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January, 2015:

Saturday video break: Existential Blues

by Charles Kuffner.

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I’m sure I have a few Dr. Demento fans in my reading audience. As such, I’m sure you’re familiar with Tom “T-Bone” Stankus and his stream of consciousness masterpiece:

There are some better videos that show Stankus singing, with some bonus monologue thrown in, but they both have embedding disabled. These videos are here and here. I’ve said this before, but I’ve actually been to Butte, Montana, and I regret that I didn’t call out “Is this really Butte, Montana, or just existential blues?” as we entered the city limits. In another life, I suppose.

You would think this would be a challenging song to cover. That didn’t stop Mr. Bungle:

Yes, it’s a medley with “Pencil Neck Geek”, another Demento staple. Here’s another version with somewhat better audio. Enjoy!

Perry re-files motions to quash indictments

by Charles Kuffner.

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This corndog has done nothing wrong

Following the cues provided in a judge’s ruling this week, lawyers for Rick Perry filed a request on Friday to get an indictment against the former governor dismissed.

The new request noted “serious, well-founded concerns” that Judge Bert Richardson had in his ruling on Tuesday regarding the wording of the two charges against Perry: abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.

“Governor Perry asserts that the deficiencies set forth below constitute defects of form and substance,” says David Botsford, an attorney for Perry, in the new motion.

While Richardson has allowed the case to proceed, he noted in his ruling this week that both counts were vague. Richardson wrote that the first count failed to state how Perry misused the funds by exercising his power to veto legislation. And in the second, Richardson questioned how the coercion charge, as written, failed to account for an exception to the charge Perry is allowed based on his gubernatorial authority.

See here for the background, and here for the new motion. Judge Richardson more or less invited Perry’s legal team to make a new filing, but he also gave special prosecutor Mike McCrum the opportunity to refile the charges and clean up the issues he noted. I don’t know if there’s a specific deadline attached to that, but I’d guess sooner is better than later for an update from McCrum. Trail Blazers has more.

The last time Texas was in the minority on a marriage issue

by Charles Kuffner.

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Those who forget the lessons of history are likely to get an unfavorable SCOTUS ruling crammed down their throats.

As the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue of same-sex marriage, Texas once again finds itself on the lonely side of a court fight involving the right to marry.

Almost 50 years ago, Texas was among 16 states that still banned interracial marriage — until a unanimous Supreme Court struck down those laws for violating the Constitution’s promise of equal and fair treatment under the law.

[…]

With gay marriage legal in 36 states — 25 by court order, 11 via voters or legislators and Alabama still to be decided — the court has cover to act “because this is the way history is going,” said Sanford Levinson, a University of Texas law professor.

“But it’s not merely that. You look at the polls today, the cultural conservatives have simply lost. The younger the people are, the more they support (gay marriage), and the more obvious it is we live in a different country from the one we did only 15 years ago,” Levinson said.

The situation was a bit different in 1967, when the court ruled on the case of Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black and American Indian woman who were given one-year prison sentences — suspended if they stayed out of Virginia for 25 years — for marrying.

At the time, polls showed most Americans opposed interracial marriage, but 14 states had repealed bans in the previous 20 years — a trend that reinforced the high court’s willingness to attack racial segregation under Chief Justice Earl Warren.

The Warren court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia not only voided a Texas law that punished “any white person and negro” who married with two to five years in prison, it continues to cast a long shadow over today’s fight over gay marriage.

When U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia overturned the Texas ban on same-sex marriage last February, he quoted extensively from the Loving decision.

Same-sex couples, Garcia wrote, “seek to exercise the right to marry the partner of their choosing, just as the plaintiffs in Loving did, despite the state’s purported moral disdain for their choice of partner.”

And, just like laws banning interracial marriage, same-sex prohibitions subject gay couples to unequal and unfair treatment, he said.

Which the state totally, totally denies, because telling gay people who they can and cannot marry is completely different than telling black people (and white people!) who they can and cannot marry. It’s obvious, right? I’ve said multiple times that the state’s arguments all along have been bizarre and lame, and that continues to be true. Sometimes I wish I could fast-forward a couple of decades just to get a peek at what society will think about these stupid arguments we’re having now. On the one hand, the arc of public opinion is clear, and it’s easy to imagine that the America of, say, 2040 will have no idea what the fuss was about. On the other hand, I look at some of the issues that seemed to be settled forty and fifty years ago that are being re-fought now, and I wonder if anything is ever truly decided. But all in all, whatever our future selves this of us now, I know I’ll be happy to say what side I was on.

A first data point on the Uber/Lyft experience

by Charles Kuffner.

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I’ve been saying since the vehicles for hire saga began that we should circle back in a year or so and review how things have gone. Thanks to an academic study of users’ experiences with Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar in San Francisco, we now have a data point to suggest what we might expect here.

The study, conducted by Lisa Rayle, Susan Shaheen, Nelson Chan, Danielle Dai and Robert Cervero, surveyed 380 people intercepted in the evening in three popular San Francisco neighborhoods, where they had either just exited a car with one of these apps or used them recently. The group isn’t representative of all “ridesourcing” users in the Bay Area, as the researchers call them. But other data makes it possible to directly compare their experiences to taxi and transit use.

In one of their more striking findings, Rayle and co-authors found that 66 percent of the trips taken by people who use these app services would have been twice as long if taken by public transit instead (that’s if nearby transit was at least available). That number includes all of the time spent just waiting for the trip to begin.

[…]

An Uber car doesn’t move any faster through traffic than a taxi does. But the study also found that passengers were likely to wait significantly less for a “ridesourcing” car than a taxi. Using data from a taxi survey conducted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the researchers compared self-reported wait times for “ridesourcing” passengers and taxi riders, depending on the time of day and location in town.

During weekdays, 93 percent of “ridesourcing” passengers said they waited less than 10 minutes for a ride. For passengers ordering a Taxi, the same was true for only 35 percent of them.

[…]

When the researchers further divided this data by taxi zone across the city, they found that taxi wait times also differed significantly depending on location. Alternatives like Uber and Lyft, in other words, provided better service and service that was more consistent across time and location. Users prominently cited these advantages, along with the convenience of electronic payments, when asked why they used these apps.

It’s clear in all of this data that companies like Uber are filling an unmet need for better transportation. By doing so, they’re both complementing and competing with existing options. Many of these trips could not have been made easily by public transit, suggesting that these services supplement the transit network to some extent. Thirty-nine percent of people surveyed said they would have taken a taxi instead if these apps weren’t available. Another 8 percent, though, said they would not have made their trip at all if Uber, Lyft or Sidecar weren’t around. That means these companies are modestly expanding the market for rides, even as they steal business from taxis.

Read the whole thing, it’s worth your time. One thing this study highlights is the need for reliable and timely public transit, since a big reason why people used the TNCs in San Francisco is because they provided such faster trips, and often were the only viable alternative. This study also confirms that at least in San Francisco, cabs are losing business to the newcomers. They’re starting to fight back, which will warm the heart of anyone who believed that cab companies needed the competition. This is one study in one city, so it may not be representative of what’s happening elsewhere. I do hope someone does something like this in Houston.

From industrial to residential

by Charles Kuffner.

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More changes coming to my neck of the woods.

Some of the old warehouses lining a stretch of Sawyer Street across Interstate 10 from the Heights are being primed for new development, as this First Ward area continues to morph from industrial hub to an upscale artsy neighborhood.

Houston-based Lovett Commercial is transforming a 1950s warehouse at Sawyer and Edwards into Sawyer Yards, which will have about 40,000 square feet of space for restaurants, retail or offices.

The company is looking to fill another 5-acre parcel at 2000 Taylor just south of I-10 at Spring Street. The property is across from the Sawyer Heights Target.

H-E-B quashed rumors that it was considering opening a store there, though the grocery chain has been looking around.

“That’s not a piece of land we’re looking at,” said spokeswoman Cyndy Garza-Roberts. “We’ve had an interest of moving into the Heights area for several years now. We just have not been able to identify a location.”

Jon Deal, who has developed artist studios in the area, is planning another project at the old Riviana rice facility at Sawyer and Summer.

The project is called the Silos on Sawyer, and it will include artist studios, creative workspaces and some retail.

The main building contains more than 50,000 square feet.

Deal said he, Steve Gibson and Frank Liu of Lovett Commercial own – separately or in partnerships – at least 35 contiguous acres in the area.

They hope to master-plan the acreage.

“Ideally we’re going to be a campus-type creative community,” Deal said. “It’ll look and feel like a master-planned development in the end, although it’ll keep its raw edge.”

The area is part of a cultural district recognized by the state, Deal said. The program is not currently being funded, he said, but when it is, it will allow artists to seek grant money.

There’s an awful lot of activity going on in this general area, which stretches from Studemont to Houston Avenue between I-10 and Washington Avenue. I consider it a positive for the most part – the existing industrial area didn’t exactly add much to the quality of life in the larger area, and a lot of it is not actively used now anyway – but there are concerns. Mostly, traffic on the north-south streets – Studemont, Sawyer, and Houston – is already a problem, and there are limited options to ameliorate it. Sawyer, for example, is a narrow one-lane-each-way street south of the Target retail center, and as you can see from the embedded image or this Google Map link, there aren’t any other options thanks to the active freight train tracks, which by the way regularly block traffic on Sawyer and Heights. (This is part of the corridor that would be used for some variation of commuter/high speed/light rail, if and when it ever happens.) There is at least the off-road Heights bike trail along Spring Street that connects the area to the Heights (passing under I-10) and downtown (passing under I-45), and there is a sidewalk along Sawyer; it definitely needs an upgrade, and there’s a lot of potential to make it much nicer when the properties west of Sawyer get sold for development, but at least it’s there. The potential exists to turn this part of town into a compelling modern urban residential/mixed-use area. In the absence of any unified vision for the myriad developers to draw inspiration, I hope at least no one does anything to permanently derail such a thing.

Friday random ten – Dance Party!

by Charles Kuffner.

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I mentioned Scalzi’s 80s dance party playlist a couple of Fridays ago, and also mentioned that it had some oversights on it. Well, no party lasts forever, so you have to cut it off somewhere. Be that as it may, what songs would I have included that Scalzi didn’t? Here are ten additions from my collection:

1. What I Like About You – The Romantics
2. Modern Love – David Bowie
3. Sussudio – Phil Collins
4. Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and The Waves
5. Walk This Way – Run/DMC
6. Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen
7. Would I Lie To You? – Eurythmics
8. Heart And Soul – T’Pau
9. 99 Red Balloons – Nena
10. One Night In Bangkok – Murray Head

What songs would be must-haves on your 80s dance music playlist?

The games our tax system plays

by Charles Kuffner.

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I find this just fascinating.

It’s been described as bribery, taxation without representation and a shady political maneuver. Others have called it an innovative way to deal with budgetary problems and get things done.

Ever since Texas lawmakers made it more difficult for cities to absorb suburbs into their boundaries 15 years ago, Houston has been quietly cutting deals with municipal utility districts to levy a 1 percent sales tax on purchases in neighboring communities.

The agreements for “limited purpose annexations” now generate tens of millions for Houston and for the utility districts, which split the revenue. But some question the appropriateness of the deals.

Houston seems to play off suburban fears of annexation to demand taxes in exchange for promises to leave them alone, said Paul Lewis, a professor of local politics and urban development at Arizona State University.

“It’s a kind of bribery,” he added.

Some local officials wonder whether the agreements lead to wasteful spending that lacks transparency. The revenue is not subject to the voter-approved revenue cap that has forced the city to lower its property tax rate and slash budgets. Critics also note that Houston provides no services to most of these suburban areas, whose residents can’t vote in city elections.

“It’s unconstitutional,” Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said. “I thought we fought a war back in the 1700s on ‘taxation without representation.’ ”

Utility district leaders defend the agreements, noting that they take half the money collected and receive a contractual promise they will not be fully annexed for 30 years.

City officials agree that the agreements are fair. Census figures show that nearly two-thirds of those who work in Houston live outside of the city limits. City officials note that suburban residents attend plays in the Theater District, watch free concerts at Memorial Hermann Park and put wear and tear on city property.

“It is the primary tool we have to deal with the growth that goes on outside the city and the burden put on infrastructure by suburban citizens without our property tax,” Houston Finance Director Kelly Dowe said.

You can read the story and decide its morality and/or constitutionality for yourself. Personally, as a resident of Houston, I have no problems with it. What occurs to me in reading this is that it’s a natural outcome of our overall system of taxation in Texas, which is heavily dependent on sales and property taxes, and also on legal ways to minimize one’s sales and property taxes. There’s one way we could avoid all the problems associated with a tax system designed around political boundaries, and that’s to switch to one that is primarily dependent on income taxes instead. Of course, there are plenty of ways to game an income tax system, too, so it would most likely substitute one set of shenanigans for another. But at least it would be something different for us to argue about.

HD13 runoff date set

by Charles Kuffner.

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We are now all set on special election runoffs.

Sen. Lois Kolkhorst

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday scheduled a Feb. 17 runoff in the special election for Lois Kolkhorst’s old seat in the Texas House.

Austin County Judge Carolyn Bilski and Caldwell attorney Leighton Schubert — both Republicans — were the top two finishers in the Jan. 13 special election to replace Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican. Last year, she won a promotion to the upper chamber, vacating her seat in House District 13, which includes parts of seven counties west of the Houston area.

Early voting in the HD13 runoff has been set for Feb. 9-13.

See here for the first round result in HD13. This means that all four runoffs are now scheduled for the same date, which makes the most sense. I presume the delay in adding this runoff to the calendar was because it hadn’t been canvassed yet. I approve of the quick turnaround, and I hope the special election that will be needed to succeed either Trey Martinez-Fischer or Jose Menendez in San Antonio gets the same consideration. On that note, the Express News’ Gilbert Garcia identifies MALDEF attorney Marisa Bono as a likely candidate in HD116 if TMF is the runoff winner. I can’t see the story, so I can’t tell you more than that (Ms. Bono is on Twitter, if you’re interested), but I’m sure we’ll start to hear about who might be interested in either of those seats soon enough. If we do get the kind of short turnaround I’m hoping for, they’ll need to hit the ground running.

Appeals court reverses ruling about pension retiree information

by Charles Kuffner.

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So much for that.

Mayor Annise Parker

A state district court’s 2013 ruling that Houston’s fire pension board must turn over detailed information on its retirees to help city officials better project future pension bills has been overturned on appeal.

Justices with the 1st Court of Appeals issued the opinion Tuesday, arguing that, in essence, state law protects the city’s ability to request information on its pensioners but not at the breadth and depth the city originally sought when it sued the pension fund in May 2012. At the time Mayor Annise Parker argued she needed better data to project future pension costs.

Todd Clark, chairman of the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund, cheered the ruling, and said the city has all the information it needs on retired firefighters.

“The city took a run at trying to convert the plain meaning of a statute providing for an independent audit into a license to rummage through a decade of pension members’ personal information,” Clark said. “Both taxpayer and pension resources were wasted by the city’s lawsuit.”

City Attorney Donna Edmundson said she and her staff still are reviewing the ruling and weighing the city’s options, which could include appealing the ruling or narrowing the city’s request for information.

Houston originally sought individual data on each retiree from 2000 forward, and later amended its request to target group data from that period. Edmundson said the ruling suggests state law may protect the city’s access to retiree information if it requests only group data dating back to only 2011.

“I think basically, on our part, we just need to go back in and refine our request a bit, just tweak it,” Edmundson said. “Obviously we’re reaching out to the firefighters trying to come to agreement on numerous issues. We’re just going to sit back on this for the time being since we do have other litigation pending, as well.”

Assistant City Attorney Judith Ramsey added that it was important for the city to pursue the case because state law requires Houston to audit its pension funds every five years, “and we felt that we needed the level of detail we originally asked for in order to do the kind of audit we were required to do.”

See here and here for the background, and here for the court’s opinion. Narrowing the request is probably the shorter path to some kind of resolution, though I suppose the firefighters could still appeal if the First Court of Appeals accepted a revised petition. I’m just guessing – if anyone knows better what the possible paths are, please leave a comment. Barring some kind of settlement agreement, which I would not bet on, I presume this will not be resolved by the end of the year, meaning that the next Mayor will inherit this. I wonder what legal strategy the various candidates would prefer to see Mayor Parker pursue. A statement from the HFRRF is beneath the fold.

