From last week: The plaintiffs suing the city of Houston over its charitable feeding ordinance have abruptly dropped a suit they filed over the issue, just hours after the judge in the case recused himself. The ordinance, which requires property owners’ advance written permission for the charitable feeding of more than five people, was one [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Paul Kubosh’
Petitions to overturn homeless feeding ordinance submitted
There’s plenty of signatures, but no guarantee that this will make it onto the ballot. Activists seeking to repeal a new law requiring City Hall’s permission to serve charitable meals on city-owned land turned in 34,000 petition signatures on Monday asking that the issue be put to voters in November. Despite the passion surrounding the [...]
Another homeless feeding update
Depending on how you look at it, time is either running out for the petition signature gatherers who hope to overturn the homeless feeding ordinance, or it isn’t. Free to Give Houston, a recently formed political action committee, needs about 28,000 registered voters’ signatures to trigger a charter amendment election in November. The group sent [...]
Mailing letters about the homeless ordinance
Not really sure what to make of this. Activists against Houston’s new restrictions on feeding the homeless plan to mail around 30,000 letters Friday to urge voters to sign a petition to trigger a charter amendment election in November. Paul Kubosh, a defense lawyer who was also behind the referendum effort against the red-light camera [...]
Council agrees to red light camera settlement
At long last. City Council approved a payout of at least $4.8 million Wednesday to settle a lawsuit and take down Houston’s controversial red-light cameras, finally ending a legal battle that began after voters banned the devices in a referendum 15 months ago. The cameras were turned off and outlawed by council in August but [...]
No action on red light camera settlement yet
Houston City Council voted to wait two weeks before deciding whether or not to accept the settlement agreement with camera vendor ATS. The City Council on Wednesday delayed approval of a $4.8 million settlement with its red-light camera vendor amid questions about the effect of an appeals court ruling that lets two Houston lawyers intervene [...]
RIP, red light cameras
There they go. Houston’s red-light cameras are done issuing violations. This time, permanently. City Council dealt the controversial cameras a double death blow Wednesday, first ordering their immediate shutdown and then outlawing the use of cameras to catch red-light runners. More than nine months after a majority of Houston voters rejected red-light cameras in a [...]
Red light camera tickets begin again tomorrow
Drive appropriately. You have been warned. Houston police will begin issuing red-light camera citations Sunday at 50 intersections around the city, the latest maneuver in a protracted court battle over the controversial but lucrative traffic surveillance system. Police Chief Charles McClelland has decided to start with a “clean slate,“ explaining he will not issue citations [...]
More on the red light camera return
Here’s the Chron story about the reinstatement of the red light cameras. A couple of points that need to be made: Wednesday’s announcement provoked the full fury of Paul Kubosh, a lawyer who helped lead the petition drive to get the cameras banned. When reached for comment, he did not even wait for a question. [...]
Kubosh files appeal in red light camera lawsuit
Mary Benton has the story and the appeal documents. Relevant quote: In the Kubosh appeal attorneys argue, among other points, “if government by the people, of the people, and for the people is to have meaning in Houston, this Court must permit Appellants to appeal the manifestly erroneous, June, 17, 2011, summary judgment granted in [...]
Accidents down at former red light camera intersections
I guess some arguments are never going to go away. In the five months after Houston voters forced city officials to turn off a camera surveillance system that fined motorists for running red lights, traffic accidents at those 50 intersections with 70 cameras have decreased 16 percent, according to recently released data. The drop in [...]
Kuboshes told to butt out of ATS lawsuit
I didn’t know judges issued rulings on Sundays, but I guess sometimes they do. Red-light camera opponents will not be allowed to help defend a November referendum in which voters rejected the devices, a federal judge ruled on Sunday, saying there was no evidence the city of Houston is failing to represent the public’s interest [...]
Red light camera lawsuit
I’m trying to understand exactly what this is all about. Here’s the little sidebar summary, which captures the basic facts pretty well: The city of Houston • filed a “pre-emptive lawsuit” in U.S. District Court Nov. 15 seeking a judge’s opinion on how it should proceed after terminating its contract with red light camera company [...]
What now for the red light cameras?
Barring anything unusual, red light cameras will be history in Houston, but their effect will be felt for some time. City Controller Ronald Green said the loss of the devices would amount to a $10 million shortfall in revenues, a sharp decrease that would greatly complicate efforts to close a shortfall that was already nearing [...]
Chron story on lawsuit against red light camera referendum
The Chron covers the story. Boosters of Houston’s 70 red-light cameras are seeking to prevent a November vote on whether to ban the devices, alleging in a federal lawsuit that the initiative was placed on the ballot illegally and that it could violate the Voting Rights Act. [...] “This complaint needed to have been brought [...]
More on the red light camera Council vote
The fuller version of the Chron story addresses the question about whether the petition drive was lawful or not according to the city’s charter. “It is your absolute sworn duty to place this on the ballot,” [Mayor Annise] Parker told council. Several camera supporters on council disagreed, saying the proposal was “illegal” because it circumvented [...]
Red light camera petitions certified
They made it just under the wire. A petition to ban red light cameras in Houston has been certified by the city secretary, making it all but certain that voters will decide in November whether the 70 devices at intersections across the city will be taken down. “This is a great day for Houston,” said [...]
Red light camera opponents turn in their petitions
I was beginning to wonder if the anti-red light camera crowd was ever going to turn in their petition signatures, as it’s starting too get a little late in the game. They made their move on Monday, submitting 30,000 petition signatures (22,000 valid ones are needed) to City Secretary Anna Russell to get their proposition [...]
The anti-red light camera referendum drive begins
As we know, the anti-red light camera forces intend to collect enough petition signatures to put a charter referendum on the ballot this November. On Friday, they got started. Because red-light camera citations remain outside the realm of tickets that can be contested with assistance from a lawyer, many who specialize in that work have [...]
More on the red light camera poll
Last week I wrote about a poll commissioned by a group called the Keep Houston Safe PAC about attitudes towards red light cameras. The result was quite favorable for the cameras, but at the time I didn’t have full information on the poll. I do now, and you can see the polling memo here and [...]
Poll shows strong support for red light cameras
The following hit my inbox early Friday morning: A citywide survey of 500 likely voters in Houston’s 2010 general election conducted by a nationally respected polling firm last month finds strong support for the City of Houston’s intersection safety camera program that cuts across political, racial, and socioeconomic lines. The survey, which was conducted March [...]
Red light camera referendum may be coming
I’ve been expecting this to happen for awhile now. Two lawyers who are suing the city over Houston’s red-light camera program and their supporters said Friday they need 20,000 signatures for a citywide referendum to end what they called a dangerous profit-driven scheme. Lawyers Paul Kubosh and Randall Kallinen announced a petition drive on the [...]
City to release documents related to red light camera study
They’re being ordered to do so by a judge, but it doesn’t look like they’re particularly bothered by it. Paul Kubosh and Randall Kallinen filed a lawsuit challenging the city’s refusal to release 208 documents they requested under the Texas Public Information Act, many of them internal city communications and e-mails to and from the [...]
And the answer is…more cameras (maybe)
Well, there is some logic to it. The Houston Police Department is considering changes — possibly even expansion — to its red-light camera program after a city-commissioned study showed that crashes went up at intersections where the devices have been installed. “What we’re concerned about is safety, safety, safety at these intersections,” said Executive Assistant [...]