I have three things to say about this story regarding Houston's freeway bloggers.
1. How you can write such a story while never mentioning the original Freeway Blogger is beside me. (His blog site is now here.) I mean, FreewayBlogger.com was the first freaking result in a Google search for "freeway blogging". Saying that it's "a term that emerged out of California, where protesters hung signs on overpasses and then took pictures to be posted on the Web" doesn't really explain what it has to do with blogging.
2. Hanging a sign may be illegal in Houston, but that sure didn't stop Orlando Sanchez last year. I swear, every freeway overpass I drove under had a Sanchez sign hanging on it.
3. The bridges over 59 between Montrose and Shepherd really are cool.
That is all.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 18, 2007 to Other punditrySpeaking of Sahchez, yesterday in Commissioners Court, Radack - you know: the County Commissioner with Hermann Goering's sense of humor, who hates Sanchez and anyone else between Radack and "Radack's" money, quoted from some unspecified financial opinion publication something along the following lines - as best as I could tell from my vantage point:
Losing the Harris County Treasurer would put Harris County financials on par with the former Enron's style of bookkeeping.
Goe-I mean Radack - with his beady eyes, heavy-breathing style and hands under the table - then went around the room and asked various elected county officials and top administrators, including the representative from the County Auditor's office, if they agreed with this opinion.
Who could say no to Goe-I mean Radack?
IMO Sanchez won that round big time without saying a word. Goe-I mean Radack inadvertently stated, for the record, that the various lenders would look poorly on the loss of the County Treasurer function as a separate check on county spending. This would be reflected in an increase in the cost of borrowing money and a possible loss in Harris County's bond rating.
The loss of an independent County Treasurer could cost Harris County significantly more than any claimed savings heretofor dreamed up.
A cost to Harris County much greater than the cost of a loss of the Commissioner Pct. 3 position.
Posted by: Charles Hixon on April 18, 2007 4:35 PM