Death, taxes, and Bruce Hotze filing a lawsuit every time he loses an election. A local anti-tax activist filed a lawsuit Thursday to block the city of Houston from borrowing $410 million to add, expand and repair parks, libraries, police and fire stations and other government buildings. Bruce Hotze’s suit says the bond measures, which [...]
Posts Tagged ‘bond referendum’
Precinct analysis: City propositions
And we come to the city of Houston bond referenda, of which there were five on the ballot. Here’s the usual breakdown of them: Dist A Yes A No B Yes B No C Yes C No D Yes D No E Yes E No ========================================================================== 126 720 231 725 239 711 228 671 275 [...]
Precinct analysis: HISD and HCC
I was reasonably confident that the HISD bond referendum would be successful, mostly because there wasn’t any real opposition from officials or constituencies that would normally be expected to support it. It had a much smoother path than the 2007 referendum, which still managed to pass, so it wasn’t hard to see this one making [...]
Not a surprise that the bonds passed
All of the bond issues on the ballot this year had favorable conditions working for them, so their ultimate passage should not be a surprise. The dire warnings of crippling debt, the long presidential campaign conversation about the limits of government and the potential for sticker shock over local governments’ asking to borrow $2.7 billion [...]
What I’ll be looking for tonight
Just a reminder that I’ll be on KPFT tonight starting at 7 PM to talk about the elections. Here’s a preview of the things I’ll be looking for: 1. SD10 – Sen. Wendy Davis vs Mark Shelton: Easily the most important race on the ballot in Texas. Davis has been a progressive champion and a [...]
Endorsement watch: Various miscellaneous
Just a brief roundup of various endorsements that have come to my attention lately. No particular theme to them, just what I’ve seen in the past few days. – The Environmental Defense Fund has endorsed the HISD bond referendum. The $1.89 billion proposition will be use to build, replace and renovate schools in adherence to [...]
Endorsement watch: For the bonds
The Chron reiterates its support for the bond issues on the ballot. While all eyes are on the presidential race, we would like to remind voters that some of the most important issues for Houstonians aren’t on the first page of the ballot or covered by selecting straight-ticket voting (which we don’t advise in any [...]
Elsa Caballero: Public Employee and Janitors Mobilize in Support of City of Houston Bonds
Note: The following is a guest post. For the past month, Houston’s janitors have joined forces with our city’s public employees in favor of the City of Houston bond package and METRO referendum on the ballot this election cycle. Volunteers, made up of HOPE and SEIU Local 1 members, are having voter-to-voter conversations about the [...]
On the city bonds
Here’s an overview of the city bond issues. The city of Houston is asking voters on Nov. 6 for permission to borrow $410 million to shore up its parks, police stations, libraries, other government buildings and substandard housing. Propositions A, B, C, D and E for the most part are what Mayor Annise Parker calls [...]
Who doesn’t like parks?
The usual suspects – cranks, malcontents, and the Harris County GOP, that’s who. Proposition B on the Nov. 6 ballot asks you to pay for part of that plan, of course. Not with increased taxes, though, [Mayor Annise] Parker insists. The bond measure asks voters to authorize $166 million in borrowing that the city plans [...]
Endorsement watch: For the city bonds
The Chron gives its approval to the city bond referenda. While all eyes seem to be on the presidential election, the upcoming city bond measures on the ballot this year may have more immediate impact on Houston than any federal changes. Broken down into five propositions, the bonds will fund much-needed repairs and construction projects [...]
The opposition to the bonds
Noted for the record. Longtime City Hall naysayer Dave Wilson and other anti-tax activists gathered on the grounds of an elementary school that was slated to get $3.7 million from the last Houston Independent School District bond measure but instead was closed for lack of enrollment. Their message was that politicians cannot be trusted to [...]
Endorsement watch: Another critic on board
State Sen. Mario Gallegos sent out the following email on Monday: “The 2012 Bond Referendum will modernize outdated high school buildings and build new schools to meet students’ needs across the city. This proposal is a good investment that will create much needed new classrooms and improve safety and technology at campuses city-wide. Houston cannot [...]
Interview with Terry Grier
In addition to the many races for office this year, there are several referenda on the ballot that are worthy of your attention. I will be conducting interviews to discuss them as well. The first one up is the HISD bond referendum, and for that I have a conversation with HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. As [...]
HISD board passes ethics reform
It was a unanimous vote at Thursday’s board meeting. Under the new rules, which will be finalized next month, trustees will have to abstain from voting on deals involving vendors who contributed at least $500 to their political campaigns the prior year. District contractors also will be barred from donating to trustees during the competitive [...]
Favorable poll for HISD and other bonds
It’s a good start. Most Houston-area voters plan to support $2.7 billion worth of city, public school and community college bond packages on the November ballot, according to a new poll. The results defy conventional wisdom that a crowded ballot makes passage of multiple bond measures less likely because of sticker shock. “Voters are in [...]
