Tag Archives: Mike Knox

Census outreach

I am puzzled why this is controversial. A divided city council on Wednesday approved a $650,000 contract aimed at boosting the number of Houston residents who participate in the 2020 census, a measure that generated partisan debate in which some … 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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Council approves Mayor’s budget

The annual ritual is observed. Houston City Council adopted Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $4.9 billion budget by a vote of 13-4 Wednesday, ending three hours of otherwise amiable debate with an impassioned speech from Councilman Jack Christie that concluded with the … Continue reading

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January 2018 finance reports: City of Houston

We didn’t have any city of Houston elections in 2017, and while we ought to have some charter amendments on the ballot in 2018 we won’t be voting for people till next year. Still, everyone has to file campaign finance … 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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Mayor introduces new recycling deal

There’s some stuff to like in this, and there are also questions to be answered. The city would send all 65,000 tons of bottles, cans and boxes its citizens recycle each year to a new processing facility to be built … Continue reading

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Do we really have to have a pension bond vote?

So as we know, the Houston pension reform bill that passed contains a provision that requires a vote on the pension obligation bonds that Mayor Turner intends to float as a down payment. Pension obligation bonds have been floated in … Continue reading

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Bike plan vote delayed

What’s another two weeks? Houston’s long-term plan for improving bicycle routes around town will wait a couple more weeks after a handful of elected officials voiced various concerns. City Council members Greg Travis, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le, Mike Knox and … Continue reading

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A look ahead to Houston’s 2017 elections

I want to return to something in that story about Mayor Turner’s 2017 agenda, which was near the bottom but which is a very big deal for the coming year: A lawsuit over the ballot language used last year to … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2017 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Council ratifies Turner’s pension plan

From the inbox: On a 16-1 vote, Houston City Council has endorsed Mayor Sylvester Turner’s historic package of pension reforms. The vote clears the way for the City to move forward in partnership with the pension systems to seek legislative … Continue reading

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Turner’s Council

So what kind of City Council will Mayor-elect Sylvester Turner have to work with? In addition to Turner replacing term-limited Mayor Annise Parker, the council also will gain five new faces, four thanks to term limits and one who defeated … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Precinct analysis: At Large #1 runoff

Let’s move on to the At Large races. Here’s how the vote went in At Large #1: Dist Knox Provost ===================== A 8,758 4,042 B 2,518 13,058 C 14,925 12,240 D 3,692 16,877 E 16,406 4,735 F 4,040 2,871 G … 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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Overview of the open Council seat runoffs

Kind of late in the cycle given the number of lesser known candidates in these races, and not nearly complete, but here it is anyway. In addition to the first open mayor’s race in six years, Houstonians can expect to … 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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Runoff endorsement watch: New business

As I mentioned before, there are a couple of runoffs in which the Chron did not endorse a candidate who is still in the running. Those races are At Large #1, #4, and #5; I had forgotten about #4 when … 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

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Precinct analysis: At Large #1

This week I’m going to look at the five At Large Council races, beginning with At Large #1. Before I get into the district breakdown, here’s a number to consider: In Harris County, there were 76,675 undervotes in this race. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

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

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chron race overview: At Large #1

Here’s the Chron overview of the race to succeed term limited Council Member (now Mayoral candidate) Steve Costello in At Large #1. M. “Griff” Griffin A perennial candidate in Houston politics, Griffin is running for the council for the 11th … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Off to a good start, predictions-wise

First Chron endorsement of the season, and it’s one I called. When government is broken, who do you hire to fix it? For the Harris County Housing Authority, the answer was Tom McCasland. Plenty of candidates can tout their ideas … Continue reading

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Your official slate of candidates

Yesterday was the filing deadline. Here’s the official list of candidates, modulo any challenges or subsequently invalidated applications. The highlights: – There are thirteen candidates for Mayor. The City Secretary might consider starting the ballot order draw now, this may … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

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

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

More reaction to the HPD no-investigations report

I’m not the only one that wasn’t impressed by Chief McClelland’s response. [Burglary victim Heather] Heinke’s experience is not unusual in the nation’s fourth-largest city. A recent HPD staffing study says that 15,000 burglaries and thefts, 3,000 hit-and-run crashes and … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Our first twofer

The Chron has two endorsements today, one that was easy and one that was likely more challenging. First, the easy one. In four years as an at-large city councilman, Stephen Costello has gradually become a “go to” guy on two … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chron overview of District A

It must be getting close to the start of Election Season, because the first of the Chronicle’s local race overviews has been published. Since winning a seat on the Houston City Council two years ago, Helena Brown has become known … Continue reading

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Interview with Mike Knox

There are four candidates seeking to oust first term CM Helena Brown in District A. The first one I spoke to is Mike Knox. Knox is a former HPD officer who helped create HPD’s first divisional gang unit. He later … Continue reading

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July 2013 finance reports for district Council candidates

We move now to the remaining Council races, which are the district races. Here are the July finance reports for candidates in District Council races. Please note that all reports now appear on my newly-published Election 2013 page. Refer to … Continue reading

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Midyear 2013 election update

Back in January, I took an early look at the 2013 elections in Houston. At the request of the folks at the Burnt Orange Report, who also printed my initial overview, here’s an update on the races in the city … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments