Tag Archives: Houston

Interview with Council Member Pam Holm

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Wrapping up my interviews with candidates for Houston City Controller is Council Member Pam Holm, the incumbent in District G. Holm is a native Houstonian and a longtime citizen activist who serves fulltime as Council Member. She is Chair of … Continue reading →

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Upgrading Market Square

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Market Square, the historic but largely overlooked park on the north end of downtown, is set to get a facelift. With the opening of Discovery Green and the Houston Pavilions, the south part of downtown Houston has been the center … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Holm goes on the air

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via Mary Benton, we have the first non-Mayoral TV ad of the season, from Pam Holm: My thoughts: – Basically an intro ad, though a fairly substantive one. Holm’s pitch – she’s a strong financial manager who’ll keep a sharp … Continue reading →

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Corrections, clarifications, and conundrums

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is a followup to my post from this morning about the 30 days out reports. I’m sure there will be more of this stuff to come, from plenty of folks, but this is what I’ve got as of now. … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member MJ Khan

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Next among the candidates for Houston City Controller is Council Member MJ Khan, the incumbent in District F. Khan, a native of Pakistan, is a professional engineer who also has an MBA from Rice University and owns a real estate … Continue reading →

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More on the 30 days out report

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story on the 30 days out finance reports. It discusses the disparity in cash on hand totals between Annise Parker, Peter Brown, and Gene Locke. “[Parker’s] got a challenge to compete on the airwaves down the home … Continue reading →

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The Mayorals on mobility

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Carolyn Feibel discusses the Mayoral candidates’ plans for transportation and mobility. Two candidates, City Controller Annise Parker and Councilman Peter Brown, disagree on what Metro’s main focus should be. While supporting light rail, Parker said buses should remain the “heart” … Continue reading →

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More Alamo Drafthouse locations on tap

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some news of interest from Nancy Sarnoff’s new blog. The two Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in the Houston area are being sold to an investment team that plans to open at least seven more in Texas. Triple Tap Ventures LLC will … Continue reading →

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City fundraising reports, 30 days out

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the deadline to file the 30-days-out campaign finance report. You can look up your favorite candidate here, but I can tell you that more than half of them aren’t up as of when I publish this. I’ve updated … Continue reading →

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The Mayoral forum at Discovery Green

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In case you didn’t make it to the Mayoral forum at Discovery Green on Sunday, you’ll have another chance to see what happened later this week. The four candidates vying to become Houston’s next mayor emerged from the first major … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member Ronald Green

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We begin the final two weeks of interviews with Council Member Ronald Green, who is the first of the City Controller candidates I spoke to. Like his opponents in the race, Green is term-limited out of Council, where he is … Continue reading →

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So who will the Republicans vote for in this election?

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This article can basically be summarized as “Republican voters in Houston have a choice between three serious candidates who are all Democrats, and Roy Morales, and neither of those choices is particularly appealing to them”. I’ll put aside my sense … Continue reading →

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Seven sidewalk sins

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sid Burgess presents seven examples of how to be pedestrian-unfriendly. How many of them have you seen in the Houston area? I can say I’ve seen all seven. Thanks to neoHouston for the link.

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Updated list of all interviews to date

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder that you can click on the 2009 Election tab at the top right of the index page to get a complete up-to-date list of all the interviews I’ve done for the November cycle. There’s a total of … Continue reading →

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And the rest

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron devotes a fairly long article to the three candidates for Mayor you’ve probably never heard of. It’s fine to give a chance for everyone to be heard, but with the election a month out and the sum total … Continue reading →

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And here’s Locke’s first ad

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We were told that the Gene Locke campaign would begin running an ad on TV next week. It’s on YouTube now, so have a peek: It’s a good effort. The spot is biographical, and Locke has a substantive resume to … Continue reading →

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Metro passes civil rights review

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Federal Transit Administration told the Metropolitan Transit Authority in a letter last week that the civil rights review, which began in February, is complete. In July, the FTA informed Metro that it was deficient on two out of … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ray Reiner

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

And we’ll wrap up the HISD candidate interviews with Ray Reiner, who is also running for the open District V seat. Reiner is retired after a 40-year career in HISD, where he wore many hats, including three stints as a … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Getting in under the wire

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting a little late in the game to be making endorsements, but a number of them have come out in the past week or so. Here’s a roundup of the ones that I’m aware of. First, from the Harris … Continue reading →

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Once and again with the Ashby Highrise

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

There was a town hall meeting on Wednesday night on the status of the Ashby Highrise at Poe Elementary School just as there had been back in 2007 when the project first came up. Given that the developers have finally … Continue reading →

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Meta-campaigning

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I confess, I found it rather amusing to be quoted, along with a number of my blogging colleagues, in a press release sent out by the Peter Brown campaign that talked about how so many of us were talking about … Continue reading →

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Interview with Mike Lunceford

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One last time into the HISD races with Mike Lunceford, running for the open Trustee seat in District V. Lunceford is a petroleum engineer and longtime HISD volunteer who has served as a member of the HISD Bond Oversight Committee … Continue reading →

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Election tidbits for 9/30

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

While it’s an interesting story, I don’t quite see what the fuss is about Rick Perry using monetary rewards for volunteers who get people to sign up with his campaign. As the story notes, rewards of some kind, usually campaign … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member Jarvis Johnson

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Wrapping up my series of incumbent district Council member is Jarvis Johnson, who is finishing his second term in District B. Council Member Johnson has been one of the leading advocates for bringing wireless Internet access to various parts of … Continue reading →

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SNCF proposes high-speed rail route for Texas

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not the Texas T-Bone, but it’s a start. Last December, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Representative John Mica (R-FL) announced that the Federal Railroad Administration would begin accepting Expressions of Interest for the development of high-speed lines in … Continue reading →

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New TV ads from Parker and Brown

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Annise Parker has released her second TV ad. Before I embed the video, here’s some of the press release about the ad: The Annise Parker Campaign released its second TV ad today, on the theme of leadership. The ad will … Continue reading →

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Election tidbits for 9/29

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Dallas DA Craig Watkins’ Republican opponent. I thought he came across better than the commenters did, but I feel pretty good about Watkins’ chances nonetheless. Via Grits. Some love for Bill White, including the Bill Whites for Bill White … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member James Rodriguez

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Next we have Council Member James Rodriguez, who is serving his first term in District I. He’s been busy on a number of fronts, including the construction of the Harrisburg light rail line and the pending Dynamo Stadium deal, as … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of the Controller’s race

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Must be getting close to Early Voting, as the Chron has started writing about elections other than the Mayor’s race. Here’s their overview of the Controller’s race. The city controller position traditionally has been a big draw in municipal races. … Continue reading →

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Holm drops some mail

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We have our first indication of campaign expenditures outside the Mayor’s race as Council Member and Controller candidate Pam Holm puts out a mailer. Musings has a look, courtesy of @xtinagorczynski on Twitter. It’s a basic intro piece that establishes … Continue reading →

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Interview with Council Member Mike Sullivan

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We begin Round 2 of the incumbent district Council members with Mike Sullivan, who is serving his first term in District E. As with his colleagues, there’s been a lot of action in his district these past two years, and … Continue reading →

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Wolff speaks about Metro

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Metro board chair David Wolff giving a state of the system address in the op-ed pages. I suppose it’s a counter, if not a response to Bill King’s piece from two weeks ago; it offers a defense of the … Continue reading →

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City of Houston social media

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The City of Houston is doing it in the Facebook with the Twittering, plus some bonus YouTube action as well. Follow BARC, various Community Affairs offices, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and more, some of which update more often … Continue reading →

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School bus billboards

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

A cash-strapped school district’s gotta do what a cash-strapped school district’s gotta do. Faced with a projected $9 million to $12 million budget deficit this year, Superintendent Greg Smith told the Board of Trustees last night that it’s time to … Continue reading →

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