The Cost Factor

Rad Sallee begins to fill in the details regarding the cost structures for Metro's North and Southeast rail lines. The results aren't pretty:

The Metropolitan Transit Authority got federal permission last week to move forward with preliminary engineering on its planned North and Southeast lines, work that was halted in November while Metro revised its funding applications to reflect the switch from Bus Rapid Transit back to light rail.

That was good news. The bad news was the soaring cost estimates that came with it.

The Federal Transit Administration, using data provided by Metro, said in its letters that the estimated cost of the North line, which would run 5.5 miles from north of downtown to Northline Mall, has risen to $677 million, from $276 million. The Southeast Line, 6.8 miles from downtown to Palm Center, has risen to $664 million, from $158 million, the FTA said.

By comparison, the 7.5-mile Main Street line cost $324 million and needs $104 million in new rail cars and improvements.

The FTA also sent a review of Metro's proposals that attributes the increases largely to the higher costs of light rail than BRT, which uses special buses running on guideways. The increases also reflect light rail's higher ridership projections, extended through 2030, which would require 29 new rail cars and other infrastructure.

Then there are the rising costs of fuel, labor and construction materials. Although Metro's estimates assume 3.5 percent annual inflation, the FTA reviews describe this as optimistic and say Metro should "refine and update" its figures.

Letters from FTA regional administrator Robert Patrick advise Metro that the go-ahead on engineering is not a promise to fund final design or construction, and that Metro must still fulfill all federal requirements. Both lines are rated "medium" as candidates for the funding, FTA said.

In case you're not keeping score (and I'll bet most of you are) that's a 145% (401 Million) increase in costs for the North Line and a staggering 320% ($508 Million) increase for the Southeast line. By means of comparison, the much derided I-10 expansion is running approximately 133% (or $1.5 Billion) over cost estimates. While the raw numbers for the Katy Freeway expansion are eye opening, its important to look at percentages here due to the difference in scope of the project. Remember that the Katy Freeway will move more "passengers" in one day than the entire Metro Rail system will move in one quarter. Not much is ever made of the difference in scope, but its a real factor when considering cost overruns.

I wonder if there will be the same heartburn over Metro's plans that there have been over the Tx Dot overruns? I'm not holding my breath.

As is usual: Metro is ecstatic that they haven't been laughed off stage:

"We are excited about the positive report," Metro said in a statement. "A 'medium' rating endorses the North and Southeast Projects as competitive for federal New Starts funding."

All of which calls into question the Federal guidelines for New Starts funding.

At the end of the day I have zero doubts that Metro's toy train is going to be built. It's just too bad that there couldn't have been more serious discussions about building a real transportation system in its place.

Ah well.

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

Imagine that: Localized, demand driven, circulator transportation

Montgomery County grasps what Metro doesn't....

(from Renee C. Lee of the Chron)

Until about nine months ago, Janice McVarnish never worried about how she would get to the grocery store or doctor appointments because, like most folks, she used her car to get around.

That changed last June when her 1997 Saturn stopped running and she couldn't afford repairs on a fixed income. With no public transportation in Montgomery County, McVarnish, who has diabetes and other health issues, now relies on friends and taxis. And sometimes, when push comes to shove, the 57-year-old puts on her walking shoes.

But come this summer, McVarnish may finally have access to reliable and affordable public transportation. McVarnish could simply call to schedule a ride and a small bus will pick her up and take her to and from her destination.

The pilot project is part of a transit plan developed by the Montgomery County Transportation Task Force and the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Cost of the countywide demand-response service will be $2 to $2.50 for a one-way trip.

"It's wonderful that they're doing this," said McVarnish, who learned about the service during a recent public hearing. "I believe there is a tremendous need. I would use it, and I have a lot of friends I know would use it, because it's affordable."

Steve Sumner, chairman of the task force, said anyone who lives in the county will be able to use the service. The goal is to get people moving, particularly seniors, the disabled and low-income people who are accounting for a larger part of the total population as the county continues to grow.

The Montgomery County Commissioners Court has approved the plan. But it still needs approval from the Houston-Galveston Area Council's transportation policy council and regional transportation planning committee before it can be rolled out. Both bodies are scheduled to consider it next month.

That's a far better transportation model than Metro's "push everyone to the train" method of transportation planning and reveals what effective public transportation could be in Houston were the debate being conducted in an honest manner.

Instead we get the same "if you're not for the train you're anti-public transportation" or "I just want my car" dreck from either side. Congrats to Montgomery County for realizing, and then filling, a transportation need.

The return of the catapult!

Hey, you didn't think Mrs. White would be satisfied with a measley $5 Million did you?

The sudden collapse of EarthLink's deal to provide all of Houston with wireless Internet access is actually a lucky break. Houston made out nicely in the final settlement: EarthLink paid $5 million for defaulting on the deal.

Houston's plan B — free Internet service "bubbles" in 10 underserved areas — instead offers a laboratory in which to test the practicality of citywide Internet service. At the same time, the bubbles will bring online many residents whose lives can be improved dramatically by the free access.

It's an exciting opportunity, and Houston should take full advantage. Starting with Gulfton — the dense, low-income location of the first "bubble" — the city needs to provide hardware, training and marketing so neighborhood residents can hit the online landscape at a run.

Citywide wireless is an attractive notion. Fortunately, its flaws surfaced before the Houston build-out began. As other cities also discovered, universal access includes many more costs than EarthLink and other companies calculated. Who pays for maintenance and infrastructure if the operator later backs out? Whose service standards should be met? And while it seemed egalitarian, Houston's goal of wiring nearly the entire city was impractical, involving service to vacant lots and other dead zones.

The Internet "bubbles" will give Houston the chance to analyze these and other issues. The project should also prompt serious thinking about problems that will become pressing several years from now. Among them: the impact of unlimited computer access on residents' lives; how to keep unsupervised children from downloading improper content; how to relieve workers stressed by being accessible and on call virtually 24 hours per day.

So now the call is for computers, training and infrastructure to be provided to everyone in the neighborhood? All on the taxpayer dime of course. Because, Houston's not suffering from trinket governance that's harming the City's ability to provide basic services?

There are currently serious concerns about the City's ability to fund anti-crime programs, and Mrs. White wants to roll out the catapult to send an entire neighborhood to Circuit City?

And, why the sudden turnaround on Citywide Wi-fi? Just a few short month's ago Mrs. White was still singing its praises:

Meanwhile, Mayor White is right to be on the lookout for an alternative offer - preferably from a company with a business model that includes giving Houstonians citywide Wi-Fi in a timely, reliable manner.

When the entire wi-fi idea was rolled out I termed myself "cautiously optimistic" but that quickly turned to pessimism when I realized that the wi-fi would be a huge cost driver with limited benefit. The current plan is being sold as a group of wi-fi "bubbles" that provide connectivity to people who probably don't have wi-fi capable systems to begin with.

Of course, the answer is not to blanket the business centers with a wi-fi bubble (you know, someone who could pay for the service and fund its expansion) Nope, the calls now are for the City to spend even MORE money (money it doesn't have) to pay for computers, wiring and infrastructure for a system that's going to be generating exactly zero revenue.

All of this comes at a time of rising costs due to both contractual and market related reasons and a time when Houston should be looking to shore up central services and tighten its belt in anticipation of a weak National economy that's beginning to creep around the edges of the local economy.

Not smart. Fortunately for Mrs. White the Chron's arhival system makes it difficult for most readers to track her ramblings.

It's off to court we go?

The City plows ahead with its traffic requirements...

(from Mike Snyder of the Chron)

City officials have rejected the latest permit applications for the controversial Ashby high-rise, saying the developers must provide more information about traffic impact and take other steps before the project can be approved.

In returning the plans for the 23-story building to developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners Inc., city engineer Mark L. Loethen said they must supply more data about anticipated traffic volumes, including figures about traffic generated by similar projects in other parts of Houston.

Loethen also expressed concern that a planned driveway into the project at 1717 Bissonnet might cause problems, including encroachment into the westbound lanes of Bissonnet by large trucks backing into the driveway.

Morgan said he and his partner would work with their traffic consultant to provide the requested information and resubmit the plans, which they first submitted almost a year ago.

Although Mayor Bill White has said publicly that the city will not approve the project in its current form, Morgan said the outcome of the application process is not certain.

"We continue to believe we have followed all the rules and regulations that were in place at the time we submitted our plans," Morgan said. "We have a legal right to build this project as originally designed."

Political translation: If you do this thing, we'll see you in court.

And I'm wondering just how much sway "well, the rich neighborhood next door doesn't like it" will have as a legal argument. My initial guess is not much.

Remember: This project was sailing through the approval process until the Southampton residents got their dander up and sent one of the Vinson & Elkins lawyer to White screming about it. Then the initial approvals were "withdrawn" in a highly unusual move and justification was found (in the form of an archaic driveway ordinance) AFTER the fact.

I'm not sure which of Mayor White's "pro bono" legal team is going to tackle this case, but they had better be good at getting a lot of the original application details tossed out of the hearing. Either way the City's in for a long legal fight.

Big Train meets Little Train.

Big Train wins...

(from Rad Sallee of the Chron)

The Metropolitan Transit Authority may cut six blocks off its planned East End light rail line, leaving passengers short of the Magnolia Transit Center and much of the developing commercial area around Harrisburg and Wayside.

Metro board chairman David Wolff said Thursday that the roadblock is the former Houston Belt & Terminal Railway tracks, now owned by Union Pacific Railroad. The crossing, on Harrisburg between 65th and Oldham, is familiar to motorists and pedestrians delayed by freight trains.

Wolff said Metro had considered crossing the double tracks at street level.

"But it doesn't seem the railroad is too enthusiastic about that."

Metro spokeswoman Sandra Salazar later said UP would not agree to share its right of way with Metro trains.

UP officials could not be reached for comment, but the railroad often has cited the dangers of mixing freight operations with street traffic and pedestrians.

Metro has been planning the line almost since voters approved it in a 2003 referendum. Asked why the issue is surfacing now, Salazar said Metro initially hoped to obtain permission from the railroad for a street-level crossing.

In 2003, when Metro changed its plans from light rail to Bus Rapid Transit, thinking that was necessary to qualify for federal funding, the issue was moot because the buses would cross the tracks with other street traffic.