Paxton evades prosecution

by Charles Kuffner.

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In Travis County, anyway.

Ken Paxton

New Attorney General Ken Paxton, who in 2014 was found to have violated the Texas Securities Act, will not be prosecuted by the state’s office that investigates public corruption, officials said Thursday.

Paxton, a former state senator from McKinney, violated the Securities Act by soliciting investment clients without being registered, as required by law, according to a disciplinary order last year from the State Securities Board. Under the order, Paxton was “reprimanded” and fined $1,000. But Thursday’s announcement signals that the case may be closed.

“Our investigation did not find any additional criminal activity over which our office has venue, so we are concluding Travis County’s involvement in this matter,” said Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, whose office includes the state’s public integrity unit.

[…]

Lehmberg’s office said it had forwarded a portion of its investigation to prosecutors in Collin and Dallas counties, which could investigate the securities board’s findings further.

See here for the background. In addition to possible action in Collin and/or Dallas Counties, there’s also still the SEC complaint, the state bar grievance, and the lawsuit to get his records from the State Securities Board out there. Paxton may have dodged one bullet, but he shouldn’t feel lucky just yet. Trail Blazers and the Statesman have more.

A bill to outlaw cities

by Charles Kuffner.

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That would appear to be the effect of this.

Sen. Don Huffines

Sen. Don Huffines, a Republican from Dallas, has filed a bill that would prohibit cities from enforcing LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances.

Huffines’ Senate Bill 343, introduced Friday, is a sweeping proposal that would bar local governments from implementing ordinances that are more stringent than state law on the same subject, unless otherwise authorized by statute.

Since Texas law doesn’t prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, cities couldn’t do so, either.

[…]

Although in line with some of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent statements, Huffines’ proposal seems extraordinarily broad and would block cities from implementing an array of local laws.

You can say that again. Here’s SB343, and here’s the relevant bit from the text:

Sec. 1.006. CONFORMITY WITH STATE LAW. (a) Where the state has passed a general statute or rule regulating a subject, a local government shall restrict its jurisdiction and the passage of its ordinances, rules, and regulations to and in conformity with the state statute or rule on the same subject, unless the local government is otherwise expressly authorized by statute.
(b) Unless expressly authorized by state statute, a local government shall not implement an ordinance, rule, or regulation that conflicts with or is more stringent than a state statute or rule regardless of when the state statute or rule takes effect.

I’m not a lawyer, but even I can recognize that “stringent” isn’t exactly a well-defined legal term. As noted by Jay Aiyer on Kris Banks’ Facebook page, this would effectively end all local control by cities and would contradict the Home rule provisions that already exist in state law, thus making cities more or less like counties. The entire Eagle Ford Shale formation isn’t big enough for this can of worms. You have to hate gay people really hard to come up with something as demented as this. I doubt this will get any traction, but it does put Huffines in the running for worst bill of the session (Cecil Bell remains in the pole position for that) and clearly establishes his bona fides for the Texas Monthly Ten Worst list later on. Kudos to you for that, Don.

Front and center with the fraud allegations

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

The city goes on offense as it defends the equal rights ordinance at the repeal petition trial.

In his opening argument in court Tuesday, Alex Kaplan, an attorney for the city, said the petition is “full of problems.”

“It is precisely these kinds of cases where there are high public passions where the rules must be followed,” Kaplan said.

Andy Taylor, attorney for the plaintiffs, said any claims of fraud are untrue and the city’s argument is “laughable.” He said “well-intentioned voters from time to time didn’t follow all the rules” but there was no fraud.

“They’re talking about ticky-tacky deficiencies like we’re missing a comma or our signatures are hard to read,” Taylor said. “Give me a break. Did our forefathers die in battle so that commas could prevent their children from voting?”

[…]

University of Houston law professor Richard Alderman said it is common in such cases for signatures to be challenged and thrown out, and the case ultimately will be a numbers game of how many valid signatures remain. Still, Alderman said, substantiated fraud claims could influence jurors’ perception of the case.

“If the city were to allege five or six problems and the jury believed one or two, then when they’re on the fence they’re more likely to believe one of the others,” Alderman said.

City attorneys focused heavily on claims of fraud in a lengthy motion, filed this month, asking state District Judge Robert Schaffer to rule on important pieces of the case before it even began. Schaffer largely declined to do so, allowing jury selection to begin Monday and opening arguments to be given Tuesday.

Still, the filing cited depositions of people who gathered signatures in arguing the effort was tainted by “fraud, perjury, and other dishonest acts.”

According to the city, some of those involved in the petition drive admitted signature gatherers had an incentive not to follow the city charter because they were paid by the signature, regardless of validity. Others involved said residents signed for people other than themselves.

See here for the background. The depositions, detailed in the story, were first publicized by HouEquality, and I encourage you to click those two links and see the evidence for yourself. I tend to agree with Professor Alderman that the more credible allegations that the petition gatherers were egregiously sloppy, if not outright fraudulent, that the city can make, especially given the video evidence that they knew exactly what the rules were, the less sympathy a jury is going to give them. I’m very interested in seeing how they explain some of this stuff. And speaking of the jury:

On Monday, lawyers for HERO opponents said they wanted to be allowed to ask — directly — whether any potential jurors were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. They argued that this was important information because they wanted to be sure jurors aren’t biased. In other words, they wanted to force potential jurors who might be closeted either to out themselves as LGBT or perjure themselves. Moreover, the folks who argue that LGBT people don’t face discrimination wanted to discriminate by keeping LGBT people off the jury.

The judge said no.

It’s increasingly hard to believe that that these guys can win – or that they think they can win – unless they have the playing field tilted in their favor. KUHF, Towleroad, Project Q, the Christian Examiner, and Media Matters have more.

The Senate’s opening budget

by Charles Kuffner.

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Could be worse, I guess.

Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson presented a $205.1 billion two-year base budget Tuesday morning, vowing to provide property tax cuts that Texans “actually feel” while keeping the state’s economy humming along.

The Senate budget is $3 billion larger than the $202.4 billion House budget that Speaker Joe Straus released nearly two weeks ago. However, the Senate budget includes $4 billion allocated for tax cuts. Straus opted to leave tax cuts out of the House’s opening proposal to allow members to formulate their own ideas on how to cut taxes.

At a Tuesday news conference, Nelson said that the Senate budget plan includes $3 billion set aside for “meaningful” property tax relief that homeowners would notice, as well as $1 billion for business franchise tax cuts. She and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the mechanisms by which they intend to cut property and margins taxes were still being worked out and could end up higher than the $4 billion currently proposed.

“We are taking in substantial revenue, and we have an obligation to return a large share of those dollars to the people who have worked hard and earned that in the first place,” Nelson said.

One could argue, as Rick Casey deftly does (via), that there’s a greater obligation to provide for the state’s many unmet needs. One could also argue that we just had an election to settle that argument, and we know which side won. Be that as it may, I guaran-damn-tee you that the people – and corporations – that will benefit the most from whatever tax cuts Patrick and Nelson have in mind will be those that need them the least. And yes, tax cuts we will get – for some value of “we”, anyway – oil prices be damned. I’m sure there will be plenty of “waste” to cut in the 2017 budget when we need to pay the piper. If we need a suggestion for where to look first on that score:

The Senate budget would add $815 million for border security, more than the previous seven years combined, according to Nelson’s office. The House budget allocates $396.8 million for border security, which House officials described as enough to maintain the increased presence of DPS officers that were sent to the border in June as part of a high-profile border surge.

I can’t even imagine what that will mean in practical terms. But I’m sure that whatever it is, it will be declared a success in two years’ time. PDiddie and Trail Blazers have more.

Texas blog roundup for the week of January 26

by Charles Kuffner.

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Well more than two thirds of the Texas Progressive Alliance thinks this legislative session is off to an inauspicious start as we bring you this week’s roundup.

January campaign finance reports – HCC Trustees

by Charles Kuffner.

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There are nine trustees on the HCC board. With them serving six-year terms, in a normal year three trustees are up for re-election; 2013 was an abnormal year, with two extra races to fill out unexpired terms. We are back to normal this time, so we have three races. As with HISD, at this time all incumbents that are up are currently expected to run for re-election, and no opponents have emerged at this early date. Here are the incumbents in question.

Adriana Tamez, District III

Dr. Tamez won one of those two special elections from 2013, to fill out the term of Mary Ann Perez, who stepped down after winning in HD144 in 2012. The candidate she defeated in the runoff was one of two supported by Dave Wilson, so that was extra sweet. (Speaking of Wilson, he nominated himself for Board President at the start of this year, but had to withdraw after no one seconded him. Then, to add insult to injury, Zeph Capo, who defeated Wilson’s buddy Yolanda Navarro Flores in 2013, was elected Board President. Sucks to be you, Dave.) Tamez was elected Board Secretary for this year.

Sandie Mullins, District VI

Sandie Mullins, formerly Meyers, is serving her first term on the Board. She was elected in 2009 without facing an opponent to fill the seat formerly held by now-State Rep. Jim Murphy. (Mills Worsham was named to replace Murphy in 2007 after his initial election in HD133, then Worsham ran for Council in 2009 instead of a full term on HCC.) Like Murphy and her ex-husband, HISD Trustee Greg Meyers, Mullins is a Republican, one of two on the board along with you-know-who. She is herself an alumna of HCC, and serves or has served on a number of other boards.

Eva Loredo, District VIII

Under normal circumstances, Eva Loredo would not be on the HCC Board. She didn’t file for the race in 2009, against incumbent Abel Davila. No one did, and on filing deadline day Davila was expected to run unopposed for re-election. Except that he decided at the last minute not to run, and instead his brother-in-law Art Aguilar filed. That led to a medium-sized crap storm, which led to Aguilar’s withdrawal. Loredo had by then submitted paperwork to be a write-in candidate, with some assistance from the late Sen. Mario Gallegos, and with no other candidate on the ballot, she won. She would be on the ballot this time.

As for finance reports, you may recall that as recently as 2011 it was damn near impossible to lay one’s hands on HCC Trustee finance reports. I claim a small measure of the credit for changing that situation. Be that as it may, the fact that these reports are now available online at this link doesn’t mean that they’re available in a timely fashion. Despite the fact that the city, the county, the school board, and the state all had theirs up within a day or so of the January 15 deadline, HCC still had nothing more recent than last July’s as of yesterday. So those are the totals I will include, pending them getting off their butts and updating this information.


Name           Raised    Spent      Loans    On Hand
====================================================
Tamez           7,150   15,392      7,000        610
Mullins             0    1,878          0     18,400
Loredo              0      492          0      2,004

Oliver          8,225    6,060          0      2,165

So there you have it. I’ve included the totals for Chris Oliver as well, since he is now running for Council. I’ll update all this in July, and ought to have my Election 2015 page up by then as well.

Perry still under indictment

by Charles Kuffner.

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This corndog has done nothing wrong

A judge on Tuesday rejected former Gov. Rick Perry’s attempt to throw out a two-count indictment against him, saying it’s too early in the case to challenge the constitutionality of the charges.

Perry’s attorneys immediately filed notice that they will appeal the 21-page ruling, which was issued Tuesday afternoon by Bert Richardson, a Republican; the appeals process could take months. The appeal will be considered by the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals. All five justices elected to that court are Republican; a sixth justice, who has not yet run in a partisan race, was appointed by Perry before he left office.

[…]

Attorneys for the former governor have been trying to get the two-count felony indictment thrown out. Perry’s attorneys have argued that the indictments — one count of abusing official capacity and one count of illegally coercing a public servant — violate both the Texas and U.S. constitutions.

“Texas law clearly precludes a trial court from making a pretrial determination regarding the constitutionality of a state penal or criminal procedural statute as that statutes applies to a particular defendant,” Richardson wrote.

However, the judge agreed with Perry’s attorneys that the second count of the indictment – coercion of a public servant – did not “sufficiently” explain why Perry’s actions were not protected because he was acting in his official capacity as governor.

Rather than dismissing this count, the judge said state law allows prosecutors to amend that count, and he granted them permission to do so.

You can read Judge Richardson’s order here. It gets technical in places, but it’s worth your time to read it; it will make enough sense even if you don’t possess a law degree. Judge Richardson has clearly not foreclosed Perry’s claims about constitutionality, but unless the appeals courts grant him his wish – which my reading of the order suggests would be unusual – those would be questions to ponder after the trial concludes. Needless to say, Perry doesn’t want to wait that long; as this companion Trib story reminds us, that could take years to play out. My guess at this point is that we’re headed towards a trial. I welcome any feedback from the lawyers out there. The Statesman has more, and a statement from TPJ is beneath the fold.

From the “Good problems to have” department

by Charles Kuffner.

4 comments

Metro will have a few million dollars left over when it is done building the remaining light rail lines.

After more than three years of construction, Metro officials estimate $39.9 million of the $900 million awarded by the Federal Transit Administration is left over and unlikely to be spent as work wraps up. Contingencies for cost overruns often are built into financial estimates for large transportation projects, notably rail. Metro’s costs have stayed largely in line with estimates of $1.58 billion for the two lines.

None of the federal money applies to the Green Line, which was locally funded. Both the Green Line to the East End and the Purple Line to the southeast are scheduled to open in April.

[…]

Most of the leftover money, $24.9 million, is dedicated to the northern segment of the Red Line light rail route, which opened in December 2013. Another $14.5 million is available along the Purple Line, between downtown and the Palm Center Transit Center south of MacGregor Park in southeast Houston.

If the money from the October 2011 agreement isn’t spent, it would go back to federal coffers.

The money can be used only for those two lines, and only for projects related to developing the rail routes, though that does give Metro officials leeway.

Officials on Thursday outlined for a Metro committee some projects they are considering, though more talks are likely as the list is winnowed.

Two of the most significant projects are at the ends of the rail lines, near Northline Commons along the Red Line and at Palm Center Transit Center where the Purple Line terminates.

Metro has a bus transit center near the Red Line terminus, a few steps from the tracks on land owned by Houston Community College. Officials said tying the bus center and rail line together with an elevated walkway would improve conditions for riders.

Metro’s lease for the bus center land expires in 2021, and the agency is working with HCC on a long-term plan for the area incorporating the campus and the transit connection.

Lambert said a rail-bus terminal at the location would be years in the making but would be more affordable if included in the long-term, federally backed rail development.

Additional parking spaces at Palm Center Transit Center would serve a similar purpose, giving more potential riders a way to park at a rail station.

Board members Thursday said it was vital the money be used in ways that benefit riders and residents near the rail lines.

“I think we should be looking at projects that increase ridership,” Christof Spieler said, noting rail use can often be affected by how people arrive at the station. “I absolutely want to look at bus stops.”

Board member Dwight Jefferson said more stations closer to where people live could be beneficial.

“You have the station at Elgin and you do not have another station until a mile down on the other side of the freeway,” Jefferson said. “You have a whole huge stretch of neighborhood that is totally not served on the rail line.”

Remember how the I-10 widening was originally supposed to cost $1 billion, then wound up costing about $2.7 billion? I love having another excuse to bring that up. As far as this goes, I’m with Spieler – projects that would help boost ridership should take priority. That leaves a lot of possibilities, and I hope Metro takes the time to brainstorm and get public input for more suggestions. This is a great opportunity, so let’s make the most of it.

HISD considers a different kind of redistricting

by Charles Kuffner.

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It would likely be just as contentious as the usual kind.

Houston school officials may rezone students from roughly two dozen elementary schools over the next few years in an effort to meet the state’s class size limits.

District officials presented a proposal to the school board Thursday morning. It would be the largest redrawing of attendance boundaries in years.

HISD trustee Harvin Moore acknowledged that he expects concerns from parents.

“It’s hard to find a popular change in boundaries,” Moore said.

The Houston Independent School District required 1,499 waivers from the Texas Education Agency this year to exceed the state’s 22-student class size cap. The district’s goal is to cut the number of waivers by 50 percent next school year.

The full Chron story is here, and you can see the current school boundary maps here. There’s a list of potentially affected schools at the first link above. This sort of thing is never easily done or lightly undertaken, but the goal of reducing the number of class size waivers is a good one, and will hopefully make everyone want to get this done. The Board will vote on this in March, so contact your board member if you have any questions or concerns.

