Tag Archives: Annise Parker

And we circle back to Uber and Lyft

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Took longer than we thought it would, but on we move to the next contentious debate. Companies that connect riders with drivers via smartphone and tablet applications could operate legally in Houston, subject to certain conditions, under a proposal to … Continue reading →

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City strikes two deals with CenterPoint

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One on street lights, and one on bike trails. Both are great news. All 165,000 of Houston’s streetlights will be converted to more efficient LEDs over the next five years, halving electricity use and cutting air pollution in what Mayor … Continue reading →

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Wilson’s petitions

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here, courteously sent to me by reader and regular commenter Mainstream, is a copy of Dave Wilson’s petition for a charter amendment to “prohibit men (who perceive or express themselves as women) from using the women’s restroom. The petition itself … Continue reading →

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Post HERO, watch for the petition drives

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the full Chron story about the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. I’m going to skip ahead in the story and focus on what the haters are saying and planning to do. Opponent Dave Welch, of the Houston … Continue reading →

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We’ve got some budget challenges coming

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some chickens are coming home to roost. Beginning next summer with fiscal year 2016, Houston will face a projected $142 million gap between expected revenues and expenses in its general fund, which is fed chiefly by property and sales taxes … Continue reading →

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HERO passes

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Finally. After nearly nine hours of chanting and tears from seas of opponents and supporters in color-coded T-shirts, Houston City Council passed an ordinance on Wednesday extending equal rights protections to gay and transgender residents. Despite weeks of discussion and … Continue reading →

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Today really is the day for the NDO vote

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And as we finally head for a vote, the hysteria and fearmongering have reached a fever pitch. In just five words, Mayor Annise Parker handed her increasingly vocal opponents exactly what they wanted in the battle against her proposed equal … Continue reading →

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Recall effort against Mayor Parker?

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The haters huff and puff with their last breath. Opponents of Mayor Annise Parker’s proposed Houston equal rights ordinance have vowed to take the issue to voters in a referendum, but now they’re seriously discussing a sort of nuclear option … Continue reading →

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Walk carefully

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Texas cities are not so safe for pedestrians. Yeah, I’m as shocked as you are. Houston pedestrians better cross with care. The city is the seventh most dangerous in the nation for people on foot, according to a new report … Continue reading →

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Hackathon II: Son Of Hackathon

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Houston Mayor Annise Parker today announced the City of Houston will host its second annual “Open Innovation Hackathon” on May 31-June 1 at the Houston Technology Center. This year’s Hackathon is also part of the National Civic … Continue reading →

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TransGriot on the current status of the NDO

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Monica Roberts wants to set the record straight about Mayor Parker and the latest version of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance that will (eventually, we swear) be voted on by Council. The local trans community asked for Section 17-51 (b) … Continue reading →

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A letter to Ed Young

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Found on Facebook, from an alumnus of Second Baptist School to Pastor Ed Young, reprinted in full because you need to see it. MY LETTER TO THE SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: Thank you again for featuring me in the Eagle magazine … Continue reading →

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Falkenberg on Wilson and the NDO

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg weighs in on the “Reverend RJ Ballard” email. The e-mail is the handiwork of Houstonians for Family Values, the group affiliated with none other than Dave Wilson. You may remember him as the old white anti-gay activist who … Continue reading →

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Why revenue caps suck

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been expecting this. Despite a booming economy that is the envy of much of the nation, the city of Houston could face hundreds of layoffs and cuts in service next year as it runs headlong into a revenue cap … Continue reading →

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City drops bid for downtown post office

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

So much for that. The city of Houston has withdrawn from bidding on the downtown post office, Mayor Annise Parker wrote in a letter to City Council members Tuesday. City officials said they wanted to keep their options open in … Continue reading →

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NDO delayed two weeks

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I thought it would be over by now, but it’s not. A proposal to extend equal rights protections to gay and transgender Houston residents, which had been swiftly advancing to a City Council vote, stalled Wednesday as council members voted … Continue reading →

