It’s the time of the season for Mayor Parker, who has a serious challenger this time, but also a stronger hand to play. In her tenure, Parker has given teeth to the city’s historic preservation rules, broken a deadlock with Harris County to help build the Dynamo stadium, gave scandal-ridden Metro new leaders and revised [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Clarence Bradford’
Endorsement watch: Planned Parenthood gets an early start
From the inbox on Friday: Today the Board of Directors of the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast ACTION FUND Inc, (PPGCAF) voted to endorse the following candidates for the November City Election. Each of the endorsed candidates has demonstrated a strong commitment to the health and well being of Texas women and families. PPGCAF encourages all [...]
After school programs
I see a lot of merit in this. After-school programs prevent crime, Councilman C.O. Bradford said, so some of them should be paid for by the police. “This sounds strange to hear a gun-packing, badge-toting, 24-year cop talking about this,” said Bradford, Houston’s former police chief, but he proposes hiring 20 fewer police officers in [...]
Council adopts strip club fee
Here it comes. Seeking a solution to the bedeviling problem of untested rape evidence that is in some cases decades old, council imposed a $5-per-customer fee on strip clubs Wednesday so it can buy speedier lab work. That simple solution, however, may come with complications of its own, starting with court costs. “Houston has now [...]
All the budget amendments
Here’s a Google doc upload of all of the budget amendments from Council members to Mayor Parker. All members except CMs Bradford and Hoang submitted at least one amendment, with some (Brown, Sullivan, Green) submitting more than others. I’ve given the whole thing a cursory look, and while much of what is in here has [...]
Council is skeptical of Hobby International
Not so clear skies for expanding Hobby Airport into an international terminal. A consultant’s study that forecasts an economic boon for Houston if Hobby is made into an international airport came under fire from city council members Monday as “biased” and “custom-made just to satisfy the demand of Southwest” Airlines, which is asking the city [...]
A bit of perspective on pensions
Mayor Parker and current members of Council will receive pensions from the city some day. They also will some day vote on what steps the city should take to deal with the pension system. Is that a problem? “Whenever you’re an elected official, there’s not an easy way around it,” agreed Josh McGee, vice president [...]
Lykos v Anderson
I obviously don’t have a dog in the Republican District Attorney primary fight, but I like a good high-profile political battle as much as the next junkie, so stories about it are interesting to me. [DA Pat] Lykos argues she is a reformer with three years of improvements under her belt while Mike Anderson, a [...]
Don’t draw broad conclusions from muddled evidence
I have a number of issues with the analysis presented in this Chron story about what happened in the runoffs and What It All Means. The results illustrate a continuation of a national trend of anger and frustration toward government during the worst economic stretch since the Great Depression, political observers said. In short: Voters [...]
Precinct analysis: 2011 At Large races, part 1
Here’s a look at the election returns in each Council district for the three “normal” At Large races, in At Large #1, #3, and #4. First up is #1, where first term incumbent CM Stephen Costello won a narrow majority for a second term. Dist Costello Galvan Boates Cook ====================================== A 46.25% 7.44% 28.98% 17.34% [...]
Endorsement watch: Noriega and Bradford
Another twofer, and another easy and obvious choice in At Large #3. For the past four years Houston has been well served in At-Large City Council Position 3 by Melissa Noriega. We recommend Noriega for a third and final term at City Hall. In her service on council, Noriega has demonstrated a welcome ability to [...]
Jones saga comes to a close
At long last. A three-member panel led by Mayor Annise Parker has found insufficient cause to believe Councilwoman Jolanda Jones breached council ethics violations documented in a city investigation. In a four-page report, the panel also criticized the Office of Inspector General investigation for its “lack of thoroughness” and for finding in some cases that [...]
Interview with CM Brad Bradford
CM C.O. “Brad” Bradford is in his first term of service in At Large #4. A former Chief of Police with HPD and the Democratic nominee for District Attorney in 2008, CM Bradford has been one of the more high profile Council members recently, frequently as a critic of Mayor Parker. I can’t say I’ve [...]
The long-term recycling deal
I noticed this when it was posted last week but didn’t give it much thought at the time. There’s a 20-year no-bid contract on today’s City Council agenda. That’s legal because it’s an amendment to an existing contract, not a new contract. But it’s still got Councilman Ed Gonzalez‘s attention. He tagged it last week [...]
More on the red light camera ruling
I said before that what happens next with the red light camera ruling is a political decision. Here’s how that’s shaping up. City Attorney Dave Feldman said Friday’s ruling will force the city to choose from canceling the contract with American Traffic Solutions — which might cost the city $16 million — or keeping the [...]
Jones and Sullivan name their delegates
As we know, CM Jolanda Jones gets to pick a fellow Council member to represent her in the meeting on Monday to determine if any formal action will be taken against her. Yesterday, she picked CM Brad Bradford to be her advocate in the process. Originally, the city said that the other two people on [...]
Inspector General cites CM Jones
Ouch. Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones used city employees to help run her personal law practice and instructed her staff not to meet with investigators looking into her alleged misconduct, the city’s inspector general has determined. For three of the six findings, Jones could face misdemeanor criminal charges. In a June 2 memorandum to Mayor [...]