So, Bus Rapid Transit would have worked, but Metro pushed ahead with a plan that, it sounds like, they knew would have serious hurdles. Yet we're still being sold on the idea that at-grade rail is the "best and only" transit solution for Houston?


1 + 1 = negative three blocks. Nice math Metro.


OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston: A rail impasse.

A Stretch

OK, Mayor White, Listen up. If your friends at the Chron aren't buying your bull you might have a problem....

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Local Politics blog)

Houston is now the first city in Texas to sign a union contract with city workers who are not public safety folks (police officers, fire fighters). Here's the story on th contract with the 13,000-member Houston HOPE union.

After the historic vote today, Mayor Bill White said the contract protects taxpayers because it guarantees a "productive workforce." The workers feel valued, have some "predictability" in their wages, and, therefore, are less likely to be poached by the private sector, he argued.

"We can afford this contract," he added. "When you look at the numbers, it's not much more than the cost-of-living."

It will be interesting to see how that reasoning plays across Texas should White ever, you know, run for higher office or anything like that. You know. Just sayin'.

It's funny how Houston can "afford" projects related to groups with serious fundraising clout but funding is never available for the financially unconnected.

I'm sure that's just one of those quirks of the budget right?


Right?

Beverly Kaufman taking an Editorial beating.

The old saying "no good deed goes unpunished" seems to apply here....

First, Mrs. White...

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, the county's chief elections officer, Tuesday released a list of voters who might have voted illegally: 759 appear to have voted in both Democratic and Republican primaries, while 389 might have cast early ballots and then voted again on Election Day.

As Kaufman noted, voters new to the primary process might have been confused by campaign reminders to "vote twice in the Texas two-step," an allusion to the need to cast a ballot and then attend a precinct caucus for maximum influence on the Democratic Party's choice of presidential nominee. Others probably found themselves voting in the wrong primary and switched over. Some could have requested mail ballots and then, forgetting to mail them in, gone to the polls on Election Day.

Kaufman has turned the list of questionable votes over to the district attorney's office. A prosecutor said the public integrity section would review the cases for intentional double voting. However, the odds of organized voter fraud are low: Those seeking to illegally influence an election's outcome know to use different names.

(snip)

If nothing else, Kaufman and party officials should review the procedures whereby voters are logged into one party primary or the other. They should also examine the system that provides the names of early voters to polling place officials.

Voter confusion, albeit innocent, should not have carried the day so easily or so often.

Got that Kaufman? You're now responsible for the voting intelligence of those who have none. Nevermind that she's required to compile and track cases of voter fraud and turn it over to the DA's office, it seems that she's also now on the hook for what the campaigns said.

Which brings us to Houston's most opinionated red-head...

The melodrama with which Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman reported a list of suspected two-timing voters to the district attorney's office this week seemed more appropriate for irregularities associated with creative Enron accounting than voting.

There was a press conference and news release warning of up to 10 years in the pokey and a $10,000 fine for those convicted of the third-degree felony of knowingly voting twice. There were Kaufman's quotes to reporters about voters trying to double dip in both Democratic and Republican primaries "thinking they wouldn't get caught."

"I could have just turned all that over quietly," Kaufman says. But she chose to teach voters a lesson.

"I certainly am not on a witchhunt and I don't want innocent people thrown in the slammer," Kaufman said. "But I felt like making a big issue of it was the best way to educate the public on the importance of voting only once in an election."


While some voters are clearly in need of remedial voting instruction, Kaufman's approach seems more intent on scaring or embarrassing any guilty parties, rather than informing voters who were confused or mistaken.

Kaufman has no proof that any of the 1,148 voters on the list actually intended to break the law.

Again, a Chron opinion maker shows ignorance of the statutes. The burden of discovering intent doesn't rest on the shoulders of Beverly Kaufman. Her job is to compile the results and turn them over to the public integrity office of the DA. It's the DA's office that is charged with discovering whether criminal intent, or sheer ignorance was the root cause.

Of course, Li'l Red has to take some of the credit right?

But election judges and poll workers who neglected to scratch out names or check for stamps on voting cards bear some of the responsibility. And I'm sure former President Bill Clinton and journalists like me share in the blame for having a bit too much fun with the "voting twice" jokes.

I'm willing to bet that Li'l Red had much less of an effect on the voting mishaps than did Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, both of who uttered the "vote twice" mantra several times in the run-up to the election. A review of past columns reveals exactly ONE mention of the Texas Two-Step, Ironically, a quote from President Clinton:

"This is the only place in one election that you can vote twice without going to jail," former President Bill Clinton told supporters Wednesday while stumping for his wife at the Galveston County Courthouse.

Got that? She "quoted" President Clinton and then claimed "She and Bill" cracked sarcastic about the system. C'mon Li'l Red, you can do better.

Ah well, at least she's not beating the same point into the ground, over and over again right?


Still folks, lay off of Kaufman, she's just doing what she was elected to do, haughty editorials not withstanding.

Imagine the outcry if Ms. Kaufman didn't compile the list and turn them over to the DA's office....

My sinuses have given up

Yellow tree pollen everywhere.



Ah Houston in the Springtime.


Anyone else? And, more importantly, what have you found that works? I'm currently glowing I'm on so much allergy medication. Bluh.

Dining in Shreveport: Columbia Cafe

When you have 24 hours in a City like Shreveport, where the casinos are going to take up most of your time, there's typically not much thought paid to dining out. Such was the case on Friday evening as the wife and I prepared for a meal at Ralph and Kacoos because we had spotted it driving by on the freeway. Normally, when on the road, I'm not a big fan of chain dining, I have a tendency to gravitate toward those places that I can't find anywhere else or, at least, not near Houston. So, with my wife in the shower and me changing from driving clothes (shorts and a t-shirt) to "dining out" clothes (khakis and a polo) I decided to take a quick gander at the free advertising magazine that all motels put in your room.

I'm glad I did.

Because I found an ad for Columbia Cafe inside and made one of the better travelling dining choices ever.


Columbia Cafe is located at the corner of King's Highway and Creswell in Shreveport. The building itself is a restored 1930's house full of antiques and art by local artists. (for sale if you're so inclined. I wasn't but the art was nice)


The inside of the restaurant is dark and intimate, perfect for a romantic dinner.



Our meal started off with a bottle of 2005 A. Mano Primitivo. Primitivo is my favorite red varietal and I typically order one when its priced reasonably at a restaurant. Here we paid $24 for a bottle that retails for around $10. Not too bad. The entire wine list at Columbia was reasonable, with many selections in the $30-$50 range and a few high-end wines that people looking to impress other people would order. Not being one to try to impress, I picked the bottle with the screw-cap opening. (more on that subject in another post).

The wine was delicious, very figgy with spice and mineral flavors, and a smooth rosemary finish that just kind of lingered on the palate.

The natural pairing?

Our blue brie cheese plate with andouille sausage and a red wine reduction sauce:


Yum.

(I apologize now for the quality of the pictures, it was dark and my cell-phone camera doesn't do dark well.)

After eating all of the cheese, sausage and some of the dense, crusty artisan bread that was served alongside we were ready to order our entrees.

My wife ordered shrimp and polenta:


The shrimp was perfectly grilled and not over-salted while the polenta was dense without being chewy and very flavorful. It was the perfect high-end shrimp and grits with another outstanding sauce. This sauce was citrusy with a hint of sage and pepper. There wasn't much left when my wife was finished. She declared it one of the best meals she has eaten this year.

I ordered the Beef and Mushroom Risotto:



The risotto was creamy, almost (but entirely unlike) a savory rice pudding with bite. The beef was slow roasted and delicious. It had just a little bit of the pot gravy sprinkled on top with big slashes of parmasean scattered across it. The first bite of the roast was an eye-opener, the first bite of the risotto was amazing. The entire dish had a plate life of less than 20 minutes as all conversation at the table ceased, and the wife and I got down to the serious business of eating.

After we finished our entrees we ordered a raspberry and ginger creme brulee that wasn't around long enough to picutre, then we sat back and admired the unusual decor in the restaurant while we finished off the wine.



All in all, the tab (with tip) came in well under $150. That's not too bad for a meal consisting of wine, appetizers, entress and a dessert. The food was of excellent quality and very fresh, the menu eclectic, and seasonal. (the top of the menu read "Spring 2008" Coming from Houston where style at most restaurants is everything, it was comforting to be given a piece of office paper as a menu and to have a waiter who was friendly, but unobtrusive and willing to spare a moments conversation regarding the history of the place without being overly fawning.

The beauty of chef-driven, ingredients inspired restaurants such as Columbia Cafe is that, the next time we visit, the menu will be entirely different. I would have liked to see a few more "adventurous" choices on the menu, but I realize too that Shreveport probably doesn't have a large clientele that would appreciate sweetbreads or other exotic fare. In Houston the menu might be a little blah, but in Shreveport it was refreshing to find a place that served something other than the typical chain fare.


Columbia Cafe would certainly qualify as a good (not great) restaurant in Houston. The food was simple but well-prepared, the wine list was adequate and reasonable (although not too adventurous), the service friendly and the decor and ambiance was outstanding. Placing an eatery in a restored 1030's era home was inspired. As is, in Shreveport it probably ranks as one of the top 5 best restaurants in the area. That's not a bad place to be.


Salud!

Ah, Technology

Lower tax bills could be just a click away...

(from David Ellison of the Chron)

Getting your property appraisal lowered could be a little easier, and a lot faster, this year with an online dispute resolution program offered by the Harris County Appraisal District.

Under the new iSettle program, owners can get property values reduced without having to attend hearings of the Appraisal Review Board or even leave their homes.

HCAD experimented with online protests in 2006 with a pilot program called iFile, which allows residential and commercial property owners the option of filing protests online instead of by mail or in person. The next year, iFile was available for all property owners.

This year, iSettle has been added to boost the online protest option.

The district started sending out residential appraisals a week ago.

Last year, about 350,000 property owners protested their appraisal values. HCAD handles 1.7 million accounts.

If approximately 20% of your accounts are protesting, there MIGHT be a problem with the system eh?

Of course, a better idea would be to revisit Texas' antiquidated taxation system that bases wealth on property ownership and look to something that's more reflective of the modern economy, but then that would upset the Demcrats who staunchly maintain that all homeowners are "rich" and who fight vigorously against any meaningful tax reductions on that principle.

