From Nonsequiteuse, who got the following email in her inbox: Proposed City of Houston Lending Ordinance Presentation to Council Committee Tuesday, February 5, 2013 The City of Houston Legal Department has proposed new regulations for credit access businesses, commonly referred to as payday loan or title loan institutions. The lending practices employed by these various [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Wanda Adams’
The 2013 campaign season has officially begun
Sort of, anyway. Some of us received this email in our inboxes recently, touting the virtues of former Bill White chief of staff Terence Fontaine as a candidate for District D; incumbent Wanda Adams is term-limited out next year. I don’t know Mr. Fontaine and I don’t have any opinions on who might or should [...]
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 [...]
30 day reports, Harris County candidates for state office
We’re now 26 days out from the May 29 primary, which means more campaign finance reports from candidates for state and county offices who are in contested primaries. I’m going to post about all of these, starting today with reports from Harris County candidates for state offices. Here are the Democrats, whose reports are linked [...]
Interview with Wanda Adams
Also running in HD131 is Wanda Adams, who has served two full terms in Houston City Council District D and was re-elected easily for her third term last November. Adams is a native Houstonian who graduated from Kashmere High School and Texas Southern University. She worked for the city prior to her election to Council [...]
It’s always easier to talk in the abstract
I have three things to say about this. The city of Houston has been papering over multimillion-dollar budget deficits for nine years by borrowing money, tapping its rainy day fund, selling buildings and just plain putting off bills to the future, according to city finance officials. [...] This year, Mayor Annise Parker has pledged not [...]
January finance reports: City of Houston
Yes, I know, there are no city of Houston elections this year. (Not yet, anyway.) But the candidates and officeholders have to file reports anyway, covering the period from their last report through the end of the year. That period may be from eight days before the December runoff, eight days before the November election, [...]
Eight day reports, part 1
The eight day finance reports started getting posted on the city’s campaign finance page yesterday. I’m still working through putting them on my 2011 Election page, but here are a few highlights so far: – Next to Mayor Parker, the big spender in October was CM Stephen Costello, who made full use of his deep [...]
Endorsement watch: Cohen and Adams
It’s a twofer, and it’s apparent confirmation that the Chron is going alphabetically by district. First, they tap Ellen Cohen for the reconfigured District C. Among a strong field of candidates for Houston City Council District C – the district that includes Montrose, Meyerland, Braeswood, Oak Forest, Southampton and parts of the Heights – Ellen [...]
Interview with CM Wanda Adams
CM Wanda Adams was first elected in District D in 2007, and is now running for her third term. She was employed by the City of Houston before being elected to Council, so it was interesting to get her perspective on how the budget cuts will affect city services. Her district was changed pretty significantly [...]
That’s what I call double parking
Did you know that there were hydraulic parking lifts in use in Houston? I didn’t. District D Councilwoman Wanda Adams, who represents Midtown, attached an amendment to the city budget passed last month that requires the planning department to craft an ordinance in the next three months to regulate lifts. “When I saw the parking [...]
More on the red light camera ruling
I said before that what happens next with the red light camera ruling is a political decision. Here’s how that’s shaping up. City Attorney Dave Feldman said Friday’s ruling will force the city to choose from canceling the contract with American Traffic Solutions — which might cost the city $16 million — or keeping the [...]
Inspector General cites CM Jones
Ouch. Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones used city employees to help run her personal law practice and instructed her staff not to meet with investigators looking into her alleged misconduct, the city’s inspector general has determined. For three of the six findings, Jones could face misdemeanor criminal charges. In a June 2 memorandum to Mayor [...]
Does it count if it’s a TIRZ?
Well, this is interesting. As the city of Houston seeks to close a $21 million budget gap in the next eight weeks, it is counting on selling a public building to one of its own redevelopment agencies. And while the proposed $5 million deal with the Midtown Redevelopment Authority would offer the city deadline budget [...]
The Mayor editorializes for Prop 1
Mayor Parker lays out the case for Prop 1, the ballot referendum to establish a dedicated revenue source for street and drainage improvements. Is it necessary? Absolutely! Approximately 65 percent of our streets and drainage systems are beyond their useful life – and at current funding levels it would take 100 years to replace them. [...]
Demolition Day
Get ready to say goodbye to a bunch of abandoned buildings. “Demolition Day,” which Mayor Annise Parker announced in her state of the city speech last month, is the culmination of months of effort by the Houston Police Department’s Neighborhood Protection Corps to find owners and encourage them to take care of their properties. “This [...]
Interview with Otis Jordan
Next up, we have an interview with Otis Jordan, who is running in District D. Jordan just retired as a captain in HFD after 30 years of service. Jordan is a graduate of Ross Sterling High School and TCU, and was an officer in the Army Reserve before joining the Fire Department. He is running [...]
Interview with Council Member Wanda Adams
Next up is Council Member Wanda Adams, who is finishing up her first term in District D. Adams was an employee of the city who was the Go Green coordinator at the time of her election in 2007, and she continues that work as Community Relations Coordinator with the Solid Waste Management Department. She has [...]
More on the lineups
Here’s the Chron story about the final filings to be on the ballot for city elections. As noted before, not a whole lot of surprises, but there are a couple of things worth mentioning: Otis Jordan, president of the Houston Black Firefighters Association, who has been a frequent critic of the Houston Fire Department’s handling [...]
Council Member Adams sued by former consultant
Miya has the interesting story. Houston City Council Member Wanda Adams is the defendant in a civil lawsuit. Her former campaign consultant, Kathryn McNiel, has filed suit asking for back consulting fees and legal costs totalling around $47,000. This is a case that first began in 2008, and both sides have been working hard to [...]
Shorter to challenge Lovell
Isiah Carey reports. The Insite had a brief conversation with Houstonian Rozzy ‘Roz’ Shorter. She’s not quite given up on her political career. You may remember Shorter as the local woman chosen by the Barack Obama camp to get the Houston audience hyped when then Seantor Obama made a campaign stop in the Bayou City. [...]