The situation in Plano is complicated

by Charles Kuffner.

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I had not realized this.

The nation’s largest LGBT political advocacy group indicated this week it is unlikely to help defend a nondiscrimination ordinance in Plano due to exemptions affecting the transgender community.

The announcement from the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign could amount to a costly setback for supporters of the ordinance, as the organization recently poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a similar fight in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

[…]

Cathryn Oakley, HRC’s legislative counsel for state and municipal advocacy, told the Observer on Thursday that the organization hasn’t made a final decision about its role if the ordinance appears on the ballot. However, Oakley also made clear that HRC would be reluctant to join the fight due to exemptions including one that appears to bar people from using public restrooms according to their gender identity—a provision which she called “transphobic.”

“The language in Plano is very problematic and in terms of investing a lot of resources in an ordinance that has a lot of problems, it’s difficult to see why that’s necessarily the best use of resources,” Oakley said. “If we had been consulted in the drafting of this bill, we would have withdrawn our support, and given that, it’s hard to justify defending it as valid.”

[…]

Nell Gaither, president of Dallas-based Trans Pride Initiative, has posted blistering attacks on social media saying exemptions in the ordinance amount to bigotry and accusing other LGBT groups of signing off on them.

“This is not a Plano issue. This is a Texas issue, and more,” Gaither wrote recently. “If they get away with the lie that this is an LGBT equality policy it will set a dangerous precedent that will be very difficult to overcome for many, many years.”

I confess, I totally missed this aspect of the Plano equal rights ordinance. My fault for not paying sufficiently close attention to the details and for not having more trans resources in my regular reading list. The Dallas Voice covered Gaither’s criticisms:

Nell Gaither isn’t having it with Plano’s equal rights ordinance.

If anything, the Dallas transgender activist and Trans Pride Initiative president says she thinks the nondiscrimination ordinance, passed by the Plano City Council in December, is not just flawed but actually harmful.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21 TPI released a position statement denouncing the ordinance. And the organization did not hold back: “[We are] publishing this statement to express our conviction that the Plano Code of Ordinances Section 2-11, as modified by the so-called ‘Equal Rights Ordinance,’ is detrimental to the trans community and other marginalized persons who may experience discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Among the seven types of exemptions in the ordinance are nonprofit (except for city contractors), religious and educational organizations. Gaither also believes the ordinance contradicts the announcement by outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder last year that Title VII of the 1964 Federal Civil Rights Act protects gender identity and sexual orientation.

Exempting organizations from the ordinance means any complaint filed under Title VII could be disregarded, Gaither said.

“It’s a green light to discriminate with no recourse,” she added.

[…]

Gaither says Plano and its elected officials don’t bear all the blame.

“Plano shut out the trans community because they didn’t understand the issues or the tactics of the conservative religious groups,” Gaither said. “GALA [ Gay and Lesbian Alliance of North Texas ] has no interest in the trans community so didn’t do the right thing in their communications by insisting that the ordinance actually be an equal rights ordinance. [So] we have a lose/lose situation that is incredibly problematic for the broad community.”

Gaither also chided Equality Texas for accepting an ordinance that doesn’t adequately protect anyone in the LGBT community, especially trans people.

So here we have another object lesson in the need for diversity, and the vital importance of ensuring adequate representation of all stakeholders when undertaking a project like this. I encourage you to read the Trans Pride Initiative’s position paper on the Plano ERO and the specific points of concern it has with it. Their belief is that repealing the ordinance now would lead to a better outcome later. I’m sure some people will disagree with that. I don’t know how I feel about that as a strategic move. But I get where Gaither is coming from, and she totally has a point. Discrimination is still discrimination, and if this law fails to fully address it, indeed if it makes some forms of discrimination easier to get away with, then the bad of this law outweighs the good.

You may recall that this was a similar point of contention in the process that led to Houston’s equal rights ordinance. In the end, it was resolved favorably. It’s truly unfortunate that this didn’t happen in Plano, especially if it was a calculated move.

Although adamant they didn’t sign off on the exemptions, both Equality Texas and GALA North Texas indicated they plan to defend the ordinance if it appears on the ballot.

“While the ordinance is not perfect, it is a fact that it includes protections from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations for LGBT residents and veterans in Plano that did not previously exist,” Equality Texas Executive Director Chuck Smith said in a statement to the Observer. “While criticisms expressed by leaders in the transgender community are valid, it is imperative that we work together to ensure that this ordinance is not repealed in the short term and is improved in the long term.”

Jeanne Rubin, a spokeswoman for GALA North Texas, called HRC’s likely decision to sit out the ballot fight disappointing.

“In politics, as much of a bummer as it is, everything is incremental, and I know that’s sort of a dirty word for our community,” said Rubin, who’s also an Equality Texas board member. “If this ordinance goes down, not only will Plano not touch this issue with a 10-foot pole, but no other suburban city out here will, and that doesn’t do L, G, B or T any good.”

Rubin and others said they believe the exemptions were included because officials hoped to head off attacks seen in other cities over transgender protections in public accommodations.

But if that’s the case, the strategy hasn’t worked. Despite the exemptions, opponents have repeatedly and publicly asserted that the ordinance would allow men to enter women’s restrooms and prey on children.

In other words, the same lies and bullshit being spread by the same kind of people who call themselves “Christians” as what we’re seeing here. I don’t know how some of these people can look at themselves in a mirror. The real tragedy here is that if we had passed ordinances like the HERO years ago, we wouldn’t be having these problems now. This Trib story, which provides an overview of the ongoing fights in Houston and Plano, provides this tidbit at the end:

In 2000, Fort Worth became the first major Texas city to update its nondiscrimination ordinance to include protections for sexual identity. Then-Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr said he couldn’t remember facing the kind of opposition council members in Houston and Plano have faced.

“Frankly, I don’t remember any specifics of the debate about it,” Barr said this week. “That speaks to the fact that we passed it without a whole lot of fanfare.”

And to how our politics and our discourse have gotten so debased. Let that be a lesson to us all. Unfair Park has more.

It’s going to be a long trial

by Charles Kuffner.

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Settle in and get comfortable, the HERO repeal petition trial is going to take some time.

Ultimately, though, the trial is expected to be tedious and technical. So much so, that even after the city lost a significant motion two weeks ago to send the trial before a judge rather than a jury, Parker focused her concern on the jurors.

“What I do feel sorry for is the jurors who are going to have to go through page by page, signature by signature over a matter of weeks,” Parker said. “A trial that could have taken a week or two is probably going to take a couple of months to get through, and that’s a lot to ask for the jurors, but we will do whatever we need to do to defend the position.”

[…]

“The reason why you don’t typically get a jury trial in election-related cases is it’s a time issue,” election law attorney Doug Ray said. “They need to either get on the ballot or decide the results.”

The case likely will unfold slowly as attorneys on both sides have the luxury of time – with the deadline for placing the repeal referendum on the November ballot about six months away.

Judge Robert Schaffer already has indicated that not only will jurors need to review petition pages, but he will as well.

The trial officially started last week, with some administrative details being handled. Jury selection is the first order of business. Among the things the jury will get to hear are allegations of fraud and forgery in the petition process. This is going to be a long and tedious trial, but it won’t be a boring trial.

Chris Oliver joins the At Large #1 crowd

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

From the inbox:

Chris Oliver

Houston Community College Trustee Chris Oliver has announced his candidacy for the open Houston City Council, At-Large Position 1 seat to be filled this November. Chris brings years of experience as a businessman, legislative advocate, and Houston Community College Trustee for District IX to his campaign for Houston City Council.

“It’s exciting,” said Oliver. “I’ve spent a significant portion of my professional career working for the people of Houston helping to empower them through the catalyst of education. I look forward to serving them further as their At-Large City Council Member for Position 1.”

As Houston Community College Trustee for District IX Chris has sought to deliver every student a quality, affordable education. Chris’ long list of accomplishments as Trustee includes overseeing several HCC expansion initiatives, including the opening of Willie Lee Gay Hall on U.S. 288 and Airport. This milestone for the city represents the first time an academic institution of higher learning has reached this corner of the community.

“Education is crucial to the current and future success of all of Houston’s diverse communities,” explained Oliver. “I’ll look to add my perspective to Houston City Council by not just concentrating on community education, but also by focusing on the city’s fiscal future, its infrastructural issues, and the safety of all of our communities.”

Chris was elected to the Houston Community College Board of Trustees in 1995 and served as Board Chairman from 1999 to 2007. His diverse professional career spans serving in the United States Congress as legislative aid, the U.S. Department of Labor overseeing contractor compliance, and owning his own business – Tekoa Property Management Group, Inc., a construction final cleaning company. He will look to leverage these experiences in his role as City Council Member At-Large for Position 1.

“I am looking forward to talking with Houstonians about myself, my candidacy, and my vision for our city,” said Oliver. “I believe that my diverse background as a public servant, small business owner, and as a legislative professional has not only prepared me to lead – it has equipped me with the skills to do so on day one.”

You can see the email here, and you can listen to the interview I did with Oliver for his 2011 re-election here. There’s now at least five candidates in this race, and as I have observed about the Mayor’s race, there likely isn’t the room for all of them to run viable campaigns. At some point, it’s going to make sense for someone to shift to another race, whether the open At Large #4 race, for which there is currently one candidate, or a challenge to an incumbent. We are still very early in the cycle, so there is plenty of time for things to happen.

918K and counting

by Charles Kuffner.

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Obamacare enrollment numbers in Texas keep going up.

It’s constitutional – deal with it

More than 7 million people, including 918,890 Texans, have selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled in coverage in the federal health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, according to government data released Wednesday.

[…]

But the figures released Wednesday aren’t separated between new enrollments and renewals. The figures indicate more Texans have bought 2015 coverage than they did on 2014. We just don’t know how many. We also don’t know how many previously were uninsured.

“You’d have to know that to assess the impact on the uninsured rate,” said Elena Marks, President and CEO of Houston’s Episcopal Health Foundation, in a recent email. She also is a non-resident fellow of health policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute. Marks and Vivian Ho, the Baker Institute’s health economics chair, began studying the effects the health insurance marketplace could have on Texas’ uninsured rates long before the marketplace’s October 2013 launch.

Texas has the largest percentage of uninsured residents nationwide. About 6 million Texans are uninsured.

“If there were about 6 million uninsured (statewide) before, if even half of these are newly insured, that would be a big dent in the number,” she said. “Perhaps, most importantly, it reverses a decade of flat or declining rates of insurance in this state.”

Karen Love, senior vice president of Community Health Choice, the Houston area’s largest managed care organization and a marketplace health insurance provider, said Wednesday the updated numbers show new consumers bought coverage. With a month of open enrollment left, more will continue to do so, she said.

“We will easily top the 1 million mark,” Love said, adding that most people who needed to maintain continuous coverage into 2015 probably renewed by Dec. 15. That was the deadline to ensure coverage on Jan. 1. “Anyone enrolled in January and February is bound to be new.”

I felt pretty good about topping one million at the last update. At this point, who knows what the limit is. At a national level, ten million is not out of the question. I can’t wait to see the full final numbers.

January campaign finance reports – HISD trustees

by Charles Kuffner.

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Four HISD Trustees are up for re-election this year. There are nine Trustees in all, and they serve four-year terms, so in a normal year either four or five are up for re-election. As things stand right now, all four incumbents would be running for re-election, which would be the first time there would be no open seat since at least 2001; Harris County Clerk election records only include HISD results as far back as that. Here’s a brief look at those incumbents, along with their January finance reports and a summary of their campaign balances.

Rhonda Skillern-Jones, District 2

Skillern-Jones is serving her first term as HISD Trustee. She was the only candidate in 2011 to succeed Carol Mims Galloway. After serving as Board Secretary last year, she was elected to be Board President this year. Prior to the redrawing of Trustee district boundaries last year, hers was one of two districts to absorb schools and students from the former North Forest ISD. She officially announced her intent to run for another term a few weeks ago via email and Facebook. As far as I know, she was the first Trustee to make such an announcement, and is the only one whose plans are known so far.

Manuel Rodriguez, District 3

As noted, there are four Trustees that would be on the ballot this year if they all do run. Of the four, I’d gladly vote for three of them if I lived in their district. The fourth is Manuel Rodriguez, who disgraced himself in 2011 by sending an anti-gay mailer as an attack against his opponent, Ramiro Fonseca. (Fact I did not realize until I scanned through old election results in researching this post: Fonseca also opposed Rodriguez in 2003, when the seat was last open. He finished third in the field of four.) Rodriguez eventually offered a lame apology for his actions, which caused the Houston Chronicle to retract their endorsement of him, after winning an excruciatingly close vote. There was a bit of a hubbub initially, then everyone moved on to other things. I hope everyone remembers this, and that the voters hold Manuel Rodriguez responsible for his despicable behavior if he does choose to run this year.

Paula Harris, District 4

Paula Harris is serving her second term on the HISD board, having won an open seat race in 2007. A prominent supporter of HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, she served as Board President in 2011, during some of the more turbulent times of the Grier era. She was also the focal point of some conflict of interest allegations at that time, which eventually led to a revamp of the Board’s ethics policies. Despite that, she won re-election in 2011 easily over token opposition, and has had a much quieter second term. Harris is an engineer who has published a children’s book encouraging kids to explore engineering, and has been a booster of STEM education on the board.

Juliet Stipeche, District 8

Juliet Stipeche, who served as Board president last year, is finishing her first full term in office. She won a special election in 2010 to fill a seat left vacant by the resignation of then-Trustee Diana Davila. She was one of the driving forces behind that ethics policy revamp, which occurred in 2012, before the last bond referendum. She has also been one of the more active critics of Superintendent Grier, though as noted things have been quieter on that front of late. Her district also contains some former North Forest ISD territory. In my opinion, she’s one of the Board’s best members.

So that’s my brief overview of the incumbents who are up for re-election. As noted, so far there are no open seats. I am also not aware of any declared opponents as yet. Here are the January finance reports for these four:

Skillern-Jones
Rodriguez
Harris
Stipeche


Name           Raised    Spent      Loans    On Hand
====================================================
Skillern-Jones 18,215   12,119          0      9,345
Rodriguez           0        0          0        340
Harris              0    1,500     12,000          0
Stipeche        5,500    7,162          0     15,618

The HISD Board does not have a Council-like blackout period, so incumbents and candidates were able to raise money during 2014. Rhonda Skillern-Jones was the busiest of the four, but I wouldn’t read too much into any of this. We’re very early in the cycle, and the one thing I feel confident saying is that we don’t know what kind of Trustee races we’re going to get yet.

School finance case timeline announced

by Charles Kuffner.

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Mark “later this year” on your calendars.

The Texas Supreme Court will hear the state’s appeal of last year’s far-reaching school finance decision later this year under a timetable laid out by the high court on Friday. Justices gave the state 80 days to file their briefs in the case and the plaintiff school districts will have 80 days after that. Both sides will then have 40 days to submit replies to the briefs.

Under the timetable, all documents related to the appeal won’t be received for more than six months, meaning that a hearing before the high court probably won’t occur any earlier than the fall. It also probably indicates that a decision on the state’s appeal will not come until 2016. Many lawmakers have predicted that if the school finance decision by state District Judge John Dietz is upheld, the Legislature won’t respond any earlier than a special session in 2016.

So there you have it. The one thing that could shorten this would be a settlement agreement. Suffice it to say, that ain’t happening.

Don’t look for a meet-and-confer bill in the Lege this year

by Charles Kuffner.

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Buried in this story about the city and the county preparing to play defense during the legislative session is this update on the state of relations between the city and the firefighters.

Mayor Annise Parker

In her first two sessions, Houston Mayor Annise Parker failed to gain traction with legislation that would grant the city meet-and-confer powers that give City Hall the legal authority to negotiate changes to the city’s fire pension system. And now that the city and fire pension board are engaged in what appears to be some introductory conversation, the topic already appears to be a non-starter in Austin.

In fact, the city may not even aggressively pursue a remedy in the Legislature unless local talks show signs of dissolving. That resonates with Harris lawmakers who have a clear message for City Hall: Solve this yourself.

“We’re not going to do anything or move anything that doesn’t have an agreement,” said Rep. Garnet Coleman, a senior Democrat who echoed half-a-dozen other area legislators that a meet-and-confer bill opposed by firefighters would languish. “That’s a dead bill no matter what.”

That does not mean that concerns over the city’s unfunded liabilities are fading. Supporters of pension reform characterized the current discussions between the city as healthy and are expressing hope that they could yield a solution the Legislature would never produce.

“This issue is fraught with political risk for elected officials,” said Bob Harvey, CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, which supports pension reform. “They’re more than willing to give this back to the city if they see any signs at all that the city is willing to take it on.”

I had no idea that the city and the pension board were talking. I always thought one of the sticking points from the city’s perspective is that the pension board didn’t have to talk to them. They got to make their own determination about things like cost of living adjustments, which was one of the things the city had been trying to get a say in, legislatively or otherwise. I’m not sure what led to this conversation, but it’s an encouraging sign. If nothing else, if they can come to an agreement, I’ll never have to listed to Mayoral candidates or newspaper editorial boards talk about pension reform again. I’d be happy to send some pizzas to the negotiations room if that will help facilitate such an outcome.

The Farenthold files

by Charles Kuffner.

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The Farenthold lawsuit continues to have promise as the underrated scandal of the year.

Rep. Blake Farenthold

In his first interview since the suit was filed in December, [Rep. Blake] Farenthold said he was shocked by the allegations made by Lauren Greene, the former staffer.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I didn’t imagine us having any problems in the office. And the things she alleges are just so far out in left field. I’m just stunned.”

Farenthold suggested that the suit could be reprisal for Greene’s termination.

“Somebody gets fired, you never can tell how they’re going to take it,” he said.

Congressional lawyers, who are handling the case, have asked him not to discuss the grounds for Greene’s dismissal. Farenthold will say only that he “had good reason.”

[…]

Greene’s suit focuses mainly on her alleged mistreatment at the hands of Farenthold’s top staffer, Bob Haueter, with whom she apparently had a difficult relationship. There are no allegations that Farenthold touched or tried to hit on Greene – on the contrary, she said he tried to avoid her, a situation that she found “awkward.”

Instead, in her lawsuit she recounts feeling “awkward” after another staffer, executive assistant Emily Wilkes, allegedly told her that Farenthold had confided in Wilkes and Haueter about his attraction to Greene.

Greene also alleges that the congressman regularly made comments about her appearance or made other remarks that she thought were designed to gauge whether she was interested in a sexual relationship. She also claims that staffers who accompanied Farenthold to Capitol Hill functions joked that they had to be on “redhead patrol” to keep him out of trouble.

Friends and associates say a certain off-the-cuff personality can easily be misinterpreted.

“Sometimes you can make a comment that you think is totally innocent, and it gets misconstrued,” said Mike Pusley, a Republican leader and Nueces County Commissioner. “From the times I’ve been around Blake in mixed company, I’ve never seen anything to indicate that he has any issues in that regard. When I read about those allegations, I just went, ‘Eh, man, I have a very hard time believing that.’ ”

See here for the background. All due respect, but if you want to check on the credibility of Ms. Greene’s allegations, you might do better to talk to someone who isn’t a) a dude; and b) a political ally of Farenthold’s. I mean, as a general matter we dudes aren’t always the most reliable sources for how women may interpret some of the things we say. Hell, entire industries are built on that fact. Might have been a better idea to ask a few women who regularly deal with Rep. Farenthold, off the record as needed, what they think of his demeanor. It wouldn’t anything definitive, but it might at least provide a little perspective. I’m just saying. And may I just add that I encourage Rep. Farenthold to speak as freely as he likes about this ongoing litigation. Forget what the lawyers say, Blake! They’re all just a bunch of killjoys. Speak your mind and let the chips fall where they may!

Weekend link dump for January 25

by Charles Kuffner.

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“If Westerners can overcome their disgust of crickets—or any bug—as food, the environmental benefits could be significant.”

“That’s why the new plan from House Democrats is so encouraging. It seems they are finally beginning to internalize the fact that American workers have been left behind for over a generation, and proposing the kind of brute-force transfer policies that could actually make a difference.”

Neanderthals: Smarter than you thought they were.

The decline of ATMs is another sign of our transition to a cashless society.

On the effectiveness of flu shots.

2001: The Soderbergh Cut

How crime in America has changed over the last decade, in one map.

The origin and history of the Trix Rabbit.

President Obama’s long game on climate policy.

The religious right is obsessed with Beyoncé, for reasons they themselves can’t quite explain.

“Whoever has two pair of leggings must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”

The case for expansion in Major League Baseball.

A look at some of the most common forms of credit card fraud.

RIP, Tony Verna, inventor of TV instant replay.

RIP, Reies Lopez Tijerina, Chicano movement leader.

The success of American Sniper may cause real life complications for the trial of Chris Kyle’s accused killer.

Rick Riordan on Newberry awards and books kids actually like to read.

An online anti-harassment task force, led by someone who knows what it’s like to be the focus of an online harassment effort.

There sure are a lot of people accusing the Pope of not being Catholic enough for them. Maybe being a cafeteria Catholic isn’t such a terrible thing after all.

“The president has spent the first six years of his presidency waiting for the moment he could take that credit, knowing it was coming. On Tuesday night, it came. Even with five separate responses to the president’s address, there was nothing Republicans could say to fight the growing sense that Obama’s policies are working and that the GOP has been wrong for the past six years.”

“So, let’s take sick leave’s detractors at their word: If it really comes down to a choice between paid sick time and higher wages, Americans overwhelmingly choose the sick time. So why not give them that choice?”

In case you were wondering, five hundred pounds of pennies is worth about eight hundred bucks.

“It’s a simple enough story: star-crossed lovers go on multistate crime spree! We’re rooting for ya, white kids!”

Good news, everyone: At long last, Rick Springfield has prevailed in the buttocks assault lawsuit.

Mike Huckabee = Sarah Palin 2.0

The physics of Deflategate.

As someone who grew up watching Yankee games on WPIX (Channel 11), this makes me very happy. Now if they promise to bring back the theme song, I’d consider moving back to New York.

Anti-vaxxers are the worst. That is all.

RIP, Ernie Banks, Hall of Fame shortstop for the Chicago Cubs and all-around good guy.

First three runoff dates are set

by Charles Kuffner.

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Greg Abbott completes a bit of business left to him by Rick Perry.

Diego Bernal

Gov. Greg Abbott has scheduled runoffs from the Jan. 6 special elections for Feb. 17, according to his office.

The decision officially sets head-to-head match-ups in state Senate District 26, state House District 17 and state House District 123. Early voting in the runoffs will be held from Feb. 9-13.

In SD 26, two Democrats — Trey Martinez Fischer and Jose Menendez — are facing off for the seat being vacated by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. In HD 17, Republicans John Cyrier and Brent Golemon are vying to replace Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington. And in HD 123, Democrat Diego Bernal is up against Republican Nunzio Previtera for the seat formerly held by Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.

As you may recall from the January 6 election, TMF, Bernal, and Cyrier all led in their races, each collecting at least 43% and leading by a minimum of 18 points. No lead is ever insurmountable in a runoff, but I’d have to make them all strong favorites. Cyrier and Bernal are endorsed by the Texas Parent PAC, while Bernal and TMF have the backing of the San Antonio Central Labor Council and Texas AFL-CIO COPE. Bernal’s opponent in particular is a nut, so I especially look forward to him winning.

This means that the runoff for the HD13 special election will be scheduled separately, presumably a week later. Seems to me it would have made more sense to put all four of them together, but I guess that election hadn’t been canvassed yet. I’ll keep my eyes open for that announcement. The Rivard Report has more.

By the way, Dave Wilson also hates transgender people

by Charles Kuffner.

3 comments

I mean, no surprise, right? What’s more, he puts his money where his mouth is.

Dave Wilson

Now, anti-LGBT activist Dave Wilson is circulating another petition that would place a charter amendment on the ballot to repeal trans protections in both HERO and Mayor Annise Parker’s 2012 executive order covering city employees.

Wilson, of Houstonians For Family Values, led efforts to pass a charter amendment prohibiting domestic partner benefits in 2001. He also made headlines in 2013 when he deceived voters into thinking he was black to get elected to the Houston Community College board.

Houston resident Sheri Taylor Bockelman, the mother of trans activist Nikki Araguz, said she received the petition in the mail along with a letter from Wilson on Saturday. (View images of the mailing below.)

“Enclosed please find our petition to prohibit men from using the women’s restroom and women from using the men’s restroom,” Wilson’s letter states. “Yes, you read the first sentence correctly.”

The letter goes on to state that both HERO and the executive order prohibiting discrimination against trans city employees “allow men to use the women’s restroom if they perceive or express themselves as women.”

See here for some background. Unless I’m confused, the executive order in question was in 2010, not 2012. There’s an image of Wilson’s latest mailer at the link above. Note that it is dated January 9, which means that it’s a separate expense from the one recorded in the January 15 finance report of his PAC. We won’t know till July how much he dropped on this one. If his address database includes people like Nikki Araguz’s mom, it’s highly likely that most of what he’s spending will be wasted. Which is fine by me – I hope he keeps it up till he bankrupts himself. TransGriot has more.

Not really related to this but worth including: We don’t really know much about the state of the transgender community in America, but what we do know tells us that these people face a lot of obstacles. I for one favor doing what we can to remove those obstacles. I definitely do not favor adding more of them. Finally, if you haven’t already done so, go read Nancy Sims’ account of how she came to understand and love her transgender child.

Reusing wastewater

by Charles Kuffner.

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Get used to it.

Reclaimed wastewater soon will irrigate the trim lawns and wooded parks of some Houston suburbs. Instead of being dumped into the bayous, some of it might even undergo more extensive treatment in order to flow from kitchen taps.

Economics is starting to trump the yuck factor of reusing water flushed down toilets and drained from sinks.

“It’s becoming more real than theoretical,” said Mark Latham, who oversees Houston’s two “reuse” agreements with golf courses and the growing number of queries to contract for city wastewater.

As suburban water providers aim to meet state benchmarks for reducing reliance on groundwater, they have cringed at undertaking costly expansions to draw more water from Lake Houston via the city system. With the 2011 drought still fresh in the minds of many, treating wastewater for landscaping has advanced beyond mere discussion in many Houston suburbs. Unlike other water sources, the availability of wastewater grows with the population.

“We’ve had clients look at reuse for a long time,” said David Oliver, a public law attorney who works with several utility districts. “As the price of water has gone up, people are realizing the economics of the projects that may have been unreasonable 10 or 20 years ago now are feasible from a cost standpoint.”

[…]

Most water in the Houston area is pumped from underground aquifers or piped in from Lake Houston to treatment plants before flowing out of home faucets and sprinkler systems. After toilets are flushed, wastewater is sent to plants where it is minimally treated before being dumped into bayous along with rainwater, much of which eventually flows into Galveston Bay. Similarly, most of the water pumped from Lake Houston is treated wastewater that flowed downstream from Dallas and other cities.

Although reclaiming wastewater – also called recycling or reusing – remains rare in Texas, it has become more popular in recent years as drought-stricken towns have tried to meet local water needs. Wichita Falls was the second in the state to construct a costly treatment plant that takes wastewater “from toilet to tap.” Defying doubters, the city’s utility manager drank a full, clear glass while giving reporters a tour. San Antonio pioneered indirect reuse of wastewater decades ago, treating it for a variety of nonconsumptive uses.

I’ve discussed this before, and I think there’s a lot of merit to this approach. Certainly, it makes no sense to use clean, drinkable water on watering lawns and other similar uses. The main argument against wastewater reuse seems to be that it provides disincentives to conserve water. Be that as it may, this is a cheaper and surely more sustainable option than building a lot more water infrastructure for our region’s (and our state’s) growing population.

Robinson Warehouse, eight years after

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

From the Free Press Houston Worst of 2014:

What once was there

WORST WASTE OF SPACE: CORNER OF ALLEN PARKWAY AND MONTROSE

In 2006, The Aga Khan Foundation purchased the massive swath of land at the Southeast corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose. This sprawling piece of property is centrally located, is adjacent to some of Houston’s most beautiful natural landscapes, and could serve so many important purposes.

For nearly 10 years, there have been rumors that this property would be developed into one of the largest mosques in Texas, and I am excited for the controversy that will most definitely ensue once that begins to happen. But that said, having such a huge property with huge potential stay dormant and fenced off in the interim is a missed opportunity.

If I had my way, folks would be allowed to play soccer there, a massive urban garden could be temporarily installed, and the space could serve as a rad destination along the Art Car parade route.

It was just before Thanksgiving in 2006 when I first noticed the demolition equipment out in front of this old, abandoned warehouse at the aforementioned corner. It had been a sad bit of urban decay for as long as I’d been aware of it, and as I obsessively documented over the ensuing two months, it vanished, leaving behind a large green field and the promise of something that would eventually be built. For awhile, the space – which goes all the way from Allen Parkway to West Dallas – was open, and was used a few times as parking for the Art Car Parade. Now it has that ugly hurricane fence around it – presumably, for liability insurance purposes – and Lord only knows what its future might hold. I’ve never heard a peep about its status in all this time.

Personally, I like author Omar Afra’s vision for the space, but there are plenty of other possibilities as well. Just about anything would be better than the unusable nothing that is there now. I wish there were something the city could do to entice the current owners to either do something with it or sell it to someone else that will.

Saturday video break: Exactly Like You

by Charles Kuffner.

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Nobody does western swing these days like the Hot Club of Cowtown:

I’ve been a fan of theirs for awhile, though I haven’t seen them in Houston recently. For a clear demonstration of their instrumental chops, see this blazing rendition of “Digga Digga Do”, check out their other videos, and visit their webpage. Come play at the Mucky Duck again, y’all.

For an example of how a more traditional jazz trio tackles this song, here’s Ray Brown:

Piano, upright bass, and drums – it doesn’t get any more old school than that. If you can listen to that song without moving at least one part of your body in rhythm, you might want to schedule a visit with your doctor.

Bell makes his announcement tomorrow

by Charles Kuffner.

8 comments

Making official what we had long known.

Chris Bell

Former Democratic congressman Chris Bell will announce his mayoral bid this Sunday afternoon in Sam Houston Park, becoming the first candidate in a crowded field to officially kick off a run to lead City Hall.

[…]

In recent weeks, Bell has hired finance and policy staff, and he has been working with Bill Hyers, who mostly recently advised Bill de Blasio’s come-from-behind campaign for mayor in New York, to plot his campaign moves.

Bell’s most aggressive step toward a mayoral run has been his lawsuit against the city charging that Rep. Sylvester Turner should not be allowed to transfer much of his $1 million in his officeholder account to Turner’s mayoral run. That suit, heard in state district court earlier this month, will likely move to federal court.

Bell will host his first fundraiser on Feb. 12.

Here’s the event information, on his newly-created campaign page. As previously noted, Bell starts from scratch in the fundraising department, so I expect him to hit that hard in the coming weeks. Being unable to raise a sufficient amount of funds to run a viable campaign and get one’s message out is going to be the grim reaper for some number of Mayoral candidates this year. With the now-expected entry of Adrian Garcia into the race, everyone’s task there just got harder. I am very interested to hear what all candidates will have to say about policy and issues, because in times of non-crisis, one’s campaign says a lot about who that candidate really is. PDiddie has more, including a fairly in depth look at who Bell will have on his campaign team.

Minding Houston

by Charles Kuffner.

1 comment

Want to know about mental health issues and how they are being addressed by the Legislature? Tune in to Minding Houston, the legislatively-focused blog of Mental Health America of Greater Houston. From their About page:

Mental Health America of Greater Houston is pleased to offer the blog, “Minding Houston,” which covers legislation and issues associated with the current Texas Legislative Session.

Mental Health America of Greater Houston’s mission is to enhance the mental health of all Houstonians and improve the lives of those with mental illnesses. We accomplish this through collaborative education, outreach and advocacy.

Mental Health America of Greater Houston, founded in 1954 by Miss Ima Hogg, has a long history of service to the community. We are an affiliate of the state organization Mental Health America of Texas and the national organization Mental Health America. We have been a United Way agency since 1958.

For more information, visit our website www.mhahouston.org.

Their most recent post is an overview of budget issues for mental health in Texas and Harris County. Check ’em out.