Off the Kuff | Knowledge Is Good

Texas blog roundup for the week of July 7

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance has been driving around asking about incendiary chemicals as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged blog roundup, TPA | Comments Off

Davis takes her attack on Abbott’s chemical info obstruction on the road

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Keeping it going.

Sen. Wendy Davis

Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis on Tuesday recalled the deadly explosion just up the road in West as she lambasted her GOP opponent for governor, Attorney General Greg Abbott, over his decision restricting disclosure of information about chemical facilities’ hazardous caches.

“Texans deserve to know where these chemicals are located,” Davis told supporters at the Waco building that houses the Democratic Party, her campaign and Battleground Texas, a group working to make the state competitive for Democrats.

“A candidate for governor should have more concern for the people of the state that she wants to run than to let them sleep next door to explosives and not only not say a word about it, but actively seek to hide that information from them,” said Davis, who has seized on the issue as part of her effort to paint Abbott as an insider who is not working for everyday Texans.

She launched a “Texans Deserve to Know” tour across Texas Tuesday to pound on the issue, starting in Fort Worth and traveling to Waco. The tour also will include San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Austin and El Paso. Davis has said if elected, she will make disclosure of the information a priority.

There’s a lame explanation from one of Abbott’s spokespeople claiming that he’s just interpreting a law from 2003, which even if one is inclined to believe that still leaves one wondering why this information continued to be routinely disclosed in the 11 years since. What there still isn’t, as I noted yesterday, is anything resembling a counterattack from Abbott on this. It’s duck and cover all the way. That right there says more than anything Davis could say. Trail Blazers, which embeds a long video segment that Rachel Maddow did on this, has more.

UPDATE: I take it back. Abbott is now responding, and he’s playing the terrorist card. Perhaps someone should ask him 1) why didn’t he take this threat seriously before now, and 2) if homeowners can find out about dangerous chemicals by “just driving around” and asking, can’t the terrorists do that, too?

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged Attorney General, Election 2014, Governor, Greg Abbott, open records, Texas, Wendy Davis, West | Comments Off

The real reason we need border security

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

To protect us from these guys.

Several anti-government groups – many of which participated in the standoff at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch – are recruiting armed volunteers to travel to the Texas-Mexico border as a citizen militia to participate in “Operation Secure Our Border,” which aims to stop the surge of immigrants into the country.

The groups, who identify themselves as “Patriots,” “Oathkeepers” and “Three Percenters,” are using social media, blogs and a 24-hour hot line to recruit and mobilize volunteers to travel to Laredo, carry firearms and attempt to assist law enforcement agencies on the border.

However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it does not “endorse or support any private group or organization from taking matters into their own hands as it could have disastrous personal and public safety consequences.”

What could possibly go wrong with an effort like that? I kid, but there’s really nothing funny about this. The potential for violence and tragedy is far too great. Stace has more.

On a related note, we know this is happening as President Obama comes to Texas to do what he usually does here (fundraising) while Rick Perry is doing what he usually does (make a fool out of himself), while in the meantime everyone acknowledges that immigration reform is dead for this year, and likely till at least 2017, because the Republican-controlled House will not take up the (highly imperfect but still better than nothing) bill that passed the Senate even though it almost surely would pass the House if it came to a vote. There’s no bigger obstacle to comprehensive immigration reform than Texas Republicans. If you need evidence of that, have a look through this massive collection of quotes from our GOP Congressional delegation on the matter. We all know about the crazies – Louie Gohmert, Steve Stockman, Ted Cruz, etc – but certainly on this issue it’s really all of them. Go read and see for yourself. If you want to do something constructive and helpful, Stace has you covered there, too.

Posted in La Migra | Tagged Barack Obama, border, Congress, immigration, Rick Perry, Texas, vigilantism | Comments Off

Students against voter ID

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A new front is opened in the fight against voter ID.

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Civil rights groups have spent a decade fighting requirements that voters show photo identification, arguing that this discriminates against African-Americans, Hispanics and the poor. This week in a North Carolina courtroom, another group will make its case that such laws are discriminatory: college students.

Joining a challenge to a state law alongside the N.A.A.C.P., the American Civil Liberties Union and the Justice Department, lawyers for seven college students and three voter-registration advocates are making the novel constitutional argument that the law violates the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. The amendment also declares that the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”

There has never been a case like it, and if the students succeed, it will open another front in what has become a highly partisan battle over voting rights.

Over the past decade, Republicans have campaigned to tighten rules for voters, including requirements for photo ID, in the name of preventing fraud. Democrats have countered that the real purpose of those laws is to make voting more difficult for people who are likely to vote Democratic.

“There’s an unprecedented effort nationally by Republican-controlled legislatures to restrict the franchise in a way we haven’t seen in a long time,” said Marc Elias, the Democratic election lawyer bringing the age-discrimination claim. “Young voting in particular is a part of that effort.”

Proposals to change voting rules have frequently affected younger voters, particularly college students.

[…]

Multiple lawsuits against North Carolina, including the age-discrimination case, have been combined into one. A hearing on Monday is over whether to delay the law until a judge decides whether it is constitutional.

Lawyers for the students believe they can make the case that the law is intentionally discriminatory. As proof of this intent, they note that the state prohibited the Division of Motor Vehicles from registering 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by Election Day this fall. All other eligible voters could register there. In court documents filed in late June, the state said it had reversed that policy but did not say why.

The lawyers also point to the state’s decision to allow military and veteran identification cards, but not student IDs, as “strong evidence that the legislature wanted to make it difficult for young citizens to vote.”

Lawyers for North Carolina argue that the state’s voting law is neither discriminatory nor an impediment to voting. They note that most of the law’s provisions have taken effect, and state election data showed no decline in minority turnout in the recent primary.

“One way of maintaining confidence in elections is to ensure that only those who are qualified to vote are actually registered to vote,” the state’s lawyers wrote in court documents. They did not address the 26th Amendment claim, and a phone call seeking comment on it was not returned.

While courts have held that refusing to register students is as unlawful as refusing to register African-Americans, they have never been asked to address allegations of more subtle age discrimination, like those charged in North Carolina.

“If that’s a winning claim, that’s a big deal,” said Edward B. Foley, an Ohio State University law professor who runs the school’s election law center. But, he said, “there is a big ‘if’ here.”

See the Charlotte Observer and the Washington Post for more. North Carolina’s law, like the one in Texas, does not consider student IDs or out-of-state drivers licenses to be valid for voter ID purposes. You can see how that might have a disproportionate effect against college students. The arguments this week are about whether to grant an injunction blocking the law for now, with the full trial to take place in 2015. Definitely worth keeping an eye on this one. Via the Texas Election Law blog, and read Ari Berman for more.

Posted in Legal matters, National news | Tagged drivers licenses, Election 2014, Justice Department, lawsuit, North Carolina, voter ID | 1 Comment

White return flight

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting demographic trends going on.

Between 2000 and 2010, [Harris] county, like much of the U.S., saw a sharp decline of its white population, losing about 12 percent of Anglos or about 83,000 people.

The drop mirrors demographic shifts across the nation as white birthrates have slowed. But in the past three years, Harris County added about 25,000 white residents, about 11 percent of its approximately 227,800 new residents, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday.

While the greatest drivers of the county’s growth are still Hispanics, it’s the reversal of the decadelong white decline that grabs demographers.

“It’s a surprising pattern given what we saw in the last decade, and indicative of the overall pervasiveness of population growth in Texas and especially in Houston,” said Steve Murdock, a onetime state demographer and former Census Bureau director who now leads the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University.

“The amount of growth, percentage-wise, is almost the same as the decline … that’s a fairly substantial change,” Murdock said.

Though Anglos remain the nation’s largest racial group, it’s the only demographic group which is shrinking rather than growing. Last year, it was the sole group to count more deaths than births.

Texas, on the other hand, saw the largest numeric increase of white residents in the U.S. between 2012 and 2013, gaining about 51,000 Anglos

Within Harris County, where Anglos make up about 32 percent of the population or about 1.3 million, some 9,000 white residents were added last year.

“There’s a significant amount of Anglos moving into the region from outside of Houston,” said Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development organization.

“They’re coming here because of the jobs. … If you look at all the growth in the Energy Corridor and the Medical Center, and the new Exxon campus in The Woodlands, we’re attracting workers who are more skilled, and many of them are white.”

But he suggested there might be a more subtle shift as well. Because Houston is attracting more single or young workers seeking to cash in on the energy and medical booms, an increasing number, like Carey and Bowen, are choosing to live in Houston rather than more suburban, neighboring counties.

“There’s no white flight anymore,” Jankowski said. “People are more and more accepting of different races and different ethnicities. They don’t care about their next-door neighbor as long as the lawn is mowed.”

As we know, some parts of town were getting whiter long before this. There are lots of questions one could ask about this, but for me I always come to the political implications. While it’s true that the increase in Harris County’s Anglo population is a reversal of earlier trends, the overall trend of Harris County getting less white hasn’t changed, it’s just decelerated a bit. I doubt there will be much change at a macro level, but there could be some effects here and there, especially in lower-turnout environments. It would be nice to know more about where these folks are coming from and what their existing proclivities are, but without that information we’ll just have to hypothesize.

One related tidbit from a different story.

Demand for high-density living grew across the state, according to the report. San Antonio saw the biggest increase in sales at 18 percent, followed by Austin at 14 percent. In Dallas, sales were up 4 percent.

“There is little available land for housing development in Texas’ major metro areas, particularly in its urban centers where housing demand is strongest,” [Jim Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University] said in the report. “Developers are now looking upward for opportunities to build and invest in multifamily developments both in these centers and even in some suburban areas. Condo sales will likely be a strong driver in the Texas housing market for the rest of the year.”

Developer Randall Davis said rising single-family housing prices are driving expansion in the condominium market. Builders can put multiple units on one site, he said, and “deliver a product that’s almost equivalent but at a lesser price.”

More of Houston’s big builders, too, are interested in developing in the central city, said Gary Latz of Bohlke Consulting Group, a consulting firm for the housing industry.

Over the last 12 months, residential permits within Beltway 8 were up 22.8 percent over the same period last year. That’s compared with the overall Houston area, which was up 9.3 percent.

“People love the idea of living in closer and being close to all the amenities Houston has to offer,” Latz said.

Again, that’s a trend that’s been happening for some time now. Maybe if it keeps up we can get some more infrastructure spending inside the Beltway, too? Because that would be nice.

The story from Dallas is similar but not quite the same.

“Let’s look at Dallas County,” said Steve Murdock, director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University. “There was growth in the Asian population, no doubt about it. But we also see a turnaround in growth in the non-Hispanic white population.”

While Dallas County showed a loss of 1,436 non-Hispanic whites from the 2010 census through July 1, 2013, that’s minuscule compared with losses in the previous decade, Murdock said.

“If you had the same pattern going on as you had in the last decade, you would have lost a good number more,” he said. “At this rate, you might lose 5,000 over this decade, compared with the loss of 198,000 over the last decade. We’re seeing the same thing in Harris County, where it changed from a negative to a positive.”

While non-Hispanic whites continue to move to suburbs, it could be that some younger folks and empty-nesters are finding urban centers more attractive for lifestyle reasons. And, demographers say, those leaving are being replaced by others looking for jobs, either from other parts of Texas or out of state.

“When you look at the state level,” said Lloyd Potter, the Texas state demographer, “we’re seeing positive immigration of non-Hispanic whites.”

The splashy numbers, though, came from growth rates in the Asian population — up 20 percent in Denton County, 18.5 percent in Rockwall, 18.1 percent in Collin, 14.9 percent in Dallas and 10.8 percent in Tarrant — over the last three years. In many ways that’s a continuation of the trends from 2000 to 2010, when Asians and Hispanics were the two fastest-growing groups in the state.

Hispanic growth rates were still double-digit in Collin, Denton and Rockwall counties at 11.2, 13.7 and 14 percent, respectively, for the three-year period, “but the rate of growth is down in Collin” compared with the previous decade, Murdock said.

[…]

The non-Hispanic black population is growing rapidly as well — up 19.6 percent in Denton, 18.1 percent in Collin, 12.5 percent in Rockwall, 10 percent in Tarrant and 5.8 percent in Dallas.

Much of the growth across the region and the state comes from migration, Potter and Murdock agreed, and that migration is driven largely by jobs.

“Overall, I think we’re seeing that Hispanic growth rates are down, but the non-Hispanic white losses have been significantly reversed,” said Murdock, a former director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

He used Travis County as an example.

“From 2000 to 2010, Travis County added about 59,000 non-Hispanic whites,” Murdock said. “This time, it has added 41,000 non-Hispanic whites in the first three years,” an annual rate that roughly doubles that of the previous decade.

I don’t really have anything to add to that, I just find stories like these to be fascinating. Whatever else you can say about Texas, it’s not static.

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Collin County, Dallas County, demography, density, Denton County, Greater Houston Partnership, Harris County, Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, Houston, Rice University, Rockwall County, Steve Murdock, Texas, Travis County | 2 Comments

Dan Wallach: Home power analysis, 2014 edition

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Note: From time to time, I solicit guest posts from various individuals on different topics. While I like to think I know a little something about a lot of things, I’m fortunate to be acquainted with a number of people who know a whole lot about certain topics, and who are willing to share some of that knowledge here. In this particular case, I’m welcoming back someone who has written on this particular topic before.

It’s July and that can only mean one thing: time to worry about my electrical contract for the next year. As we saw in last year’s installment, I ended up going with TriEagle Energy’s 100% renewable product. They want to jack my rates by 10% over last year, so clearly it’s time to run the numbers again.

This year, I decided to try to sort out what each plan would cost based on my power usage data for the past year (thanks again to SmartMeterTexas.com). For five months, my usage went over 1000 kWh/month and for seven it was well below. I then downloaded the full spreadsheet of available offers from PowerToChoose.org, built an equation to estimate my monthly charges, and then all I have to is sort to find the cheapest, right? Sadly, it’s not that easy. The spreadsheet data they give you is a disaster. Rather than just listing the fees, there’s now a textual column titled “Fees/Credits” and there’s no standard way in which they’re reported. Some companies report what you’d pay per kWh, inclusive of monthly fees, while others report what you pay exclusive of those fees. This meant I had to go through every row in the table and try to interpret their mumbo jumbo. Deregulation!

If you just try to just naively scale the 500 or 1000 kWh numbers, you end up with a wrong answer by 2% or more, but the EFLs often fail to give you enough data to do any better. So, with that caveat, here’s a histogram of how much money I’d spend in a year with each of the nearly 200 fixed rate electricity contracts on offer. Higher points in this histogram mean there are more plans that would end up costing me that price.

While I don’t want to name names for companies with unhelpful Electric Facts Labels and PowerToChoose-published data, I do want to give kudos specifically to Our Energy for doing it better. They say explicitly what CenterPoint expenses they are passing through, and they themselves have a flat rate on the power they’re selling. This allows me to calculate my real expenses, not a cheesy approximation of them. That would adjust them from $1316/year (as everything else in the histogram above is computed) to $1277/year, moving them into the top competitive position on my chart. Would others be cheaper as well? Probably, but PowerToChoose doesn’t give me enough information to choose. Should I reward Our Energy with my business for having the best and most transparent EFL? It’s tempting, but first, a rant…

Can’t we please go back to having a centrally regulated traditional utility company?

San Antonio still has this. I had a friend there send me a copy of her utility bill. She’s paying approximately $0.11 / kWh. Her bill breaks out the fixed and variable charges, much like I appreciate from Our Energy. On my histogram above, she’d be somewhere in the far left — getting an exceptionally good rate and not having to do this stupid analysis every year. All of our lovely free market competition in Houston is really just a series of opportunities for fools and their money to be quickly separated from one another.

Hey, what about solar power and saving the earth and stuff?

When I first started writing this year’s analysis, I said to myself, “Surely solar power must be a real option by now!” After way too much investigation, the short answer is, “maybe, if you can afford the big payment up front.” After spending the last month getting quotes and doing the research, I’m this close to pulling the trigger on a solar installation. Here are the high points:

Solar works hand-in-hand with the grid. When you install a solar system, it’s generating power during the day that you probably don’t need, and you need power at night that your solar system isn’t providing. This means your meter gets to run backwards during the day and forwards at night. If you have a month where you generated more than you used, you get a negative electric bill, which is then “banked” for future months. (Curious side-effect: you don’t want to over-size your solar system, because you’ll never get all your money back from the “bank”.) Also notable: if grid power goes down, so does your solar system. You can install a backup battery system or a gas-powered generator, but that’s a whole separate animal.

The financial incentives are okay, not great. In rough terms, the system I’m contemplating, which might generate 9-10 kW from the mid-day sun, will cost $20k after federal tax incentives. After that, you have small or even negative electric bills, and you start making money back on your initial investment. You stir in a bunch of assumptions about the depreciating value of the asset you’ve bolted to the roof, and you come out with a bottom line that you can look at with standard financial investment terms (internal rate of return, etc.). The proposal I’m considering from Texas Solar Outfitters would have an IRR of 7.4%, under their standard set of assumptions. Under different assumptions, you’re better off just getting power from the grid. (The same numbers in a place like California are in the “no brainer” category, both from additional up-front incentives and from the tiered electrical pricing they have. Solar helps keep you out of the higher tiers.)

What about leasing vs. buying, warranties, etc. In short, a lease is a lot like a loan. You’re paying less up front and you’re making monthly payments. The leasing company is trying to make money. The net effect is that the IRR goes down to the point that the deals are less likely to be worthwhile. (Again, this varies on a state by state basis. Nobody’s subsidizing those leases here.) Solar lease deals also act like an extended warranty on your gear. If your panels aren’t up to spec, they repair them for you. Most solar parts have very long warranties of their own, so this is less of a big deal than you’d think.

The environmental impact of solar is less abstract than the premium you pay for a “green” grid electricity plan. No matter what grid plan you purchase, green or not, the same mix of mostly coal and gas-fired generators are still producing the power your house is consuming. The only difference is that you’re paying your utility middleman to also buy you “renewable energy credits”, which are sold by wind farms and other such things and which may or may not be feeding their electrons to your house. It’s at best unclear whether you’re incentivizing somebody to install more “green” generation capacity versus building another traditional plant. On the flip side, when you’re turning sunlight into power, you’re directly removing your demand from the grid. This sort of logic is especially attractive if you’ve got an electric car and you’re worried about the “long tailpipe” emissions problem.

Aren’t you just a leach on the electric grid, then? Umm, no. By installing solar, you’re doing the grid a favor by supplementing its power during the peak draws in the hot summer sun. If more houses could run their meters backwards, that would effectively supplement the big generators and help avoid brownouts. Also, you’re paying the same monthly fee that everybody else pays for connecting to the grid.

So, what’s your new electricity plan then?

I need to pick a new electricity provider now, even though it might be a while before I can get a solar panel system installed on my house. The set of plans that support solar sellback is very small. So far as I can tell, I’ve got precisely three choices: Green Mountain, Reliant Energy, and TXU. The winner among these seems to be Green Mountain, who will buy your first excess 500 kWh/month from you at full retail price and half price thereafter. TXU buys from you at 7.5 cents/kWh no matter what. I can’t seem to find the Reliant number.

Green Mountain says you can sign up for any of their plans and switch without penalty to the plan that supports buying your power back from you, so that’s probably the way for me to go.

Dan Wallach is a professor of computer science at Rice and a friend of mine who has provided this annual analysis three times before.

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged Dan Wallach, deregulation, electric cars, electricity, guest post, Houston, Reliant Energy, solar energy, Texas | 1 Comment

Davis presses the attack on Abbott’s obstruction on chemical info

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I know, it’s a little lazy of me to do a post based on a campaign email, but this missive from the Wendy Davis campaign is the best roundup of the incendiary chemical disclosure issue and the potential fallout from it. So here it is, which will both serve to catch you up if you missed any of this last week and to keep it in the forefront for at least another day.

After weeks of backlash, Greg Abbott is in full-blown damage control mode. First, Greg Abbott said the location of dangerous chemicals shouldn’t be public, and then he says parents need to drive door to door in order to find them, which multiple news outlets have found is next to impossible.

Abbott is clearly scrambling to paper over his hugely unpopular decision any which way he can – especially after the Dallas Morning News reported that his ruling came after the Koch Industries Fertilizer Division – which own at least one dangerous chemical facility — gave tens of thousands of dollars to the Attorney General.

Take a look at two blistering editorials from this weekend.

Dallas Morning News Editorial, 7/5/14: Abbott Steps In It On Chemicals Issue: “Boy, did Attorney General Greg Abbott step in it. The occasion was Abbott’s explanation for how Texans could find out about volatile chemicals in their neighborhoods, in the wake of a ruling by his office restricting access to records on chemical inventories. “Drive around,” was the AG’s advice. “You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not.” That simple? To test Abbott’s “just ask” advice, a WFAA-TV news crew visited two Dallas plants to inquire about the chemicals on hand. The response from one place was the corporate runaround. The response from the other sounded like “get lost.'”

Austin American Statesmen, 7/6/14: Want to find out what chemical plants are storing inside? You must ask: “Particularly troubling are Abbott’s comments last week defending a ruling his office made blocking public access to state records specifying the location of dangerous chemicals… “You know where they are if you drive around,” the Tribune’s Jay Root reported Abbott as saying. “You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well, we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.”

FIRST ABBOTT RULES THAT TEXAS CHEMICAL FACILITIES CAN KEEP SECRET THE CONTENTS OF THEIR PLANTS

WFAA reports on Greg Abbott’s ruling to keep dangerous chemical storage locations secret from parents: “Hazardous chemical lists no longer public record in Texas” [WFAA, 6/12/14]

DMN: Want to know about chemicals stored near you? Don’t expect Texas to tell you anymore: “The AG’s Office, which rules on open-records matters, said the department did have to keep the information from the public, according to a May 22 letter. WFAA-TV (Channel 8) first reported on the ruling Thursday night. As a result, the state health department will no longer release its inventory reports unless told otherwise by the AG, a spokeswoman told The News Friday.” [Dallas Morning News, 6.13.14]

COMMUNITIES START EXPRESSING OUTRAGE

Houston Chronicle, 6.15.14: “I have no clue what they’re doing over there,” West Mayor Tommy Muska said, referring to the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.”

KXXV (Waco), 6.17.14: Local officials won’t change procedures on chemical reports, despite state changes

Waco Tribune Editorial: Attorney general decision hinders public from readily learning of chemical threats: “That’s why we have trouble understanding the reasoning behind state Attorney General Greg Abbott’s abrupt decision to refuse to give the public key information about where plants stockpiling ammonium nitrate are located…The attorney general’s decision is definitely at odds with growing efforts to prevent another West…” [Waco Tribune, 6.19.14]

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Coming clean: “Texans have a right to know what dangers to our health and safety we are being exposed to – especially now, when Texas, and particularly Houston, is riding high, with a vibrant and welcoming economy that is the envy of the nation. If we are to continue to attract the best and the brightest, it is essential that we intelligently address quality-of-life issues on which we base our choices of where to live and raise our children – such as clean air, clean water and a safe environment.” [Houston Chronicle, 6.20.14]

ABBOTT THEN TELLS PARENTS TO “JUST DRIVE AROUND” AND “ASK EVERY FACILITY” IF THEY HAVE DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

Abbott Said, “You Know Where They Are If You Drive Around.” The Texas Tribune reported, “[Abbott] said Texans still have a right to find out where the substances are stored – as long as they know which companies to ask. ‘You know where they are if you drive around,’ Abbott told reporters Tuesday. ‘You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well, we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.'” [The Texas Tribune, 7/01/14]

WATCH: Abbott Tells Parents to “Drive Around” To Find Dangerous Chemical Locations

MEDIA OUTLETS TRY TO “JUST DRIVE AROUND” TO NO AVAIL

July 2: WFAA Reporter Brett Shipp @brett_shipp

Abbott refuses to release chemical inventory lists…tells citizens to get their own. We tried. We failed. What now?

WFAA Was Not Able To Obtain Information On Dangerous Chemicals From Private Companies. On July 2, 2014, WFAA reported, “Abbott says the public can still go knock on chemical company doors and ask…So, WFAA attempted to do just that…First up was Oxy Chemical…WFAA left empty handed. Next stop was Buckley Oil Company just down the road…Not only did they not give hand over their Tier II report, they said not to record images of their chemical inventory stored on site, which was clearly visible through an open gate.” [WFAA, 7/02/14]

Fact Checking Abbott, Houston Chronicle Proved The Public Cannot Get Information On Dangerous Chemicals From Any Private Company. [Houston Chronicle, 7/03/14]

WFAA once again denied access to chemical lists by state officials: “At issue was the Texas Attorney General’s decision to deny public access to chemical inventory lists called Tier II. Those lists were mandated by Congress in the mid 80s and are supposed to be available to the public to alert citizens of dangers posed by the handling of hazardous chemicals by local businesses. They were public records in Texas until two months ago when Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled they were off limits.” [WFAA, 7/03/14]

DALLAS MORNING NEWS REPORTS ABBOTT HAS RECEIVED THOUSANDS FROM KOCH INDUSTRIES, WHICH OWN AT LEAST ONE DANGEROUS CHEMICAL FACILITY

Abbott Received More Than $75,000 After The April 2013 Explosion in West From Koch Interests, Who Own the Georgia-Pacific Gypsum Plant in Sweetwater. “The Dallas Morning News reported this week that five months after the April 2013 ammonium nitrate explosion in West, the president of Koch’s fertilizer division sent Abbott a $25,000 campaign donation. Koch’s chief and the Koch political committee also gave Abbott $25,000 checks. And Abbott rode on a company jet to a Koch-related retreat last year in New Mexico that introduced political candidates to wealthy donors.” [The Dallas Morning News, 7/02/14; 7/03/14]

Koch Owns at Least One Fertilizer Plant in Texas. The Georgia-Pacific Gypsum plant in Sweetwater is a Koch subsidiary. “The subsidiary now makes a nitrogen fertilizer.”[The Dallas Morning News, 7/02/14]

Koch Industries “and its subsidiaries are collectively one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fertilizers.” The Dallas Morning News reported, “According to its website, Koch “and its subsidiaries are collectively one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fertilizers … Koch Fertilizer’s expanded product portfolio includes ammonia, urea, UAN, phosphate, potash, and sulfur-based products, in addition to a variety of high-performance” nitrogen fertilizers.” [The Dallas Morning News,7/03/14]

Scrambling, Abbott Says That Getting Information About Dangerous Chemicals Is “Challenging.” [AP, 7/02/14]

ABBOTT TRIES TO ESCAPE CULPABILITY OF HIS RULING

Abbott Claimed He Wasn’t Aware That His Office Made A Ruling On Dangerous Chemicals Until The Decision Made Headlines…[AP, 7/02/14]

…Despite having taken credit for it previously. “That statement to the AP – that the ruling was “not a law or conclusion that I created” – was different from the “I ruled” phrase Abbott used on Tuesday, where he seemed to take credit for the decision.” [Texas Tribune, 7/03/14]

So there you have it. The one thing I will add is that if Abbott had any response to any of this yesterday, I didn’t see it in the news. I’m not sure what there is for him to say at this point – he’s already contradicted himself and made himself look more than a little foolish – so perhaps he’s just lying low and hoping it will blow over or some other shiny object will pop up. Good luck with that.

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged Attorney General, deregulation, Election 2014, Governor, Greg Abbott, Texas, The Lege, videos, Wendy Davis, West | 2 Comments

Charles Sebesta may finally have to face responsibility for his actions against Anthony Graves

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Very good news.

Anthony Graves

It’s been eight years since the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the DA who prosecuted Anthony Graves for capital murder had done something unconscionable : withheld favorable evidence and used false testimony to secure a conviction—a conviction that sent Graves to death row.

Since that federal ruling came down in 2006, granting Graves a retrial, many good things have happened: Anthony was freed from prison in 2010, after all charges against him were dropped; he was formally exonerated by the State of Texas; and he received $1.4 million in compensation for the eighteen years he spent in prison for a crime he did not commit. But the man who secured his 1994 conviction—former Burleson County DA Charles Sebesta— never faced any consequences. The state bar took no action against him. Even when he continued to impugn Graves’ character, telling Texas newspapers as recently as this January that Graves was guilty of murder, he did so with impunity.

