Harvey flood control march

It’s a long journey, with a lot to be done. It’s going to take awhile. Most of Kenwood, a working class, mostly Latino neighborhood, is so deep in the 100-year floodplain that Harris County engineers have concluded no flood control … Continue reading

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Our students need laptops

The pandemic has made this clear. Houston ISD officials hope to provide every student with a district-issued laptop in 2020-21 and beyond, an ambitious target that would deliver much-needed technology to children but require voters to approve a bond package … Continue reading

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So you want some flood bond project money?

Harris County plays a little hardball. Harris County on Tuesday plans to restrict flood bond projects to municipalities that meet its floodplain development standards, effectively forcing the 34 cities within its borders to adopt stricter rules to access the $2.5 … Continue reading

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HISD takes a step towards a bond referendum

Just a step. If there’s to be a bond referendum on the ballot, this year or later, they’ll have to vote again to authorize that. Houston ISD trustees kept hopes alive for a November bond election during Thursday night’s board … Continue reading

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Meanwhile, the HISD Board of Trustees is still a thing

Meet the new Board, not the same as the old Board. Hours after Houston ISD’s four recently elected trustees took office, enshrining the district’s first all-female school board, the new-look governing team on Thursday made its first big decision. Trustees … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For the Metro bond

All of the candidate endorsements have been done by the Chron, but there remain the endorsements for ballot propositions. Which is to say, the Metro referendum and the constitutional amendments. I’ll address the latter tomorrow, but for now here’s the … Continue reading

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Joint processing center opens

This was a long time coming, but it should be worth the wait. More than a decade after city voters approved a bond measure to fund it, Houston and Harris County opened a joint inmate processing center Thursday that officials … Continue reading

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