From the Mayor’s office: Houston Mayor Annise Parker today announced the City of Houston will host a 24-hour “Open Innovation Hackathon” on May 17-18 at the Houston Technology Center and at Start Houston. A hackathon is a day-long event in which software developers, designers, and data analysts collaborate intensively on data and software projects. Over [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Ed Gonzalez’
Houston considers a “Safe Passing” ordinance
Glad to hear it. Though it boasts a growing biking culture, Houston is the only major city in Texas without a safe-passing law requiring motorists to share the road with cyclists and others. City leaders now want to change that. City attorneys proposed an ordinance to the City Council’s public safety committee Wednesday that officials [...]
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 [...]
Sobering center opens up
Good. Mayor Annise Parker joined council members on Thursday to unveil the innovative Houston Recovery Center, a place where people who are intoxicated can sober up instead of being arrested. Officials say there’s only one other similar facility in Texas. “Turns out that a significant percentage of the people we were putting in jail, were [...]
The off-street parking debate
I believe the new offstreet parking requirements that have been proposed and are being debated are at least as big a deal as the Chapter 42 revisions. We really need to get this right. Under the new rules, some eateries – dessert shops, carryout restaurants – would need less parking, but requirements on most restaurants [...]
Ready or not, here comes Chapter 42
Changes are coming to Chapter 42, the section of Houston’s ordinances that deal with density and development, and to Chapter 26, the section on off-street parking for bars and restaurants and what have you. The revisions would allow neighborhoods to create special parking areas tailored to their needs, reduce parking requirements for historic buildings, allow [...]
January finance reports for Houston offices
Previously, I gave the July campaign finance numbers for Houston elected officials who are eligible for the ballot this fall. Here now are the cash on hand figures from the January reports, with all incumbents and a few assorted extras thrown in: Dist Name Cash on hand ================================= Myr Parker 1,043,827 Ctrl R Green 35,753 [...]
Council approves Washington Avenue parking benefit district
We’ll see how this works. The Houston City Council on Wednesday formed a special parking district along Washington Avenue, intended to ease the woes associated with the bustling corridor’s mix of bars, restaurants and residential streets. The plan will add parking meters on about 350 spaces along Washington, and will make it easier for residents [...]
Pothole app
Harris County now has an app for reporting potholes and other problems. Users must download the app and set up a profile. After that, one can take a photo of the problem, point to its spot on the map or let GPS technology mark the location, label the report with a category – say, “dead [...]
Spending a little to save a lot
Remember HPD’s Chronic Consumer Stabilization Program, in which the police department attempted to deal with some of the people who interact with them the most often in a better, more humane, and more cost-effective way? Well, it’s been working. Since the program began, run-ins between police and the top 30 chronic consumers have declined by [...]
Parklets
Not really sure what to make of this. Six years ago, a posse of guerrilla designers fed a parking meter on a busy San Francisco street, unrolled sod in the parking space and plopped down a potted tree. The result was a tiny, fleeting swath of green that since has become known as a parklet. [...]
Council defers on strip club fee
Tagged for a week. Consideration of a $5-per-head fee on customers of strip clubs to pay for reducing the city’s backlog of untested rape kits has been delayed for a week. Council members Melissa Noriega and Al Hoang both tagged the item, a parliamentary maneuver that puts off an agenda item for one week, no [...]
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 [...]
Budget amendment time
Now that Mayor Parker has formally submitted her proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, it’s time for Council members to submit their amendments for consideration. I’m going to start at the bottom of the story with the two proposals that intrigues me the most. Two members called for a November election to amend the city’s [...]
No one likes the new noise ordinance
Look for more changes to come. The latest participants in the never-ending noise battle are local nightclub owners who feel they have been unfairly targeted after the Houston City Council updated the noise ordinance in October. They have been issued hundreds of citations and have seen club workers arrested. The noise ordinance sets limits for [...]
Sober up
This seems like a sensible idea. City officials plan to open a “sobering center” at the Star of Hope Mission downtown later this year. It would be an 84-bed facility that would allow people whose only offense is being drunk to bypass jail. Houston police arrest 19,000 people a year for public intoxication, racking up [...]
Brown v Rodriguez
I’ve been wondering how new Council Member Helena Brown’s style will play at Council meetings. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Councilwoman Helena Brown and Councilman James Rodriguez squared off publicly Wednesday in the kind of bare-knuckled politics usually deployed in a back room. The outer layer of the onion had them [...]
“Houston History” Fall 2011 Launch Reception
From the inbox: Join Council Members Ed Gonzalez, Melissa Noriega, and James Rodriguez, and State Representatives Carol Alvarado and Jessica Farrar for the launch of Houston History Magazine Fall 2011 Issue Tuesday, December 6 5:30-7:00PM Sombreros (formerly Velia’s) 2910 Navigation Blvd. (Map) Meet the Authors and Enjoy Sweet Treats The University of Houston Center for [...]
Kroger gets its 380
Despite neighborhood opposition, City Council has approved a 380 agreement for the proposed Kroger on Studemont at I-10. District H Councilman Ed Gonzalez, who represents the area around the proposed store and who championed the 380 agreement, insisted the deal was less an incentive to Kroger than it was a way for the city to [...]
Endorsement watch: Gonzalez in H
The Chron makes the easy and obvious choice of endorsing CM Ed Gonzalez for a second full term in District H. In the shuffle brought by the addition of two new City Council district seats, Houston’s District H has been moved east and become more distinctively Hispanic, picking up Denver Harbor and the Port of [...]
Lawsuit filed against Harris County redistricting
Hot off the presses, here’s a release from CM Ed Gonzalez: Today, Council Member Ed Gonzalez joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit versus Harris County over the proposed Commissioners Court redistricting map. “The proposed map cracks communities of interests and dilutes the voting strength of Latinos in Precinct 2. Despite the fact that Latinos [...]
Interview with CM Ed Gonzalez
CM Ed Gonzalez was elected to complete the unexpired term of now-Sheriff Adrian Garcia in June of 2009, and is now running for his second full term on Council. He’s a former homicide investigator for HPD, and was elected by his fellow Council members to be Mayor Pro Tem last year. He’s also my Council [...]
City asks Metro for Harrisburg underpass
From the Inbox: Houston Mayor and METRO Seek Common Ground on East End Line Resolution of Harrisburg/Hughes Streets Over/Under Question Becomes a Milestone The city of Houston has concluded there is “strong sentiment” within the East End community for an underpass at Harrisburg/Hughes St. and has requested METRO’s Board of Directors vote in support of a [...]
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 [...]
East End community meeting to consider Harrisburg grade separation
From the Inbox: East End community meeting to consider Harrisburg grade separation Wednesday, June 15 Union Pacific’s East Belt rail subdivision is one of the busiest in the city, carrying more than 30 freight trains a day through Houston’s East End. For years, the crossing at Harrisburg has created delays and headaches for motorists and [...]
Heights Wal-Mart public meeting reminder
From the inbox: Responsible Urban Development for Houston [RUDH] Announces their next: PUBLIC MEETING: TUESDAY MAY 3RD, 2011 AT 6:30 PM The Council on Alcohol and Drugs 303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, Texas 77007 Regarding: Heights Wal-Mart Project and the Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou WHAT: Alarm Bells are sounding in the Heights [...]
More on the new Council map
Here’s the Chron story about the proposed new Council map. Reactions were about what you’d expect for the most part. “There’s two Latino council members and you have, currently, nine districts,” [District I Council Member James Rodriguez] said. “We’re moving to 11, and we’re going to stay the same. I don’t think that’s progress.” [Mayor [...]
District H redistricting town hall meeting
From the inbox: City of Houston Redistricting 2011 Town Hall Meeting (District H) Mayor Annise D. Parker District H Council Member Edward Gonzalez City of Houston Attorney Dave Feldman Monday, March 28, 2011 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. Jefferson Davis High School 1101 Quitman Street Houston, Texas 77009 Parking located behind school (along Tackaberry Street off Quitman [...]
Meet the new historical districts
Not so different from the old historical districts. After months of petition drives and acrimonious public testimony over the protection of old Houston neighborhoods, the only change to the six historic district maps headed to the City Council on Wednesday is the removal of a single address from a Montrose-area district. The council could end [...]
Email counts, too
I have one thing to say about this. City officials involved in negotiating a tax reimbursement deal with the developer of a controversial Walmart-anchored retail project near Washington Avenue made dismissive, and sometimes derisive, references to citizens opposed to the development, according to e-mails released to the Houston Chronicle. For example, in response to a [...]
Council approves the Wal-Mart 380 agreement
No surprise. Over strong neighborhood objections, City Council this morning passed a package of economic development incentives worth more than $6 million for the developer of a future Walmart store near the Heights. City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck offered two amendments to the agreement with Ainbinder Co., strictly limiting the potential taxpayer reimbursements to the company [...]
The Wal-Mart meeting at the GRB
Lots of sound and fury, that’s for sure. The city is negotiating a deal with the developer of Washington Heights — a proposed Walmart-anchored shopping center near Interstate 10 and Yale – that would reimburse the local builder for as much as $6 million in public infrastructure improvements. If the agreement is approved, developer Ainbinder [...]
There’s supporters, and then there’s “supporters”
This Chron story is about “supporters and opponents” of the “Heights” Wal-Mart debuting their webpages. See if you can spot the problem with this: The opponents, led by a group of concerned citizens who began organizing around a Facebook website in mid-July, have formed the nonprofit group Responsible Urban Development for Houston. “We are a [...]
CultureMap previews the Wal-Mart
Some interesting stuff here. Restaurants and stores on Heights Boulevard, along with new pathways and landscaping on the boulevard’s esplanade, will be part of Ainbinder Company’s Walmart-anchored retail development in the Inner Loop of Houston, the developer of the project said Friday. The project, called Washington Heights, is planned for 23 acres near the southwest [...]