Of course, my principle is that a tax on increased value (that may not be realizable on the market) is a tax on an unrealized gain but that's just my financial background talking. What is unquestioned is that the current system is too subjective and open to interpretation, which leads to snafus like this or properties of local developers being undervalued for years.

The third leg of the financial aid stool

When the State argued the need to cut funding for Universities one of the rallying cries from the Republicans was: "Let them get loans!" It seemed at the time that cheap, easy to obtain credit was plentiful and students have been snapping it up, out of necessity due to rising costs, at record levels.

So what now?

(from Lisa Sandberg of the Chron)

The nation's credit crunch is taking a toll on a sector of the population that tends to be unemployed and untested when it comes to repaying debt: college students.

Nationally, nearly two dozen student loan lenders have announced they are restricting, suspending or terminating new loans to students through the Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFEL, the federally-guaranteed, low-cost initiative that provided college financing last year to 7 million students around the country.

That is making it more difficult for some students to secure low-cost loans for college, a panel of higher education experts told Texas lawmakers this week.

Don't expect relief in the private alternative loan market. Private loans, whose interest rates are not capped, unlike federal loans, are likely to cost more and have stricter credit standards.

What this means is that fewer and fewer students will be able to afford to attend College, and the old saw "well, work your way through" isn't applicable today because of the ever-increasing costs created by Repbulican-sponsored tuition deregulation.

(from Melissa Ludwig of the S-A Express-News via Chron.com)

Here's a familiar refrain — tuition and fees are about to go up again at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University campuses.

This week, regents for the two public higher education systems are expected to approve proposals to raise college costs by anywhere from 5 percent to 13 percent.

Though officials at nearly every campus claim they kept the proposed hikes down to 5 percent, the total increases could often be higher because they didn't count fees voted in by students to improve transportation, athletics, students unions and other special projects.

Since 2003, when lawmakers gave regents the power to set tuition, rates have gone up at least 40 percent statewide, and some estimates put it higher.

When lawmakers handed tuition-setting powers to regents, they required colleges to set aside 20 percent for financial aid, a program that has helped many poor students go to college, said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.

But families earning between $40,000 and $70,000 a year are not seeing much of that aid, only the higher bills, she said.

As is typical, this report ignores the crippling effect that tuition rates coupled with tightening credit markets have on families making $60-150K the REAL middle-class, not the inflated bottom third of the middle-class that Demcorats like to trot out as "working families". If you have children, and are making between 40-70K per year, you understand how ridiculous the "middle-class" mantra from the Democrats really is. If you're in the middle-class (the REAL middle class) then you understand how short-sighted and wrong-headed the Republican funding plan for higher education is.

If you're an administrator at a University you don't seem to understand much.

The point is that Texas has to find a way to fund the higher education of students whose parents who fall in the middle class, be it through grants, tuition assistance or cheap debt. Working a job is nice, but in today's market there are few jobs available for High School graduates that allow them to make the $10,000 per year they need now for tuition and books, while affording them time to attend class, study, and maybe (heresy!) enjoy parts of the normal student experience.

And yes, that latter is important. Especially when you're 18-21. When I went back to College I was in my 30's, I had a good job, was married, owned a house etc. But it took me 10 years in the work-force to get to that point. I wouldn't wish that on any High School graduate.

Yet, it's where we seem to be heading as a State.


The bottom line is the Republican plan (tuition deregulation and decreased State funding) isn't working, and the Democratic plan (disproportionate aid to a very slim slice of the population) doesn't seem to hold much promise either. We elect our representatives to work on these issues in a manner that provides the best solution to the widest range of constituents, understanding that you can't help everyone (nor should you). Re-regulating tuition costs would be one good first step, making education funding a priority would be step two. After that I'm open to suggestions, but its got to be something different than what we are doing now or we are going to lose a generation of Texas children.

I'm so confused...

OK, so which is it?

(from Matt Stiles of the Chron Local Politics blog)

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman told reporters this morning that as many as 1,147people voted twice in the primary earlier this month.

Of course, if one did that "knowingly," he or she could be prosecuted, and Kaufman is sending a list of names to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Quipping aside about the Chron's numerology issues, its important to not that "voter ID" wouldn't have solved this issue, even though its already being raised in the comments section of the post.

Since we KNOW who voted it stands to reason that they went through the process, their names were recorded properly at BOTH polling stations, so whether or not they had an ID probably wasn't germaine.

What probably happened is that a lot of new Democratic voters were confused by the process and voted both early and on the day that they went out to caucus. I'm also going to assume that most of this was done due to ignorance, and not outright malice. Again, the blame doesn't lie with the voter but with the incompetent way the Democratic party administered their election.


Unfortunately for the Republicans, not enough people showed up at their precinct meetings to make voter fraud a blip on the screen. Things like that tend to happen when you are outvoted 7-1 in some precincts.


In other words....nothing to see here, let's all just move on.

I "heart" wi-fi

The above is a proposed slogan for Bill White's administration who can't seem to quit the concept of taxpayer-funded wi-fi for some....

(from Brad Hem of the Chronicle)

Houston is aiming to turn EarthLink's lemons into the city's lemonade.

The company had to pay the city $5 million after defaulting on a contract to build a citywide wireless Internet network last year. On Monday, Mayor Bill White announced the city will use about $3.5 million of that money to build 10 free wireless network "bubbles" in low-income parts of Houston to give residents access they otherwise might do without.

The long-term possibility, White said, is that the bubbles could be connected and the areas between them added to the network, providing WiFi access across the city.

"It's a matter of connecting those bubbles," White said.

Monday's announcement launched the first bubble in the densely populated Gulfton area of southwest Houston. The city is establishing a committee to determine where future networks will be located. Build-out is expected to happen over the next two years.

Upload and download speeds on the network are about 3 megabits per second, said Nicole Robinson, director of the city's Digital Inclusion Project. Comparable DSL service can cost $29 a month.

If the song "Tiny Bubbles" just popped in your head you're not alone here. I'm humming that as I type this. You know you are as well so just roll with it.


The remainder of Hem's article is a series of quotes from wi-fi consultants who find this to be (WOW!) a great idea, and speculation over what the City could do to try to purty up this pig going forward.

Just another example of a case where saving one's political face overrides common sense in the silly world of Government financing. Think about it: several private companies looked at this and decided there was no viable profit to be found, as a result they backed off. The Government doesn't have to worry about petty things like "future viability" or "break even costs", all they have to worry about is that the revenue streams continue for the future. Revenue streams that are totally unrelated to the performance of the objective.

Which brings us to this point:

Upload and download speeds on the network are about 3 megabits per second, said Nicole Robinson, director of the city's Digital Inclusion Project. Comparable DSL service can cost $29 a month.

If a person cannot afford $29/month for DSL should they really be worried about buying a computer? Of course not, because eventually there will be calls for taxpayers to provide those as well. Right now its "charity groups" that are filling the void, but if the Government's driving demand there will be calls for them to offer up supply as well.

A better idea would be to invest the $5 Million into flood abatement or infrastructure items such as sidewalks or parks. You know, something people could really use.

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston: Mayor White continues digital bridge building!

Time for some R&R

I'm leaving this afternoon for Shreveport hoping to find a lot of this:


and not a lot of this:





Of course, I'm not so much of a heathen to be gambling on Easter.

Have a good weekend and a Happy Easter.

Must be a low hit count day at the Chron

How else do you explain these "scenesters" images of tween girls in bikinis? Especially in light of this?

(from Steve Jetton's About:Chron blog)

Whenever chron.com features one of those party reports, the traffic spikes like crazy.

Going for the "restraining order/ankle bracelet won't let me within 20 miles of the beach" crowd one would guess. I hear they provide high hit counts.


Sheesh.

Smoking Ban update.

Remember the howls of protest and dire predictions of gloom and doom that accompanied the Houston Anti-Smoking ordinance?

In reality, Not so much...

(from the Houston Business Journal)

Six months after the imposition of a city-wide smoking ban in enclosed public places, the Bayou City's hotel business is still booming, according to a poll taken by the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Houston.

The association found that the ordinance, which was passed in October 2006 and went into effect Sept. 1, 2007, has had almost no affect on profits or customer relations in the lodging industry.

"It is good to know that the worst of those fears proved to be baseless," said Joan Johnson, president of the HLAGH. "What we've learned from this poll is that those who prefer to smoke are resolved to the restrictions and those who don't want to be around it have been vocally supportive."

The poll also found that hoteliers who reported incidents where some "die-hard smokers" chose not to stay because of the ordinance, said those losses were replaced by people praising the policy.

While I'm against the smoking ban on free-market principle (a lot of places were already converting to "smoke-free" before the ban) my inner allergy sufferer agrees with these numbers. It's nice to be able to go out to a bar or a club without waking up the next morning with a screaming headache.

So..no...I'm not surprised by these numbers at all. You?

Not to be an I told you so....

But...I told you so...

All we need now is for Mrs. White to chime in around a week from now and we'll have hit for the "local news" cycle. (if you will)

Exactly one week and a day from the redhead's missive, Mrs. White answers the clarion call...

Harris County is the only major metropolitan area in the country without a public defender system to represent indigent defendants. The county should have one, and soon.

In the absence of a public defender office, judges appoint lawyers for poor defendants. This leaves the lawyers beholden to the judges. All too often, the jurists' wishes count for more than their commitment to defend their clients to the best of their ability.

Although judges are supposed to use an impartial rotating list of available attorneys, in practice the system is easy to manipulate in favor of particular lawyers who might be friends or political contributors. An attorney who displeases a judge can be removed from the appointment list.

Scandals involving the Houston Police Department crime lab's shoddy handling of evidence and false testimony, the poor quality of appointed attorneys in capital murder cases and the leadership failures at the district attorney's office have shaken public confidence that a poor person can get a fair trial here. While prosecutors are backed by a full staff of investigators and access to experts, court-appointed attorneys have far fewer resources. Often, judges deny them the funds to conduct a thorough investigation and mount a top-flight defense.

We now have run the bases, from a media perspective, on this story. Leave it to Mrs. White to close things out with a 'kitchen sink' argument for the PD's office. And, while I'm not sure what the HPD crime lab scandals or the leadership failures at the DA's office have to do with justifying the need for a PD's office, I'm sure it all makes sense to Mrs. White.

