Tag Archives: Houston City Council

First city campaign finance lawsuit action this week

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As you may recall, City Council candidate Trebor Gordon filed a lawsuit last month alleging that the city of Houston’s campaign fundraising blackout period was illegal. This week, a federal judge is expected to rule on a request for a … Continue reading →

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Lane Lewis announces for At Large #1

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Harris County Democratic Party chair Lane Lewis will run for an at-large city council position, he told Democratic activists Wednesday evening. Lewis, who has led the county’s party operation since 2011, is running to succeed Stephen Costello in At-Large … Continue reading →

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Valero’s special deal

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sorry, I just can’t get behind this. Companies routinely relocate to the city or state that lures them with the best tax break, but Valero wants Houston City Council to give its eastside refinery the same treatment without having … Continue reading →

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Repair or replace?

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Consider this an object lesson in the cost of deferring maintenance. A new Houston police headquarters and courthouse complex, discussed for decades, could reach a key turning point this week as Mayor Annise Parker seeks to force City Council members … Continue reading →

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City deficit not as big as feared

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This is a nice surprise. A huge budget deficit looming at City Hall – which has spurred talk of layoffs, service cuts, new fees and higher taxes – has been cut in half, relieving some pressure to scramble together a … Continue reading →

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Dallas City Council approves vehicles for hire revisions

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It was smooth sailing, relatively speaking. Starting in late April, ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft will be able to operate legally in the city of Dallas. The City Council on Wednesday voted 13-2 to overhaul the city’s ordinance for … Continue reading →

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There will be charter referenda next year

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Details are pending, but one way or another we’ll get to vote on some charter changes next November. City Council members on Thursday agreed that any city charter reforms, including changes to term limits, should go to voters in November … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker wants body cameras for HPD

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Houston won’t wait for federal funding before buying body cameras for all of the city’s uniformed police officers, Mayor Annise Parker said Wednesday, as activists launched a petition drive for an ordinance essentially mandating the mayor’s plans. Both the … Continue reading →

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Charter review gets set

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From Campos: This Thursday, December 4 the City Council’s Ad Hoc Charter Review committee will meet and several members of Council want the following in BOLD discussed. I have added a few devil’s advocate observations. BTW: All members of City … Continue reading →

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Uber to be available at Houston airports now

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This was part of the original vehicle for hire ordinance overhaul, to be implemented later. “Later” has now arrived. Uber and other app-based ride service companies won coveted access to Houston’s airports Wednesday when the City Council quietly passed new … Continue reading →

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Lyft to leave November 20

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

So long. Lyft plans to suspend its Houston operations on Nov. 20, according to a letter sent to Houston Lyft users. The San Francisco-based ride-sharing service is upset over the new regulations approved by the Houston City Council in August. … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Houston campaign blackout rules

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Late Tuesday afternoon, Houston City Council candidate Trebor Gordon filed a First Amendment lawsuit challenging a discriminatory Houston ordinance that prevents city candidates from fundraising until February. Gordon is a conservative candidate for Houston City Council at … Continue reading →

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Red light cameras: The final insult

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. In settling the lawsuit with camera vendor American Traffic Solutions, whose contract was supposed to run through 2014, the city agreed to pay the Arizona-based company $4.8 million. The city had $2.3 million in red-light ticket revenue on hand … Continue reading →

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Re-revisiting red light cameras

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This horse is dead. Please stop beating it. Four years after Houston voters rejected red-light cameras, the divisive issue unexpectedly resurfaced Tuesday when police officials presented figures indicating that removing the cameras made 51 busy intersections more dangerous. Auto crashes … Continue reading →

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Lyft leaving?

