Tag Archives: Ellen Cohen

The Mayor’s committee’s report on the HPD suspended cases scandal

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Have at it. Several “critical issues” in the Houston Police Department, including mismanagement by agency leaders and understaffing in key divisions, contributed to a scandal involving suspended investigations into criminal cases, an independent committee wrote in a report released Wednesday. … Continue reading →

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Mayor’s committee on HPD dropped cases provides its report

Posted on May 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Up to Council and HPD to take action now. The independent panel reviewing the ongoing Houston Police Department scandal over suspended cases identified an interim police chief as the one who ordered the creation of the “SL” lack of personnel … Continue reading →

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Here’s your committee to investigate the HPD dropped cases situation

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. Mayor John Whitmire on Wednesday named the five people who will run an independent investigation into the Houston Police Department’s handling of over 264,000 suspended incident reports. The committee will be led by a former state … Continue reading →

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Why endorse Sarah Davis?

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a good question. Planned Parenthood’s Texas political arm on Thursday endorsed state Rep. Sarah Davis, rebuffing abortion rights activists who had lobbied the group to deny political support for the Houston Republican. The efforts to deny Davis the endorsement … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of HD134

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Is this the year Sarah Davis loses? That’s the question. The March primaries are weeks away, but the first question at a recent forum for the three Democrats running to unseat state Rep. Sarah Davis centered on November: “How do … Continue reading →

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Open City Council seats, part 1

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are seven more Council races to examine, all open seats thanks to a couple of incumbents either stepping down (Steve Le in F) or running for something else (Dwight Boykins in D, at least for now). I’m going to … Continue reading →

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Here come the youths

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are a lot of younger candidates running for Houston City Council this year. Inspired by the recent electoral success of millennial and Generation Z-aged candidates, more young people are running for Houston city council than ever before, a trend … Continue reading →

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Sarah Davis’ balancing act

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

As it will be for many of her Republican colleagues, especially in Harris County, 2018 is a challenging year for Rep. Sarah Davis. To understand how Republican state Rep. Sarah Davis plans to survive a possible Democratic blue wave in … Continue reading →

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July 2018 finance reports: City of Houston

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

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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January 2018 finance reports: City of Houston

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

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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Looking ahead to 2019

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, yes, I know. We’ve barely begun the 2018 cycle. Who in their right mind is thinking about 2019? I plead guilty to political insanity, but the beginning of the year is always the best time to look forward, and … Continue reading →

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Council passes dumb forced tax cut

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

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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When might the Supreme Court speak on the Houston term limits lawsuit?

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

So as you know there is an ongoing lawsuit over the language used in the 2015 referendum that altered the city’s term limits ordinance. It was filed shortly after the election, with the city winning the first round in district … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2017, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Houston will get involved in the SB4 fight later this month

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Very good to hear. Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to ask City Council to vote this month on joining lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ new “sanctuary cities” law, ending months of equivocation on the controversial immigration enforcement measure. If City … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A look ahead to Houston’s 2017 elections

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

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More speed bumps coming

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Like ’em or not. Houston officials are speeding up the process of slowing down residential street traffic. A laborious process to improve traffic and safety by installing traffic calming devices such as speed humps is radically streamlined in a new … Continue reading →

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Other runoff results

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

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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Leave a new HERO to the next Mayor

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I hate having to say this. Opponents of Houston’s repealed equal rights ordinance haved placed 300,000 calls and will release a new TV ad next week warning about a possible City Council revival of the controversial non-discrimination law. All that … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

What the passage of the term limits referendum means

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a little unclear from this story. The passage of Proposition 2 also means some current officeholders will be able to serve longer than the six years they originally signed up for. Current freshman council members will now be able … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Endorsement watch: For Ellen

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron endorses CM Ellen Cohen for a third term. District council members don’t usually make national headlines, but last summer Councilwoman Ellen Cohen got her 15 minutes of fame while questioning Pastor Betty Riggle’s opposition to Houston’s equal rights … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Houston GLBT Political Caucus 2015

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

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

Remaking Allen Parkway

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’ll be different, but it makes sense. Next summer, after workers have spent months shifting lanes, adding crosswalks and planting trees, Allen Parkway will be a parkway again, at the cost of a slight slowing of vehicle traffic and the … Continue reading →

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January campaign finance reports – Council

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Mayoral reports Controller reports Four Council members are term limited this year. Two, CMs Stephen Costello and Oliver Pennington, are running for Mayor. The other two, CMs CO Bradford and Ed Gonzales, do not have any announced plans at this … Continue reading →

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Vape ’em if you’ve got ’em

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

E-cigarettes are not affected by the city of Houston’s smoking ban. For now, anyway. When city officials announced a sweeping ban on smoking in public parks last month, many in Houston’s growing ranks of electronic cigarette users worried the new … Continue reading →

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It’s past time for a garbage fee

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, this. For years, Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department Director Harry Hayes has suggested the city implement a garbage fee to expand curbside recycling and pay for other initiatives. And for years, Mayor Annise Parker has demurred. Now, with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The bricks of Freedmen’s Town

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Surely we can do something about this. Most in the Fourth Ward community know the lore – that freed slaves and descendants first laid the bricks on the streets 100 years ago. Now most agree the roads need repairs, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council adopts its budget for next year

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Might be the last easy budget for a couple of years. The Houston City Council agreed to boost funding for after-school programs, add cameras to catch illegal dumpers and give $1 million to each district council office to spend on … Continue reading →

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Falkenberg on Wilson and the NDO

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg weighs in on the “Reverend RJ Ballard” email. The e-mail is the handiwork of Houstonians for Family Values, the group affiliated with none other than Dave Wilson. You may remember him as the old white anti-gay activist who … Continue reading →

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NDO delayed two weeks

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I thought it would be over by now, but it’s not. A proposal to extend equal rights protections to gay and transgender Houston residents, which had been swiftly advancing to a City Council vote, stalled Wednesday as council members voted … Continue reading →

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Combs tells strip clubs to pay up

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs is pressing the state’s strip clubs to cough up millions of dollars she says they owe under a new “pole tax” even though the $5-a-patron fee still faces a court challenge. “Any claim that ongoing … Continue reading →

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GHP endorses proposed NDO

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Greater Houston Partnership came out in support of Mayor Annise Parker’s proposed equal rights ordinance, giving the measure a boost as it heads to a City Council committee hearing on Wednesday. Parker plans to put the … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker releases draft of non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Mayor Annise Parker today released a draft of her proposed Equal Rights Ordinance. The document is the result of more than two months of collaborative discussions with various stakeholders. “As I stated in my State of the … Continue reading →

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Counting votes on the non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Houston GLBT Political Caucus Facebook page: Members have asked for the responses on our questionnaires to the questions below. The President of the Caucus, Maverick Welsh, has asked me to post the information. As the chair of the … Continue reading →

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Yes, Council is short on women

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It is what it is. The Houston City Council will have its fewest women in 15 years this January, which political observers called a troublesome regression for one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. Just two women will … Continue reading →

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