I could see tying the HPD crime lab scandals to the need for an independent regional crime lab, but I'm not sure how a PD's office would have stopped those scandals are you? I'm almost certain that a PD's office would be giddy with the anticipation of facing off against a scandal-ridden and ineffective DA's office, so I'm not really sure of the link there either. I also haven't seen compelling evidence that Houston's capital defense lawyers are significantly less qualified than the rest of the State. Using the rates of execution in the County isn't, in and of itself, proof of case that the defense attorneys are sub-par. If it's really a problem, the Chron has been mysteriously silent in its reporting on the matter.

Oddly enough I think that Chron.commons commenter "Juando" nails it with his question:

Would a public defenders office make us world class?

Indeed.


I'm not ready, at this point, to say whether or not a PD's office would be necessary or no, not based on some emotional pleas from the local media and criminal advocates groups. Let's roll out some hard data and see if the problems need to be addressed.

Oh, and let's get some answers for these questions as well:

- If "equal funding" with the DA's office is the goal, are we going to decrease the DA's budget (bad thing) or increase taxes to pay for the new office? (assuming the new office would cost more than the current system, I've seen numbers that claim the opposite would be true)

- How much "control" would the PD's office have over a Regional crime lab? (Because the big gripe about the HPD crime lab is that they are beholden to the police and the DA's office. Is being beholden to the defense any better?)

- Who would the PD's office report to? (The County Court? Houston City Hall? There's got to be budgetary oversight)

- How pandemic is the supposed scourge of "bad representation" that people are screaming about? (Would it be worse to have them defended by young, inexperienced lawyers?)


Details I know.

Five Years

Today marks the five year "anniversiary" of the 2003 Iraqi invasion a war that will go down in the annuls of time as, possibly, more divisive than the Vietnam War.

What the rest of the World is saying about it today:

Italy: Bush will not be stopped.

China: Reflections on five year invasion

Australia: Voices go unheard as Iraq carnage continues (Noam Chomsky)......Noam Chomsky? Who cares? Geez Australia c'mon.

Scotland: Iraq: the Key Players - Where are they now?

California: The Fifth Anniversiary of a Crime.



I'm struck by how evenhanded the coverage is by the rest of the World, including those Countries that oppose the war, while Americans provide the inflamed emotional rhetoric that we typically assign to others.

Editor and publisher has a good review of newspaper coverage in the US.

Finally: Let us not forget the soldiers who died fighting for their Country.

Regardless of your political persuasion, you owe a debt of gratitude to those who paid the ultimate price.

May God bless them and their families.

Fighting a brush fire with a squirt bottle full of gasoline.

I get that feeling when watching the fed blunder about trying to address the "recession".

(from Marcy Gordon of the AP via the Chron)

The government will free up billions of dollars at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, money that would be used to help home owners refinance mortgages on the brink of default.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which oversees the government-sponsored companies, was expected to announced a plan today that would ease mandatory capital requirements now in place, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

That mandatory cash cushion — now nearly $20 billion for the two — will be reduced by a third under the new deal. The freed-up money will go toward buying mortgages of struggling homeowners to enable them to refinance into more affordable loans.

The capital requirement for each company will be reduced from the current 30 percent to 20 percent, one person familiar with the discussions said. Under the deal, Fannie and Freddie will commit to raise additional capital. That could be done through special sales of stock or cuts in dividends. Together they will be expected to provide up to $200 billion in new funding for home loans, the person said.

This is certain to make people who overextended feel good, and to keep them from feeling the full force of the ramifications stemming from bad financial choices they made, but it won't affect the American habit of overspending one iota. The Government is fighting the symptoms of the disease and not the root cause.

Until American citizens and our Governments understand that spending outside of our means in a vain effort to have the latest gizmo is what got us into this mess, we're never going to dig our way out of said mess.


Bailing people out and reinforcing their behavior is like throwing gasoline on the fire.

When the cult of personality hits a speed-bump

It's no secret that I view Campaign Obama as more of a cult of personality than an actual "social change" movement. Obama is a personable guy with good speech writers whose shortcomings have (until now) largely been ignored.

That's changing a little with the Jeremiah Wright Jr. flap, but only a little...

(from Alan Turner of the Chron)

To many Americans, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's fiery pulpit pronouncements about race, terrorism and the federal government's alleged war on black youth seemed recklessly provocative.

But as Sen. Barack Obama, who for 20 years attended Wright's Chicago church, sought Tuesday to limit the sermons' damage to his campaign to become the nation's first black president, another view of the retired pastor's comments emerged.

Wright, supporters in the black clergy said, merely was adhering to traditions of Christianity and the black church. His comments were meant to generate thought, and seemed alarming only in the out-of-context glare of the national media.

"Listen to the average black revival or Sunday service," said the Rev. William Lawson, pastor emeritus at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. "You'll hear that we have a good God, but we have a nation that has been unfair to the little people. That's not a new thing."

Wright's comments about the nation have drawn the strongest response. In a sermon, Wright said that instead of blessing America, blacks should damn it for its mistreatment of them and suggested that the nation had brought the attacks of Sept. 11 on itself.

No doubt there's historic precedent regarding the black pulpit and speaking out on social roles. But it's a far stretch from "I have a dream" to "God Damn America" is it not?

It's undoubted that Obama will retain his core of black support as he passes over this speedbump. The question for his campaign is how many poor and middle-class white and Hispanic voters will be shaken off of the bus as it rolls over the rumble strip?

Unsurprsingly, Mrs. White has drank the kool-aid (and given credence to some untruths as well)

Even if Obama wasn't present, it's impossible to believe he never got wind of Wright's ludicrous explanation for the spread of AIDS (which, after all, slaughtered white gay men before spreading to African-Americans). White doctors did in the last century atrociously victimize black men in the Tuskegee experiments. But that cannot excuse a 21st century religious leader who spreads a baseless conspiracy fiction — one that could disastrously twist his community's health choices.

But context does mean everything in some of Wright's other statements. Decades of discrimination certainly explain the tone, and some of the harshness, in Wright's critiques of U.S. policies. (Some of that tone, it's worth noting, also reflects rhetorical traditions of black churches.)

Obama admitted to "being there" during some of these sermons...

Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.

There's so much more that I could go into on this but I'll leave it at that. This post isn't a "hit" on the Obama campaign. I don't think that Wright's sermons, in and of themselves, should be enough to sway your vote one way or the other. I'm opposed to an Obama Presidency because his economic and taxation agendas are seriously flawed, but allowing un-truths and half-truths to perpetuate because we are uncomfortable with the results makes us no better than the Southern Apologists who ignore the very real legacy of black oppression in the South.

It's real. There is anger and resentment on both sides. You can't explain one side's racist statements away as "thoughtful rhetoric" just because you endorsed the candidate for Presidency.

Ruminations regarding Kotkin's "Lone Star Rising"

As a proud self-identified "Houston" blogger I'm required by Section 204-b(3) of the "Bloggers' Code" to chew a cud or two over Joel Kotkin's excellent essay Lone Star Rising.

First, some snippets: (from American.com)

Houston possessed powerful assets. It sat on an enormous fresh-water aquifer, which today guarantees a water supply in a way that other growing cities, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, can only dream about. The area also abounded in natural resources such as timber and rich soil that was ideal for growing cotton. And when oil drillers hit a gusher in Spindletop, about 90 miles from Houston in East Texas, in 1901, Houston suddenly found itself positioned as the nearest city to some of North America’s richest oil and gas reserves.

None of this, however, adequately explains Houston’s ascendancy. Other cities enjoy better locations for shipping, richer agricultural resources, or similar proximity to oil fields. The answer, I have come to understand as I have worked in Houston as a reporter and consultant, echoes something that the late Soichiro Honda once told me: “More important than gold and diamonds are people.” This critical resource, more than anything, accounts for Houston’s headlong drive toward becoming not only the leading city of Texas and the South, but also a player on the global scene: it is emerging as one of the world’s great cities.

It took a certain type of settler, back in the 1830s, to look at a sun-blasted, humidity-drenched, mosquito-infested flatland far from any major river or port and think: “Here is where I’ll make my success.” That tradition of hopefulness and determination can readily be found in the city to this day. As Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg notes, roughly 80 percent of Houstonians, according to his annual local surveys, consistently agree with the proposition that “if they work hard, they can succeed here.”

(snip)

Most important, Houstonians worked desperately to ensure that their city emerged from the early-1980s oil bust as the undisputed center of the energy industry. Many observers saw the oil bust as a harbinger of Houston’s inevitable decline. And indeed office construction nosedived along with rents, housing prices, and the job market. Yet, looking back, it is clear that Houston turned the oil bust to its advantage.

Using the lure of its relatively inexpensive office space and housing stock, as well as its ties to energy executives and leading engineers, the city attracted firms to locate there. In 1960, Houston was the home of hardly any major energy companies, ranking behind New York, Los Angeles, and even Tulsa; today, 16 large companies make their headquarters there, more than all those cities combined.

Rather than lapsing into a tailspin in the 1980s, Houston continued its rapid growth. A place with fewer than 300,000 people in 1930 is now a mega-region with a population nearing five million. The population of the metropolitan area itself, which did not even rank in the U.S. top 20 in 1940, is today the fourth largest in the country. The 2006 census estimate pegged Houston’s population at 2,144,491, only 700,000 behind third-place Chicago. In 1960, Houston was the home of just one Fortune 500 company; as of 2007, the area has 23. And the city is well positioned to benefit from its important place in the energy industry, a sector of the global economy that is only going to grow in strategic importance in the early 21st century.

By "people" I believe that Kotkin was referring more to the hardscrabble small businessman than he is the Downtown development establishment or those inside City Hall. I would imagine that Kotkin would more closely identify "growth" with the owner of a Mobile Taco truck taking advantage of an opportunity than a developer trying to use City Hall to his advantage but that's just me. Some (such as Off the Kuff guest blogger Alexandria Ragsdale) see it differently:

Those couple paragraphs really just make me think more about what's still left for the government and individuals to do to make Houston a place where everyone succeeds. Houston has tons of success stories in every demographic, but there are still big numbers of people that are struggling here. Our diversity is a strength, but let's be careful not to take that for granted and make sure that people succeed here because of what Houston (and the county and the state) do and not in spite of what they don't.