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry it’s not working out for you. Best of luck in your future endeavors. Less than a week before new city regulations take effect, one of two app-based, paid-ride companies is preparing to end its local business rather than use … Continue reading →

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McClelland wants more money for more cops

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And I want some answers before we go along with this request. Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland asked city leaders Tuesday for an additional $105 million over five years to hire hundreds of new officers as part of a plan … Continue reading →

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Council approves meaningless tax cut

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Such awful policy. The Houston City Council unanimously passed a nominal property tax cut Tuesday afternoon, the first rate reduction in five years, as the city for the first time runs into a revenue cap imposed by voters a decade … Continue reading →

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More lot protections

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. A stretch of Riverside Terrace, a rebound neighborhood known for its “large lots, mature trees and a view of the downtown skyline,” will be the first residential pocket in Houston where homeowners can use a new city code … Continue reading →

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Mayoral fundraising 2015

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, I know, another post about the 2015 election. I sure am doing a lousy job of not thinking about that just yet, but this raises an interesting point. Likely mayoral candidate Chris Bell is asking the city of Houston … Continue reading →

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Chartering

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more than just the Mayor’s race going on in 2015. Houston is guaranteed a frantic 2015 political season with an open mayor’s race on the ballot, but it could get busier still with growing talk of placing … Continue reading →

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Reminder: Uber and Lyft aren’t legal yet in Houston

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Drive for ’em at your own risk for the next month or so. New entrants into Houston’s paid-ride market can’t be licensed to operate for another month, but the transition is proving problematic as the companies and drivers rack up … Continue reading →

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Smoking ban extended to pedestrian plazas

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m okay with this. Main Street Square is now a smoke-free zone following the City Council’s decision Wednesday to expand Houston’s smoking ban to pedestrian plazas, marking the latest effort from the Parker administration to curb lighting up in public … Continue reading →

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More suspects arrested from the rape kit backlog

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

More good news. Houston’s effort to test a nearly three-decade backlog of sexual assault kits has resulted in new charges filed against 19 people, city officials said Monday, including 10 suspects identified and arrested for the first time. One of … Continue reading →

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Food trucks arrive downtown

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Welcome. Houston’s foodie community rejoiced Friday as Mayor Annise Parker welcomed propane-fueled food trucks downtown after a years-long ban, but more plans to loosen the city’s mobile unit rules are not likely to meet the same fanfare at City Council … Continue reading →

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Firefighter pension board makes an offer to the city

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

This was unexpected. The trustees of Houston’s firefighter pension, who for years have fought the mere mention of changes to benefits as Houston’s enormous pension burden has continued to grow, now are shopping a compromise proposal. Fire pension leaders say … Continue reading →

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Empower Texans to spread its virus to Houston

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Try not to get infected. Empower Texans said Sunday it will open a political outpost in Houston, a signal that the conservative political action committee may emerge as a player in upcoming municipal elections. […] On Friday, Empower’s fiscal policy … Continue reading →

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Interview with Melissa Noriega

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We round out the county races this year with the Harris County Department of Education, a seven-member board that handles federal grants and provides various programs for the many independent school districts in Harris County. It’s hard to believe, but … Continue reading →

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The revenue cap has already hit

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lovely. Houstonians will see their first property tax rate cut in five years as the city runs up against a revenue cap imposed by voters a decade ago. The modest rollback works out to $12.27 a year for the owner … Continue reading →

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Revising the historic preservation ordinance

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Gird your loins. Houston officials are preparing to revise the city’s historic preservation ordinance, a signature issue for Mayor Annise Parker that spurred a prolonged and divisive fight over property rights in her first term. That contentiousness has never fully … Continue reading →

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Body cameras for HPD

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be very interested to see how this goes. Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland is asking City Hall for $8 million to equip 3,500 police officers over three years with small body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement and … Continue reading →

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The limits of lobbying

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They do exist, as Houston’s cab companies recently discovered. More than a year of intense lobbying by established cab companies and tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to City Council members were not enough to hold off a … Continue reading →

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Some Republicans really want to make Uber a partisan thing

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A little adorable, and a little desperate. Uber hired political strategist David Plouffe this week to run what amounts to a national political campaign against the taxi industry. Ostensibly, this is a fight between large taxi medallion investors and a … Continue reading →

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Parker proposes new firefighter pension plan

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see about this. With the city of Houston facing huge and rising pension costs, Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday unveiled a proposal to put new firefighters in a separate, less generous plan that would do away with expensive automatic … Continue reading →

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And we (finally) circle back to food trucks

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve done HERO, we’ve done vehicles for hire, what other high profile issues are there out there? Oh yeah, food trucks. I’d almost forgotten they were still an agenda item, but they’re back and they should be getting a vote … Continue reading →

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