Category Archives: Local politics

Commissioner Cagle

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As predicted, the new County Commissioner is County Court Judge Jack Cagle. “Cactus” Jack Cagle was named Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner this morning by County Judge Ed Emmett, ending two weeks of political intrigue that followed former Commissioner Jerry … Continue reading →

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Jones saga comes to a close

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

At long last. A three-member panel led by Mayor Annise Parker has found insufficient cause to believe Councilwoman Jolanda Jones breached council ethics violations documented in a city investigation. In a four-page report, the panel also criticized the Office of … Continue reading →

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Eversole expected to take a plea

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think this comes as a surprise to anyone. Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, who on Monday announced his resignation from office, is expected to plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents in … Continue reading →

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Everybody loves Ed

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Everybody who hopes to be appointed to Commissioners Court, anyway. In the hours after [Commissioner Jerry] Eversole’s announcement [that he would resign as of October 1], hopeful appointees pressed the flesh with local Republican leaders and scrambled to see whether … Continue reading →

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DA won’t bring charges against CM Jones

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Politics: Harris County prosecutors who reviewed ethics complaints against City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones have concluded that criminal prosecution is not warranted. In a letter to the City Attorney David Feldman the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it had … Continue reading →

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Eversole to resign

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole has submitted his resignation, county officials said, effective Oct. 1. Representatives in Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s office confirmed Eversole submitted his resignation shortly after 2 p.m. today. Eversole represents about 1 million constituents … Continue reading →

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No tax rate increase this year

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise. Mayor Annise Parker has officially proposed not raising taxes this year. Through her finance director, the mayor is asking the City Council at its Sept. 21 meeting to adopt the existing property tax rate of 0.63875 per $100 … Continue reading →

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Bandit signs

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s campaign season so there’s a lot more of these around. Local and state laws long have outlawed the placement of signs on public rights of way – the land alongside roadways, including utility poles and the area around them … Continue reading →

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“Hire Houston First” passes

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One of Mayor Parker’s signature policy items is now law. Houston City Council passed Mayor Annise Parker’s Hire Houston First initiative by a 13-1 vote Wednesday, allowing and sometimes requiring city departments to choose the second lowest bid for purchases … Continue reading →

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Let’s share that toll road revenue

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Have you ever taken the toll road connector from the Hardy Toll Road to IAH? I have, many times. Being able to bypass the traffic on Beltway 8 and JFK Boulevard makes it worthwhile for me to take the Hardy … Continue reading →

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Harris County property appraisals dip a little

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is what counts as good news these days. The appraised value of property countywide has declined slightly, according to numbers released Thursday, but not nearly on the scale of last year’s 3 percent plunge that translated into tens of … Continue reading →

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RIP, red light cameras

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There they go. Houston’s red-light cameras are done issuing violations. This time, permanently. City Council dealt the controversial cameras a double death blow Wednesday, first ordering their immediate shutdown and then outlawing the use of cameras to catch red-light runners. … Continue reading →

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No red light camera action on Friday

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Tagged again. City Council passed on an opportunity to outlaw red-light cameras during a special meeting Friday, delaying consideration of the repeal of Houston’s camera ordinance until Wednesday. Councilwoman Sue Lovell tagged the item, a parliamentary maneuver that delays a … Continue reading →

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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s SuperCommittee!

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Up, up, and away! A group of 16 elected officials, community leaders, union bosses and pension executives have until Jan. 31 to find ways to tackle the triple threat to the city’s future solvency — ballooning pension obligations, runaway health … Continue reading →

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Can this divorce be saved?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

After all their feuding this week, the city and the camera vendor are still trying to work out the terms of their breakup. A day after Mayor Annise Parker ripped American Traffic Solutions for “jerking us around” and failing to … Continue reading →

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No vote on red light cameras today

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Tag! The council will not act today on Mayor Annise Parker‘s resolution seeking its approval to shut off the city’s red-light cameras and fight its vendor in court over breach of contract. Councilwoman Sue Lovell tagged it, delaying a vote … Continue reading →

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You can’t always get what you want

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But you can always complain about getting what you want. A little over a month ago, Houston Mayor Annise Parker announced she was turning the red-light cameras back on and declared she did not need the City Council’s approval to … Continue reading →

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Mayor orders water conservation measures

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Mayor Parker Orders Mandatory Water Conservation Measures Due to persistent drought conditions and continuously decreasing water levels in Lake Houston, as of Monday, August 15, 2011, Mayor Annise Parker has mandated the implementation of the City of … Continue reading →

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Red light cameras may get a Council vote

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Houston’s red-light camera vendor said on Friday that Mayor Annise Parker is trying to turn the cameras off again, and it has asked a federal judge to stop her from doing so. City Attorney David … Continue reading →

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Fighting blight

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker has proposed a new city department to combat the problem of blight. “We for years have said that we’re a city of neighborhoods and we care about neighborhoods. Well, budgets don’t lie. And we have shortchanged neighborhoods,” Parker … Continue reading →

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Council approves IAH/United deal

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The deal is done. The deal calls for United to put in $686 million and the Houston Airport System $288 million. Although the airport system is a city government function, it runs as a separate business and will not use … Continue reading →

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Two views of county government

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There was an interesting quasi-point/counterpoint in the Sunday op-eds between County Judge Ed Emmett and County Attorney Vince Ryan. I say “quasi” because it’s not really clear they were debating each other, but they were both talking about county government … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court approves its redistricting plan, DOJ approves city’s plan

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Greg and Stace attended today’s Commissioners Court meeting, where to nobody’s surprise the slightly-less-but-still-retrogressive new redistricting plan was unanimously approved. And why shouldn’t it be? It took care of the main, if not the sole, purpose of the task, which … Continue reading →

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Chron story on Harris County redistricting

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

County Commissioners are shocked and dismayed to learn that there are people who would question their ability to do whatever they want to do. The county released an amended map on Friday, having gathered community input on the initial map … Continue reading →

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City wins again on Rebuild Houston lawsuit

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, shortly after the Renew Houston proposition passed last fall, the usual suspects led by Paul Bettencourt filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the result on the grounds that they believed the voters were too stupid to know … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Harris County redistricting

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Hot off the presses, here’s a release from CM Ed Gonzalez: Today, Council Member Ed Gonzalez joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit versus Harris County over the proposed Commissioners Court redistricting map. “The proposed map cracks communities of interests … Continue reading →

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Sylvia for Something

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So many rumors, so little time. Among those voicing support for the alternative [County Commissioners] map was Sylvia Garcia, who was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year. Garcia’s loss – by 2,310 votes – to Republican newcomer Jack … Continue reading →

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Food deserts in Houston

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If you listened to the interview I did with CM Stephen Costello, you would have heard him talk about “food deserts” in Houston, which is a problem to which he has turned his attention. This Chron story goes into some … Continue reading →

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The alternative Commissioners Court map

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Opponents of the proposed County Commissioners map have presented their version in the last public hearing on county redistricting. Democrat Sylvia Garcia was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year, having lost to Republican Jack Morman in last November’s … Continue reading →

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The city and county would like to cooperate, but…

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

…it’s hard to do when there’s no money to do it with. City and county officials have not met for months to discuss a joint booking facility, long touted as a way to save taxpayers money. It would get the … Continue reading →

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Is there or isn’t there a Latino opportunity precinct in the new Commissioners Court map?

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Many Latinos say No. “This map is an insult to the Latino community,” State Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said at a public hearing Wednesday night. “The proposed map is full of the Christmas turkey.” Gallegos called on Commissioner El Franco … Continue reading →

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State Bar to investigate Jones’ complaint against Feldman

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On we go. The Texas State Bar will investigate allegations by Councilwoman Jolanda Jones that City Attorney David Feldman committed professional misconduct through his involvement in a city ethics investigation that targets Jones. Jones filed a grievance with the bar … Continue reading →

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Alternate Commissioners Court map proposed

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Via BJP, here’s an alternate County Commissioners map, with accompanying data, to the one that was proposed to the Court two weeks ago. The map comes courtesy of Sylvia Garcia and Sen. Mario Gallegos, whose stated goal is to ensure … Continue reading →

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Better times are coming (we hope)

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says City Controller Ronald Green in the Chron’s op-ed pages. Officially, the U.S. recession has ended. We have certainly rounded the corner here in Houston. And while there is a loss here of public sector jobs, the private sector … Continue reading →

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