They see it as the job of Government to make the opportunities for those who (in their mind) don't have them. They support regulation that protects us from ourselves and that protects us from that which we find uncomfortable. They're willing to overlook inconsistencies in policy enforcement in order to achieve the desired result.

On the other side of the ledger are those who favor the light hand of Government to refulate little. A few people being caught in the wash are a small price to pay to acheive the progress realized by free markets.

For myself I'm probably closer to the latter than the former, in that I'm tired of a City Council that tries to legislate away every unseemly thing but I'm also wary of a Government that provides aid to some where others find none while asking us to forget the past to make way for a future that's been dictated to us by groups with clever names sometimes masking their true purpose. I'm also very wary of a Houston that's increasingly being governed by psuedo-governmental beauracracies who have not only the ear of City Government, but who control the purse strings as well. This financial control is propelling Houston closer and closer to Trinket Governance and further away from the unsexy nuts and bolts of City Administration that provide the underpinnings for growth.


One good thing about Kotkin is that his writing has the ability to get all sides of Houston's vast political landscape focused on how to best accomplish the goals that we would all like to see: A vibrant, growing Houston that's a world economic force who's economy is diverse enough to withstand tough economic times.

Hopefully, in the course of this discussion we'll come to realize what are priorities are as well.

- A "third way" for transportation which takes a fresh look at Houston's transportation needs outside of the "Metro LightRail" and "blacktop everything" corners both sides have backed themselves into.

- A better way to spend Billions than to fund construction of Hotels and a Downtown park that's "sort-of" almost entirely unlike Central Park in New York.

- A close look at our flood control needs including how to mitigate the effects of the next Allison-type event.

- A way to ensure robust development while protecting the integrity of established neighborhoods.

- Ways to clean our air and waterways that don't stifle the job growth that industry provides us.

- Stopping the insanity of subsidizing Billionaires with sports arenas all so that a select few can feel "World Class".



Kotkin set the bar pretty high. I wonder if Houston has the political will to reach it?


Other eyes:

BlogHouston: Kotkin: "Lone Star Rising"
Off the Kuff: Houston, the Next Great World City
Houston Strategies: America's Next Great World City (+ tourism proposal)
Houston's Clear Thinkers: America's Booming Opportunity City

No Sex in Houston

Sex businesses that is...

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

The city's long fight to regulate sexually oriented businesses finally may be over, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by 11 strip clubs in Houston.

The move affirms the constitutionality of the city's ordinance, city lawyers said.

"We hope owners of these businesses will now comply with the law," Mayor Bill White said. "People in the neighborhoods have been telling us for a long time they want this kind of enforcement."

The clubs appealed a provision that barred the businesses from being within 1,500 feet of any school, day care center, church or park. Other parts of the city's law, such as a requirement that dancers stay three feet away from clients, already have been upheld by the federal courts.

"Obviously, we're very pleased," said Don Cheatham, a senior assistant city attorney. "We hope that this is the end of a long and costly litigation"

The city has spent more than $1.2 million defending the ordinance.

The appeal was filed by attorneys representing the Colorado Bar & Grill and The Men's Club, and at least five other large businesses helped in the effort, including the Ritz Cabaret, Treasures, Trophy Club, Gold Cup and Centerfolds. Several other businesses, including some bookstores, also joined in the appeal.

(snip)

The city remains involved in a lawsuit in state district courts with the 11 clubs that appealed to the Supreme Court. That suit involves "amortization," or the amount of time the owners should get to recoup their investments before having to close or relocate.

That trial is scheduled for April 21. Zummo said he is confident the city will prevail and get those businesses to move.

"We don't see any conceivable way that someone has not recovered their investments since 1997," he said.

Under city ordinance, however, clubs with naked dancers could dodge the distance requirement by covering up their dancers, at least minimally.

"These clubs can go to 'bikini bars' and they get away from the licensing end of it, because they say 'we're not a sexually oriented business anymore,' " Yorek said. "It's a very complicated issue."

Unmentioned in this story was the fact that some of these businesses would have been in compliance with the ordinance when originally constructed, but recent development has placed them outside of the law. That USED to be called ex post facto legislation and was frowned upon. That title has (recently) changed to "following the will of the people." Typically this is done "for the children" if the proponents frame it correctly. The same justification has been used in California to outlaw most home schooling and in Washington D.C. to take guns away from law abiding citizens.

Ashby High rise rolls forward

And there was wailing and gnashing of teeth throughout the land (or, at least...Southampton)

(from Mike Snyder of the Chron)

The developers of the controversial Ashby high-rise said Monday they are moving forward with their long-delayed permit applications because city officials haven't responded to their compromise offer to build a smaller development.

The decision by developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners revives their original 23-story project that has been on hold since November, when the developers agreed to delay seeking permits after an outcry from surrounding neighborhoods led to discussions of new development regulations at City Hall.

Morgan and Kirton said their revised proposal calls for a 22-story building with a smaller footprint and fewer residential units — changes they said would eliminate any possibility the project would cause unacceptable traffic congestion.

The developers said they submitted this idea to city officials three weeks ago but had received no reply.

"We feel as if we have no choice but to move forward," Morgan said, adding that he and Kirton had instructed a consultant to begin walking the original permit applications through the city's review process.

Andy Icken, a deputy city public works director, said the pending permit applications for the project would be reviewed under a decades-old driveway ordinance that the city is now applying to certain high-density development projects. These reviews typically take 11 days, Icken said.

I'm not really sure what else the public expected them to do? They're paying interest and mortgages on this property while their event horizon for realizing a ROI moves further and further into the future. It's time for them to fish or cut bait.

Of course, cutting bait will probably involve a lawsuit against the City claiming the White administration changed the rules after the fact in an unfair attempt to single out their development. I'm no legal expert but....

Does anyone want to lay some bets that this will result in a multi-million dollar settlement crafted by another lawyer doing pro-bono work for White?

The question then becomes how long it takes for Mrs. White to issue an editorial explaining to Houston why these Millions are dollars well spent.


You wait and see.

Bud Light Journalism

You have to feel for Andrew Dansby. You have an assignment to cover the R.E.M. show at SXSW in Austin, you show up late and can't get in. so you file this report and pray no one notices....

Well, the line seemed deceptively small, only that line was for the people who weren't going to get in. This was confirmed by the guy with the headset who said, "We're at capacity. This line will not move. You're not going to get in."

I did manage to catch a few minutes of the band from the TV set in the Stubbs bar before moving to the street behind the stage where the sound was better and the guards were unfriendlier and the breeze was chillier.

BlogHouston has a good time tracking what they call the Froot Loops bureau where local news editors crib stories from local TV newscasts. This doesn't qualify as "cribbing" a story, because the reporter was certainly there, but it's at least the same as going to a local bar to watch a sold out event via closed circuit TV. The "Bud Light" bureau if you will....

Happy St. Patrick's Day

While most people (including me) celebrated yesterday (In Ireland they celebrated on Friday so as not to interfere with Holy week) today is actually St. Patrick's Day so wear your green and lift up a pint this evening wherever you are.

And, whatever you do, stay away from singing "Danny Boy" or drinking green beer.

Have one of these instead:




Slainte!

Follow the bouncing ball....

Lisa Falkenberg last Wednesday (03/12/2008)...

a series of scandals — from the tainted HPD crime lab to high-profile exonerations to District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's recent resignation — have forced anyone who cares about the criminal justice system in this county to question whether it isn't badly broken.

The Bloggers O' the Right on Friday...

Um, I’m not really sure what the crime lab scandal and Chuck’s resignation have to do with the creation of a Public Defender’s Office, but, her, it’s the Chronicle. They have to get their digs in where they can, regardless of the relevance to the topic.

State Senator Rodney Ellis and Barry Scheck on Sunday...

From our crime lab to the prosecutor's office to indigent defense, Houston and Harris County have deservingly received national ridicule for practices leading to the conviction of the innocent. It's time we took the necessary steps to repair our broken system.

The InterLeft on Sunday....

So if you don't care about such fuzzy-headed concepts as justice and equality, maybe you'll like the idea of saving a few bucks. Hey, whatever works.

All we need now is for Mrs. White to chime in around a week from now and we'll have hit for the "local news" cycle. (if you will)

S. Post Oak Land deal: Mayor White releases a memo.

Nothing to see here...

(from Mike Snyder on the Chron's Local Politics blog)

Mayor White took some questions at his press conference today about my story last week, and Rick Casey's column on Sunday, reporting the city's unusual use of its eminent domain power to obtain a small piece of land in the Galleria area for a pocket park. The mayor today also released this memo (PDF) to City Council members with background information that he thought would provide a better understanding of the transaction.

The mayor said he authorized the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to condemn the land in 2005, before developer Ed Wulfe tried to buy it for his BLVD Place mixed-use development. City Council, however, didn't authorize the condemnation until March 2007, eight months after Wulfe's company broke off negotiations with the twin brothers, Jack and Jock Collins, who owned the property.

White said he doesn't like to use eminent domain for parks or purposes other than acquiring right-of-way, but approved it in this case because the TIRZ couldn't come to terms with "a holdout landowner." The Collins brothers are challenging the condemnation in court.

The memo in question can be found here (.PDF). I encourage you to go and read it for yourself.

Anyone harboring illusions of two innocent little guys holding out against the evil big Government should pocket them now and continue to view this entire situation with eyes wide open. The landowners didn't purchase this land with the intention of quietly retiring there in order to spend the last of their days in the idyllic setting of S. Post Oak only to watch the City cruelly grow up around them. They bought the land on speculation, hoping that it paid out for them down the road.


That doesn't change what the City is doing however, which is helping a developer handle "a holdout landowner" who's refusing to bow to the will of the development lobby at City Hall. Sadly, for the brothers, it appears they brought a knife to a gunfight in this situation and are going to have to accept around 1/2 of the free market price for the land.

The deal doesn't pass the smell test, but its underpinnings are just business as usual in City Hall.


Previously: An unfortunate series of unrelated events

Living without connectivity

In a few hours I'll be spending most of today minus Television, Internet and telephone. Ma Bell is coming to install U-Verse Television service and everything gets disconnected.

Not that I mind being without television, I read a LOT of books, but not having connectivity to the Internet is going to be odd. So I've got my book, a good supply of Diet Coke with Lime in the fridge, and I'm ready to sit here without access to the news for the rest of the day.


