Category Archives: Local politics

As promised, Matt Stiles has started digging into campaing finance reports for city officeholders and seekers. This installment has to do with expenditures a couple of Council members have made on legal fees. Since January, council members Carol Alvarado and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a fuller version of yesterday’s story about campaign finance reports for City of Houston electoral offices finally being available online. Today’s story also has data about fundraising totals for current city officeholders and a few candidates, plus a brief … Continue reading → Continue reading →

About time. City of Houston campaign finance reports are due this afternoon and for the first time candidates will be required to file them electronically. Users can search filings by several criteria, including candidate name, contributor name and expenditure payee. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I like the sound of this. Hoping to stabilize a $150 million annual electricity bill, Houston officials have negotiated a contract to ensure that a third of the city’s power is generated by wind. If approved, the contract would make … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve blogged before about a proposed $900 million county bond package that would go towards various courthouse/jail/family law projects. One of my concerns has been that the underlying issue of a serious guard shortage at the county jail needs to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting article on the ongoing city-versus-SOB battle, which is still pending in the courts after the latest reprieve for the SOBs. I think these paragraphs get at one of the main things that bugs me about this. For a decade, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m fairly certain this story didn’t make it into the Chron since it’s nowhere to be found on the site, but my own copy was drenched by the time I got to it. I’m sure it will get more coverage … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The controversy over Houston’s day labor center has been squelched, for now. The center will stay open completely on donated funds, not taxpayer money. ”The funding has been raised, and the center will stay open for at least this next … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After much deliberation and two “tags” it looks like enriched water won’t be sold at Houston City Hall after all. For now. Prices for drinks at City Hall are going to go up no matter what, so Council Members and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have five things to say about this article on how City Council meetings have always started late since 2004: 1. I’m trying to resist the urge to say “So what?” here. Yes, when you expect something to start at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I didn’t get around to yesterday’s front page story about Mayor White and his plan to help wounded veterans in the Houston area. One in 11 soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan is Texan, according to the Department of Defense. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hey, I’m a Diet Coke guy myself, but business is business, you know? Several [Council] members are in a fizz after learning that the Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Houston soon will take over exclusive rights to vending machines at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m still trying to understand the day labor center funding thing, which went one way on one day and then sort of reversed yesterday. Houston Mayor Bill White will help locate $100,000 to keep an East End day labor center … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I was wondering about this when I saw the story about the city budget being adopted earlier today. It was just a matter of time, I guess. The city and its largest pension fund have reached a tentative agreement on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kristin Mack reported last Friday that Hilary Green, wife of City Council Member Ron Green, was being considered for an appointment as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 7, Place 1. That’s the JP Court formerly presided over by Betty … Continue reading → Continue reading →

More details on the county bonds proposal that came out yesterday, though the questions that most interest me are still unanswered. Major projects that likely will be put before voters include: Family Law Center: An $85 million courthouse would be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Get ready for a bond proposition on the November ballot, courtesy of Commissioner’s Court. Commissioners Court originally thought the bond package would total $500 million to $600 million when it goes before voters in November. But pressing needs have come … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Professors R-Squared remind me that it’s time to check up on our County Treasurer, Orlando Sanchez, and his campaign promise to actually do something with that generally useless office he ran for. I did this last on March 21, at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Still waiting on a pension deal to be finalized. The city’s current funding arrangement with the Houston Municipal Employees Pension Fund, which must approve any benefit changes, expires July 1. Without a new agreement, the city could be forced to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last month, the Chron published an editorial calling on the local adult establishments to “drop their legal actions and find suitable properties for relocation”, which made me wonder why they thought unincorporated Harris County would be any more welcoming. Looks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Trash has been in the news quite a bit lately, from the solid waste management task force (whose report is here) to the new pickup schedules. The initial report called for a $3.50/month trash fee to cover things like enhanced … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If you live in Houston, be prepared for a possible change in your garbage pickup schedule. On July 2, the city’s trash trucks will begin navigating new routes, changing the regular garbage and yard-waste collection days for about one in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Astrodome may have lost its reprieve, but it appears that the local strip clubs have gained one for themselves, at least for now. On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Frankly, I’d have thought the strip clubs would have contributed more in taxes than this, but apparently not. During the 10 years the city has fought in court for tougher rules regulating Houston’s strip clubs, it has also accepted at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We have a city budget, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see what kind of pension fund plan gets hashed out. After proposing a $3.8 billion city budget Wednesday, Mayor Bill White’s administration today begins wrestling with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Following the Mayor’s letter to the editor over the Chron pension fund story, today we have a response from David Long, the executive director of the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System. This is a long one, so I’ll put it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Mayor White has a letter to the editor that strongly disputes the nature of yesterday’s pension fund story. I’m reprinting it here for future reference: The Chronicle’s May 14 Page One headline that said that the city of Houston “can’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This doesn’t look good. Short of layoffs, the city won’t meet its full obligation to the municipal pension fund in the next fiscal year, Mayor Bill White says, citing rising public safety and health care costs that are expected to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As predicted, the local strip clubs have a Plan B: Reinventing themselves as bikini bars. Topless and fully nude clubs could avoid regulation altogether if their dancers wear bikinis, or even skimpier opaque coverings, allowing them to get around the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The long-awaited crackdown on sexually oriented businesses is officially underway, and it’s aggressive. The city has ordered more than 100 adult cabarets, bookstores and other so-called sexually oriented businesses to close down their operations or face criminal and civil penalties, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the thing about the unusually high cost of defending the anti-SOB law that the city passed in 1997, which it can finally enforce today. If I thought the law were good public policy, I’d be less likely to complain … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Didn’t get to this yesterday – Mike McGuff has a nice interview with soon-to-be-former City Council member and new radio mogul Michael Berry. The interesting bit to me is right here: McGuff: I’m sure a lot of people wonder, “Why … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Seven months after their joint not guilty plea, the four former Mayor Pro Tem staffers who were accused of giving themselves improper bonuses have a trial date. State District Judge Michael McSpadden scheduled a Nov. 12 trial for Rosita Hernandez, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Robb Fickman of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association has written an open letter to Mayor White asking that Houston Media Source continue to be funded by Council. Apparently, Mayor White has proposed defunding HMS and giving its money to … Continue reading → Continue reading →