Noted for the record. Prominent strip club Treasures, hauled into court as an alleged public nuisance and haven for crime by city and county attorneys seven months ago, has agreed to put $100,000 in a nuisance abatement fund as part of a settlement with the city of Houston, City Attorney David Feldman said. Harris County [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Vince Ryan’
Constable Trevino indicted
Lovely. Longtime Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino was indicted Friday, accused of failing to report cash campaign contributions, diverting money from his youth charity for personal use and using deputies to serve eviction notices and then keeping the delivery fees. Trevino was charged in four felony indictments alleging abuse of official capacity, misapplication of fiduciary [...]
All the interviews for 2012
As we begin early voting for the November election, here are all the interviews I conducted for candidates who are on the ballot as well as for the referenda. These include interviews that were done for the primary as well as the ones done after the primary. I hope you found them useful. Senate: Paul [...]
30 Day finance reports, Harris County candidates
Here’s a look at the 30 day campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates. All reports can be found by going to the Harris County Clerk campaign finance reports page. Candidate Office Raised Spent Loans Cash ========================================================== Garcia Sheriff 192,670 120,957 0 388,197 Guthrie Sheriff 158,700 48,633 171,000 98,152 Alessi Sheriff 1,019 2,007 700 1,719 [...]
Interview with Vince Ryan
We return to non-referendum races as we enter the last week before early voting. For the first of my last two interviews I have for you a conversation with Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, who was elected along with Sheriff Adrian Garcia and a slew of other Democrats in 2008. Ryan, who was recently endorsed [...]
Endorsement watch: For the watchdog
The Chron endorses County Attorney Vince Ryan for re-election. Because crime makes more headlines than drawing up contracts for bond issues or conducting reviews of county agencies, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has a much higher public profile than the Harris County Attorney’s Office. But measuring the relative value and importance of the two [...]
SOS ups the ante against Sumners
It’s getting real at the Tax Assessor’s office. Harris County election officials got a bit of a surprise Friday morning when they attempted to open the county’s spending account on the Texas Secretary of State’s office website and found their access blocked. State officials have temporarily cut off the county’s voter registration funding. “We received [...]
SOS versus Sumners
It’s not a steel cage death match, but it’ll do. In a strongly worded letter today, the Texas Secretary of State’s office told Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Don Sumners that his decision not to purge presumed-dead voters from the rolls before the Nov. 6 election likely violates the law and compromises the [...]
July campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates
You know the drill by now. Office Candidate Raised Spent Cash Loans ============================================================ Sheriff A Garcia 47,025 41,900 357,818 0 Sheriff L Guthrie 70,176 75,646 33,075 157,000 Sheriff C Pittman 11,309 11,566 5,217 24,000 DA M Anderson 73,888 60,980 33,371 0 DA L Oliver 0 150 0 0 County Atty V Ryan 56,571 33,047 145,606 [...]
County Attorney report on Constables
County Attorney Vince Ryan has completed a report his office began in December to examine some of the practices in the Constables’ offices. At that time, the FBI was investigating and was on the verge of arresting now-former Constable Jack Abercia, while Constables Victor Trevino and May Walker were being investigated by the District Attorney [...]
January finance reports: Harris County
January is a very busy month for campaign finance reports, since they are due for all levels of government. I’ve been busy updating the 2012 Primary Election pages for Harris County and elsewhere in Texas with reports as I can find them. Here’s an overview of some races of interest in Harris County. I’ll have [...]
County sues over dioxin
More like this, please. Harris County has filed a lawsuit in state court to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from local waste management companies and a Pasadena paper factory responsible for storage of a human carcinogen that has leaked into the San Jacinto River. Named as defendants in the action, which seeks penalties of [...]
A little perspective about redistricting
So now we wait for the full Supreme Court’s ruling on AG Abbott’s requests to stay the 2012 elections, which by the way would only apply to the elections affected by the disputed redistricting maps. Other primary elections for things like the SBOE, statewide and county offices, would proceed as usual in March while the [...]
Still cleaning up Tommy Thomas’ mess
Some stains take a long time to scrub out. The U.S. Justice Department is proceeding with an investigation of Harris County sheriff’s operations, after county leaders refused to enter into a civil rights settlement with the government or hire an independent monitor. The investigation was sparked by the discovery of emails from sheriff’s commanders – [...]
Two views of county government
There was an interesting quasi-point/counterpoint in the Sunday op-eds between County Judge Ed Emmett and County Attorney Vince Ryan. I say “quasi” because it’s not really clear they were debating each other, but they were both talking about county government and how it works. Here’s Judge Emmett‘s piece. In the private sector, major companies frequently [...]