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Today is the day for the non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday’s open Council session and today’s vote will provide one last chance for fearmongering before the NDO finally passes. Among clergy trading pulpit for soap box is the Rev. Ed Young, senior pastor at Houston’s Second Baptist Church, who denounced … Continue reading →

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Metro still aiming for an overpass

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be glad when this is settled. Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said they must consider the need to extend the line east of Hughes Road, the potentially costly and time-consuming underpass construction, and the potential environment fallout after a discovery … Continue reading →

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Another expansion of single stream recycling

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Mayor Annise Parker and Harry J. Hayes, Director of the Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD), are pleased to announce the addition of 62,000 to the City’s popular automated curbside recycling program. As part of the expansion, residents … Continue reading →

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NDO vote will be next week

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The proposed non-discrimination ordinance was on Council’s agenda yesterday, but it did not come to a vote as it was tagged, which means it’ll be voted on next week. The Chron’s preview story gave some insight into what we should … Continue reading →

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Council hears NDO testimony

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It went about as you’d expect. Houston is the last of America’s largest cities not to have local anti-discrimination protections, a fact some lauded and others condemned Wednesday during the first opportunity for public comment on Mayor Annise Parker’s proposed … Continue reading →

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Planning to plan

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not really sure what to make of this. “We’ve had a lot of planning in this city and most of us continue to do a great deal of it,” said Central Houston president Bob Eury. “What we haven’t had is … Continue reading →

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GHP endorses proposed NDO

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Greater Houston Partnership came out in support of Mayor Annise Parker’s proposed equal rights ordinance, giving the measure a boost as it heads to a City Council committee hearing on Wednesday. Parker plans to put the … Continue reading →

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More on the Bush Foundation literacy effort

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We had the preview story, now we have the rollout story about the efforts by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation to tackle the problem of illiteracy. The nascent campaign to improve Houstonians’ reading skills got a $300,000 kick-start Thursday … Continue reading →

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The city and the downtown post office

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure what all the fuss about this is about. Developers eager to purchase the high-profile U.S. Postal Service site downtown – envisioned in recent years as a park, outdoor amphitheater or a development with housing and entertainment venues – … Continue reading →

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Dallas and Seattle redoing vehicle for hire ordinances

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve said before that the review of Houston’s vehicle for hire codes will be a process and not a one-time deal, and that we ought to be prepared to review what we do now in another six or twelve months … Continue reading →

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Your daily Uber/Lyft update

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the Tuesday Council committee hearing at which the draft ordinance was reviewed. Despite having a newly-released draft ordinance in hand, City Council members spent a Tuesday committee hearing asking many of the same questions about regulating ride-sharing services as … Continue reading →

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Draft ordinance on vehicles for hire is out

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker puts another item on City Council’s to do list. A proposed Houston ordinance could legalize hundreds of for-hire drivers providing rides through smartphone applications, but would require those drivers meet the same permitting and safety requirements as taxicab … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker releases draft of non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Mayor Annise Parker today released a draft of her proposed Equal Rights Ordinance. The document is the result of more than two months of collaborative discussions with various stakeholders. “As I stated in my State of the … Continue reading →

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City asks court to let Ashby Highrise be built

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. The city on Friday asked a judge to let the Ashby high-rise project go forward after seven years of wrangling and a recent jury verdict in favor of nearby residents who oppose the 21-story tower planned for 1717 Bissonnet. … Continue reading →

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Council approves hoarding ordinance

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I think they’re on the right track. The Houston City Council unanimously approved an anti-hoarding ordinance Wednesday without a clear idea of how it will be enforced. The ordinance, which does not apply to single-family homes, clarifies when police can … Continue reading →

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City issues One Bin RFPs

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Mayor Annise Parker today announced the issuance of a Request for Proposals and creation of an advisory committee for the One Bin for All waste management and diversion project. The City of Houston invites submittals from short-listed … Continue reading →

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HPD’s good, bad, and ugly

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The good news is that the testing of backlogged rape kits has led to the identification of a serial rapist in Houston. Houston police on Tuesday for the first time identified a criminal suspect – a possible serial rapist – … Continue reading →

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Counting votes on the non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

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

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