Eight, not five
Mayor Parker says that initial estimates of how much the average homeowner would pay for the new drainage fee were understated. Mayor Annise Parker acknowledged Tuesday that her administration erred in telling voters that the average homeowner’s monthly Proposition 1 drainage fee would be $5. It is actually closer to $8.25, she said. Parker said [...]
Drainage fee passes with exemptions
Council has passed the drainage fee ordinance required by Renew Rebuild Houston, with exemptions for existing church and school properties. The fee will apply to all future “impervious cover” at church and school buildings, such as roofs and parking lots. Council members C.O. Bradford, Mike Sullivan and Jarvis Johnson voted against the measure. “As we [...]
“Nobody likes a sore winner”
Mayor Parker’s updated drainage fee proposal, which would allow for exemptions to schools and churches, was introduced to City Council amid a torrent of whining from the pro-exemption forces. Church and school leaders testified at a special council meeting that it still was not good enough. For one thing, critics said, the exemptions cover only [...]
More on the drainage fee exemptions
Here’s the Chron story about the Mayor’s change in direction to exempt churches and schools from the new drainage fee. Under previous numbers published by the administration, exempting those institutions would raise the monthly fee on other property owners by about 7.6 percent. But on Friday, Parker said city officials had “refined our estimates” and [...]
So will we have a Mayor’s race or not?
We’re now more than a month into the city election fundraising season, and as of this week the only person to file a declaration of Treasurer for the office of Mayor is the incumbent, Annise Parker. As of this time two years ago, all four major candidates had not only filed Treasurer’s reports but had [...]
A very early look at 2011 fundraising
A couple of weeks ago I took an early look at the 2011 city elections, but there was a key ingredient missing in that analysis: Money. The fundraising season for city candidates, which has been closed since last January, will open again on February 1. Let’s take a look at where various cast members stand [...]
A very early look at the 2011 elections
Texas on the Potomac lists 11 national races of interest for 2011. Well, of interest to some – outside of the Dallas Mayoral race, none of these mean much to me, and that’s only if incumbent Tom Leppart leaves to pursue the Senate or draws a real challenger. (Here’s a good overview of the Dallas [...]
Fee for all
Much as the state will soon do, the city of Houston is raising a bunch of fees. The city of Houston is poised to raise an estimated 150 fees for services ranging from pool inspections to boiler permits, part of Mayor Annise Parker’s effort to close a $30 million budget hole. Some City Council members [...]
Council shakeup
Things are getting mighty interesting down at City Hall. Mayor Annise Parker has parted ways with two major conservatives on the Houston City Council, removing Councilman Mike Sullivan from his role overseeing redistricting and accepting the resignation of Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck as mayor pro tem. The development, which stems, in part, from a recent spat [...]
What now for Renew Houston?
In addition to the disposal of the red light cameras and the associated costs of their removal, Mayor Parker and City Council now need to work out the details for Prop 1, which created the dedicated fund for streets and drainage and will impose a fee on property owners to pay for it. How much, [...]
The Mayor editorializes for Prop 1
Mayor Parker lays out the case for Prop 1, the ballot referendum to establish a dedicated revenue source for street and drainage improvements. Is it necessary? Absolutely! Approximately 65 percent of our streets and drainage systems are beyond their useful life – and at current funding levels it would take 100 years to replace them. [...]
Council passes demolition moratorium for historic properties
Houston City Council has taken a step forward to providing stronger protection for historic properties. City Council passed a temporary law today that puts a moratorium on demolitions in Houston’s 15 historic districts. The city’s 15-year-old preservation ordinance has allowed a property owner to proceed with a renovation, demolition or relocation in one of the [...]
Council adopts higher water rate hike
City Council voted to adopt the higher water rate hike that was proposed this week. And apparently set the stage for a lawsuit. Council members Mike Sullivan, Oliver Pennington and C.O. Bradford voted against the plan. Pennington, Bradford and several council members who voted for the increases expressed concerns that the rate hikes would violate [...]
Council approves Lakewood sale
This had generated a lot of discussion, but in the end it went through. The Houston City Council on Wednesday approved the sale of the former Compaq Center to Lakewood Church for $7.5 million. The vote was 13-to-2, with Councilmen Oliver Pennington and Stephen Costello opposed. [...] As they received more information about the proposed [...]
Council turnover
One underappreciated aspect of this year’s election is that we may wind up with more than two new At Large City Council members. We started with two open seats, and with incumbents Sue Lovell and Jolanda Jones in runoffs, the possibility exists that we could have as many as four freshman members in January. This [...]
Precinct analysis: City Council At Large races
Moving on to the At Large City Council races. I’m going to look at each of them here. First up, At Large #1: Dist Cook Litt Alls Cost Derr Rodr Perk Batt ============================================================ A 1,521 1,629 397 4,806 4,144 2,087 919 439 B 1,091 679 252 1,063 1,622 1,466 3,133 1,138 C 1,340 6,626 339 [...]
Eight days out: Spending on voter outreach by At Large candidates
As with the Controller’s race, I took a look at spending on voter outreach for At Large candidates in the 30 day out report. Given that some large number of people have no clue about who is running for these offices, I figured I’d better look at the 8 day out reports as well. Here [...]