Category Archives: Local politics

Council considers hoarding ordinance

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I hadn’t realized Houston didn’t already have an ordinance to deal with hoarding. Apparently, we are not at all unique in this regard. A proposed ordinance would begin to expand the city’s options for resolving hoarding situations even when the … Continue reading →

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Counting votes on the non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

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

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Pasadena lurches towards redistricting

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting ugly. A Pasadena councilwoman was forcibly ejected by armed officers and the mayor was accused of packing a gun during recent meetings on a controversial redistricting plan. Councilwoman Pat Van Houte was removed from a meeting Tuesday on … Continue reading →

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Enforcing non-discrimination

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

In her annual State of the City address, Mayor Parker put a long-awaited item on the table. Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday said she would create a human rights commission to review violations of anti-discrimination laws, saying just talking about … Continue reading →

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Fearing the fire reform

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Rumblings of coming reforms in Houston Fire Department’s operations have union leaders and the department’s command staff wary, despite Mayor Annise Parker’s insistence that these concerns are unwarranted. HFD’s staffing shortage has driven up overtime … Continue reading →

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Last minute health insurance enrollment help

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will open four of its multi-service centers on Sunday and extend their business hours next Monday to help people sign up for a health insurance plan by the Affordable … Continue reading →

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We have our first HFD rolling brownout

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

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

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Game room injunction lifted

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The temporary reprieve that Harris County ganerooms got from the courts has been lifted. Houston and Harris County moved one step closer Friday in their quest to crack down on illegal game rooms after a judge threw out a restraining … Continue reading →

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Firefighters union ratifies no-brownout agreement

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Members of the Houston firefighters’ union have signed off on a deal with Mayor Annise Parker that would prevent pulling firetrucks from service to help balance the Fire Department’s budget. “We’re very pleased that the union membership ratified the … Continue reading →

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County enforcement of game room regulations halted for now

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. A quest by the county and city to crack down on illegal game rooms has hit a legal roadblock after a civil court judge granted a temporary restraining order barring Harris County from enforcing strict, new regulations. The city … Continue reading →

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HFD union reaches a deal with the city to avoid “rolling brownouts”

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association (HPFFA) President Bryan Sky-Eagle joined Mayor Annise Parker this morning to announce a tentative agreement on an interim contract that will avoid the brown-outs of fire apparatus proposed earlier to solve an … Continue reading →

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State of the county 2014: Let’s keep working together

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Time for Judge Emmett to tell us how things are going in Harris County. (Spoiler alert: They’re going fine, thanks for asking.) On the eve of what could be his final term as Harris County’s top elected official, County Judge … Continue reading →

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Firefighters union sues city to block cutbacks

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Houston firefighters went to court Tuesday in an effort to block the city from removing personnel, trucks and ambulances from service. But a judge rejected their argument that the “rolling brownouts” plan violates the union’s collective … Continue reading →

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HFD’s budget problems

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you’ve heard of this by now. The safety of Houston’s citizens and its firefighters will be compromised over the next four months as the fire department limits the number of personnel on duty and removes trucks from service … Continue reading →

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More on the audit letters

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron asks some outside experts to go over those recently released audit letters. Houston leaders appeared to have ignored the significance of recurring accounting and management problems or did not have the resources to fix them, according to accounting … Continue reading →

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Harris County threatens to sue Harris County Appraisal District

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That headline may sound dry, but this is a big deal. Worried about the erosion of the tax base, county officials said Wednesday that they may consider suing the Harris County Appraisal District over concerns it is undervaluing certain business … Continue reading →

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Audit letters

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a thing called audit letters that I hadn’t known existed. We’ve got them for Houston, but we had not been making them public even though other cities do as a matter of course. Houston officials have blocked the release … Continue reading →

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The preservation ordinance is a work in progress

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the tl;dr version of this. In October 2010, an emotional Sue Lovell, then a city council­woman, lauded the passage of a strengthened historic preservation ordinance for Houston after a long, complex and divisive battle she and Mayor Annise Parker … Continue reading →

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City sues HFRRF again

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: In the face of growing concern about its ability to meet long-term retiree pension obligations, the City of Houston filed a lawsuit today against the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF), one of three pension systems … Continue reading →

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Why not three?

