Tag Archives: City Attorney

“Stuck with H-GAC”?

Sure seems a bit late in the game to be raising this possibility. This November, Houstonians will decide whether the city should stay in a regional planning body that does not offer it proportional voting power. But City Attorney Arturo … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

And now we have a hue and cry about Whitmire’s campaign treasury

I’m surprised it took this long, to be honest. U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee and former Metro Chair Gilbert Garcia have requested the city attorney to investigate alleged campaign contribution limit violations by State Sen. John Whitmire, hinting at a … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Once again with the non-filers

Same story in July as in January. A dozen candidates running for elected positions at Houston City Hall failed to file required campaign finance reports in July, continuing a sloppy reporting period for the slate of candidates hoping to lead … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Once again with the non-filers

So how much money does Whitmire have available for his mayoral campaign?

It’s already a lot, and it could be a whole lot more. State Sen. John Whitmire is kicking off his mayoral campaign with a $10 million war chest, most of it drawn from the money he has amassed over decades … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Are you nostalgic for some strip club litigation?

Then this is your lucky day. The legal fight over the striptease business in Houston has heated up, again. Two topless bars are suing the city of Houston over a controversial, years-old legal settlement they say unfairly hampers business at … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Darian Ward resigns

Adios. Mayor Sylvester Turner’s press secretary resigned Friday afternoon, three weeks after news broke that she had been suspended for routinely conducting personal business on city time and failing to release public records. Ward sent or received roughly 5,000 pages … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council may vote on joining SB4 litigation tomorrow

It will happen, though perhaps not tomorrow. Houston City Council is poised to vote [this] Wednesday on whether to join litigation challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ new “sanctuary cities” law, days before the case’s preliminary hearing in San Antonio. The … Continue reading

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mayor Turner names new City Attorney

From the inbox: Mayor Sylvester Turner has announced his selection of Ronald C. Lewis as the new city attorney. Like the mayor, Lewis is Harvard educated and has run his own law firm. “I wanted a lawyer’s lawyer, someone highly … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mayor Turner names new City Attorney

Resign to run has kicked in for Council members

Another change that our new term limits law has wrought. Houston elected officials who become a candidate for another elected office are now automatically required to resign their current seat, uncharted territory for city officeholders who previously had not been … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Resign to run has kicked in for Council members

Packing heat at the zoo

Yeah, this won’t cause any controversy. Houston Zoo officials have been forced to remove long-standing “no guns” signage from the city-owned property after a prominent gun rights attorney filed a complaint, marking the first visible local example of a new … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Supreme Court rules HERO must be repealed or voted on

Ugh. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Houston City Council must repeal the city’s equal rights ordinance or place it on the November ballot. The ruling comes three months after a state district judge ruled that opponents of Houston’s … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

What now for road projects?

What do we do with road projects that were going to use ReBuild Houston funds now that the Supreme Court has ruled the 2010 referendum to have been illegal? A necklace of neighborhood streets encircling Hudnell’s home is among the … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What now for road projects?

On regulating city lobbyists

Still a work in progress, it would seem. Four years after Mayor Annise Parker’s administration tightened Houston’s lobbying rules and pledged to enforce them, not a single person or firm has been cited despite records showing that many lobbyists have … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ethics Commission rejects Bell’s complaint

No go. The Houston Ethics Commission has ruled against mayoral candidate Chris Bell’s complaint that City Hall was letting Rep. Sylvester Turner start the race with a $900,000 head start in fundraising. […] Bell argues that Turner’s legislative account should … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two city race updates

Item one: We have another candidate for Comptroller. Jew Don Boney, who sat on City Council for three terms in the 1990′s, will run for City Controller, he told the Chronicle Wednesday. Boney joins Houston Community College trustee Carroll Robinson … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Two city race updates

Mayor Parker testifies at HERO repeal petition trial

Monday was Mayor Parker’s turn to take the stand at the trial over the validity of the HERO repeal petitions. You’d think this would be a momentous occasion of high drama, but since this whole thing is about technicalities and … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mayor Parker testifies at HERO repeal petition trial

Feldman’s parting memo

Outgoing City Attorney David Feldman shares his thoughts on the state of the city’s campaign finance rules as he makes his exit. City Hall began its attempt to use a federal court ruling declaring its own election rule unconstitutional to … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

First HERO repeal petition hearing today

Have I mentioned that this is a really busy month for big ticket courtroom action? Conservative opponents suing the city over its equal rights ordinance are pushing, along with several City Council members, for the upcoming case to go before … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on First HERO repeal petition hearing today

Donna Edmunson

From the inbox: Mayor Annise Parker has selected Donna Edmundson to be the new city attorney. Upon confirmation by City Council, Edmundson will become the first woman to hold the position. She has nearly 30 years of experience with the … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Donna Edmunson

Feldman resigns

Mayor Parker loses a key member of her team going into her final year as Mayor. City Attorney David Feldman on Friday announced that he plans to resign next month, citing, among other reasons, that he could better defend the … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HERO repeal lawsuit moved to federal court

And the bad guys are very unhappy about it. Conservative activists seeking to repeal Houston’s equal rights ordinance accused the city of stalling the issue Wednesday after city lawyers moved the opponents’ lawsuit over rejected ballot petitions from state to … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HERO repeal lawsuit moved to federal court

Remember Ray Jones

So now that the HERO-haters’ petitions have been rejected by the city for not having enough valid signatures after all of the petition pages that were not compliant with the requirements of the city charter were thrown out, the story … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Remember Ray Jones

HERO repeal effort falls short

Too bad, so sad (not really). Opponents of Houston’s new non-discrimination ordinance did not get enough valid signatures to force a November repeal referendum, Mayor Annise Parker and City Attorney David Feldman announced Monday. “With respect to the referendum petition … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Audit letters

There’s a thing called audit letters that I hadn’t known existed. We’ve got them for Houston, but we had not been making them public even though other cities do as a matter of course. Houston officials have blocked the release … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Audit letters

State Bar clears Feldman

I believe this brings to a close the last unresolved issue involving former CM Jolanda Jones. The State Bar of Texas has cleared City Attorney David Feldman of a grievance lodged by former Councilwoman Jolanda Jones that he mishandled an … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on State Bar clears Feldman

Council’s code of conduct

I’m not sure what to make of this. City Council is considering imposing a code of conduct on itself that would give it the power to reprimand or censure members. It already has the ultimate enforcement tool – impeachment – … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Council’s code of conduct

Interview with David Feldman

The main focus in Houston over the next few months will be Council expansion and redistricting. One of the people who will do the heavy lifting on this is City Attorney David Feldman. If you haven’t watched this video from … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2011, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Revising the city ethics code

I don’t know enough about the specifics of this to draw any firm conclusions, but it sounds reasonable enough from the description. The city is poised to significantly tighten its ethics rules, closing loopholes that allow lobbyists to avoid registration … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More on the red light camera Council vote

The fuller version of the Chron story addresses the question about whether the petition drive was lawful or not according to the city’s charter. “It is your absolute sworn duty to place this on the ballot,” [Mayor Annise] Parker told … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Interview with Mike Laster

Moving back to District F, today’s interview subject is Mike Laster. Mike is an attorney specializing in real estate, and was for six years a Senior Assistant City Attorney in the Real Estate Division of the City Attorney’s Office. Mike … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments