Big Jolly reports on a new candidate. There are two powerful elected positions in the City of Houston: Mayor and City Controller. So naturally I was curious when I heard that someone was going to challenge the incumbent Controller Ronald Green. Meet Bill Frazer. The press release announcing his candidacy stated: “The Controller is an [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Houston City Controller’
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 [...]
A first look at the 2013 elections
It is 2013, right? So while we have the SD06 special election and the new legislative session to worry about, it’s not too early to start talking about the 2013 elections. Let’s start with a peek at the campaign finance reports from last July of the Houston officeholders who will be on the ballot this [...]
Sumners for Controller?
Yeah, I don’t know about that. County tax assessor-collector Don Sumners, who lost his bid for re-election in the May GOP primary, said Wednesday he is considering running for city controller next year. “The part that has to be decided is whether I can actually win. I’m not a spring chicken,” said Sumners, 73. Controller [...]
The Green blues
First there was this. City Controller Ron Green, Houston’s top elected money manager and self-described watchdog, is seeking leniency for a five-time convicted felon and contractor who masterminded an elaborate real estate and forgery scam targeting the city’s historically African-American neighborhoods. Green is asking a judge for probation for his friend and former next-door neighbor [...]
Interview with City Controller Ronald Green
What I had originally thought would be my final interview with a City of Houston candidate is with City Controller Ronald Green. As it happens, due to some late contact with a couple of campaigns, I have some more to follow. In any event, like Mayor Parker, Controller Green is finishing his first term. Unlike [...]
Your 2011 electoral lineup
There are many candidates running for office this year. Some of them have a better rationale for running than others, but thankfully for them that’s not a requirement. A flurry of late filings to run for city office Wednesday filled out an election ballot that left only two Houston officials unopposed for re-election in November. [...]
How many votes will it take?
Nancy Sims has a lament about the upcoming city elections. What disturbs me most is the complete lack of interest I’m seeing and hearing from my friends, co-workers, students and people I encounter daily. Everyone wants to complain about the water main breaks and the streets buckling as well as the lack of recycling in [...]
Former CM Pam Holm to run for HD136
So says Robert Miller. Pam Holm, who represented District G on the Houston City Council from 2004 through 2009, has decided to run to replace Speaker Beverly Woolley in Texas HD 136. Ms. Holm was a prolific fundraiser the three successful campaigns she ran for City Council and in her unsuccessful race for City Controller [...]
Better times are coming (we hope)
So says City Controller Ronald Green in the Chron’s op-ed pages. Officially, the U.S. recession has ended. We have certainly rounded the corner here in Houston. And while there is a loss here of public sector jobs, the private sector in Houston is hiring again – about 23,000 new jobs this year, significant but not [...]
More campaign finance reports for July
Following up on the earlier post, here are some more highlights from the July campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections. All reports can be found on my 2011 Election page. – Since I dinged Al Hoang for not filing a January report, I will state up front that his July report is on [...]
The 2011 interview season has begun
As of this week, I will begin interviewing candidates for the 2011 elections. At the top of the site, you can see the 2011 Election page, where I will be keeping track of interviews, endorsements, campaign finance reports, and possibly some other things as they occur to me. I just have City of Houston candidates [...]
About those land sales…
The current fiscal year’s budget for the City of Houston includes revenue from the sale of some city-owned property to make it balance. This article talks about this and what might happen if they don’t sell before the end of the fiscal year, but it leaves out one critical piece of information: Real estate sales [...]
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 [...]
The mandatory furlough plan
Happy New Year, city employees. Thousands of city of Houston employees will have to take six unpaid days off in the coming six months, one of a series of actions Mayor Annise Parker is taking to close a $29 million budget gap. “This is a step that I didn’t want to take,” Parker said on [...]
Interview with County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia
Finishing off the county interviews, we have County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, who has served Precinct 2 since she was first elected in 2002. Prior to that, she served three terms as Houston City Controller, and was Director and Presiding Judge of the Houston Municipal System. Precinct 2 covers territory east and south in Harris County, [...]
Meet George Greanias
As we know, former City Controller and member of Mayor Parker’s transition team George Greanias has taken over, at least on an interim basis, as the CEO of Metro. Houston Tomorrow has a brief intro to Greanias, including a pointer to this 1997 Houston Press cover story about Greanias’ rocky relationship with then-Mayor Bob Lanier [...]
Mayor Parker’s first budget
It sounds good, and she kept her promises about not raising the property tax rate, at least for this year, but there are some blanks that still need to be filled in. Mayor Annise Parker unveiled a $4.1 billion spending plan Tuesday, balancing the city’s budget largely through a one-time draw of surplus funds, land [...]