Finally, last week—twenty years after Graves’ wrongful conviction—the bar took a small but significant step toward ensuring that Sebesta would have to answer for his actions. The bar’s chief disciplinary counsel determined that there was “just cause” to believe that the former prosecutor had engaged in misconduct in Graves’ case. This finding followed a lengthy investigation, which the bar conducted after Graves brought a grievance against Sebesta this January. (Graves was only able to do so because lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 825, which changed the existing statute of limitations, allowing exonereees to file such grievances with the bar up to four years after their release from prison.)

A legal proceeding will now follow, in which the bar will decide whether or not to dismiss the grievance, or sanction Sebesta. If the bar decides to sanction him, he could receive a punishment as light as a reprimand—essentially a slap on the wrist—or as severe as disbarment.

Though Sebesta has always put great stock in trying people before the court of public opinion—to this day, he continues to insinuate on his website that Graves is a murderer —he has asked that the bar hear his case in a confidential proceeding, rather in than open court. (The bar allows attorneys who are the subject of such grievances to choose whether they will have their cases heard in a district court before a judge or jury, or privately, before a panel of lawyers who serve on the bar’s grievance committee.) “His conduct against Anthony Graves was in a public proceeding and he continues to make public attacks on Mr. Graves,” said Kathryn Kase, executive director of the Texas Defender Service, a non-profit organization that represents Graves, along with attorneys in the Houston law firm Susman Godfrey. “He should defend his conduct in a public proceeding, for all to see.”

See here and here for the background. I find it utterly risible that Sebesta wants a closed hearing given the way he has (and continues to) run off his mouth about Anthony Graves, but whatever. Have a fair hearing and then disbar the SOB. Anything less would be insufficient. The Trib, the AusChron, and Grits, who has statements from Graves, the Texas Defender Service, and Kathryn Kase (all of whom amusingly and appropriately reference the actions of “honest” prosecutors in getting to the truth of the matter), have more.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged Anthony Graves, Charles Sebesta, innocence, John Whitmire, State Bar of Texas, Texas, Texas Defender Service, The Lege | Comments Off

Helping the hungry of Montgomery County

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this.

Though many are familiar with [Montgomery County]’s growth, thanks to the wealth of The Woodlands and the coming Exxon corporate campus just down Interstate 45, fewer see the poverty and hunger dispersed across the suburban and rural communities.

School officials see it. Over the past decade, every district in the county has seen an increase in the percentage of students designated “economically disadvantaged,” according to the Texas Education Agency.

Last month, meanwhile, the Montgomery County Food Bank opened a new center, boosting its capacity from 220,000 pounds of food to 42 million pounds. The large increase was necessary to meet a rising need from the community that’s being driven in large part by an influx of low-paying service jobs that coincide with the boom, said Rodney Dickerson, the food bank’s president.

In 2013, the food bank served 25,000 to 30,000 individuals per month. This year, the number rose to 40,000 to 45,000 per month.

“The challenge is that people in Montgomery County don’t really see the poverty because they’re pockets that are hidden,” said Julie Martineau, president of the Montgomery County United Way. “Because everything looks beautiful, and the people in poverty are away from the main roads, (many people) don’t know it’s here.”

Some parts of the county, such as New Caney and Splendora, have long struggled with poverty.

[…]

Even with the school’s breakfast and lunch programs in the first half of the summer, Dickerson said, the summer months are a difficult time for many.

“For us, we see it immediately,” said the food bank president. “We see the jump as soon as school is out.”

It’s the combination of rising electrical costs to cool homes and the gaps in meals for school-age children that hurt the most in summer, he said.

The food bank operates four mobile pantries once a month throughout the county, in addition to supplying food to various daily programs and hosting periodic “food fairs.” Since the mobile pantry service began three years ago, Dickerson said, there’s been a steady increase in demand.

Growing suburban poverty is part of a national trend, according to the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. So while the country added some 12 million new poor people from 2005 to 2009, that growth tended to occur outside city limits.

“The growth we saw in poverty was located more frequently in the suburbs than in the cities,” said Carey Anne Nadeau, a research analyst who worked with the Brookings program and is now a masters student at MIT’s urban studies and city planning department. Houston ranked in the top 10 metropolitan areas where suburban poverty grew most rapidly in the 2000s, along with Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta.

That decade also saw more concentrated poverty, or neighborhoods where more than 40 percent of residents live in poverty. In the suburbs, that sort of isolated poverty can be harder for families to combat, said Nadeau, because it tends to come with fewer affordable housing options and a lack of access to public services like mass transit.

Even suburbs that seem to be booming, like Montgomery County, experience the suburbanization of poverty, she said.

“It’s a trend regional economists talk about all the time, where higher-wage employment can create low-wage employment,” Nadeau said.

Three major groups contribute to hunger in Montgomery County, according to Dickerson: the working poor, children and seniors.

“When you experience the growth that Montgomery County has, in The Woodlands in particular, that brings the need for additional minimum wage workers,” Dickerson said.

1. While poverty is rising nationwide, much of that poverty is concentrated in southern states where not surprisingly, and not coincidentally, the safety net is all but non-existent. If it’s not from the federal government or local government – if you’re lucky enough to be in the right locality – there’s nothing to help you or your kids if you’re poor. Go ahead and starve, the governors and legislatures of these states couldn’t care less.

2. Speaking of local government, there’s nothing in this story to suggest that Montgomery County, which is overall a fairly wealthy place currently experiencing a huge economic boom, has anything to offer the folks on the bottom of the ladder. Given the nature of local government in a place like that, it wouldn’t shock me if their basic plan is to push anyone who needs services into neighboring counties that actually have a heart. I don’t know this to be true about Montgomery County – again, the story says nothing on the subject – but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, and it shouldn’t surprise you.

3. You know what would really help all those minimum wage workers? Raising the minimum wage, that’s what. Please spare me the BS sob stories about how national fast food chains and multi-national energy companies are going to be put out of business by being forced to pay their cashiers and janitors three dollars an hour more.

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged minimum wage, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Food Bank, New Caney, poverty, Splendora, The Woodlands | Comments Off

One point of perspective on the repeal petitions

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about the HERO-haters turning in their repeal petitions.

Opponents of Houston’s new non-discrimination ordinance Thursday turned in well more than the minimum number of signatures needed to trigger a November vote on whether to repeal the measure.

Staff in the City Secretary’s office will have 30 days to verify that the names – 50,000 of them, opponents said – cross the minimum threshold of 17,269 signatures from registered Houston voters that foes needed to gather in the month following the measure’s passage in an 11-6 vote of the City Council.

Most of the divisiveness around the ordinance stems from the protections it extends to gay and transgender residents, groups not already protected under federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status.

Mayor Annise Parker pledged to fight the effort to overturn the ordinance should it make the November ballot, a task she acknowledged city rules make fairly easy.

“This was not a narrowly-focused, special-interest ordinance,” said Parker, the first openly lesbian mayor of a major American city. “This is something that the business and civic community of Houston was firmly behind, and we fully expect if there is a campaign that it will be a spirited campaign, but we’ll have the same outcome in November as we had around the council table.

“Houston does not discriminate, Houston will not discriminate and Houston will not be fooled by misinformation, hyperbole – I would use the word ‘lies’ but I’m going to back off from that – and people who are just simply unwilling to read the ordinance for themselves.”

See my post from Thursday evening for the background. As we know, the haters were busy collecting petitions last weekend, and my presumption was that if they weren’t scrambling to clear the bar, they were aiming for a show of force. It would actually have been enough to force a recall election against Mayor Parker, if they largely prove to be valid. The haters claim to have verified 30,000 of the sigs themselves, but we’ll see about that. As I said on Thursday, the petitions will be very closely scrutinized, and I expect the final number to be a lot lower.

One thing to keep in mind when we talk about that number. Via Facebook, I understand that the haters are referring to it as “two-thirds of the total vote against Mayor Parker in 2013”. That’s true enough as it goes – remember, that 50,000 is likely to be an illusion – but we’re not in a low-turnout odd-numbered election year. We’re in an even-numbered partisan election year. We had a situation much like this in 2010, with the red light camera and Renew Houston items on the ballot. That year, there were 389,428 votes cast in the Houston part of Harris County – a smidge less than half the total county turnout – plus another 8,492 votes in Fort Bend County, with between 320,000 and 350,000 votes cast in each of the three propositions. Even if all 50,000 signatures represents a valid Houston voter that will show up in November, that’s still less than 1/3 of the total that will likely be needed for the haters to win.

Let me provide one more number, as long as I’m on the subject. Last year, the Early to Rise group submitted 150,000 signatures to put an item for raising HCDE’s tax assessment to fund pre-K in Harris County. Of those signatures, 80,505 were verified. If the haters have the same level of accuracy, their total number of valid sigs will be around 27,000. Still plenty to qualify for the ballot, but a lot less than 50,000. They may well be more accurate than that, but I do know they were using paid canvassers as the Early to Rise proponents were, so I expect they’ll have a fair amount of slop in their work. Again, we’ll see how much.

I don’t post any of this to encourage complacence in HERO supporters. We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us. But if we put our heads down and do the work, I feel confident we will win. As Greg highlights, the city of Houston is Democratic, and we’ve got more voters to reach out to than they do. Register voters, talk to voters, and make sure everyone who should be voting does so. That’s the winning formula. PDiddie, John Coby, Texas Leftist, Lone Star Q, and Hair Balls have more.

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged Annise Parker, Early To Rise, Election 2010, Election 2013, Election 2014, Fort Bend County, gay rights, Harris County, Houston, Houston City Secretary, petitions, red light cameras, Renew Houston, repeal, transgender rights, turnout | 1 Comment

Walking a mile in their ankle monitors

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You have to admire this kind of dedication to one’s office.

Though she has never been convicted of a crime, Marsha McLane is having her every movement these days tracked by a satellite-monitored anklet, just like thousands of ex-cons in Texas.

Charged with rebuilding a little-known state agency that supervises high-risk sex offenders, she is looking for a better, high-tech way to keep track of them.

“I’m a nuts and bolts person. … I had to see for myself how the system would work,” she said Monday, after spending five days unsuccessfully trying to foil a new GPS-based monitoring system her agency is considering buying. “If I can’t fool it, knowing what I know, I think it’ll be hard for an offender to do it.”

Last Thursday, the new executive director of the embattled Office of Violent Sex Offender Management strapped on a 3M XT monitor that allows officials to have two-way communication with an offender the instant an alarm goes off indicating he is not where he is supposed to be.

Unlike traditional GPS-based monitors that set off alarms if an offender goes outside of approved zones, or strays too far from the base unit, the new system features a cellphone-sized handset in addition to the anklet that allows the offender to contact his caseworker or other approved numbers if the alarm goes off. Caseworkers and officials monitoring the units can call them as well.

“Right now, when a bracelet alarm goes off, we have no way to contact the offender except to send a caseworker out there to check the offender,” agency Programs Director Kathy Drake said. “This appears to be a much more efficient way to verify their status, much less labor intensive, much faster.”

Records show the agency had 1,300 alarms go off between September and May that turned out to be nothing other than a satellite glitch or an equipment malfunction or something else as benign.

“You can see the savings to the taxpayers if we can check out alarms quickly without having to make the trip,” McLane said.

Makes sense to me. I’ve talked about ankle monitors before. They have their issues, but they can be used to help keep low-risk and non-violent offenders out of jail, which is a win all around. They can also be used as in this case for monitoring offenders that have additional conditions after being released from prison. If the technology has improved and if the supervisors and probation officers that handle the offenders that use them really know how they operate, then so much the better. Kudos to Marsha McLane for her attention to detail.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged ankle monitors, GPS, jail overcrowding, jails, Marsha McLane, Office of Violent Sex Offender Management, probation, Texas | Comments Off

The Dallas and Houston rail experiences

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s useful to compare, but mostly as an academic exercise.

The new Dallas Area Rapid Transit line links riders to the region’s major airport. Houston’s new Purple and Green lines, years in the making, come up far short of what’s been laid in the Dallas area, but they open up rail to new parts of town.

Since 1983, and some argue even longer than that, the cities have been on vastly different trajectories when it comes to rail transit. Dallas has enjoyed a much less fractious political climate. That relative calm compared to Houston has given Dallas officials more latitude to invest and leverage local money to capture federal funds.

Officials in North Texas spent money on suburban routes rather than key urban connections. DART will soon have 90 miles serving 62 stations, while Houston later this year will have 22 miles of track and 38 major stops.

Houston’s population is twice that of Dallas, though their respective metropolitan areas are similar in size.

Metropolitan Transit Authority officials decline to call the light rail lines competitors. But from time to time, as a sales pitch for more tracks, they compare DART’s apparent ease of laying lines to Houston’s perennial controversy.

“Dallas has almost 100 miles of light rail,” Metro board chairman Gilbert Garcia once said at a business luncheon. “Certainly we can get to The Galleria.”

The race for more lines isn’t much of a competition because many Gulf Coast area elected leaders don’t want rail, or more specifically they don’t want to spend the hundreds of millions of dollars associated with trains. As a result, Houston has taken a different tack, choosing politically palatable downtown city lines that in some respects are harder to build but carry many more riders per mile.

Which system is more successful, and which will be better off in the long run, is less clear.

I’ve sat on this one for awhile as I’ve gone through several revisions in my head of what I’ve wanted to say. I agree with the story’s premise that Dallas and Houston each took the most viable path available to them given the resources and needs they had. We’ve had plenty of arguments in Houston about whether commuter rail should have been prioritized over light rail. To me it’s ultimately a chicken-or-egg question, but to me the fact that we already have a muscular park-and-ride network that covers much of the ground that commuter rail would plus the fact that mobility in town keeps getting worse with nothing other than light rail available to help mitigate it tips the scales. Commuter rail has a place and if we can make like Dallas and leverage some existing tracks to do it at a low cost, I’m all over it. Just remember that the value of a rail network increases greatly as the network grows, so commuter rail + a robust light rail system > commuter rail by itself.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about since Metro announced the reimagined bus routes is how any future expansion of the current light rail network might fit with it. If the new routes deliver on their promise of faster and better service systemwide, then perhaps we should rethink where new rail lines might go to ensure we get the most out of them and not be redundant. The new #7 bus line on Richmond, which goes to the Eastwood Transit Center, will be one of the high-frequency routes. Will it be good enough to undercut the case for the Universities Line? Maybe, but even if the buses run every ten minutes at peak times, they’re still going to crawl along in the traffic morass that is Richmond Avenue. Light rail, with its dedicated right of way, should easily beat its travel times. Still, that’s a point I expect the light rail critics of the future to haul out someday, once they remember they’re supposed to be pro-bus and they notice there’s better bus service available now. I still think an Inner Katy line connecting downtown to the Galleria via the Uptown BRT would have a lot of value, especially as a continuation of either the Harrisburg or Southeast lines. I also think the US90 extension into Fort Bend, hopefully all the way to Sugar Land if the politics can be worked out, should be a high priority. Beyond that, who knows? The point is that the whole system continues to evolve, and we ought to evolve our thinking along with it. The need for rail transit in Houston is not going to go down anytime soon.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged buses, commuter rail, Dallas, DART, Houston, HOV, light rail, Metro, Richmond, University line | 1 Comment

We really need to do better on vaccinations

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Cherise Rohr-Allegrini, PhD, MPH and self-proclaimed “crunchy granola hippie”, writes in the Rivard Report about how we are letting infectious diseases regain a foothold.

