Tag Archives: Chris Brown

On to the next big financial issue for the city

It’s always something. Four years ago, the main source of Houston’s deteriorating financial health — billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations — loomed over the race for mayor, promising a massive test for the winner. Now, Mayor Sylvester Turner, … Continue reading

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Previous interviews with current candidates

I’ve said a few times that I’m going to be doing just a few interviews this fall. I will start publishing them tomorrow. I may pick up some more for the runoffs, but for now my schedule just does not … Continue reading

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Incumbents and challengers for Council and Controller

Let me start by saying that I began this post before Amanda Edwards became a candidate for Senate. I’m going to keep the AL4 race in here, in part to include Edwards’ June report totals, and in part because I’m … Continue reading

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Here’s the Mayor’s budget

A lot of people won’t like it, but this is what happens when you heap a big expense on top of an already tight fiscal situation. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Tuesday proposed to close Houston’s $179 million budget gap for … Continue reading

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January 2019 finance reports: City of Houston

It’s January, and you know what happens in January: Campaign finance reports get posted. This is a city of Houston election year, so first order of business is to look at the city of Houston finance reports. I’ve put all … Continue reading

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We’ll have to wait a little longer for the inevitable Prop B lawsuit

It’s still coming, just not, like, today. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday said he would delay a City Council vote to hire a law firm to represent the city in possible litigation over Proposition B, the ballot item passed by … Continue reading

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The pay parity proposal debate that wasn’t

Let’s not get ready to rumble! Houston’s firefighters union has withdrawn from a Saturday debate with Mayor Sylvester Turner on their proposal to seek pay “parity” with police officers, saying the event’s host, the Harris County Democratic Party, had given … Continue reading

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July 2018 finance reports: City of Houston

Every level of government requires finance reports in January and June, whether or not there is an active election cycle in that year. That includes the city of Houston, whose january report data we inspected here. Our next election is … Continue reading

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Recycling deal held up again

I’ll take Unexpected Effects of Hurricane Harvey for $200, Alex. A 20-year, $37 million recycling deal for Houston is in limbo after City Controller Chris Brown said his office was not prepared to sign off on the proposal, citing concerns … Continue reading

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Houston’s health care costs

Because dealing with pensions wasn’t enough. Taxpayers also face a $2.1 billion liability for retiree health care costs in the coming decades, and Houston – like many state and local governments – has not set aside a penny to pay … Continue reading

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Council passes dumb forced tax cut

This is where we are. City Council rejected Mayor Sylvester Turner’s proposal to leave Houston’s tax rate unchanged from last year Wednesday, instead approving a tiny rate cut to comply with the voter-imposed cap on property tax revenues. Turner had … Continue reading

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Another property tax rate dustup

I have four things to say about this: Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to ask city council on Wednesday to sidestep the voter-imposed revenue cap by approving the same property tax rate as last year. According to City Controller Chris Brown, … Continue reading

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We need better fire inspections

Not good. The Houston Fire Department division responsible for ensuring building safety keeps inadequate records, does not examine buildings on a regular schedule and inflated its inspection numbers, all while exceeding its overtime budget, according to an audit released by … Continue reading

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January 2017 campaign finance reports: Houston officeholders

Normally, at this time I would be scanning through Houston candidate campaign finance reports, to see where incumbents stand at the start of the season. Of course, barring near-term court action there is no season for Houston municipal officeholders this … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: Controller runoff

One last election to review: Dist Brown Frazer ====================== A 5,232 7,918 B 13,161 2,616 C 15,244 15,726 D 16,390 4,197 E 6,118 16,073 F 3,890 3,527 G 8,775 21,762 H 6,558 3,117 I 5,253 2,731 J 2,794 2,763 K … Continue reading

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Is Bill King a sign of a trend?

Probably not. Doesn’t mean that other candidates like him can’t do well, however. Bill King’s near-upset over Sylvester Turner in the Houston mayoral runoff stoked the hopes of some Republicans that the party soon could break Democrats’ 34-year hold on … Continue reading

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Other runoff results

Here are the rest of the winners from yesterday: Controller: Chris Brown At Large #1: Mike Knox At Large #2: CM David Robinson At Large #4: Amanda Edwards At Large #5: CM Jack Christie District F: Steve Le District H: … Continue reading

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2015 eight day runoff finance reports

Here are the reports, for all but one of the runoff candidates: Mayor Sylvester Turner Bill King Controller Chris Brown Bill Frazer At Large #1 Georgia Provost Mike Knox At Large #2 David Robinson Willie David At Large #4 Amanda … Continue reading

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Overview of the Controller runoff

It’s another one of those partisan races. Sorry, non-partisans. Though the job lacks policy-making authority, the race to become Houston’s next chief financial officer has developed into a partisan proxy war over how to correct Houston’s fiscal course. In the … Continue reading

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A roundup of interviews with runoff candidates

For your convenience, as you try to decide whom to support in the runoffs: Mayor Sylvester Turner Bill King Controller Chris Brown Bill Frazer At Large #1 Georgia Provost – 2013 election, District D Mike Knox – 2013 election, District … Continue reading

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Runoff endorsement watch: Frazer breaks the tie

The Chronicle has a bit of unfinished endorsement business to take care of as we approach early voting for the runoffs. In the At Large #1 and #5 races, their endorsed candidate from November did not make it into the … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Bell for King

As the headline notes, this came as a surprise to many. Former Congressman Chris Bell publicly backed fiscal conservative Bill King in the Houston mayoral runoff Tuesday, a move that could bolster King’s efforts to make inroads with progressive voters. … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: At Large #2

At Large #2 was one of two such races featuring an incumbent that will go to a runoff. Dist Robinson Rivera Dick Davis Burks ============================================== A 3,715 1,679 3,982 3,586 1,281 B 5,283 1,243 1,649 3,405 4,335 C 14,736 2,571 … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: Controller

Moving on to the office that is both second in prominence and last in ballot placement, the City Controller: Dist Khan Brown Frazer Boney Jefferson Robinson ===================================================== A 2,749 3,406 6,588 798 602 1,573 B 1,836 4,042 1,047 4,275 1,057 … Continue reading

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Initial day-after-election thoughts

– We now have two cycles’ worth of data to suggest that having more good candidates in a Council race does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. Following in the footsteps of At Large #3 in 2013, a handful of … Continue reading

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Omnibus election results post

I’m going to take the easy way out here, because it’s been a long day/week/month and I’m hoping to get some sleep tonight, and just hit the highlights. There will be plenty of time for deeper analysis later, and of … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

8 day finance reports: Controller candidates

How about a look at the 8 day finance reports for Controller candidates? I figure if you’re reading this blog you won’t look at me funny when I say things like that, so here we go: Candidate Raised Spent Loans … Continue reading

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30 day finance reports, citywide races

Here’s a brief summary of the 30 Day campaign finance reports that I’ve been able to find, some of which are on this page and some of which are findable via the normal campaign finance report website, and all of … Continue reading

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Interview with Chris Brown

Continuing with my interviews with candidates for Houston City Controller to succeed the term-limited Ronald Green, today’s subject is Chris Brown. The son of former City Council member and Mayoral candidate Peter Brown, Chris Brown currently serves as the Chief … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Our first twofer

My first clear misses, too. For our next controller, voters should look for a candidate who can refocus the distracted office on the straight and narrow of Houston’s financial picture. In our current straits, we don’t have the luxury of … Continue reading

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Time to guess the Chronicle’s endorsements

We are a bit more than a month out from the start of early voting, and as such we are getting close to the start of Chronicle endorsement season. I know from doing candidate interviews that the Chron has been … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: The score so far

We’ve had a slew of endorsements for municipal races this past week. I’ve been keeping track of them as best I can on my 2015 Election page. This isn’t always easy to do, because some groups are not very good … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Houston GLBT Political Caucus 2015

Congrats to all the endorsees. A raucous municipal endorsement meeting brought mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner the coveted backing of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus on Saturday, positioning the 26-year state representative to broaden his coalition to include the city’s progressive … Continue reading

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A closer look at Controller finance reports

Last week I took a closer look at the campaign finance reports for Mayoral candidates. Let’s do the same for the Controller candidates. Candidate Raised In Kind Spent Loans On Hand ========================================================== Robinson 46,170 3,908 33,908 0 5,033 Brown 267,750 … Continue reading

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