Tag Archives: David Wolff

Here comes the fully extended Green Line

Hallelujah. Oh what a rocky ride it’s been. Political opposition. A Buy America violation. Construction delays. Contaminated soil that sank an underpass. Overweight and badly-manufactured railcars. More construction delays. When trains finally start rolling along the new Green Line into … Continue reading

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Treating all fares the same

Good idea. A six-month test starting in February will gauge the effects of letting cash-paying rail riders switch to buses for free. The vast majority of riders use a Q card, day pass or some other form of Metro payment. … Continue reading

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Metro settles with Higgins

And the last bit of “old Metro” business gets put to rest. The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board [Thursday] agreed to settle a lawsuit by the agency’s former chief counsel in which she accused Metro of firing her for trying to … Continue reading

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In which I become a bit player in a Metro lawsuit

So I got an email on Friday from Chron reporter Mike Snyder, asking me if I had done an interview with former Metro Chair David Wolff. Apparently, there were some new documents filed in the lawsuit against Metro by its … Continue reading

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How Metro nearly cost itself $900 million

It’s an impressive feat, for some sense of the word. In the first months of the procurement process, documents show, [former Metro CEO Frank] Wilson intended to use local rather than federal funds to buy the light-rail vehicles, possibly in … Continue reading

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Pauline Higgins sues Metro

Pauline Higgins, the former chief counsel for Metro who was fired in the wake of the document shredding scandal, has now sued the agency for wrongful termination. “This case involves cut-throat politics and cronyism at Metro,” Pauline Higgins said in … Continue reading

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Firing Frank

Mayor Annise Parker has said she wants the new Metro board to fire Frank Wilson, the agency’s CEO. So why hasn’t that happened yet? There are a couple of complicating factors. Among them are uncertainty about the outcome of two … Continue reading

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David Wolff’s farewell message

Outgoing Metro chair David Wolff takes to the op-ed pages to present a more positive view of his agency and his tenure. While much had been accomplished by previous hard working boards, we inherited an aging bus fleet, a very … Continue reading

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Metro approves study of Fort Bend commuter rail line

In the last act for several Metro board members, we get a step forward on another commuter rail line. Moving to extend Metro’s reach into Fort Bend County, the agency’s board agreed Thursday to spend up to $500,000 on environmental … Continue reading

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Parker reaffirms commitment to light rail

This is what I want to see. [Mayor Annise] Parker’s letter regarding this week’s Metro board meeting was sent on the eve of her trip to Washington, where she said she would reassure U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that her … Continue reading

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Metro asks consultant to investigate Wilson allegations

We’ll see if there’s anything to the hype. A consultant with expertise in identifying business fraud will investigate allegations that Metro’s chief executive used public funds in an inappropriate relationship with his assistant, the agency announced today. David Wolff, the … Continue reading

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More on Metro’s finances

The Chron takes a closer look at Metro’s finances and the recently expressed doubts about their ability to pay for the University and Uptown lines. Mayor Annise Parker said last week that she wasn’t convinced the Metropolitan Transit Authority would … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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Interview with David Wolff

David Wolff has been the Chair of the Metro Board since 2004. He will be stepping down as soon as Mayor Parker names a replacement for him. With all that’s been going on regarding Metro in the news lately, I … Continue reading

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Criminal probe of Metro document shredding begins

I can’t wait to see how this turns out. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has begun a criminal investigation into allegations that the Metropolitan Transit Authority improperly destroyed public documents, a prosecutor confirmed Friday. The statement by Terese Buess, … Continue reading

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Please don’t shred the documents

This isn’t good. At a crucial moment in the development of its light rail system, Metro confronted accusations Wednesday that it shredded documents sought in an open-records request, then fired two attorneys who objected to its handling of the request. … Continue reading

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Mayor and Metro spar over fares

Soon-to-be-former Metro Chair David Wolff has sent a letter to Mayor Parker in response to her recent comments about possibly reducing fares as a way of increasing ridership. Eliminating fares on Metro buses and trains, as Mayor Annise Parker recently … Continue reading

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Expanding Metro

Soon-to-be-former Metro Chair David Wolff riffs off of a Chron editorial that lamented the lack of connectivity between Metro and some new bus routes in Harris County and makes the case for expanding Metro’s service area. The first steps toward … Continue reading

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A few words with David Wolff

The Chron talks to David Wolff, the soon-to-be-former Chair of Metro, about the state of the agency. Q: Why has it taken six years to build new light rail lines when the Main Street line was built so quickly? A: … Continue reading

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Culberson sticks his nose in

Last week, when we heard that the Federal Transit Authority had notified Metro that they would be cleared to begin preliminary engineering of the University Line project if no member of the local Congressional delegation objected by today, I figured … Continue reading

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Metro and the sales tax

Metro chair David Wolff would like to see the portion of the sales tax revenue that gets diverted from its coffers to Harris County and the smaller cities go back to Metro. Wolff believes METRO can build significantly more if … Continue reading

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Wolff speaks about Metro

Here’s Metro board chair David Wolff giving a state of the system address in the op-ed pages. I suppose it’s a counter, if not a response to Bill King’s piece from two weeks ago; it offers a defense of the … Continue reading

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A solution in search of a problem

We were out of town over the weekend, so I managed to miss this Bill King op-ed about the “need” to elevate the Main Street line on Fannin in the Medical Center area. Having now read it, I have three … Continue reading

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