Making the case for the HISD bonds
Bobby and Phoebe Tudor, the chairs of the Citizens for Better Schools campaign, lay out their case for the HISD bond referendum in this Chron op-ed. Study after study has shown that children have more difficulty learning in inadequate school buildings. The 21st Century School Fund, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization, reports that these inadequate [...]
Endorsement watch: For HCC bonds
Apparently, the Chron has decided to get into the endorsement business early this year, certainly earlier than I’d have expected them to get into it, as they come out in favor of the HCC bond referendum. “We can either train and educate Houstonians to provide the skilled work force Houston businesses need, or we can [...]
HISD takes another crack at ethics reform
Good luck. Houston school trustees on Thursday renewed serious talks about tightening their ethics rules after failing to agree on new policies late last year. The proposed changes, meant to restore public confidence that the Houston Independent School District is hiring the best contractors without undue influence, also could affect trustees’ political campaign coffers. Trustees [...]
Here come the city bonds
For your approval. Houston voters will decide in November whether local governments can borrow more than $2.7 billion for schools, parks, libraries and public safety. City Council OK’d its portion of that total Wednesday, a $410 million package of bond measures. The crowded and costly ballot during a presidential election has some questioning whether voters [...]
HCC board approves its bond package
More bonds for your consideration this fall. Houston Community College trustees voted Thursday to placea $425 million bond referendum on the November ballot. If approved by voters on Nov. 6, the bond would help update classroom technology, build a new medical center facility, expand campuses and boost workforce development programs. It would also phase in [...]
HISD board approves its bond package
In the end, it wasn’t a close vote. The school board voted 8-1 to seek a $1.9 billion bond issue that would rebuild or renovate most of the district’s aging high schools, remodel several elementary and middle schools, and upgrade campus technology. The plan calls for phasing in a tax rate increase expected to cost [...]
HISD tweaks its bond proposal
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier presents Bond Referendum 2.0 for your approval. Grier’s amended proposal adds five high schools to a list of 20 that would get new buildings or partial replacements. The additions, originally slated for smaller renovations, are Davis, DeBakey High School for Health Professions, Barbara Jordan, and the Young Men’s and Young Women’s [...]
Bond concerns
Early reactions to the HISD bond proposal that was unveiled last week. “I think in the long run any anti-tax opposition will make it a close race,” said state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, predicting that Hispanics could swing the vote. Gallegos said he was worried about HISD’s timeline. The Houston Chronicle reported this month that [...]
HISD will not raise the tax rate
Instead, they will dip into their reserves to balance their $1.5 billion budget for this year. The amount is about the same as last year, when the district reduced spending by approximately 5 percent to offset unprecedented state cuts. Instead of seeking a tax increase – which the school board has been reluctant to embrace [...]
HISD planning bond election
The fall ballot gets a little longer. The Houston Independent School District is preparing to ask voters to fund up to $1.8 billion in bonds to replace and upgrade aging campuses. Superintendent Terry Grier has said the bond referendum – which would go to voters in November if the school board approves – likely would [...]
Bonds, school bonds
Another thing that may be on your ballot this year. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier said Thursday it was time to start discussing a possible bond referendum to update the district’s aging campuses. In his annual state of the schools speech, Grier said the Houston Independent School District had completed many of the projects in [...]
HISD Trustee Diana Davila resigns
This was unexpected. HISD trustee Diana Dávila said Wednesday she will resign from the school board Thursday, more than a year before her term ends. Dávila, who was first elected to the school board in 2003, said she is stepping down because of “personal family issues.” Dávila is married to Abel Dávila, the former chairman [...]
Mayor talks Metro and money
The new Metro board was confirmed by City Council last week, they were sworn in yesterday, and while we don’t yet know exactly what direction they’re going to take, we know what their marching orders are. Mayor Annise Parker says she is willing to consider allowing the Metropolitan Transit Authority to retain funds that pay [...]
The transition team report on Metro
In addition to naming new Metro board members, today was the day for Mayor Parker’s transition team to give its report on Metro. Here’s the Chron story about their report. I’m going to focus on one piece of it: [James] Moncur, a former deputy city controller and former Metro finance employee, said the attorney general’s [...]
Parker expresses doubt about University and Uptown lines
This is not the sort of thing I want to see. Mayor Annise Parker cast doubt Wednesday on whether the Metropolitan Transit Authority has the money to pay for two planned light-rail lines that proponents say are critical to the success of the agency’s plans. Parker said members of her transition team have “drilled down” [...]
HISD Trustee runoff overview
Here’s the Chron story on the two runoffs for HISD Trustee. It echoes a theme from that Examiner story we saw yesterday. The outcome of the races could reshape several board debates — particularly over wages for construction workers, efforts to hold weak teachers more accountable and the role of magnet schools. Early voting runs [...]