Sylvia for Something
So many rumors, so little time. Among those voicing support for the alternative [County Commissioners] map was Sylvia Garcia, who was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year. Garcia’s loss – by 2,310 votes – to Republican newcomer Jack Morman in last November’s election was the first time in 36 years an incumbent commissioner [...]
You using that building?
There’s this building that Harris County owns that is supposed to revert to the city if the county isn’t using it. Which it isn’t, so the city would like to know what the county’s intentions are, as they have plans of their own. City Attorney David Feldman announced the city’s intentions in a letter Thursday [...]
Harris County passes its budget
It’s about what you’d expect. Facing an 11.3 percent drop in revenue, Harris County Commissioners Court passed a budget today that could mean dozens of law enforcement jobs cut or left vacant, hundreds fewer patients receiving mental health counseling and fewer books in county libraries. The $1.23 billion budget reflects a revenue drop of $156.8 [...]
County asks about exemption from drainage fee
Interesting. County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez has asked County Attorney Vince Ryan for an opinion on whether the county has to pay the city of Houston’s new drainage fee. Sanchez already has his own opinion. “You’re getting a government, the city of Houston, starting to dip into multiple jurisdictions’ pots,” Sanchez said. “At some point, you just have [...]
Pollution prosecution
Not really sure what to make of County Commissioner Steve Radack’s proposal to create a new pollution control department that will more aggressively pursue violators. “We have people out there violating the law and they’re polluting,” Radack said. “They’ve been getting away with it for a long, long time while it’s been under the health [...]
Amicus briefs filed in Galveston beach case
Good for you, Vince Ryan. Harris County today joined other public agencies and activists in urging the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider a recent opinion that critics contend blocks public access to most beaches on Galveston island. County Attorney Vince Ryan filed a friend-of-the court brief on behalf of the county and the Texas Conference [...]
Ryan issues opinions about poll watching
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has issued a couple of opinions relating to poll watching that may help clear things up a bit. The first opinion has to do with where poll watchers may and may not go: Poll watchers are entitled to observe all election activity from the time the electionworkers arrive at the [...]
DOJ gets a call on voter intimidation allegations
Day Two of early voting saw far fewer allegations of voter intimidation and the possible arrival of the Justice Department to keep an eye on things. Responding to complaints that poll watchers were intimidating voters in predominantly minority polling locations, County Attorney Vince Ryan summoned the county chairmen of both major parties to his office [...]
Houston Votes responds
Earlier today Houston Votes responded to the accusations lobbed at them by outgoing Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez. First, here’s their press release: On Tuesday, August 24, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Leo Vasquez made reckless and false allegations against Houston Votes in an apparently coordinated, partisan effort to suppress voter registration and to [...]
Commissioners Court wants a lapdog, not a watchdog
Back in June, we learned that County Attorney Vince Ryan was going after polluters that had been ignoring court orders to clean up their acts. You would think this would be a good thing to do – you know, enforcing the law while helping to make Harris County cleaner – but apparently not if you’re [...]
“Jail hell”
That’s the title of this Houston Press story about the experiences of those who have served time in the Harris County jail, as told by those who have just gotten out. The story is partly a response to the county’s assertions, as stated by County Attorney Vince Ryan, that the Department of Justice has it [...]
Harris County disputes federal criticism of its jails
This is interesting. Harris County officials today delivered a 300-page response to the U. S. attorney general’s findings that the Harris County Jail was unconstitutional, saying the report was largely based on anecdotal accounts from inmates and incomplete data. County Attorney Vince Ryan said his staff will deliver a voluminous response to the 24-page report [...]
When county officials cooperate
I was sent a copy of this story as a PDF a few days ago, and I’m glad to see (via Hair Balls) that it’s available online. It’s about the level of cooperation between Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos and County Attorney Vince Ryan, and the positive effect it’s having on the operation of [...]
Commissioners Court approves ethics measures
It’s something. The Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a slate of ethics reforms, placing new controls on money and influence in government for the first time in years. After months of infighting and setbacks, the court unanimously and without discussion passed several measures including online posting of officials’ personal and financial disclosure forms, [...]
Commissioners Court tries again on ethics reform
They meet today to try to get something done. After months of political maneuvering, County Judge Ed Emmett is asking commissioners to approve a series of ethics reforms. They include the voluntary registration of lobbyists, online posting of officials’ personal and financial disclosure forms and the adoption of a county statement of ethics. The proposals [...]
Ryan versus the polluters
This is the sort of thing that happens when you elect Democrats. Here’s something relatively new: A Harris County polluter is going to jail. Vince Ryan, the new Harris County Attorney, has decided to make pollution a priority, and he went after the owner of a northside auto-parts salvage company that had been dragging its [...]