In 1998, the World Health Organization declared that measles would be eradicated worldwide by 2007. In 2000, public health officials declared measles to be eliminated from the US. But instead of being eliminated, it returned with a vengeance: the CDC reported 11 outbreaks in the US in 2013.

In 2014 it’s been even worse, with Texas and California hit particularly hard. When one looks at the numbers, they tend to say “Ah, only a couple of hundred cases, that’s not much.” But what they’re forgetting is this: Measles kills. Like most vaccine-preventable diseases, it doesn’t always kill, but once we reach a critical number of cases, the likelihood that one of those children will die becomes much greater. For measles, that’s 500 cases.

It’s been many years since we’ve seen more than 500 cases in the US. But this year, as of May 14, there have been 216 cases in the US. Ever closer, we inch towards that critical threshold.

And it’s not just measles. The second M in MMR stands for Mumps. By May 27, 2014, there have been 464 cases of mumps in the U.S., most linked to outbreaks at Ohio State University and Fordham University in New York City.

And then Congenital Rubella (the “R” in MMR) rears its ugly head. For most of us, rubella is a mild illness, often not even noticed. But for pregnant women, it often results in the death of their fetus. If the baby survives, then there’s a high likelihood the baby will be born with severe abnormalities, all due to a preventable disease.

Pertussis is probably the most widespread vaccine preventable illness we see today. In 2000, if we’d seen more than 2,218 cases we saw in 2012, DSHS would have declared an epidemic. Today, this is the endemic level – the “new normal.”

[…]

In Bexar County, 65.7 percent children under the age of three have received all the required vaccinations.

That sounds pretty good, except when you learn that the US National Goal is 80 percent, and for some diseases, we need at least 90 percent of all kids vaccinated to fully protect the entire population.

Why? Why would anyone not prevent a disease when it’s so easily preventable?

Partly it’s the disinformation coming from uninformed and/or dishonest sources that scares people into misidentifying the relative risks (spoiler alert: childhood vaccines are totally safe), partly it’s the public health profession being a victim of its own success – out of sight, out of mind, and all that – and partly it’s insufficient outreach. The main thing to keep in mind is that a lack of vaccination – and Bexar County is not alone in its low participation rate, as you’ll see if you click over – puts us all at risk. You and I may have been vaccinated as kids, but most vaccines eventually run out of potency and need to be supplemented later in life. Without a high enough vaccination rate to ensure herd immunity, even healthy previously vaccinated adults can come down with these diseases. So please, vaccinate your kids, tell everyone you know to vaccinate their kids, and support policies and politicians that provide funds and resources for vaccinating as many kids as possible. The person you save from getting measles or pertussis later in life may be you.

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged Bexar County, Texas, vaccinations | 1 Comment

Weekend link dump for July 6

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: Spending a lot of time on your butt watching TV may be bad for your health.

If you’re going to take money from the devil, you really need to do some serious good with it.

“How did you know my name was Elsa?” “Well, aren’t most girls your age named Elsa?”

What’s the matter with Kansas economically?

On Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the man you know as Batman’s creator and the man you should know.

“This is the major problem with how the vast majority of reform conservatives think about climate change (with a few exceptions). They neither articulate a clear view of what kind of climate goals they would prefer nor demonstrate how their favorite policies would get us there.”

“Said it before, will say it again: If the folks who annoy and harass women going to health care clinics were really concerned about protecting innocent life, why aren’t they out protesting in front of the headquarters of Koch Industries?”

Good to know Bing is better than Google at something. (Technically, neither link is NSFW, but the subject matter is, so I’d wait till I got home before I clicked either of them.)

From the Kids Are All Right files.

“We tend to forget that the first coldly expedient hero to anchor an influential, long-running series named after him wasn’t Tony Soprano. It was Jerry Seinfeld.”

“This is not a ruling that upholds religious liberty. It is a ruling that specifically enshrines abortion as the most important religious liberty in America.”

“The obvious solution to this dilemma is to take health insurance away from employers altogether.”

“This idea — that women’s reproductive well-being is vital to both their personal prospects and the country’s fortunes — runs throughout [Justice Ruth Bader] Ginsburg’s dissent. It is notably absent from Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion.”

“Individuals should not be able to declare that anything they dislike causes abortion and therefore avoid any laws relating to that item. Because there is no steady, safe line to draw between those who think IUDs cause abortions and those who think Tylenol causes abortion.”

Still not enough? See The Slacktivist for more. And keep feeling that feeling you have right now.

Happy (almost) tenth anniversary to The Comics Curmudgeon!

And along the same lines, happy 35th birthday to the Sony Walkman.

Good news! We may get A Very Sherlock Christmas next year, hopefully with a better title. Bad news: That means the next Sherlock wouldn’t be till Christmas of 2015. More bad news: It may be the only Sherlock we get next year.

Well, of course Bonnie Raitt would get raptured if there ever was a rapture.

Maybe if Supreme Court Justices had to walk through protest zones and get called awful things to their faces they might have been a bit more reluctant to strike down the MA buffer zone law.

“I absolutely have not received any privileges from sexual assault. [George Will] has clearly never experienced the fear of sexual assault. He clearly has no idea how hard it is to sleep, to walk around, thinking at any moment this person that you live down the hall from could come out.”

“With a majority on their side, and the fact that this issue brings out a lot of distastefully puritanical and frankly misogynistic stuff from Republicans, Democrats would be happy to force their opponents to talk about contraception as much as possible.” As Sally Kohn also notes.

#HobbyLobbyLove fail.

“On the first day of the new Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act, a misunderstanding between two armed men in a convenience store Tuesday led to a drawn firearm and a man’s arrest.”

RIP, Louis Zamperini, Olypmian, WWII hero, and the subject of the book and movie-to-be “Unbroken”. See “Unbroken” author Laura Hillenbrand’s eulogy to Zampirini as well.

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged linkdump | Comments Off

In defense of Ivy Taylor

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Ivy Taylor is a San Antonio City Council member. She’s currently considered a frontrunner to succeed outgoing Mayor Julian Castro once he leaves to become Housing Secretary. Her elevation to Mayor would be historic, as she would be the first African-American Mayor of San Antonio, but it has also generated some controversy because in 2013 she voted against expanding the city’s non-discrimination ordinance in San Antonio to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. San Antonio College Professor Frederick Williams penned an op-ed in the San Antonio Current in defense of CM Taylor.

CM Ivy Taylor

Some residents from the LBGT community have publicly made it known that they oppose Taylor’s consideration by the council to serve as mayor in the interim before May’s general election. Their opposition is based primarily on her 2013 vote against the ordinance that bans discrimination in city contracting based on sexual preference and gender expression. Political activist and former chairman of CAUSA, a gay and lesbian organization, Dan Graney has stated his strong opposition to Taylor. In an interview with the Express-News, he said, “While it would be historic for the first African-American woman to become mayor of San Antonio, Ivy Taylor is not that person because she does not meet the test of being a leader who will fairly represent the interest of all San Antonians.”

Community activist William B. Johnson believes that the councilwoman was wrong in her vote against the ordinance. However, he does not believe that one vote means she will not represent the entire city. Taylor has made it quite clear that if the council votes her into the mayor’s office for the interim, she will uphold all laws and ordinances passed by the council, to include the anti-discrimination ordinance. Political Science professor and long-time resident of District 2 Margaret Richardson also believes that Taylor should have supported the ordinance, but like Johnson, is in favor of her elevation to the mayor’s office.

Taylor’s situation is comparable to that of President Barack Obama, who originally opposed gay marriage. But as civil rights attorney Chris Pittard of Forte and Pittard points out, the president finally came around to supporting that and other constitutional rights for the LBGT community. This potentially damaging division between the two communities could lead to Taylor being denied this historic opportunity due to opposition from LBGT groups. Johnson and Richardson have it right when they argue that her one vote should not outweigh the significance of a black woman serving as mayor of the seventh largest city in the country. If the LBGT community is held responsible for her failure to become mayor, it could give the homophobes in the black community even more ammunition to oppose LGBT citizens’ quest for equal rights, something they definitely deserve

President Obama’s opposition to same sex marriage back in 2008 is often cited as a defense for people who remain out of step with today’s Democratic Party on equality issues. One reason why marriage equality is completely mainstream among Democrats is because of Obama’s endorsement of the issue during the 2012 campaign. That was considered courageous at the time, and it put a lot at stake by doing it essentially unprompted during a Presidential race, though by that point the President wasn’t exactly out in front of the issue. Still, his support gave cover to every other Democrat, and contributed greatly to the widespread acceptance marriage equality enjoys today. It also means that the courage needed and the risk-taking involved to make that stand in a contentious election in 2012 just aren’t there for a non-discrimination ordinance in 2013. Sure, there would be plenty of heat for supporting that ordinance, but way more people have your back for it now.

My point is that President Obama stuck his neck out and showed leadership in 2012. Ivy Taylor had a chance to do that in 2013, with much lower stakes, and she declined. One needs to be careful in using the story of Candidate Obama in 2008 and marriage equality, because the story didn’t end there. If Professor Williams’ point is that we managed to look past this blot on Obama’s candidacy in 2008 and things turned out all right anyway, I’ve got two responses. One is that it’s not 2008 any more. We’ve come a long way on the equality issue, as already noted, and it’s difficult to the point of impossibility to understand what anyone’s reluctance is about now. I understand there are counterveiling forces out there, especially in local politics, and they can be awfully noisy when these issues come to the forefront. I’m sure CM Dwight Boykins can relate to what Ivy Taylor is going through. But we can all see which way the arc of history is bending. You tell me where it’s best to be in relation to that.

And two, what is Ivy Taylor doing to demonstrate that she can and will come around on this as President Obama did? Saying she will “uphold all laws and ordinances passed by the council” is the same as saying she will not violate her oath of office. It’s literally the least she can do. What has she said or done to indicate that she sees things differently now, that she understands the importance of San Antonio’s update non-discrimination ordinance, and that she will work to improve things further? Her No vote in 2013 means she doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. She needs to prove it.

That’s what it comes down to for me, and I say that as someone who is neither a San Antonian nor a spokesperson for the LGBT community in San Antonio. There are good reasons to be skeptical of Ivy Taylor, so it’s on her to provide good reasons why that skepticism is no longer warranted. If she can do that, great! Give her serious consideration for the Interim Mayor job. If not, well, then I have no problem with opposing that consideration. Regardless, the ball is in her court.

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Barack Obama, City Council, Election 2008, Election 2012, gay marriage, gay rights, Ivy Taylor, Julian Castro, Mayor, President, San Antonio | 3 Comments

Houston’s payday lending ordinance is now in place

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Part of me hopes that there’s a lot of complaints, and part of me hopes there’s very few.

Houston’s stringent new rules on payday and auto title lenders took effect Tuesday, reviving industry complaints that it would drive companies out of business, or at least out of the city, but giving borrowers a clearer path out debt.

“We’ll see stores close, we’ll see people laid off,” said Rob Norcross, of Consumer Service Alliance of Texas, a loan industry group. “You’ll have some companies that will maintain stores at lower revenue levels, and they’ll probably close other ones. We’ve only seen a couple companies close up shop totally in the other large metropolitan areas. It will be a gradual process.”

He predicted borrowers whose needs exceed the city’s new limits will go to lenders in unregulated areas, get a loan online or take out several small loans to add up to the amount they want.

Payday lending involves small, short-term loans that avoid legal caps on fees and interest that apply to such mainstream lenders as banks. Title loans operate similarly and are secured by the borrower’s automobile title, leaving the vehicle at risk for repossession. Borrowers typically lack the funds or credit to get loans any other way.

In the 10-county Houston region, home to a fourth of the state’s 3,240 such lenders, data show borrowers refinance more and pay on time less than state averages and that more than 100 title borrowers have their cars repossessed each week.

Houston’s ordinance limits payday loans to 20 percent of a borrower’s gross monthly income and auto title loans to 3 percent of the borrower’s gross annual income or 70 percent of the car’s value, whichever is less. Single-payment payday loans can be refinanced no more than three times, while installment loans can include no more than four payments. The principal owed must drop by at least 25 percent with each installment or refinancing.

[…]

On the first day of enforcement, city officials had identified 361 active payday and auto title lenders inside Houston’s city limits, 309 of which had registered under the new rules as of Tuesday morning.

Toya Ramirez, a staff analyst in the city’s Administration & Regulatory Affairs department hired to oversee the ordinance, said it was unclear which of the remaining 52 lenders have closed, moved outside city limits or simply failed to register.

Ramirez said the city will approach enforcement using a complaint-based system, and said there are no stings or compliance audits planned.

The ordinance was passed in December, with a grace period to allow the lenders to get up to speed. Houston’s original plan was to do enforcement more aggressively, but I’m okay with this approach. For now, anyway. If the payday lenders are mostly compliant with the ordinance, there won’t be any need to be more proactive. My prediction is that despite Rob Norcross’ crocodile tears the industry will continue to profit handsomely, just a little less handsomely than before. If that does wind up squeezing a few operators out – as we can see by this map, there’s plenty of them – that will be fine by me.

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Consumer Service Alliance of Texas, David Feldman, Department of Administration and Regulatory Affairs, Houston, Houston City Council, payday lenders, Toya Ramirez | Comments Off

Maglev pods in the sky

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And now for something completely different.

Image courtesy of: www.skytran.us

skyTran, Inc., headquartered at the NASA Research Park (NRP) near Mountain View, California, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a company headquartered in Lod, Israel, entered into an agreement today for the construction of a skyTran Technology Demonstration System (TDS) on the grounds of IAI’s corporate campus. The agreement was executed by the Director of IAI’s Lahav Division, Yosef (Yossi) Melamed and by skyTran CEO, Jerry Sanders.

skyTran is the developer of the patented high-speed, elevated, levitating, energy-efficient, skyTran transportation system. The skyTran system is a network of computer-controlled, 2-person “jet-like” vehicles employing state-of-the-art passive, magnetic levitation (maglev) technology. skyTran systems will transport passengers in a fast, safe, green, and economical manner. skyTran intends to revolutionize public transportation and, with it, urban and suburban commuting.

IAI is a world leader in the development and production of aerospace systems and aircraft. It has accumulated nearly half a century of experience in creating and supplying advanced systems for customers worldwide and it devotes substantial resources to research and development.

Jerry Sanders remarked, “The support afforded by IAI is a breakthrough for skyTran. IAI, as a worldclass designer of aircraft and avionics, is the perfect partner to take skyTran from concept to construct.” Yossi Melamed declared, “We are proud to be part of this exciting moment in transportation history and to host the first SkyTran system in our grounds. The TDS will incorporate IAI’s advanced capabilities in the areas of engineering, robotics, and control.”

The TDS will incorporate skyTran’s salient features. It will provide a platform for skyTran vehicles to travel at high speeds, with full payloads while levitating. The TDS will enable testing, refinement, and validation of skyTran’s technology in a controlled environment.

The TDS will be followed by deployment of the first commercial skyTran system in Tel Aviv, Israel. Other projects worldwide are pending TDS completion.

Via Engadget and Swamplot, the latter of which picked it up because the featured image on the Engadget post, which I have included here, is a bizarre mashup of Houston’s downtown skyline and some freeway/green space combination that may not exist anywhere, courtesy of skyTran’s images page. The About and Benefits pages will tell you what there is to know about this idea, which if it is successful in Israel could come to San Francisco (skyTran’s US headquarters), where is would undoubtedly compete with the trolleys as a tourist attraction, if nothing else. After that, who knows? I wonder if John Culberson would let one of these things get built on Richmond Avenue.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Houston, Israel, maglev, San Francisco, skyTran | Comments Off

Back to the drawing board for the city and the firefighters’ union

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t expect much at this point.

Negotiators for the city of Houston and its firefighters union will return to the bargaining table to discuss a new labor contract weeks after union members soundly defeated the last proposed deal, Mayor Annise Parker announced Wednesday.

The mayor and Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341 president Bryan Sky-Eagle had said after the vote – which saw 93 percent of members opposed – that both sides were open to more talks, but it’s unclear whether a deal acceptable to the union can be reached.

“It is encouraging that the union is willing to resume negotiations,” Parker said in a release. “We will bargain in good faith, but crafting an alternative agreement will require creativity and flexibility now that City Council has approved a new city budget that utilizes all available resources.”

In other words, officials have said, the council amended Parker’s proposed budget to add a series of spending items that “spent the raise” that had been set aside to accommodate the proposed contract. The rejected deal would have given firefighters a 4 percent raise beginning Jan. 1 in exchange for restrictions on when they could take time off.

See here and here for the background, and here for the city’s press release. The most likely outcome at this point is that the firefighters will continue under the current agreement, which provides no raises but also puts no restrictions on who can take vacation when, until 2016, when the firefighters hope there is a Mayor they believe to be friendlier to their interests in office. It’ll be interesting to see who positions himself or herself as their champion in the race. Houston Politics has more.

Posted in Local politics | Tagged Annise Parker, Bryan Sky-Eagle, HFD, Houston, Houston City Council, HPFFA | Comments Off

Hands off a hardbody

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is the most interesting theater-related story involving a canceled play that I’ve ever heard about.

Theatre Under The Stars and director Bruce Lumpkin kicked up a heap of dust with the company’s production of “Hands on a Hardbody,” which had to shut down early on June 20, after the show’s creators protested extensive unauthorized changes.

Everyone even remotely involved in theater should know that when they lease the rights to produce a play or musical, they must present it exactly as written and licensed. Any changes, large or small, must first be approved by the authors or their representatives.

“This is the most brazen violation we have had in a very long time,” said Bruce Lazarus, executive director of Samuel French Inc., which controls the show’s performance rights.

Based on a 1997 documentary and produced on Broadway in 2013, “Hands” depicts 10 Texans competing to win a new truck. Behind the scenes at TUTS, another competition apparently was playing out between the intentions of the show’s creators and those of Lumpkin, director of the production and artistic director of TUTS.

Amanda Green, who wrote the show’s lyrics and co-wrote its music, attended opening night on June 13, at TUTS’ invitation. Shortly after the performance began, and increasingly as it progressed, she became aware that songs had been moved to different places in the action, that solo sections had been reassigned to different characters, that some of the music was missing and new music had been added, among other changes.

“The director had used our script and score as puzzle pieces, to rearrange as he thought they should be put together,” Green said. “So many things, both big and small, had been changed around that it was not at all the show that we’d written.”

Green decided to skip the opening night party – but she says Lumpkin approached her after the performance, wanting to talk.

“He told me, ‘I know you’re angry, but you have to admit, it works better,’ ” Green said. “I asked him why he hadn’t contacted us and asked us about his ideas. He said, ‘Because I knew you would say no.’ He was trying to get me to say that I liked the show better his way. He also tried to say he’d made all these changes just the night before, but then I learned from other sources that he had come in on the first day of rehearsals with his version of the script and a CD of the songs in a new order.”

[…]

In a June 19 letter to Lumpkin, Ralph Sevush of the Dramatists Guild of America issued a reprimand on behalf of the guild’s 7,000 member playwrights, lyricists and composers, “expressing our collective outrage.” The letter reminded Lumpkin that TUTS’ agreement with Samuel French contained a “clear and standard prohibition” against changing the show without the authors’ permission.

Soon after the Dramatist Guild expressed of its displeasure, Samuel issued its cease-and-desist order. TUTS canceled remaining performances a couple of hours before the June 20 show was to start, offering ticket holders refunds or credits for other shows. As for the amount TUTS would lose because of the canceled shows, Breckinridge said “I don’t have that figure.”

See here for a Chron story about the cancellation. I can’t imagine this was good for TUTS’ bottom line. I have to say, at first I didn’t quite get what the big deal was. I guess I’d seen enough productions of plays that are in the public domain, like Shakespeares and “A Christmas Carol”, that it hadn’t occurred to me that there would be anything odd about tinkering with a script. I’ve also seen plenty of performances of contemporary shows by touring companies that included topical jokes and pandering local references. Those are done with the blessing of the copyright owner, which is the piece I’d been missing. The more I read about this, the more obvious it became to me that you just don’t change the story without the permission of the author or the author’s representatives, because if you do it’s not their work anymore. Not a hard concept to grasp, I know, I had just never thought about it before. Given how seriously this principle is taken, it’s kind of amazing anyone thought they could get away with it, especially with the author right there to see it for herself. Lesson learned, I suppose, though others needed to learn it, too. Congratulations for inserting yourself into the curriculum of every stage directing class from now until the end of time, TUTS. CultureMap, Art Attack, and Howard Sherman have more.

Posted in Society and cultcha | Tagged Dramatists Guild of America, Hands On A Hardbody, Houston, Theater Under the Stars | Comments Off

Make sure you check for zebra mussels

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

New boating rules are in effect in an effort to combat the spread of zebra mussels.

Zebra mussel

Starting on [July 1], boaters are going to have to take an extra step to clean their vessels if they want to cruise around on different lakes. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says people will have to drain all the water in and on the boat before going to a new body of water in Texas.

The department is worried about the spread of Zebra Mussels and other invasive species. The state says it grows to be about one-and-a-half inches and will have a zebra-stripped shell. The problem is it can also have a million microscopic larvae which like to hide on boats and trailers.

“Unfortunately zebra mussels have a microscopic larval stage that when they get in the water you can’t see and if you have a bunch of water taken out of one lake and you go to the next and you can transport the zebra mussels and that’s one of the main ways they get transported is by boats from lake to lake,” says Ken Kurzawski, Inland Fisheries Division, Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Zebra Mussels can clog public-water intake pipes, harm boats and motors if they’re left untreated. It can cover boat hulls if boats and motors are left in infested waters. Zebra mussels can also block water-cooling systems and pester lake property owners by covering anything that’s under water.

[…]

CLEAN DRAIN AND DRY

Clean boats, personal watercraft, kayaks, canoes, sail boats and other water vessels

Remove parts and clean

Drain all the water from motor, bilge, live wells and bait buckets before leaving lake

Dry boats and trailers for a week before going to another body of water

Use high-pressure washer with hot water, 140 degrees, and soapy water

The Parks and Wildlife Department also says people fishing also have to be careful. More information is listed on the state’s website.

See here for the background. The Express News has more information.

Texas Invasives, a partnership of “state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, green industry, academia and other private and public stakeholders who share in the common goal of protecting Texas from the threat of invasive species,” has information on their website for boaters for how the new law effects them, including tips on how to stop the spread invasive species. It offers advice on how to properly clean and take care of any vessel, and how boaters can report a sighting.

According to Texas Invasives, possession or transportation of zebra mussels is a class C misdemenor for the first offense carrying a fine of up to $500. Repeat offenders could face a class B misdemenor, a fine of up to $2,000, up to 180 days in jail, or both.

Here’s the Texas Invasives website. Those of you going out boating this weekend, please pay heed. We all can do a part to stop the spread of these invasives.

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged invasive species, Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, zebra mussels | Comments Off

“The luckiest man on the face of the earth”

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Seventy-five years ago today, Yankees great Lou Gehrig said farewell to baseball and the fans at Yankee Stadium with one of the most memorable speeches of sports history. Here’s an old newsreel of Gehrig’s career and a clip from his farewell speech, on July 4, 1939.

Sports On Earth has the full text of Gehrig’s speech, and a comparison to the version from Pride of the Yankees. They’re paying tribute to the Iron Horse today at Yankee Stadium. Lou Gehrig died of the disease that bears his name in 1941, but his memory endures. Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

Posted in Baseball | Tagged Baseball, Lou Gehrig, MLB, movies, videos, Yankee Stadium, Yankees | Comments Off

Get ready to defend the HERO

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox:

Surrounded by members of the community who are impacted by the ordinance, Mayor Annise Parker announced today that the City will mount a vigorous effort to defend Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance from being repealed.

“The Houston I know does not discriminate, treats everyone equally and allows full participation by everyone in civic and business life,” said Mayor Parker. “We don’t care where you come from, the color of your skin, your age, gender, what physical limitations you may have or whom you choose to love. I am confident voters will soundly defeat any challenge to the ordinance.”

A total of 17,269 valid signatures are required to place the referendum on the November ballot. The City Secretary has until August 4, 2014 to complete the validation process. No signature may be older than 30 days prior to today’s date.

The deadline for a City Council vote to place the referendum on the ballot is August 18, 2014.

Since City Council approval of the ordinance in May, opponents and the uninformed have been spreading a lot of misinformation. Bathrooms have been the subject of the most heated discussion. Mayor Parker stressed that there is no mention of the use of bathrooms in the ordinance. “Let’s be clear, this in no way grants men the unfettered right to access women’s bathrooms or locker rooms,” said Parker. “It is simply not true and I know Houstonians are wise enough to see through the misrepresentations and exaggerations.”

Under city law, it is illegal for anyone to knowingly and intentionally enter any public restroom designated for the exclusive use of the sex opposite to such person’s sex with the permission of the owner or another supervisor for the calculated purpose of causing a disturbance.

“I sponsored the Equal Rights Ordinance because I believe all people deserve to be treated fairly and equally and protected from discrimination,” said Houston City Council Woman Ellen Cohen. “I led the Houston Area Women’s Center for 18 years – working to eliminate sexual and domestic violence against women. This law protects women and girls – and does absolutely nothing to put their safety at risk.”

HERO prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodation and housing on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy.

More than 80 current and former elected officials, community organizations and nonprofit groups have endorsed HERO. It had the backing of the Greater Houston Partnership, the NAACP, Rice University and the Houston Association of Realtors. The support was broad-based and diverse.

The haters claim to have turned in 50,000 signatures. The one thing I can tell you for sure is that as these are public records, they will be scrutinized very closely.

Also from the inbox:

HOUSTON – The Equal Rights Houston Committee, representing a broad coalition of businesses, faith leaders, community organizations, teachers, medical professionals, public safety leaders, elected leaders and neighbors across Houston, announced its intention today to defend Houston’s landmark Equal Rights Ordinance against an attempt by opponents to repeal it.
Houstonians can join the campaign at www.EqualRightsHouston.com.

Mayor Annise Parker said:

“If opponents of equal rights succeed at putting a referendum on the ballot, we will forcefully defend the Equal Rights Ordinance and make sure that Houston stays a place where everyone can work hard, provide for our families and give our kids the opportunity for a better life. That’s why a diverse coalition from the Greater Houston Partnership to the NAACP to LULAC to more than 70 faith leaders across Houston worked to support this ordinance.”

Councilmember Ellen Cohen said:

“I sponsored the Equal Rights Ordinance because I believe all people deserve to be treated fairly and equally and protected from discrimination. I led the Houston Area Women’s Center for 18 years, working to eliminate sexual and domestic violence against women. I can say with certainty that – despite misinformation being spread by opponents of the law – the Equal Rights Ordinance protects and empowers women and families.”

Rudy Rasmus, Sr. Pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church, said:

“As a humanitarian and community servant with ongoing efforts both globally and in my hometown of Houston, Texas, it is important that I support communities working to build equality. I stand for equality, dignity, and respect to be provided to all people. I support Mayor Parker’s efforts to fulfill the mission of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to support fair and equal treatment of all people.”

Lou Weaver, Houston LGBT Community Leader, said:

“African American Houstonians, Disabled Houstonians, LGBT Houstonians, Hispanic Houstonians, Asian American Houstonians, Houstonians from anywhere. We’re all Houstonians – and we deserve the dignity, respect and honor that proud name carries. I am a proud transgender man; I was designated female at birth, but I’ve lived as a man for the past seven years. I want to work hard, earn my way, provide for my family and not live in fear of being fired for reasons based on who I am or who I love and have nothing to do with my job performance. Every Houstonian deserves that opportunity.”

About the Ordinance

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance – often called HERO – modernizes our laws and strikes a balance. It provides a quick and inexpensive local tool to protect hard-working employees from being fired or discriminated against by a boss or manager who doesn’t do the right thing. And it lets businesses hold all employees to the same professional standards.

The comprehensive ordinance protects Houstonians from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy. Exemptions are provided for religious organizations and small businesses. A copy of the ordinance can be viewed at: www.houstontx.gov/equal_rights_ordinance.pdf

To view a list of suporters and learn more, visit www.EqualRightsHouston.com.

The embedded image from this post is from www.EqualRightsHouston.com. Go visit and like their Facebook page. I’m posting this now because I plan to (mostly) take tomorrow off, but you can believe I’ll be all over this going forward, staring with an updated story on Saturday. Happy Fourth of July, and get ready to join forces against this monstrous attempt to move Houston backwards.

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged Annise Parker, Election 2014, gay rights, Houston, Houston City Council, petitions, repeal, transgender rights | Comments Off

Why would you want to regulate that?

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, what are a few fiery explosions among friends?

Members of the state House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee have been struggling for several months over how to respond to last year’s massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. that killed 15 and devastated the nearby city of West.

On Tuesday, committee Chairman Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, unveiled a draft bill that would require businesses to store ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound used in fertilizer, in noncombustible buildings or in buildings equipped with a sprinkler system.

Affected businesses would have three years to comply, though new facilities would have to meet the heightened standard immediately, Pickett said.

The bill also would open the facilities to inspections by all certified firefighters to verify safe storage and to create a strategy on fighting potential fires. Pickett said the provision was in response to a state law that allows inspections only by paid firefighters.

“Over 70 percent of firefighters in Texas are volunteers … so 70 percent of our first responders do not have that authority,” he said.

Most controversially, Pickett’s proposal would require storage facilities to meet standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit that develops research-based fire codes.

Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington, said the bill includes fire standards that are too complex for small businesses to navigate.

“I count no less than 10 different state and federal codes, standards and regulations listed in this bill, some of which I have a problem with,” he said. “We may be making things a little too complex.”

Rep. George Lavender, R-Texarkana, said the proposal was overkill, and he recommended letting businesses opt out of bill’s provisions if they agree to store ammonium nitrate in a noncombustible building and allow fire inspectors to conduct periodic checks.

“I think the bill as written would put a lot of people out of business,” he said. “I recognize the tragedies that we’ve had, and we certainly need to avoid that in the future, but there is a lot of stuff in here that is bad for the industry.”

Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, said he was concerned about shifting unaffordable costs onto an industry “that has operated safely for decades.”

“It seems like we’re out there with kind of a power grab,” Flynn said.

Pickett replied that he could not live with himself if he didn’t try to improve safety around the facilities.

“I think, Dan, that if we do nothing, we’ll have another West disaster,” Pickett said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If I have an ammonium nitrate facility, with the possibility of a catastrophic situation, I am going to be asking them to spend some money.”

The Chron story has more of the same in this vein. I mean, come on, who in their right minds could possibly think that requiring highly combustible materials to be stored in non-combustible buildings is a good idea? How could these poor businesses possibly be expected to survive if we made them do that?

Well, at least we have the right to know where the hazardous material is, right? Surely the government will require that the places that could blow sky high any minute tell us about that possibility, right? Wrong.

You want to be the boss, you get to deal with boss problems

Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, under fire for blocking public access to state records documenting the location of dangerous chemicals, said Texans still have a right to find out where the substances are stored — as long as they know which companies to ask.

“You know where they are if you drive around,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday. “You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well, we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.”

In a recently released decision by his office, Abbott, the Republican candidate for governor, said government entities can withhold the state records — in so-called Tier II reports — of dangerous chemical locations. The reports contain an inventory of hazardous chemicals.

But Abbott said homeowners who think they might live near stores of dangerous chemicals could simply ask the companies near their homes what substances are kept on site.

Collected under the federal Community Right to Know Act, the information was made available upon request by the state for decades to homeowners, the media or anyone else who wanted to know where dangerous chemicals were stored. But, as WFAA-TV recently reported, the Texas Department of State Health Services will no longer release the information because of the attorney general’s ruling.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got plenty of spare time in my day to drive around to every chemical facility in Houston and ask them about what hazardous and explosive materials they have, which I’m sure they’ll be delighted to tell me all about. Why, I’ve got so much free time I may just drive around to chemical plants that aren’t in my area and ask them about this. Thanks for the great suggestion for how to spend my time, Greg Abbott! I’m sure the terrorists that you’re hoping to hide this information from are thinking the same thing, too.

Of course, you know the real reason why Greg Abbott issued this opinion:

Guess who Greg Abbott got $25,000 from 5 months after the West ammonium nitrate explosion? Pres of Koch Fertilizer.Wayne Slater, 7/2/14

The story.

Five months after an ammonium nitrate explosion that killed 15 people in West, Attorney General Greg Abbott received a $25,000 contribution from a first-time donor to his political campaigns — the head of Koch Industries’ fertilizer division.

The donor, Chase Koch, is the son of one of the billionaire brothers atop Koch Industries’ politically influential business empire.

Abbott, who has since been criticized for allowing Texas chemical facilities to keep secret the contents of their plants, received more than $75,000 from Koch interests after the April 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. storage and distribution facility, campaign finance records filed with the state showed.

[…]

For decades, Texans wanting to know about companies keeping such chemicals could find out from the state.

But Abbott has said that those records are closed. And the state agency that collects and maintains information on large chemical supplies has stopped sharing it with the public.

Abbott contends his opinion, issued in May, strikes a balance. On Tuesday, he called it a “win-win” that keeps information about large chemical inventories off the website of the Department of State Health Services but doesn’t forbid homeowners from asking companies in their neighborhoods what they store.

He said companies should respond within 10 days, but it’s not clear what penalties, if any, private companies face if they decline to tell a member of the public what chemicals are on site.

In blocking public access to the information, Abbott cited a state security statute passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A Davis aide rebuked Abbott for the remarks.

“The only thing more outrageous than Greg Abbott keeping the location of chemical facilities secret is telling Texas parents they literally need to go door to door in order to find out if their child’s school is in the blast radius of dangerous explosives,” said spokesman Zac Petkanas. “Parents have a right to know whether their kids are playing hopscotch next door to the type of facility that exploded in West.”

[…]

Chase Koch donated $25,000 in September, shortly after his father, Koch board chairman Charles Koch, also gave $25,000. The Koch Industries political committee sent Abbott $25,000 in November.

In addition, the company flew Abbott on a company jet in August to an invitation-only gathering in New Mexico that offered wealthy donors an opportunity to meet and mingle with GOP elected officials and leaders of conservative groups supporting the Koch agenda of less government regulation and disclosure.

In the Texas Legislature, Koch lobbyists are on record advocating repeal of notification requirements regarding company pipeline construction and discontinuing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s compliance history program.

Remember when Greg Abbott made ethics reform a key component of his campaign? Boy, those were the days. Burka has more.

UPDATE: Looks like Abbott realized he stepped in it.

Attorney General Greg Abbott this week said private companies must release information about their hazardous chemical stockpiles, weeks after his office ruled the same information no longer would be available from state agencies.

“Homeowners who think they might live near stores of dangerous chemicals would simply ask the companies what substances are kept on site,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday, adding, “And if they do, they tell which ones they have.”

Not everyone agrees with Abbott’s reading of the law, however.

Requests by the Houston Chronicle to 20 companies and local emergency response agencies last month produced mixed results: Half of the companies and agencies sent extensive data on the hazardous chemicals they held on site, known as Tier II reports; five sent basic chemical inventories that often did not include amounts or other details; one asked for more information; two refused to release any data; and two did not respond.

[…]

Tom “Smitty” Smith, the Texas head of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said “this is a huge campaign issue and should be.”

“Other former attorneys general would have stood up for the citizens,” Smith said. “The process Abbott has now created is almost impossible for the average citizen that doesn’t have the Houston Chronicle’s name to back them up.”

Abbott acknowledged to the Associated Press on Wednesday that the process may be more difficult than he originally had proposed, calling it “challenging” to get chemical facility information.

Abbott’s statements also could encounter opposition from the business community.

Attorney General spokesman Jerry Strickland said any private company that denied the Chronicle’s requests was providing the public with “misinformation” and could face unspecified “penalties.”

“Chemical companies have an obligation under the Community Right-to-Know Act to disclose that information to the general public within 10 days,” Strickland said in a statement to the Chronicle. “Private companies are required to provide the information. Any failure (to) do to so carries with it penalties to be assessed by the Department of State Health Services.”

Strickland said Abbott’s office was reaching out to the Texas Ag Industries Association, a trade group to which Orica does not belong, to ensure its members understand the law. TAIA President Donnie Dippel said he would urge his members to comply with the law.

Strickland reiterated that the refused information requests were not Abbott’s choice, but what was required under state law.”

Industry lawyer and lobbyist Pam Giblin said the issue was not that cut and dried.

“If the government doesn’t have to release it, how in the world does a private company get this disclosure obligation thrust on it?” Giblin asked, adding she sees possible litigation on the horizon. “There are a lot of homeland security issues. … I think you’re bound to see some court tests because this just doesn’t make sense.”

What would make sense would be for the state’s top law enforcement official to ensure that this information is made available to the public by the government. Too bad Greg Abbott is answering to a higher power than that.

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged Allen Fletcher, Attorney General, Dan Flynn, Election 2014, fundraising, George Lavender, Governor, Greg Abbott, Joe Pickett, Koch brothers, open records, Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services, The Lege, Tim Kleinschmidt, Wendy Davis, West | Comments Off

John Bradley’s second act

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg brings a fascinating and unexpected update to the story of John Bradley, the former Williamson County DA and Texas Forensic Science Commissioner who served as one of the main villains in the Michael Morton case.

Since losing elected office, Bradley has tried to find work. In 2012, I wrote about him applying to lead the state’s Special Prosecution Unit.

No one would take him. Until now. It seems Bradley has landed another prosecutor’s post. Not in Texas. Not in the United States. In the tiny Republic of Palau, where, according to several sources, Bradley has accepted a position in the attorney general’s office.

The former U.S. territory of about 20,000 people in Micronesia was granted independence in 1994, and now operates in “free association” with the United States.

Barry Scheck, co-founder and co-director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said he learned about Bradley’s new job in a mass email from Bradley’s wife.

[…]

Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association and a former colleague of Bradley’s at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said he hoped the island nation would provide a fresh start for his friend.

“It’s been awhile,” Kepple said, referring to the Morton revelations. “You know, maybe he gets another chance. Maybe he’s got to go all the way to Palau to get it. But I wish him well.”

Scheck, at the Innocence Project, echoed that sentiment.

“He’s certainly going quite a few thousand miles away in order to reinvent himself and we’re all in favor of second acts in American lives,” Scheck told me Tuesday.

Even Michael Morton maintained his graciousness when I asked what he thought about the prosecutor who wronged him returning to prosecuting.

“I don’t wake up every morning gnashing my teeth and shaking my fist at, you know, ‘where’s John Bradley?’ I’ve literally and figuratively moved on,” he said.

“At this stage of the game, I wish him well,” Morton said. “And, you know, adios.”

Morton’s Houston-based attorney John Raley, who worked the case for free, and fought Bradley at every turn as he tried to stymie Morton’s appeals, was a tad less gracious.

“I’m not aware of any evidence that he has learned the lessons of the Morton case,” Raley said of Bradley. “His actions in the future will answer that question.”

Part of me thinks everybody, even John Bradley, has the right to make a living, to learn from mistakes and to get on with life after grievous errors.

The other part thinks Bradley is still a danger to justice everywhere, even 8,000 miles away.

I’ve said repeatedly on this blog that I’m a believer in redemption. It’s the Catholic in me – I may not be a churchgoer any more, but what I learned while I was stays with me and still shapes how I think. The thing is, as we Catholics also know, you can’t be absolved of a sin until you stop committing it. Other than one brief feint in the direction of acknowledging his responsibility in the Morton saga, John Bradley has never shown any indication that he thinks he did anything wrong. If it were up to him, Michael Morton would still be in jail, Ken Anderson would still be on the bench, and the evidence that exonerated Morton and ousted Bradley and Anderson would be in a box somewhere, if it hadn’t been destroyed. So count me in the tad-less-gracious group here. It’s fine by me if John Bradley wants to put his life back together, but he can do that outside the practice of law. Flip burgers, sell cars, groom dogs, dig ditches, paint houses – there’s tons of honest, dignified jobs John Bradley can hold that won’t put him in a position of power over someone’s freedom. If he truly wants redemption, he knows what he has to do to earn it. Grits, who is more gracious than I, has more.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged Barry Scheck, District Attorney, DNA, Election 2012, innocence, Innocence Project of Texas, John Bradley, Michael Morton, Palau, Texas, Texas Forensic Science Commission, Williamson County | 1 Comment

The Mexican abortion option, one year later

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Exactly as predicted.

The Alamo flea market sits right off South Texas’s lengthy Highway 83; a sprawling, dusty, labyrinth of a place. Under canopies in the converted parking lot, vendors in dark sunglasses stand behind tables heaped with piles of clothing, barking in Spanish and hawking their wares. The air is hot and muggy, thick with the scent of grilled corn and chili.

Customers browse simple items—miracle-diet teas, Barbie dolls or turquoise jeans stretched over curvy mannequins—but there are also shoppers scanning the market for goods that aren’t displayed in the stalls. Tables lined with bottles of medicine like Tylenol and NyQuil have double-meanings to those in the know: The over-the-counter drugs on top provide cover for the prescription drugs smuggled over the border from nearby cities in Mexico. Those, the dealer keeps out of sight.

I’m here to look for a small, white, hexagonal pill called misoprostol. Also known as miso or Cytotec, the drug induces an abortion that appears like a miscarriage during the early stages of a woman’s pregnancy. For women living in Latin America and other countries that have traditionally outlawed abortion, miso has been a lifeline—it’s been called “a noble medication,” “world-shaking” and “revolutionary.” But now, it’s not just an asset of the developing world.