On the bright-side I'm planning to catch up on my reading.

These editorials should come with warning labels.

Huh?...

(from Mrs. White)

If Houston's air is to be cleaned and made safe to breathe, industry and government must work together. In some instances industry and government are working together, but toward the opposite end.

That's just painful.

HPD's winning hand

Why keeping gambling illegal in Texas is a cash cow for the Gov't.

(From Jennifer Leahy of the Chron)

Patrons at a southwest Houston illegal video gambling club received an unexpected bonus Thursday evening as Houston Police officers stormed the facility, detaining players and dashing hopes of a big cash pay out.

The officers seized $40,195 in cash and 100 machines valued at $1,200 to $1,500 each, said HPD Lt. Charlie Vazquez.

No charges were filed last night, but the machines will be destroyed and the funds will be split between HPD and the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which will receive 30 percent. Houston Police will keep the remaining 70 percent. The money goes into the general fund, police said.

Raids on illegal video gambling clubs provide more than a police payday, they disband what has become a mecca for crime, said Capt. Glenn Yorek, HPD Vice.

(snip)

Police typically ticket patrons in the facilities at the time of the raids, with fees topping $279 plus court costs, Vazquez said.

Authorities hope that the raids cost the facility owners and ultimately put the illegal video gambling clubs out of business.

Vazquez estimates there are 400 to 500 illegal video gambling clubs in the city.

"People need to realize that these places are illegal — they're not regulated. If you go to Coushatta or somewhere else and gamble the machines are regulated. These aren't. They're rigged so that 99.9 percent of people lose their money," said Yorek.

What Capt. Yorek didn't mention was that 100% of patrons are guaranteed to lose their money to the City in court costs and fines. And that LOTTO percentages aren't that much better.

Welcome to the insane world of Gambling regulation in Texas.

In related news: Water is Wet.

Is this REALLY a surprise?

(From Kathrine Schmidt of the Chron D.C. bureau)

Texas has the largest contingent of centrist House Democrats of any state, with two Houston-area lawmakers leading the way, according to 2007 rankings compiled by National Journal.

On a scale of 1 to 100, nine of Texas' 13 Democratic lawmakers were ranked in the middle, neither liberal nor conservative. And that's exactly where they want to remain.

"I think the American people want to be governed from the middle," said one of them, Rep. Gene Green of Houston. "I think people want problem-solvers."

Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, was ranked by the weekly news magazine that covers mostly Washington politics as the most conservative Texas Democrat — one of just a dozen Democrats to tip to the right end of the spectrum.

Rated as more conservative than 53 percent of House members and more liberal than 47 percent, he ranked as the sixth-most-conservative Democrat overall, behind lawmakers from Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

"We've got to quit the partisan bickering and set the stuff aside that is not about good policy for our country," Lampson said.

Well, yeah, because if they vote to satisfy the (mostly) extreme whims of the progressive movement they'll lose their jobs. As much as (some)progressives in Texas want their candidates to vote against the State's interest, the job of a good Congressman is to cast votes that support their district regardles of party affiliation. Yes, there are some key things that you campaign on and stick true to, but casting a vote that would cost your district jobs is political suicide.

Based on that, and the still relatively conservative voting base in Texas, what else do you expect them to do?

Granted, that doesn't stop the Republicans from casting stones:

Republicans, however, accuse Lampson of being a closet liberal who is repositioning himself for survival in the heavily Republican-leaning 22nd Congressional District.

"Nick Lampson has a very long liberal voting record from his previous terms in the House (representing Beaumont)," said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "It appears that political expediency has pushed him in somewhat of a new direction, but it is clear that he remains a faithful supporter of higher taxes."

If the best you've got is that he's "secretly" a liberal, you might want to re-evaluate your campaign strategy. Whether because of political expediency or change of heart, the fact remainst that Lampson has cast votes in line with his district (for the most part) during his time representing the 22nd Congressional district.


Whether or not he's going to continue representing that district or not fully depends on who the Republicans put up against him. Voting record aside I still think his chances of retaining the seat are somewhere around 30%. They bump up a little if Dr. Sekula-Gibbs is across the ticket.

Who replaces Rosenthal?

According to Allan Turner and Peggy O'Hare of the Chron we might know the answer to that soon...

Gov. Rick Perry hopes to name an interim Harris County district attorney as early as this week, his office confirmed Tuesday, and the man now running the office says he's not interested in finishing out the term if it's offered.

Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said "a whole host" of candidates have been considered for the position since Chuck Rosenthal resigned amid scandal last month.

Perry's staff discussed how they might go about filling the opening with former district attorney John B. Holmes Jr., but did not offer him the interim post, Piferrer said. Holmes wouldn't be eligible for the job because he now lives in Austin County.

Whomever Perry appoints would serve the remainder of Rosenthal's term through the end of the year. Voters will elect a new district attorney in November.

Piferrer did not rule out the possibility that the interim spot could go to one of the three candidates seeking the office. But the Republican Party won't settle on a candidate until the April 8 runoff election between Kelly Siegler and Pat Lykos. And the odds of the Republican governor appointing the Democratic candidate, C.O. Bradford, would seem slim.

Since Rosenthal's resignation, the district attorney's office has been directed by first Assistant District Attorney Bert Graham. Graham on Tuesday said he has not been approached about the temporary job, nor would he accept it if offered.

My best guess would be that Perry will select Kelly Seigler, since she seems to have the holeshot for the Republican nomination. This won't go over well with the Democrats, but I'm fairly certain Perry doesn't give much weight to their opinion anyway.

The best selection, if he were interested, would be Jim Leitner. He ran for the office but didn't make the run-off, his integrity is unquestioned, and he has temperment to hold the job in trust for the eventual November election winner. This selection would make everyone happy except for the most partisan, and they won't be happy unless their candidate is picked.

I'm not sure if Leitner would accept if offered, but it would make more sense than any of the other options I've heard bandied about. Even Clarence Bradford (the Democratic nominee for the November election) wouldn't seem to have a problem with it:

Bradford, a former Houston police chief, declined to offer an opinion regarding Perry's appointment other than to say the temporary district attorney should be "a fair-minded caretaker who follows the law and applies the law evenly to all people."

On a side note: Anyone surprised to see that Bradford's not offering an opinion?

The real driver behind the environmental movement

As is typically the case, It's all about money...

(from Tom Fowler of the Chron)

It may be several years before Congress passes laws regulating greenhouse gases, but the University of Houston already is planning to train the first wave of lawyers and business people who will put those laws to work.

A joint venture between the C.T. Bauer College of Business and the UH Law Center will offer a course in carbon trading beginning next spring, aimed at preparing the local work force for what many expect will become a huge business with deep Houston ties.

The European carbon market, where companies trade a shrinking allotment of carbon dioxide emission permits, is worth about $60 billion per year, according to consulting firm Point Carbon.

If the U.S. adopts such a system, as many predict may occur as early as 2009, it could quickly become a business worth $600 billion to $1 trillion a year, says Victor Flatt, an environmental law professor at UH.

"Very few colleges or law schools have looked at CO2 trading, and those that have focus just on the European Union system," Flatt said. "We will look at the EU and the systems being developed in California, but also look at the moving target of U.S. legislation toward a federal CO2 market."

The creation of these new markets is part of a broader trend over the past 40 years in which energy, mortgages, agricultural products and even information have become traded commodities, said Richard Sandor, CEO of the Chicago Climate Exchange and a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the Chicago area.

"The 21st century will see yet another wealth driver by commoditization, but this time of air and water," Sandor said Tuesday at an energy trading conference sponsored by UH.

Al Gore is betting his financial future on that happening. Fortunately for him he's got an advantage that normal businessmen don't have, a willing political force that's bought his sales pitch.

Or we could skip all of the worthless bits and just embrace conservation. The Coastal Conservation Association is a good place to start.

Either that or finance Al Gore's retirement. Your choice.

"Re-gifting" the burden of crime-control to convenience stores.

Another convenience store death, antoher financial burden on convenience store owners. This time, we're "fixing" the problem....

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

Convenience store owners would have to register their businesses with the city and install cameras, drop safes and panic buttons under a proposal headed to the City Council in the coming weeks.

The council's Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee voted Monday to recommend the proposed ordinance, aimed at controlling crime at hundreds of convenience stores across the city, to the full council, where it could be adopted within a month.

"This is a giant leap," said Zaf Tahir, a Houston convenience store owner and chair of Mayor Bill White's Task Force on Convenience Store Security. "Now, we have this industry on a path to a very safe and secure environment."

But Tahir added that the regulations are not a substitute for more police patrols.

"It's not going to fix all of the problems," he said. "This ordinance takes care of the training and of things that can be done at the stores. ... It needs to be coupled with increased presence of law enforcement."

On average, about 1,000 robberies and 10 homicides occur at convenience stores every year, according to Assistant Police Chief John Trevino.

Monday's committee action came two days after Independence Heights convenience store owner Joe Edward Moses died of injuries suffered during an apparent robbery. Moses, 70, was found at his store with severe head injuries Saturday and died at a hospital later that day.

(snip)

The proposed ordinance would require convenience stores to register with the city to establish a database. Right now, the city does not know how many convenience stores are in Houston, Tahir said.

The proposal also would require stores to have a minimum of two color digital surveillance cameras, a drop safe for cash deposits and a panic button that alerts a security company or police to a crime in progress.

Store owners would have to spend an average of $1,400 for those items, Trevino said. They would have until 2010 to comply.

Other rules that would go into effect within three months of the ordinance's adoption:

•Training: Currently, employee safety instruction consists of viewing a 10-minute DVD provided by HPD.
•Signage: "No loitering" and "No trespassing" signs posted on doors and walls, and "height strips" placed on doors, so a clerk can estimate a retreating robber's height for later identification to police.
•Visibility: Police or passers-by should be able to see the cash register from outside. Obstructions must be removed from windows and doors.
Robberies in convenience stores or their parking lots account for about 8 percent of all robberies in the city and some 3 percent of all homicides, Trevino said.

Hmmm...

Hasn't this been bandied around for over a year now? and we've tried laying the cost of crime prevention at the feet of apartment owners right? I wonder how that's working out?

