Tag Archives: Houston City Controller

Carroll Robinson announces for City Controller

Not a surprise. City Controller Race – I Am In – Carroll Robinson Dear Friends, As we begin to prepare for another holiday season, I wanted to personally let you know that, after much deliberation and prayer, I will run … Continue reading

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Post HERO, watch for the petition drives

Here’s the full Chron story about the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. I’m going to skip ahead in the story and focus on what the haters are saying and planning to do. Opponent Dave Welch, of the Houston … Continue reading

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January campaign finance reports for Houston officeholders

One more set of finance reports to document, from city of Houston officeholders and candidates. I’m not going to link to the individual reports this time, since the city’s system automatically downloads the PDFs and I don’t feel like uploading … Continue reading

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Audit letters

There’s a thing called audit letters that I hadn’t known existed. We’ve got them for Houston, but we had not been making them public even though other cities do as a matter of course. Houston officials have blocked the release … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: At Large 1, 4, and 5

Last week, we looked at the competitive At Large Council races. Now let’s look at the three At Large races that weren’t competitive. First up is At Large #1, where CM Stephen Costello won a third term. Dist Costello Griffin … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: City Controller

Let’s move on to the Controller’s race, where incumbent Ronald Green held on to win a third term against challenger Bill Frazer. Dist Frazer Green Frazer% Green% ===================================== A 6,609 4,102 61.70% 38.30% B 1,637 10,035 14.03% 85.97% C 14,185 … Continue reading

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Election results: Houston

Mayor Annise Parker easily won re-election, collecting over 57% of the vote in Harris County to beat Ben Hall by nearly thirty points, and far exceeding the expectations of most observers going into Election Day. I personally thought she had … Continue reading

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Chron overview of Controller’s race

It’s an interesting race. On paper, City Controller Ron Green would appear to have been ripe for a bevy of challengers in November. The city’s elected financial watchdog owes tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS, was criticized for … Continue reading

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Where things stand going into early voting

A few impressions of the state of the races as we head into early voting. Mayor – The thing that I will be looking for as initial results get posted at 7 PM on November 5 is how the gaggle … Continue reading

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Chron profiles the Mayor

The Sunday Chron has an expansive profile of Mayor Parker. In a system where term limits cap elected officials at six years, City Hall veterans joke that new council members spend their first year finding the bathrooms and their sixth … Continue reading

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Interview with Bill Frazer

City Controllers have generally had it easy in re-election efforts. No sitting City Controller has had an opponent since Sylvia Garcia knocked off Lloyd Kelley in 1997. Until now, that is, as Bill Frazer filed to oppose Controller Ronald Green. … Continue reading

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Interview with City Controller Ronald Green

We move now from the Houston City Council races to the executive offices, beginning with two-term City Controller Ronald Green. Like his predecessor in the office, Mayor Annise Parker, Green served three terms as an At Large City Council member … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: A change for Controller

The Chron endorses Bill Frazer to be Houston Controller. At a time of looming pension obligations, we need someone who isn’t there to make friends, but to make sure that our house is in order. Bill Frazer is the man … Continue reading

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How city candidates have voted in past primaries

This is great to see. The Harris County Democratic Party does not endorse candidates in the non-partisan City of Houston elections; however, in an effort to keep you informed as to which candidates are Democrats and which are not, we … Continue reading

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The 2013 lineup

So many candidates. More than 60 candidates have filed to run for city of Houston elective office this fall, many of them rushing in before the 5 p.m. Monday deadline. […] Atop the ballot, [Mayor Annise] Parker is challenged by … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: GLBT Caucus and HSYD

We are entering the part of the election cycle where groups are making their endorsements. One of the first out of the box is the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, which held its endorsement meeting on Saturday night. Here’s their press … Continue reading

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July finance reports for non-candidates

Not everyone who files a finance report with the city is running for something this November. Term-limited incumbents, and former candidates who still have money in their campaign treasuries are required to file reports as well. Here’s a look a … Continue reading

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July finance reports for Controller candidates

Continuing my look at July 2013 campaign finance reports for city candidates, here’s a look at the reports for the two Contoller hopefuls, incumbent Ronald Green and challenger Bill Frazer. Candidate Raised Spent On Hand Loan ————————————————- Green 71,548 31,185 … Continue reading

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An opponent for the Controller

Big Jolly reports on a new candidate. There are two powerful elected positions in the City of Houston: Mayor and City Controller. So naturally I was curious when I heard that someone was going to challenge the incumbent Controller Ronald … Continue reading

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January finance reports for Houston offices

Previously, I gave the July campaign finance numbers for Houston elected officials who are eligible for the ballot this fall. Here now are the cash on hand figures from the January reports, with all incumbents and a few assorted extras … Continue reading

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A first look at the 2013 elections

It is 2013, right? So while we have the SD06 special election and the new legislative session to worry about, it’s not too early to start talking about the 2013 elections. Let’s start with a peek at the campaign finance … Continue reading

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Sumners for Controller?

Yeah, I don’t know about that. County tax assessor-collector Don Sumners, who lost his bid for re-election in the May GOP primary, said Wednesday he is considering running for city controller next year. “The part that has to be decided … Continue reading

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The Green blues

First there was this. City Controller Ron Green, Houston’s top elected money manager and self-described watchdog, is seeking leniency for a five-time convicted felon and contractor who masterminded an elaborate real estate and forgery scam targeting the city’s historically African-American … Continue reading

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City budget outlook

Last year was a lousy budget year for the city of Houston. This year will be better, if only because it really can’t be much worse, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. Kelly Dowe, the mayor’s finance … Continue reading

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Interview with City Controller Ronald Green

What I had originally thought would be my final interview with a City of Houston candidate is with City Controller Ronald Green. As it happens, due to some late contact with a couple of campaigns, I have some more to … Continue reading

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Your 2011 electoral lineup

There are many candidates running for office this year. Some of them have a better rationale for running than others, but thankfully for them that’s not a requirement. A flurry of late filings to run for city office Wednesday filled … Continue reading

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How many votes will it take?

Nancy Sims has a lament about the upcoming city elections. What disturbs me most is the complete lack of interest I’m seeing and hearing from my friends, co-workers, students and people I encounter daily. Everyone wants to complain about the … Continue reading

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Former CM Pam Holm to run for HD136

So says Robert Miller. Pam Holm, who represented District G on the Houston City Council from 2004 through 2009, has decided to run to replace Speaker Beverly Woolley in Texas HD 136. Ms. Holm was a prolific fundraiser the three … Continue reading

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Better times are coming (we hope)

So says City Controller Ronald Green in the Chron’s op-ed pages. Officially, the U.S. recession has ended. We have certainly rounded the corner here in Houston. And while there is a loss here of public sector jobs, the private sector … Continue reading

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More campaign finance reports for July

Following up on the earlier post, here are some more highlights from the July campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections. All reports can be found on my 2011 Election page. – Since I dinged Al Hoang for not … Continue reading

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The 2011 interview season has begun

As of this week, I will begin interviewing candidates for the 2011 elections. At the top of the site, you can see the 2011 Election page, where I will be keeping track of interviews, endorsements, campaign finance reports, and possibly … Continue reading

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About those land sales…

The current fiscal year’s budget for the City of Houston includes revenue from the sale of some city-owned property to make it balance. This article talks about this and what might happen if they don’t sell before the end of … Continue reading

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A very early look at 2011 fundraising

A couple of weeks ago I took an early look at the 2011 city elections, but there was a key ingredient missing in that analysis: Money. The fundraising season for city candidates, which has been closed since last January, will … Continue reading

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A very early look at the 2011 elections

Texas on the Potomac lists 11 national races of interest for 2011. Well, of interest to some – outside of the Dallas Mayoral race, none of these mean much to me, and that’s only if incumbent Tom Leppart leaves to … Continue reading

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