Tag Archives: Oliver Pennington

Turner’s Council

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

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 →

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Chron analysis of how Turner won

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose it’s a bit simplistic to say “he got more votes than the other guy”, but one way or the other that’s what happened. Sylvester Turner’s 24-year quest for the mayor’s office was realized by a narrow margin Saturday … Continue reading →

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Hall for all the haters

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

He is who we thought he was. Houston mayoral candidate Ben Hall said Thursday he signed a petition seeking to define gender identity and prevent men “who perceive or express themselves as women” from entering women’s restrooms because he wants … Continue reading →

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Pennington withdraws from Mayor’s race

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Sad news. City Councilman Oliver Pennington announced he would end his candidacy for mayor on Friday, citing his wife’s health. The term-limited councilman, who represents west Houston’s District G, said in a press release he would complete his third and … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Pushback on the process

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The early endorsement by the firefighters’ union – and now the Houston Police Officers Union – of Rep. Sylvester Turner for Mayor has ruffled some feathers. The Houston Police Officers’ Union on Tuesday followed their firefighter counterparts who on Monday … Continue reading →

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Police officers’ pension fund speaks up

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The firefighters’ pension fund is the one that gets all the attention, but it’s not the only one the city is responsible for. The Houston Police Officers Pension System (HPOPS) has sent a letter to the city reminding it that … Continue reading →

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Council’s pension meeting

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It was about what you’d expect. Many City Council members who attended a special meeting Friday to discuss Mayor Annise Parker’s controversial deal with the city’s firefighters pension called the gathering a success, despite two members walking out and breaking … Continue reading →

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Revenue cap will stay in place

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Boo, hiss. Houston voters will not be given the option this fall of passing a property tax hike after a City Council committee on Thursday unanimously recommended leaving the city’s much-maligned revenue cap alone. […] The topic has received less … Continue reading →

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January campaign finance reports – Mayoral wannabes

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I wrote yesterday about the start of the 2015 campaign season in Houston, and how it’s started a bit early thanks to the ruling in the lawsuit filed by Trebor Gordon that invalidated the blackout period. This week also marked … Continue reading →

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And they’re off

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Gentlemen, start your fundraising engines. The Twitter handles have been rechristened, the first attacks have been fired and the “DONATE!” buttons have gone live. The yearlong slugfest for mayor of Houston has begun. In what is expected to be Houston’s … Continue reading →

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First HERO repeal petition hearing today

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Have I mentioned that this is a really busy month for big ticket courtroom action? Conservative opponents suing the city over its equal rights ordinance are pushing, along with several City Council members, for the upcoming case to go before … Continue reading →

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Three thoughts on the state of the Mayor’s race

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Inspired by this story, which doesn’t name any potential additions to the ever-large field of Mayoral wannabes for 2015 but which does put some things in context. Most observers consider Rep. Sylvester Turner, with his support base from the African-American … Continue reading →

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And we’re still talking about the 2015 Mayor’s race

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. The mayor’s race may be more than a year away, but nearly all candidates have launched shadow campaigns – and not all shadow campaigns are created equal. [State Rep. Sylvester] Turner and Harris County Sheriff Adrian … Continue reading →

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Do we really have to talk about the 2015 Mayoral race right now?

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

sigh All right, all right, if you insist. But let’s make it quick. The list of possible candidates thus far includes mainly those who have held or sought public office before, though analysts said the guessing game at this point … Continue reading →

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Laura Murillo

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Campos tosses a hat into the ring for Mayor 2015. Laura Murillo, CEO and President of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, is telling folks she will be running for H-Town Mayor next year. I said this yesterday: She would … Continue reading →

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HERO passes

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Finally. After nearly nine hours of chanting and tears from seas of opponents and supporters in color-coded T-shirts, Houston City Council passed an ordinance on Wednesday extending equal rights protections to gay and transgender residents. Despite weeks of discussion and … Continue reading →

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NDO vote will be next week

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The proposed non-discrimination ordinance was on Council’s agenda yesterday, but it did not come to a vote as it was tagged, which means it’ll be voted on next week. The Chron’s preview story gave some insight into what we should … Continue reading →

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Your daily Uber/Lyft update

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Tuesday Council committee hearing at which the draft ordinance was reviewed. Despite having a newly-released draft ordinance in hand, City Council members spent a Tuesday committee hearing asking many of the same questions about regulating ride-sharing services as … Continue reading →

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We have our first HFD rolling brownout

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And nothing bad happened. Three Houston firetrucks were pulled from service Friday morning, the first “brownout” in the city’s fire fleet since the Houston Fire Department’s budget struggles came to light in early February. In keeping with a plan Fire … Continue reading →

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January campaign finance reports for Houston officeholders

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

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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Endorsement watch: Pennington

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron endorses CM Oliver Pennington for a third term. For the past four years, District G has been ably represented by attorney Oliver Pennington. We recommend a vote for Pennington to continue his service at city hall. Pennington, a … Continue reading →

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July 2013 finance reports for district Council candidates

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

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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Seniors get a tax cut from Council

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Houston City Council voted to provide property tax relief to seniors Wednesday, one of many votes at a marathon meeting at which council unanimously approved a $4.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. … Continue reading →

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The Uptown plan is as much about HOV as it is BRT

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe more. Most discussion of the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone’s plan, which goes before City Council this week, has been about a proposal to annex Memorial Park into the zone and spend $100 million restoring the drought-stricken park. The … Continue reading →

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Have your say on the Uptown/Memorial Park TIRZ

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, and the office of CM Oliver Pennington: To the Residents of District G: As many of you are aware, the May 1, 2013, Council Agenda contained several items related to the Reinvestment Zone Number Sixteen (Uptown Zone), … Continue reading →

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On the city bonds

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an overview of the city bond issues. The city of Houston is asking voters on Nov. 6 for permission to borrow $410 million to shore up its parks, police stations, libraries, other government buildings and substandard housing. Propositions A, … Continue reading →

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Council adopts strip club fee

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here it comes. Seeking a solution to the bedeviling problem of untested rape evidence that is in some cases decades old, council imposed a $5-per-customer fee on strip clubs Wednesday so it can buy speedier lab work. That simple solution, … Continue reading →

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Council defers on strip club fee

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Tagged for a week. Consideration of a $5-per-head fee on customers of strip clubs to pay for reducing the city’s backlog of untested rape kits has been delayed for a week. Council members Melissa Noriega and Al Hoang both tagged … Continue reading →

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Going green to save some green

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Houston has made significant investments in energy savings. The U.S. Conference of Mayors named Mayor Annise Parker the winner of Mayors’ Climate Protection Award last year for green building initiatives that incentivize conservation and energy-efficient design features. … Continue reading →

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Feeding the homeless

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this. Mayor Annise Parker is asking the council to adopt rules that would require organizations and people who feed the homeless to register with the city, take a food safety class, prepare … Continue reading →

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30 day finance reports for City of Houston races

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The 30 day campaign finance reports for City of Houston elections were due last week, and they are now mostly up on the city’s campaign finance report website, with a large number showing up today. Already I’m seeing questionable, curious, … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: René and Pennington

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today we learned that the Chron is apparently not endorsing in uncontested elections, as they skipped over CM Mike Sullivan in District E, and we got our first endorsement of a challenger over an incumbent. After a series of controversies … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Oliver Pennington

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

CM Oliver Pennington was elected in 2009 as the Council member for District G. Pennington was a partner at the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, where he specialized in various aspects of municipal law. He’s also a graduate of … Continue reading →

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More on the red light camera ruling

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

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 … Continue reading →

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