As policies restricting access to abortion roll out in Texas and elsewhere, the use of miso is quickly becoming a part of this country’s story. It has already made its way into the black market here in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, where abortion restrictions are tightening, and it is likely to continue its trajectory if anti-abortion legislation does not ease up and clinics continue to be closed.

Over the past several years, dozens of states have restricted abortions. Since 2011, at least 73 abortion clinics in the nation have shut down or stopped providing services; and more than 200 abortion restrictions were legislated throughout the nation. Despite the passage of Roe v. Wade more than 40 years ago, states with pro-life politicians are still gunning to reverse the ruling—in the words of Rick Perry in 2012, “my goal is to make abortion, at any stage, a thing of the past.”

Yet these myriad restrictions on women and abortion providers have set the stage for women to skirt medical institutions to take charge of their own health. A similar story has already been written in many countries around the world, where pro-life legislation has inspired similarly creative solutions. Today, throughout Texas—from the Rio Grande Valley to El Paso—miso’s story is being drafted anew. And in this narrative, it is Latin America that has answers for the United States.

There was a NY Times story about this less than a month after HB2 passed last summer, and so far things have played out exactly as expected. I guess it’s good that there’s still an option for so many women, one that’s clearly better than coat hangers and the like, but it sure is depressing that said option is a black market pill that’s supposed to be taken in conjunction with another pill and which can be harmful if not taken in the proper dosage. How any of this is good for women’s health is of course a mystery. But it’s where we are today, and it’s where we’ll be tomorrow and the next day until we get a Legislature that will undo all this damage and a federal appeals court that doesn’t suck.

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged abortion, Mexico, misoprostol, Texas, The Lege | Comments Off

Texas blog roundup for the week of June 30

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged blog roundup, TPA | Comments Off

HISD redistricting underway

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the Houston Independent School District now includes all of the former North Forest ISD. The addition of all that new territory, and especially all those new voters, means that the existing HISD Trustee districts will have to be redrawn. HISD is going through that process now.

The Houston Independent School District will launch a series of four community meetings next week to hear feedback about a draft plan to redraw trustee districts.

The first meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, at Shadydale Elementary School, 5905 Tidwell 77028.

With the annexation of North Forest ISD in 2013, 56,000 more people were added to HISD, necessitating the redrawing of all nine trustees’ areas to comply with federal election law mandating that population be distributed evenly throughout the entire school district.

Trustees voted at their last regular meeting to send a draft plan to the community. Three additional meetings will be held in July:

Pin Oak Middle School (4601 Glenmont, Bellaire 77401) 6:30 p.m., July 8

Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St. 77092) 6:30 p.m. July 10

Austin High School (1700 Dumble St. 77023) 6:30 p.m. July 15

The board will receive feedback from the meetings and is expected to vote on a final redistricting plan at its August meeting.

For more on the redistricting plan, including materials reviewed by the board and the proposed map, click here.

Sorry I didn’t post in time for the first meeting, but there are three others. A draft map is here, and the associated presentation with all the before-and-afters including population mixes is here; both are PDF file download links. Greg has had a look and doesn’t think there will be too much fuss as not to much is changing at a high level. You never know with redistricting, of course, so don’t be surprised if someone expresses unhappiness about this. The one question I don’t see answered is if implementing this plan will require all Trustees to run for re-election in 2015, as members of the Texas Senate and SBOE, both of which have four-year terms, are required to do after the standard decennial redistricting. That wasn’t the case for HISD in 2011, however, so perhaps it will be just the Trustees elected in 2011 on the ballot as usual. Anyone know the answer for sure?

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged Election 2011, Election 2015, HISD, HISD Board of Trustees, Houston, North Forest, redistricting | 1 Comment

Uber is working hard to make itself unlikeable

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s almost as if it’s a deliberate part of their business plan.

“We’re in a political campaign, and the candidate is Uber, and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi,” Travis Kalanick, the CEO of ride-sharing company Uber, said while on stage at a conference in late May. “Nobody likes him, he’s not a nice character, but he’s so woven into the political machinery and fabric that a lot of people owe him favors.”

Kalanick wasn’t bluffing. Uber really is the candidate: It has been interviewing potential campaign managers–real ones, from real presidential campaigns–for months. A source close to the hiring process told me, “They want somebody who has been steeped in that political warfare.”

And for good reason.

In the process of trying to force regulators to concede to its enormous popularity, “Uber” has become, in some ways, a loaded political term. And observers and participants alike are questioning, in real time, how much government interference is too much.

Uber, which in June was valued at $17 billion, appears to be launching a full-scale political operation—complete with backroom operators and face-saving strategists.

To combat governmental hostility, Uber has hired political muscle all over the country: in D.C., it has the Franklin Square Group (Apple, Google). In New York, it has Bradley Tusk (Michael Bloomberg’s former campaign manager). In Chicago, it has Michael Kasper (the lawyer who got Rahm Emanuel on the ballot). Additionally, it has lobbyists in Miami, Baltimore, Houston, and Denver.

And Uber’s not the only member of the new sharing economy who’s gone political. Airbnb, a housing and rental service estimated to be worth $10 billion, has hired one of the most-connected operators in New York—and even formed its own “grassroots” political organization.

Kalanick (who did not respond to multiple requests for an interview) looks like a television preacher, appears on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Instagram, and once joked to a journalist about how the success of Uber increased his desirability to women: “Yeah, we call that the Boob-er.”

For a time, Kalanick’s Twitter avatar was the cover of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead—which he has repeatedly said was not the sort of bold political statement some have made it out to be. (In other interviews, he has indicated Rand has influenced his thinking.) But it is difficult to not see some parallels between Uber’s business model and libertarianism.

Given that, it’s not surprising that Uber is gaining friends on the right side of the political aisle. For example, Grover Norquist, the anti-tax activist, on Thursday Tweeted “Today, there are two political parties/movements in America. One is UBER, the other is with taxi commission. Choose.”

Overwhelmingly, the political types who openly support Uber—Norquist and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, to name two—are the ones who were demonizing regulators long before the phrase “call an Uber” had ever been uttered. But now, of course, the phrase has been said millions of times in multiple languages across the globe.

Companies like Uber—along with Airbnb and less popular services like Zilok (which lets you rent “anything” from strangers)—make up the sharing economy, a community in which individuals rent out their possessions or their labor, and businesses act as middlemen, helping to arrange plans. Uber and Lyft (another ride-sharing service) will connect passengers with drivers, but won’t provide a car. Similarly, Airbnb will introduce homeowners to those looking for a place to stay, but doesn’t own properties.

The distinction of not owning any hardware, sharing economy companies would like customers and regulators alike to believe, should make all the difference when it comes to the law. Except, it doesn’t—at least not yet. The fact remains that Uber and Airbnb have built multibillion-dollar empires by operating in places where they are illegal, and so they are turning political to protect themselves.

Jesus. As you know, I’ve been basically supportive of the efforts to revamp Houston’s vehicle for hire ordinances. I believe the existing taxi industry does not adequately serve the whole city, I believe there is room for the market to grow with the new services, and I think Houston’s emerging image as a dynamic place to live would benefit from including the newcomers and would suffer from excluding them. But as I’ve also said, Uber in particular has done an amazingly effective job of alienating the people they should be courting, with their decision to go rogue and start operating as if they’d been approved even though they’re still not legal, thus putting their drivers and potentially their customers at risk while utterly disregarding the concerns of the existing players. I’ve marveled more than once at how a company with that much venture funding, and that much at stake because of it, could be so cavalier about the process that will ultimately determine whether or not they get to do business in a given city. I suppose this is one answer to those questions.

(Side note: While I have generally lumped Uber and Lyft together in these discussions, it strikes me that Uber has been by far the worse actor of the two. Lyft has also had drivers charging for rides, but they followed Uber’s lead, and overall my impression is simply that they’ve been less obnoxious, at least as far as I can see. Maybe there’s more going on that I haven’t seen, but this is how it looks to me.)

One has to wonder if Uber and its allies are self-aware enough to realize the potential for political consequences, in particular for undermining their own efforts. Campos made an interesting observation last week:

H-Town City Council takes next week off then comes back after the Fourth of July. I am thinking the next big issue before them is the vehicle-for-hire ordinance. Let me say again that I don’t have a dog in this hunt. That being said I’m thinking don’t put your money on the Uber and Lyft movements. First of all I think they have pi__ed off folks here in H-Town by operating illegally. Second of all I think they have been completely outflanked by the disabilities community. Uber and Lyft don’t have an answer to their concerns. Thirdly, their demographic isn’t a political force in our burg – they don’t vote. Fourthly, Uber and Lyft don’t have any roots in our community and that has to count for something – don’t you think? Stay tuned!

I’ve generally been of the opinion that Council would accommodate the newcomers, at least in some fashion, but I’ve also said that there isn’t much of an early indicator how the vote will go. What I do know is that if this turns into a partisan fight, the Republican side is outnumbered. Counting CM Costello, who isn’t much of an R these days but who is a self-proclaimed supporter of Uber and Lyft, there are seven Rs out of 17 votes on Council (Mayor Parker gets a vote, too), so at least two crossovers would be needed. That could certainly happen, but most other large cities are predominantly Democratic, and I don’t think having Grover Norquist and Marco Rubio as Uber’s champions will do them much good in those environs. But hey, they’re obviously so much smarter than the rest of us, so I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Annise Parker, Grover Norquist, Houston, Houston City Council, Lyft, Marco Rubio, Stephen Costello, taxis, Uber | 4 Comments

One less food desert

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox:

With high hopes of more to come, Mayor Annise Parker, Council Members Stephen Costello and Dwight Boykins, the Houston Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and others broke ground on the first project to target a Houston food desert. With financial assistance from the city, Pyburn’s owner John Vuong is building a first-class grocery store to serve South Union and surrounding neighborhoods. The store is scheduled to open the first quarter of 2015.

“An estimated two-thirds of Houstonians are overweight or obese and a high percentage of them live in food deserts with no access to fresh food,” said Mayor Parker. “This forces families in these areas to rely on unhealthy processed or fatty foods from convenience stores and fast food restaurants. I am excited that we are able to take the first step to address this problem that impacts the overall health of our residents and am confident there will be additional opportunities for grocery stores in other food desert areas in Houston.”

“Everyone should have access to fresh food, no matter the zip code,” said council member Costello. “I am grateful to the Vuongs for recognizing the need and reconfirming their commitment to serving the community. Pyburn’s will not only provide fresh meat and produce to South Union, but will also create jobs for our city’s youth and spur economic development in an area ripe for more industry.”

Vuong and his family own and operate 11 stores, nine of which are located in Houston. They have extensive experience operating in low to moderate income areas. The new venture, which must create a minimum of 25 jobs, will be the next generation of the company’s stores, named Pyburn’s Farm Fresh Foods. The funding agreement with the city requires that the store be designed to provide customers with a shopping experience equal to that of grocery stores in high income areas of Houston. In addition, there is room at the site for additional complementary development. The loan agreement prohibits uses inconsistent with community revitalization, such as liquor stores and pay-day loan establishments.

“My family purchased the land at Scott and Corder over eight years ago and this opportunity to partner with the City of Houston allows us to realize our dream of bringing healthy fresh food choices to South Union and the surrounding communities,” said Voung. “We are humbled by this opportunity to invest, serve and bring over 25 new jobs to this community.”

Council member Dwight Boykins is excited the new store will be located in his council district. “As a child growing up on welfare, my walk to school took me by this site,” said Boykins. “I am thankful to the mayor, the Voung family and all the other people who worked so hard to secure this opportunity for my community.”

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to purchase healthy food for their family,” said Yael Lehmann, Executive Director of The Food Trust. “We applaud this initiative by the City of Houston to increase access to grocery stores in underserved areas,” said.”

The City is providing a performance-based loan of $1.7 million for predevelopment, land acquisition, construction and equipment. The total project cost is estimated to be $3.7 million. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds awarded to the Houston Redevelopment Authority for economic development projects will be used for the project. Funding is available for additional projects and HRA will work with potential partners on a case-by-case basis to determine eligibility for building or revitalizing grocery stores in food desert areas.

To combat food deserts in Houston, which has fewer grocery stores per capita than most large cities in the country, the Mayor, partnering with Council Member Costello, The Food Trust and Children At Risk, created the Houston Grocery Access Task Force in 2011. At the end of 2012, the Task Force issued their report, Roadmap for Encouraging Grocery Development in Houston and Texas. Economic development tools, such as performance-based loans, were highlighted as key opportunities to increasing access to fresh food. The report can be accessed here.

The Chron story is here. We first heard about this proposal in December. Council passed an update to its ordinance about the minimum distance a retailer that sells beer and wine must be from schools and churches in January to allow supermarkets to be built in some places where they would otherwise have been forbidden. Here’s a Google map link to where this Pyburn’s Farm Fresh Foods is going up. According to CultureMap, the closest existing grocery store is an HEB at Scott and Old Spanish Trail 1.2 miles away. That’s not that far, but if you live south of Corder it could get to be a bit of a hike, especially if you depend on public transportation. Be that as it may, I think it’s a good thing to encourage this kind of development in parts of the city that don’t have it regardless of whether there are any associated health benefits to it. I do hope someone is going to follow up with a study, however, because if there really are health benefits we as a country should pursue this kind of development more aggressively, and if there aren’t we should at least be careful to not make dishonest arguments in favor of it.

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Food, glorious food | Tagged Annise Parker, Children at Risk, Dwight Boykins, food deserts, Food Trust, grocery stores, Houston, Houston City Council, Houston Redevelopment Authority, John Vuong, obesity, Stephen Costello | Comments Off

Don’t kill no-kill

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t like the look of this.

Stricter enforcement of a previously obscure state regulation is threatening the no-kill movement across Texas and could result in animal shelters euthanizing tens of thousands of additional pets each year, advocates warn.

A “clarification” of state rules by the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners last August already has sparked a court case and caused widespread confusion among city officials and private groups.

At issue is the veterinary care provided to animals in municipal shelters and privately-operated animal rescue organizations.