Cute ordinances requiring video cameras, cleaning up clutter in the windows and safety training isn't going to do the job that additional officers on patrol can. I don't care how much lipstick you put on the pig.


OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston: A new ordinance will put an end to convenience store crime.

Woe for the Rodeo

Let the excuse making begin!!!

(from Alexis Grant of the Chron)

With a boost from Miley Cyrus on Sunday, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo improved its first-week concert attendance slightly compared with last year. But the event's general attendance, which includes both concert-goers and visitors who attended only the livestock show and carnival, is down from last year, a decrease show organizers attributed partly to cold, rainy weather.

Disney star Miley Cyrus broke an attendance record when nearly 73,500 fans packed into Reliant Stadium to watch a sold-out performance by the Disney star and her alter ego, Hannah Montana.

The record she broke also was her own: Nearly 73,300 fans attended the concert by Cyrus and the Cheetah Girls at the rodeo last year.

As the event heads into its second week, total paid attendance for the rodeo competition and concerts is nearly 402,400, up 3 percent from last year.

General attendance, however, at about 474,200, is down 8 percent from last year. That figure is more affected by weather than concert attendance, since most concert-goers buy tickets ahead of time.

"We had horrendous weather on our opening night, and we definitely saw an impact from that," said Leroy Shafer, the show's chief operating officer. "Last year at this point we had had nothing but sunny weather."

The sun graced Reliant Park this weekend, but rain returned Monday. The week's forecast calls for a mix of sun and rain.

Shafer said a show boycott announced by Hispanic leaders has not affected attendance. Ticket sales for the Go Tejano Day concert are up 4 percent over last year, he said.

Boycott organizers said not enough of the livestock show is dedicated to Hispanic heritage. They also complained that a Hispanic band instead of a Tejano singer is scheduled on Go Tejano Day on March 16.

Two more concerts are nearly sold out: today's Rascal Flatts performance, and Brad Paisley's show on Saturday.

Many tickets remain unsold for weekday concerts. Show organizers on Friday announced a ticket deal, buy one $16 ticket and get one free.

I seriously doubt that the "Tejano boycott" is having the huge effect on attendance that its organizers claim. For one thing...it's Tejano and for another thing, I doubt Billy from Cut N' Shoot's going to give a crap what some Latin music advocacy group in Houston has to say about him attending the HLSSR. If there's a big dip on "Go Tejano" day? OK. But your average Martina McBride fan isn't going to be affected.

What IS affecting HLSSR attendance has more to do with overall Rodeo Entertainment than the lack of a Tejano artist. That's right, unless you've got special passes to get to private areas (and private parties) the HLSSR has become one rather large bore. The Bar-B-Q cook-off has basically morphed into a private party that charges admission for the privilige of watching the well-heeled and well-connected eat Bar-B-Q that you can't have. And if you happen to be one of the unlucky ones who have to stand outside the tents? Chipped beef sandwiches. Oh, yum.

Truth be told I stopped going to the Bar-B-Q cookoff about four years ago, despite the fact that I can still score tickets to several tents. It's just that the quality of food there really isn't that good (what the judges get is pretty good, the public? Not so much) and I refuse to engage in the cattle call, wait in long lines for watery domestic light beer. Try to find a St. Arnold's anything at the cookoff. (not going to happen)

I haven't been to a rodeo performance in over a decade. Drink prices are too high, you can't bring in things you bought from the expo, the acousitcs are some of the worst in Houston, all in all it's just not a good show. Even though ticket prices are relatively cheap, why bother?

And that ignores the fact that the concert line-up was WEAK this year. No George Strait? What kind of rodeo doesn't have George Strait? Yes, I know that he hasn't had a hit since Spot was a pup, but he's still the Rodeo Cowboy right? To be fair, some of this isn't the Rodeo's fault. Country music has been dying a slow, unlamented death for a few years now. That Rascal Flatts is considered a top act and that we even know who Big N'Rich are tells you something about the lack of musical quality in Country today.

The HLSSR could never pull it off, but the only thing that would resuscitate local interest would be Hank, Willie, and George Jones. Throw in a good rock act, Chamillionaire, and other acts with local roots and you'd have a show people want to go to.

I'd buy a ticket to see any one of the above acts play. I'm not feeling Fergie or Dierks Bentley how about you?

Oh, and get rid of calf roping. Just sayin'

Hazy Reflections of a grape-filled (Houston) weekend Part III

Sunday 2:00 PM Circle S Vinyards, Sugarland TX.

Bleary eyed and with livers at least still (partially) functioning, the missus and I awoke Sunday morning full of curses surrounding our displeasure of losing an hour. it's bad enough that the Government takes an increasing share of our income, now they've to to take hours away from us as well?

Sunday morning also meant some grocery shopping, which we knocked out early so that we could hit the breakfast buffet at Los Cucos on Clay before making the drive down to SugarLand for Wine Tasting 101 at Circle S Vineyards.

Fortunately, Los Cucos had some menudo on hand, as well as some excellent corn-husk and banana leaf enshrouded tamales so we embarked on our Sugarland journey stuffed and happy. After a quick stop-off at the new(ish) Whole Foods in Sugarland, we pulled into the strip center where the winery is located (not a joke) and found ourselves seated on a big comfy couch with around 6 other couples as the wine tasting class began.

A note: I like wine. I like drinking wine. One thing I am not is a wine expert. I know what I enjoy and I have a basic idea of what a wine should taste like. I can identify a few flavors and understand what a "finish" is and why its important, but what I know about wine wouldn't even qualify as Freshman level.

With that in mind I learned a LOT during this class. I still don't know much, but I know more now than I did going in. That made the $20.00 ticket worthwhile. And I got to taste a lot of wine. Which I also learned is the key to becoming truly educated on wine. The more you drink, the more you know. Bummer huh?

Here are some interesting tid-bits that I took away from the class:

1. In 5-10 years, most wines will have screw-cap enclosures. - And this is a GOOD thing.

2. 80% of the wine sold in America was first purchased on the bulk market. - Most of the vineyards in America are owned by companies you may have never heard of.

3. The Big Label wineries are more into chemistry than winemaking. - This isn't a bad thing, but its an important difference similar to the National Breweries and micro-breweries.

4. Men are more sensitive to sweets, women to bitter flavors. - That's not sexist, its biology. Has to do with the number of taste-buds on the tongue. (Note to single guys: Put that "Big Cab" down and head over to the Pinots)

5. "The legs" of a wine are meaningless. - Despite what wine writers will tell you. Think of a centrifuge. You'd be surprised to know how vintners take advantage of wine writer's affinity for "legs" in competitons.

6. The aroma of coffee beans can almost instantly cleanse your palate. - Seriously. Don't eat them, smell them.

7. The socio-economical story of the Australian wine industry. - You'd be surprised how much they lose on every bottle sold of Yellow Tail, and why they are willing to lose it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can imagine, after the class we were spent. We drove back home, scrounged for dinner and went to bed early to try and make up for the lost hour. Before we went to sleep I typed out these posts, and I'll proof-read them tomorrow and post them up for all to read.

The most important thing I want you to take away from this is that the Missus and I did all of these things in the Houston Metro area. We didn't have to fly to California or the South of France, we didn't spend a fortune, and we didn't spend ANY vacation time.

Who knew?




Salud!

Hazy Reflections of a grape-filled (Houston) weekend Part II

Saturday 12:30 PM - Old Town Spring, Texas.

Springfest, the Art and Wine Festival

We woke up early on Saturday to try and prepare for losing on hour (grr...) on Sunday. We made it out to both the Bayou City Farmers' Market (Yay Strawberries!!!) and Monica Pope's Midtown Farmer's Market (Yay Houston Dairy Maids!!!) before grabbing some lunch and heading up to Old Town Spring.

To be honest, we didn't know quite what to expect out of this festival. Previously we had a great (albeit hot) time at the Montgomery Wine and Food Trail so we figured this festival would prove to be good times as well.

As you can see we figured correctly:


All in all there were eight wineries present. Each winery had two to three wines available for tasting. Tickets were $20 per adult which got you a keepsake wine glass and five tasting tickets. "Tastings" were supposed to be 1oz pours, but most representatives had a freer hand than that. We purchased an additional $20 worth of tasting tickets because we felt it would be unfair to pick a true winner if we didn't sample every wine available.

The "trick" was to space out your tastings, nosh on some food, and generally walk around on a nice 60-something degree day so as not to get all squirrly-headed. At the end of the tasting you cast a ballot for your favorite Red wine, white wine, and dessert wine. As a public service I'm going to list out our favorites.

Red Wine:

Inwood Estates 2006 "Cornelius" - Easily the best wine of the event. Not as full bodied and delicious as the Flat Creek Estate Super Texan but a good, light-bodied Red wine nevertheless. Also noteworthy was the 2004 Tempranillo-Cabernet blend which might have been a winner on a cooler day. Kudos to the vintner for not being afraid to chill his reds when the sun started warming up the bottles. The Cornelius was a unanimous pick for "best red" by both myself and the missus.

White Wine:

Me: Pleasant Hill Winery, "Un-oaked" Chardonnay. - If you're anything like me the trend of over oaking Chardonnay is getting just a wee bit tiresome. When I drink a wine I don't want my mouth to taste as if I've been standing next to a campfire for hours but that's the norm for some Chardonnays in today's wine market. Getting to experience the grape in its "un-oaked" state was eye-opening. The resulting wine was light-bodied, and citrusy, full of acidity and would be very refreshing on a Summer's afternoon in Houston. Sheer wine brilliance for the local market.

The Missus: McReynold's Winery 2006 Muscat Canelli - One of the drier Muscat's that I've tasted in quite some time this was a good wine from a winery that has had its share of hits and misses. My wife really enjoyed the crisp finish of this wine as well as the fruit flavors that weren't drowned in syrupy sweetness.


Dessert Wine:

Maydelle Country Wines "Lemon Wine" - I know what you are thinking right now and I understand. When I first saw this wine I was horrified. All I could imagine was a fermented glass of Old Fashioned Lemonade. My lips puckered at the thought of it. However, remember what I said at the beginning of this: 'you can't judge fairly unless you try them all'. So we did, and we were shocked at the result. Because the Lemon Wine from Maydelle isn't tart at all. It's a light and refreshingly sweet wine with lemon notes that's not at all syrupy nor does it suck your cheeks out the back of your throat. If anything it's useful as a palete cleanser because of its lightness and just a slight bit of acidity that's more pleasent than lemony. Imagine tasting a lemon without the tartness and you have a good idea of what this wine is.