Another term limits commission meeting
From the inbox: The City of Houston Term Limits Review Commission invites you to an open session for public input concerning term limits for Houston’s Mayor, City Controller and City Council Saturday, February 27, 2010 10:30 a.m. Judson Robinson, Jr. Community Center 2020 Hermann Drive Houston, Texas 77004 The City of Houston Term Limits Review [...]
Runoff precinct analysis, Controller’s race
Picking up from where I left off yesterday, here’s the breakdown of the Controller’s race by Council district. For comparison purposes, here’s the November analysis. Dist Green Khan Holm Green % Khan % Tot votes ========================================================= A 4,685 6,750 7,125 25.2 36.4 18,560 B 7,483 3,329 1,362 61.5 27.3 12,174 C 7,356 7,494 6,332 34.7 [...]
Initial thoughts on the runoffs
I’ll go through them one race at a time, with the unofficial vote totals minus Montgomery County for each. Once I have precinct results, I’ll go through those and do a more detailed analysis. Mayor Annise Parker – 81,971, 52.78% Gene Locke – 73,331, 47.22% This was perhaps a bit closer than one might have [...]
Eight days out finance reports, Green and Khan
We’ve seen the eight days out finance reports for the Mayor’s race, now here’s the same thing for the Controller’s race. As before, the campaign finance spreadsheet has been updated with all of the raw data. Here’s how it breaks down for Ronald Green and MJ Khan: Candidate Raised Spent Loans Cash PAC $$ PAC [...]
Parker leads in another poll
It’s a Zogby poll, so don’t get too excited, but that’s still four out of four since Election Day. While the race for Houston mayor remains too close to call, Parker’s 5.5 percentage point lead stems from advantages among several demographics, including women, whites, Hispanics and self-identified independent voters. Parker leads with 41.9 percent of [...]
What the others are saying about Hotze’s endorsement
So here’s the Chron coverage of the Hotze endorsement. Of the many things I find unfathomable about this, here’s the item at the top of the list. Kris Banks, president of Houston’s GLBT Political Caucus, which has endorsed Parker, questioned why Locke did not distance himself from Hotze. “He came to us seeking our endorsements, [...]
Controller’s runoff overview
Here’s the Chron overview of the Controller’s runoff. Two points of interest to note. One is what presence, if any, the two candidates will have on the airwaves. Tactically, both campaigns said they intend to focus on direct-mail, block-walking and other field operations and will produce TV ads if they raise enough money to do [...]
2009 Runoff Candidate Meet and Greet
Want to meet the candidates who are in the December 12 runoff? Here’s your chance: You are invited to attend … 2009 Runoff Candidate Meet and Greet DECEMBER 3, 2009 – 6:30 PM – The Upper Kirby Building (details below) CNU-Houston, Houston Tomorrow, Emerging Green Builders, and Citizens’ Transportation Coalition are proud to host a Meet and Greet [...]
Third poll shows Parker leading
And we have our first poll from a source other than one of the campaigns, but like those two before it, this one shows Annise Parker in the lead. The poll consisted of 500 telephone interviews with registered Houston voters who consider themselves likely to vote in the December 12 runoff election. Early voting begins [...]
Brown for Parker, Holm for Khan
As expected, Peter Brown endorsed Annise Parker for Mayor in the runoff. In a news conference on the steps of City Hall, Brown today announced that he would be casting his vote for Parker in the runoff election December 12 and he asked all his supporters, friends and family to do the same. Brown said: [...]
Khan has an announcement
Council Member and candidate for Controller MJ Khan has an announcement to make tomorrow. From his press release: Who: Councilman M.J. Khan, Candidate for Houston City Controller What: Press Conference on a major announcement from the M.J. Khan for City Controller campaign. When: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. (after City Council has adjourned) [...]
Precinct analysis: The City Controller race
Here are my numbers. As before, for maps, go see what Greg‘s got. Dist Green Khan Holm ============================= A 4,685 6,750 7,125 B 7,483 3,329 1,362 C 7,356 7,494 6,332 D 13,410 4,673 3,047 E 5,133 7,684 6,633 F 2,403 4,171 1,975 G 4,908 8,446 16,733 H 4,879 4,236 2,973 I 3,725 2,708 1,510 One [...]
Six questions for the runoffs
Six questions that I can think of, anyway. 1. What will Peter do? Will Peter Brown endorse someone in the runoff? If so, how vigorously does he support that person? He’s in a position to have an effect on the outcome if he chooses to do so. What will he do? His won’t be the [...]
Nancy and me on TV
If you missed it from last night, here’s a clip of Nancy Sims and me doing the pundit thing on KHOU: Among other things, it’s a rare opportunity to see me in a suit and tie. My thanks to Greg for grabbing and uploading the clip.