Under its rules, the Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners requires the same level of medical care and attention for shelter dogs and cats as they would receive from a private veterinarian. That means volunteers and fosters cannot perform routine care, such as administering intake vaccinations, without a trained vet present. It also means shelter veterinarians must provide individual care to each shelter animal upon intake.

Shelters say that requiring a veterinarian be present at all times would bust their budgets and reverse cities’ efforts to reach and maintain the no-kill status of euthanasia rates at or below 10 percent. Without full-time vet staff, animal advocates say, shelters eventually would fall back on euthanizing more animals since state law allows trained staff to administer lethal injections to animals.

“There’s no need for this policy,” said Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, a leading animal advocate in the Legislature who has sponsored numerous humane treatment bills. “We already have high-kill shelters and this would just exacerbate that. They’re just going to turn into euthanasia centers.”

TBVME Executive Director Nicole Oria said the Board always has interpreted the law in this way to protect public health and safety. Shelters, she said, will not be targeted by the agency because it only takes action when it receives a complaint.

Shelter veterinarians and their advocates, however, worry that could leave them open to investigations sparked by disgruntled former employees, volunteers or rival groups.

There’s already been one disciplinary action taken against a no-kill shelter that stemmed from two complaints, one of which turned out to be spurious. I’d like to see some more clarity in the law to ensure that the interests of the animals are being put first. I feel reasonably confident that Rep. Farrar will file a bill to that effect at her first opportunity. But let’s not wait that long till we get this straightened out.

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged BARC, Houston, Jessica Farrar, no-kill shelters, Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, The Lege | Comments Off

Mayor Parker discusses her possible political future again

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

After making a rousing speech at the TDP convention, Mayor Annise Parker talked about some possible paths she could take for a future statewide campaign.

Mayor Annise Parker

Parker said she would be interested in running for any number of statewide positions when her third and final two-year term is up in 2016 – even Texas’ top job.

“I would absolutely consider a statewide ballot effort for the right seat,” Parker told the Houston Chronicle, adding that she doesn’t have an exact plan drawn up at this time. “And as the CEO of the 4th largest city in America, I could be the governor of Texas.”.

The 58-year-old said she would be “eminently qualified” to be comptroller of public accounts, Texas land commissioner or sit on the three-member Texas Railroad Commission.

The only jobs for which she isn’t interested? Lieutenant governor and U.S. Congress. “Respectfully to members of Congress, I’m the CEO of a $5 billion corporation, and I make decisions every day. I don’t want to go talk about things. I want to do things.”

I’ve discussed this before, and I’m mostly not surprised by Parker’s words. The one office I hadn’t foreseen as a possibility was Land Commissioner, but between veterans’ issues and the leases that the GLO manages and grants on occasionally urban land, it makes sense. And of course the Railroad Commission is all about oil and gas regulation, and Mayor Parker spent 20 years in the oil business before entering politics. Other than the RRC, which has six-year terms for its three Commissioners, the candidacy of Mayor Parker or anyone else for these offices is contingent on them not being won by a Democrat this year. As awesome as that would be, it would throw a wrench into the works for the large number of potential up-and-comers now waiting in the wings.

For her part, Parker is watching the political trajectories of two other Houston women: state Sen. Sylvia Garcia and state Rep. Carol Alvarado. A fellow former mayor who now sits in the state Senate, Kirk Watson, is also on her list of rising stars, as are Mayor Julian Castro and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.

The twin brothers from San Antonio are widely accepted to become the default face of the party after this year’s statewide election. Speaking to the Chronicle after his speech in a packed convention hall Friday evening, the congressman would not preview where his political trajectory might lie.

“I’ll look at all opportunities where I can be most helpful,” said Joaquin Castro. He added he hasn’t yet decided whether he might run for another office, such as U.S. Senate. Some see him as a natural foil to Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

His brother, tapped by President Barack Obama to be the next housing secretary, is also considered one of the most viable statewide or national candidates from the party, although some worry whether his political standing will suffer at the hands of Republicans in Washington as so many other cabinet secretaries have in recent years.

Representing Texas in Washington, U.S. Reps. Marc Veasey and Pete Gallego repeatedly made the “best of” lists of many state party leaders this weekend.

In Dallas, state Rep. Rafael Anchia and Sen. Royce West are ones to watch, they said, while Sylvester Turner is another prominent Houstonian with political potential.

I’ve discussed the bench and the possible next step for a variety of Dems before. One person who isn’t mentioned in this story but should be is State Rep. Mike Villarreal of San Antonio, who has been previously mentioned as a candidate for Comptroller and who has announced his intent to run for Mayor of San Antonio in 2015. Winning that would move him up a notch on the “rising stars” list as he’d be a Mayor with legislative experience; you can add Rep. Sylvester Turner to that list if his third try for Mayor of Houston is the charm in 2015, too.

Besides the RRC, there is one prize that will remain on the board for 2018 regardless of what happens this year.

“It’s very different to run for statewide office unless you have statewide name recognition,” said [TCU poli sci prof James] Riddlesperger, who said the sheer amount of money statewide candidates in Texas are forced to raise to be viable pushes some out of the race before they can get started.

“It’s not like doing it in New Hampshire or South Dakota. We have six or seven major media markets and it’s enormously expensive to get statewide recognition,” said Riddlesperger. Keeping this in mind, he said the Democrats should keep a close eye on who could unseat Cruz in 2018.

“I suspect there would be a huge amount of national money that could potentially flow into that election,” he said.

Indeed. I mean, the amount spent in the 2018 re-election campaign for Ted Cruz on all sides will likely rival the GDP of several small nations. The story suggests US Rep. Joaquin Castro as the very-early-to-be-leading choice to take on Cruz, but I suspect we will hear a lot of other voices before all is said and done, whether or not there are fewer incumbent Republicans to oppose at that time. I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about this since we have some pretty damn important elections to focus on this year, but file that all away for future consideration.

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged Annise Parker, Carol Alvarado, Comptroller, Election 2014, Election 2015, Election 2018, Governor, Joaquin Castro, Julian Castro, Land Commissioner, Marc Veasey, Mayor, Mike Villarreal, Pete Gallego, Rafael Anchia, Railroad Commission, Royce West, Senate, Sylvester Turner, Sylvia Garcia, Ted Cruz, Texas | Comments Off

A lesser overpass

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not very happy with this.

A City Council delay in contributing funds for a contentious East End overpass will likely lead Metro back to build a span only for its light rail line and not drivers, and without some of the attributes transit officials and some nearby residents said they wanted.

[…]

The delay in receiving $10 million from the city could have a detrimental effect on whatever is built, as Metro presses ahead. Final agreement between the city and Metro regarding the money Houston committed to an underpass or overpass missed a Monday deadline set by Metro, sparking another spat between transit and city officials.

At the same time Wednesday that City Council members were delaying their commitment, Metro’s board was approving a design contract for the overpass. Transit officials are also planning the first public meeting about the overpass design on Tuesday.

The goal was to develop an overpass with traffic lanes, and add features like murals and amenities to make the overpass more palatable, not just a concrete overpass for the light rail line. All of that is now moot, as the city delays and Metro moves ahead, Metro chairman Gilbert Garcia said.

[…]

When Metro moved forward, the decision angered Houston Councilman Robert Gallegos, who asked last week for a delay in handing $10 million over to Metro for the project.

That delay stretched from one week to two because of the upcoming July 4 holiday, and then to 30 days at the suggestion of Mayor Annise Parker, who said she was just hearing about some of Gallegos’ concerns.

Gallegos said he wants to research the level of contamination, whether it should be cleaned up and what can be designed that will protect the community.

“It is not about pushing for an underpass at this point,” Gallegos’ chief of staff, Danial Santamaria, said. “It is concern about the contaminants.”

Metro officially approved the overpass plan in late May. I understand why they want to move forward already, but it’s not clear to me why a relatively small amount of money like that $10 million should have such a large effect on the final design. Surely there must be some way that sum can be covered even if the city backs out of the original agreement, which was made with the understanding that Metro would build an underpass. Given that the underpass option is off the table at this point, I feel strongly that every effort should be made to make the overpass as palatable to the East End residents as possible. Let’s not mess this up over a small sum of money.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Gilbert Garcia, Harrisburg line, Houston, Houston City Council, light rail, Metro, overpass, Robert Gallegos | 6 Comments

What do the Mayors want?

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Action on climate change.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group that represents the leaders of 1,400 cities, each of which is home to at least 30,000 people, has called on the Obama administration and Congress to “enact an Emergency Climate Protection law that provides a framework and funding for the implementation … of a comprehensive national plan” to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

If members of Congress understood the urgency of climate change as well as the nation’s mayors do, we might not be in as much of a screwed-up climate situation as we are in today.

The resolution, which was approved by delegates during four days of meetings in Dallas, expresses strong support for the EPA’s draft rules on power-plant pollution. It also calls on Congress to hurry up and extend renewable energy tax credits.

Another resolution approved by the group endorses the establishment of Obama’s proposed $1 billion climate-adaptation fund.

“[R]esiliency efforts, especially those regarding water and wastewater, not only save lives and taxpayer dollars but also play a key role in preparing cities for the challenges they face from these events,” the adaptation-related resolution stated. “[C]ities currently face several barriers to properly planning and implementing resiliency efforts, including funding and financing challenges, insufficient permitting and regulatory flexibility, a shortage of data and modeling information, and a lack of communication and partnership among communities.”

[…]

Another resolution approved on Monday “encourages” the group’s members to “prioritize natural infrastructure,” such as parks, marshes, and estuaries, to help protect freshwater supplies, defend the nation’s coastlines, and protect air quality amid worsening floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires.

Laura Tam, the sustainable development policy director at San Francisco-based urban affairs think tank SPUR, described that resolution as a “statement that de-polarizes climate adaptation.” After all, Tam told Grist, “Who can argue with the premise of encouraging cities to protect waters, coasts, plant trees and improve air quality?”

A higher federal minimum wage.

Mike Rawlings oversaw many minimum-wage workers as top executive at Pizza Hut.

Now, as the mayor of Dallas, he’s trying to determine what a living wage is for city residents and city contract workers.

The minimum wage debate has taken center stage as leaders of cities big and small across the country look for ways to help fix growing income inequality.

“The biggest problem in America … is income disparity, and we see it in Dallas,” Rawlings said. He and other mayors have suffered state and federal budget cuts, watched residents’ household incomes decline or flatten and seen many new jobs concentrated in low-paying fields.

As a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour languishes in Congress, cities and states are taking matters into their own hands, creating a patchwork of minimum-wage rates across the country.

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Dallas on Monday, a majority of mayors voted to adopt a resolution to raise the federal minimum wage, sending a message to congressional leaders about how serious the issue is.

Voting has not concluded, and Rawlings said that he was going to vote for the resolution.

“It’s healthier for our economy, neighborhoods and businesses to have a living wage,” he said. “The economy has been stagnant because the lower end doesn’t have disposable income to spend.”

Marriage equality.

[Monday], June 23, at its annual conference in Dallas, the U.S. Conference of Mayors overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on federal courts, including the Supreme Court, to expeditiously bring an end to marriage discrimination against gay couples nationwide.

Dozens of mayors, including many from states that still restrict marriage to different-sex couples, including Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, and Georgia, were among those who led passage of the resolution.

The resolution, which passed by voice vote, states: “The United States Conference of Mayors reaffirms its support of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and urges the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, to speedily bring national resolution by ruling in favor of the freedom to marry nationwide.”

The text of that resolution is here. When would the Mayors like these things? Now would be nice.

Posted in National news | Tagged climate change, Congress, Dallas, Environmental Protection Agency, gay marriage, Mayors for Freedom to Marry, minimum wage, SCOTUS, Texas, U.S. Conference of Mayors | Comments Off

Bill King gets on the reimagining bus

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve made plenty of sport about Chron columnist Bill King’s failure to acknowledge Metro’s proposed new bus routes despite his longstanding argument that Metro should be prioritizing bus service over light rail, so it’s only fair that I acknowledge that he has finally gotten into the game.

I recently read somewhere that Metro’s prescient critics were blasting Metro’s Reimagining campaign as a plot to reduce the bus service so that Metro could save money.

The Reimagining campaign is looking at ways to schedule and route buses so that service would be more frequent and more predictable. Both are important factors in building ridership. If you have to wait too long or cannot depend on a bus showing up when it is scheduled, you are likely to look for another way to go.

The draft plan calls for less service in some areas, but an increase in frequency in higher-volume areas should more than make up for any lost volume from low-ridership areas.

Of course, any cutback of service to a particular area is going to bring howls of protest from those neighborhoods, and the politicos may force Metro to back off from some of the changes it has planned.

But from a pure “get the most out of the system” standard, this is exactly what you would expect and want Metro to be doing.

Frankly, I am having a hard time understanding the criticism. If you look through the work that has been done on the plan, it is incredibly detailed and appears to have been undertaken in a logical fashion. The complexity of some of the analysis is above my transit pay grade, but other transit buffs I respect, such as Tory Gattis of Houston Strategies, have given the draft plan high initial marks.

[…]

Metro showed a modest but significant uptick in bus ridership last year.

Further, I see nothing in the works that has been done on the Reimagining campaign that smacks of any dissembling.

I take it at face value that it is an honest attempt by the board and management of Metro to react to the steady decline in bus ridership over the last decade.

I would have preferred if they had started the process a little sooner, but hey, better late than never.

Of course, no one knows how well the plan will work, or if it will work at all. But all we can do is try to improve the service, making adjustments as we go.

And I don’t see how continuing to beat up Metro, when they are doing what many of us have advocated for years, advances the ball.

If someone has specific criticisms of the plan details, that is fair game. But condemning the attempt is not.

See here, here, and here. The proposal was unveiled on May 8, almost two months ago, during which time King has written approximately 173 columns on pensions and partisanship, but hey, better late than never. King’s lamentation that some of his allies in the anti-light rail brigade aren’t doing their part to contribute to the transit discourse now that they’ve been given what they’ve been saying they wanted for all these years is…let’s just say “precious” and leave it at that. He doesn’t say what part of the Internet he was strolling through when he happened across this unworthy commentary – I bet I could make some pretty good guesses – nor does he quote any specifics from it, so that’s about all we can say. Be that as it may, I appreciate the effort. It’s a big and important deal, and the more people we have taking it seriously, the better.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged Bill King, buses, Houston, light rail, Metro | Comments Off

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