Tag Archives: Tiffany Thomas

Council sends Whitmire’s anti-protest ordinance to committee

Good, but until he backs down it’s not good enough. Houston City Council tabled Mayor John Whitmire’s proposal to ban targeted protests near residential homes after fierce opposition from pro-Palestine groups, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and others … Continue reading

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July 2024 campaign finance reports – City of Houston

PREVIOUSLY: Senate and Congress State offices Harris County offices No preambles here. This used to be a dead time in the city electoral cycle, as no one was allowed to fundraise until the January of the election year. That’s long … Continue reading

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Leave the protesters alone

I don’t agree with this. Mayor John Whitmire is proposing a ban on the targeted picketing of any residential dwelling in Houston after months of pro-Palestininian protests in front of his own house. Protesting in front of public officials’ homes … Continue reading

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Mayor Whitmire wants to get rid of ShotSpotter

Fine by me. Mayor John Whitmire revealed plans to scrap the city’s $3.5 million ShotSpotter program, positioning Houston as the latest city government to abandon the controversial gunshot detection technology after a brief experiment. “I think it is a gimmick,” … Continue reading

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City Council versus HISD

I doubt they can do anything, but I’m happy to watch them try. One year after the state takeover of Houston Independent School District, some City Council members are urging Mayor John Whitmire to take a more proactive approach in … Continue reading

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What could it have cost for the firefighters?

City Controller Chris Hollins throws out some numbers and kicks up a fuss. Houston Controller Chris Hollins faced fierce criticism from firefighters union president Marty Lancton, after estimating that equalizing past pay for Houston firefighters with their peers in other … Continue reading

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Parking meter extension proposal sent to Prop A committee

We sure do live in a different world now. City Council voted on Wednesday to send a proposal extending parking meter enforcement times to committee following a clash between council members who introduced the agenda item and those who expressed … Continue reading

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Extending parking meter hours downtown

I’m okay with this. Houston City Council will vote to extend the time residents will have to pay city parking meters on Wednesday. The current ordinance requires drivers who park in metered spots to pay between 7 a.m. and 6 … Continue reading

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We’ll see what City Council makes of the firefighter pay agreement

There’s a bit of pushback happening. Mayor John Whitmire’s administration and officials from the Houston firefighters union are hoping to get final approval in May or June on a massive settlement deal to end their nearly decade-long contract stalemate. The … Continue reading

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January 2024 campaign finance reports – City of Houston

PREVIOUSLY: State offices Harris County offices Senate Congress I did a lot of posting before now on the city finance reports, so it’s probably best to summarize: 8 Day reports for Mayoral candidates 30 Day reports – that post was … Continue reading

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July 2023 campaign finance reports: City of Houston, part 3

Previously: Congress SD15 City of Houston, part 1 Harris County City of Houston, part 2 January finance reports for city of Houston candidates are here. This post will look at the various district candidates. I’ll do the Controller’s race and … Continue reading

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January 2023 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

It’s late January, so you know what that means: It’s campaign finance report time again. The reports of the greatest interest will be for the city of Houston, but I’ll be checking in on HISD, HCC, and Harris County as … Continue reading

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July 2022 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

We’re still more than a year out from the 2023 election, but we are now up to three serious conteners for Mayor, plus two others in the wild, so the finance reports are beginning to generate some real interest. The … Continue reading

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January 2022 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

January finance reports are always worth a look, if only as a ritual to start the new year. We’re a year out from election season truly beginning for Houston, but as we now have two brand name contenders for Mayor … Continue reading

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The charter referendum will be in 2023

So be it. The organizations and residents who petitioned the city to give City Council members more power will have to wait until 2023 to vote on the measure, after the council declined to put it on this year’s ballot. … Continue reading

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July 2021 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

PREVIOUSLY: Congress, Harris County As we know, this is not an election year for city of Houston offices. That usually makes for a pretty dull summary of finance reports, since it’s just incumbents and about half of them are term-limited … Continue reading

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City’s budget passes

There was a little bit of drama, but nothing too big. Houston’s City Council voted Wednesday to approve a $5.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year that relies heavily on a massive infusion of federal aid to close a … Continue reading

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Please shut up, CM Travis

And delete your Facebook account while you’re at it. The mayor, city activists and some of District G Councilmember Greg Travis’ colleagues are denouncing offensive comments he made online about former first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and … Continue reading

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Five things we could do now for police reform in Houston

Seems like a good list to me. Five city council members on Monday sent a letter to Mayor Sylvester Turner outlining police reforms they said Houston can implement immediately, including a “complete overhaul” of the Independent Police Oversight Board, a … Continue reading

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Rental assistance

We’re going to need a lot more like this. Houston on Wednesday added another $20 million to its rent relief program, aimed at helping thousands of tenants catch up on late rent payments. City council voted unanimously to add the … Continue reading

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Budget amendments and a fight over police reform

That’s your City Council agenda for today. City council members have authored more than four dozen amendments to Mayor Sylvester Turner’s proposed budget to trim spending, create new sources of revenue and expand police accountability measures. Council members will take … Continue reading

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Time for a task force

A good step, but it needs to be followed by real action. Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to appoint a task force to review Houston Police Department policies amid growing calls for reform following local and nationwide protests over the death … Continue reading

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Mayor Turner and others test negative for COVID-19

They were tested following the news about CM Plummer’s infection. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and two of his top aides have tested negative for COVID-19, the mayor’s office announced Thursday. Turner was tested for the novel coronavirus Tuesday by Kelsey-Seybold, … Continue reading

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January 2020 campaign finance reports: City of Houston

We’re done with the 2019 Houston election cycle, but there are still things we can learn from the January 2020 campaign finance reports that city of Houston candidates and officeholders have to file. Other finance report posts: My two-part look … Continue reading

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Council results

With one race still up in the air as I draft this: With early voting tallies and most of Saturday’s Election Day results posted, Houston’s three incumbent at-large council members facing runoffs had won, while District H incumbent Karla Cisneros … Continue reading

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8 Day runoff 2019 campaign finance reports

We start with a Chron story. Mayor Sylvester Turner raked in more than $1.7 million from late October through early December and spent roughly the same amount, leaving him with almost $600,000 for the final days of the runoff, according … Continue reading

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Chron overview of the District F runoff

Here’s one with a very clear choice. District F residents have two distinct choices in the City Council runoff election — stay the course with an aide to the incumbent councilman or choose a fresh start with a former Alief … Continue reading

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About those Council runoffs

All of a sudden there’s many fewer candidates to keep track of. Some candidates said they were happy simply to have made it to a runoff. Several races had more than a dozen people vying for the top two vote … Continue reading

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Initial thoughts on Election 2019

All bullet points, all the time… – Here’s my opening statement on the election returns debacle. We have more information about this now, but we still need more before we can go anywhere else with it. – All incumbents want … Continue reading

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Final results are in

Here they are. Refer to my previous post for the initial recap, I’m going to be very minimalist. Let’s do this PowerPoint-style, it’s already been a long day: Mayor – Turner fell short of 50%, landing up a bit below … Continue reading

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2019 election results: Houston and Metro

Unfortunately, we have to start with this: Results of Tuesday’s election could take until 2 a.m. Wednesday after the Texas Secretary of State issued a new regulation that upended plans by the Harris County Clerk’s Office to speed vote counting. … Continue reading

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30 day campaign finance reports: Open City Council seats, part 2

Finishing up with City Council candidates. Part One, for the other open seats, is here. July reports for F, J, and At Large #5 are here, and for At Large #4 are here. All of the finance reports that I … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: E and F

The Chron endorses incumbent CM Dave Martin in District E. It’s easy to find out the biggest problem in Houston City Council District E. Ask any of its residents and most likely they will tell you a flooding story. Water … Continue reading

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Interview with Tiffany Thomas

We move now to District F, a district that will have its fourth Council member since 2013 with the departure of controversial first-term member Steve Le. Six people are lined up to compete for this open seat, many of whom … Continue reading

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