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Greg suggests a couple of tweaks to term limits. » Fix the JoJo exclusion. The statute, as written, is amazingly short and simple: Section 6a. – Limitation of terms. No person, who has already served two full terms, shall be … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker gets married

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. Houston Mayor Annise Parker and longtime partner Kathy Hubbard are now married – at least in the eyes of 18 states, including California, where the couple formally exchanged vows Thursday in a sunset ceremony in Palm Springs. “This is … Continue reading →

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Council OKs ordinance to help bring grocery stores to food deserts

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Supermarkets now can sell beer and wine next to schools and churches, an exemption to city regulations Houston City Council granted unanimously Wednesday, hoping to encourage grocers to locate in neighborhoods that lack access to fresh, healthy food. These … Continue reading →

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City benefits for same sex spouses back on

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. A federal judge ruled Thursday that same-sex couples legally married in other states can keep health and life insurance benefits that were extended to spouses of city of Houston employees in November. […] [Noel] Freeman’s husband’s … Continue reading →

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Time to talk term limits again

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The subject keeps coming up, though it never seems to get anywhere. As the inauguration of Houston’s elected leaders begins Thursday morning, supporters and spectators gathered at the Wortham Center downtown will see six new City Council members walk across … Continue reading →

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From the “If at first you don’t succeed” files

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes you have to try try again for 24 years to get what you want. It seems as if he never existed, but he certainly did. For 24 years, Charles Hixon attended nearly every Harris County Commissioners Court meeting to … Continue reading →

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More reactions to the city’s settlement with the strip clubs

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not everyone likes it. Bob Sanborn, CEO of the nonprofit organization Children at Risk, and other advocates against human trafficking said on Wednesday that they should have been consulted before a deal was struck. Mayor Annise Parker, who brokered the … Continue reading →

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County to tighten regulations on game rooms

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s sort of a crackdown, but within limits. And something that’s regulated is something that’s legal, so there’s that. The regulations, made possible by a state law passed earlier this year by the Legislature, requires an establishment housing six or … Continue reading →

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Payday lending ordinance passes

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, it wasn’t close. The Houston City Council overwhelmingly passed restrictions on payday and auto title lenders Wednesday, avoiding rumored parliamentary maneuvers to delay the vote and calling on the state Legislature to follow suit. The vote was … Continue reading →

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Enforcing a new payday loan ordinance

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker’s proposed payday lending ordinance will be up before Council today, though it might wind up being delayed until the new Council is sworn in. It’s not clear yet how the vote might go, but in the meantime it’s … Continue reading →

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Food deserts and booze bans

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s complicated. A city ordinance intended to keep alcohol sales at a distance from schools and churches could be relaxed for grocery stores in an effort to alleviate some of the so-called “food deserts” that plague poorer neighborhoods across Houston. … Continue reading →

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The Dome’s status is complicated

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Is it a landmark or not? If so, what kind? Mayor Annise Parker this week called an effort by the city historical commission to designate the Harris County-owned Astrodome a city landmark “ill-advised,” and said she had no plans to … Continue reading →

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Evaluating the strip club settlement

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting feedback on the city’s recent legal settlement with area strip clubs. South Texas College of Law professor Matthew Festa said the payments are not his central concern, noting cities often condition building permits on a business planting trees … Continue reading →

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Council hears the Mayor’s payday lending ordinance

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Reaction was mixed, though it appears likely there is enough support to pass. The proposed ordinance would limit payday loans to 20 percent of a borrower’s gross monthly income and auto title loans to 3 percent of the borrower’s gross … Continue reading →

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Back to private investors for the Dome

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? Commissioner El Franco Lee, whose Precinct 1 is home to the county-owned Dome, said Commissioners Court is “not under any time constraint” in deciding what to do with the vacant stadium. “The only constraint we’re under is … Continue reading →

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