Now that we had tasted ourselves out, we voted and then went to the retail center to buy a bottle (or six):



There were some other wines that deserve comment at the Festival but I'll save that for another post on another day.

Next Up: Sunday

Hazy reflections of a grape-filled (Houston) weekend.

I spent a weekend quaffing local wine in Houston and my liver is still intact. Of course, part of the danger of attending local wine events featuring Texas wineries is that you never REALLY know what your going to get. Sure, you'll find some diamonds in the rough, but there is still some rough in the exploding Texas wine landscape. The trick is to find the diamonds.

So, without futher ado.....

Friday 6:45 PM - La Canterra @ Cinco Ranch. Katy, TX.

The Wine Next Door...

My wife needed some decompression time. The workweek was below average the hours were long and we were looking down the barrell of "spring forward" day in just over 24 hours. In short, we needed to get away.

The Wine Next Door was a good way to start the weekend. No, we didn't drink any Texas wine here. They don't feature Texas wines choosing instead to focus on California and European labels. This is a good choice for them because "most" of their clientele probably runs under the assumption that "European is better". On average it's not, but the high end can be really high and therein lies the appeal. TWND is nice because you have the option of purchasing several wines by the glass, taste, or you can purchase a bottle (at retail, with a $6 corkage fee added on if you plan to drink it there) some wine-friendly snack food, sit back and enjoy. They also feature selected "flights" which offer up three "tasting" pours (2 oz) of different wines allowing you to explore the different tastes in each and every varietal.

My wife chose the "sweet white" flight, I decided to go suburban trendy and chose the Pinot Noir flight. In tasting the six wines we found one that was worth buying a bottle, a 2006 Saracco Moscato di'Asti for a very reasonable $21. All in all we had two wine flights, two glasses of wine, a meat and cheese appetizer, a 73% dark chocolate bar, and the aforementioned Saracco for under $100. When you factor in all of the free entertainment in the form of white suburbanite watching it would have been a bargain at twice the price.


Next post: Saturday

Damage Control in the Light Rail Strikes Biker Case.

Rad Sallee of the Chron provides what reads as a Metro press release regarding the MetroRail bicycle accident in February...

The driver of a light rail train that struck a cyclist in the Texas Medical Center had received permission to pass with caution through a track signal that warns not to proceed, according to documents on the Feb. 8 accident.

The documents, released by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in response to a Houston Chronicle open records request, also say the cyclist told Metro police, "It was my fault. I did not see the train when I was going through the crosswalk."

The driver was identified as Shermone Granderson, 29, who graduated from light rail training last Dec. 14, after being hired by Metro in June 2006 as a bus operator. The cyclist was identified as Mariana Pinheiro. Neither could be reached for comment.

(snip)

Metro previously said the accident was preventable and that the train operator received a five-day suspension and 40 hours of retraining. Metro also released a video that shows the train moving forward while a horizontal bar signal, similar to a red light for motorists, is visible ahead.

The police report quotes Granderson: "I was told to go through the horizontal bar, and as I was passing the crosswalk, a lady on a bicycle rolled out in front of me."

A report on her disciplinary action confirms that Granderson "had been given authorization to pass horizontal bar signals as needed, due to an existing emergency situation."

Metro has said there was an earlier accident on the line that had delayed Granderson's train and others.

"She sounded her gong and proceeded southbound," the report says. "A bicyclist entered the path of the train and Operator Granderson was unable to stop short of making contact."

She probably didn't see the train because she wasn't looking for the train, she was looking at the crossing sign that was (probably) flashing "walk" at the time. It's not unreasonable, when given a walk sign, to assume that she thought the coast was clear. That being said there's never an excuse not to check both ways before crossing the street even with a protected signal in your favor.

More troubling than that however, and something that doesn't seem to be drawing any criticism, is Metro's apparent policy of allowing drivers to ignore traffic laws in order to get the trains back running on time. We already know that Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert values revenue generation over public safety and it now seems that adherence to the schedule outranks safety as well.

And none of this is on the receiving end of any serious skepticism by Houston's newspaper of record.

"What part of the train can run a stop-signal at any time it damn-well pleases don't you understand?"

Mrs. White: "Oops!"

Mrs. White's Democratic Primary Presidential endorsement February 16, 2008:

The presidency of the United States is a powerful bully pulpit. The occupant of the White House must not only issue orders, but also inspire and advocate for all Americans.

Of the two finalists for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Chronicle believes Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is best-qualified by life experience, skill and temperament to be the standard bearer for his party. In a conference call, Obama told the Chronicle editorial board that "more than any other candidate, I can bridge some of the partisan as well as racial and religious divides that have developed in this country that prevent us from getting things done."

Today's opinion piece on the need for better vetting of the two Democratic candidates:

If anything, the last several weeks of campaigning have demonstrated that the remaining Democratic candidates need yet more exposure and test marketing with their own party members before a sale is made. A Clinton campaign ad showing sleeping children and touting her as the better candidate to handle a national security emergency apparently fueled voter doubts about Obama's experience. If his supporters think that was a hardball, just wait until they see what a GOP attack ad on the same subject will look like.

A Saturday Night Live skit poking fun at debate moderators for picking on Clinton was actually cited by Obama as a reason for the tough media questioning he received in the days prior to the primaries. Grilled on his relationship with a former fundraiser on trial for taking kickbacks in Chicago and his campaign's alleged waffling on NAFTA, the sunny Obama suddenly seemed testy and defensive with reporters. It's clear he needs more conditioning in the hot box before being subjected to a full blown general election campaign.

Left unsaid in the editorial is that the Chronicle had a prime opportunity to place Obama on the hot seat that, until this point in the campaign, he has largely avoided. The Chron had a chance to shine and had "the boots on the ground" (to cop an overused journalism phrase) at the front line which could have shined some much needed light on the Primary election for Democrats. Instead they punted, choosing to run puff pieces on where the candidates were spending election night (and, more specifically, why it wasn't Houston) or how "impressed" young ladies in Houston were with Obama.

All of this led us to Mrs. White's editorial today. Another blown opportunity by "Houston's leading information source" languishing under the weight of incompetent editorial decision-making.


Oops.

John Keeling is still banging his hotel drum.

It is said that the definition of insanity is continually repeating the same actions in the expectation of receiving differing results.

If that's the case then maybe Houston City Government needs to schedule some face time with a therapist...

(from Nancy Sarnoff of the Chron)

City officials said earlier this year that they were considering selling downtown's 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston convention center hotel, a move that could pave the way for a second convention hotel.

Mayor Bill White said he thought the city could get more than $350 million for the hotel, which would enable it to pay off its debt and create more financial flexibility to undertake another project.

But is it really worth that? And if so, are there any buyers out there in this time of tight credit?

Industry analysts said it could go for $350 million, depending on what kind of return on investment a buyer expects.

The property posted a record $77.5 million in revenue last year with operating profits of $23.5 million, according to the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp., the city-chartered group that owns the hotel and contracts with Hilton Hotels Corp. to manage it. Those figures were up 40 percent and 95 percent, respectively, from 2004, the hotel's first full year of operation.

That ratio is in line with what's expected, hotel consultant John Keeling said.

Occupancy, too, has been on par with other downtown hotels. And the city's convention business is growing.

"There's plenty of equity looking for good investments, and this is a good investment," said Keeling, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in Houston.

(snip)

When the hotel opened in 2003, officials said it would make the city a player in the convention business.

Now the city is using the same argument for another hotel.

Large meeting planners generally shy away from convention sites that don't have enough hotel rooms nearby because the cost of busing attendees is expensive.

The mayor has said that he would like to see a second hotel financed with private capital. But outside of Las Vegas, Orlando and New York, all the big convention hotels around the country have required public assistance, Keeling said.

(snip)

Every major convention city has at least three 1,000-room hotels, Keeling said.

"A 1,200-room hotel by itself basically put Houston in the game. Houston is not in position to win the game until they get at least another 1,000-room hotel," he said.

Ah John Keeling, he of the continually rosy projections that tend to overstate the actuals by 10-30 percentage points.

And now he's saying that Houston needs "three 1,000 room hotels" to compete with "major convention cities" and that somehow building a "second" hotel will "help Houston win the game".

So, let's follow the logic: Houston built the Hilton Americas Downtown Hotel with an eye toward seeing an uptick in local convention business. The uptick didn't happen and occupancy rates have been languishing around the 60% range. The answer to this is to sell that Hotel and build another one to compete against it, in hopes that this second hotel will crate the uptick in convention business that the first hotel did not. Of course, eventually we will need three hotels to truly make us "world class" according to Keeling, who is nevertheless predicting that the consturction of the second hotel will bring in the convention business that some in the Houston Downtown Business District so earnestly desire.

Never mind that having two hotels is 33% less capacity than Keeling admits other "world class" destinations already have in place.

Waitaminnut...Keeling is glowingly praising a reality that's 33% lower than what he projects?


I direct your attention back to the definition of insanity.


It should be noted that this massive increase in City debt is being contemplated during a time that the City's debt service costs have increased by around $3 Million per MONTH as the auction market is collapsing.

Finally: It's stated in the article that, at a purchase price of $350 Million, the expected annual ROI would be between 10-15%. If the hotel was purchased last year for that number, and at a profit of $23.7 Million, the annual ROI for 2007 would have been 6.57%, roughly half of the annual ROI projections by Keeling. To meet the mid-point of Keeling's projections annual profit would need to increase to $45.5 Million for the hotel, a figure that seems overly optimistic considering the new competition that's going to be built on the other side of Discovery Green.

An unfortunate series of "unrelated" events.

It's official, your Government thinks you're stupid. How else do you explain this?

(From Mike Snyder of the Chron)

Houston veterinarians James and Jock Collins envisioned a nest egg for their retirement when they bought a house in the Galleria area in 1982.

Instead of enjoying the proceeds from their investment, however, the 75-year-old twins are locked in a battle with the city of Houston. In an unusual use of its eminent domain authority, the city has condemned the property to develop a small "pocket park" on the edge of a large, upscale redevelopment project.

The brothers are challenging the city's action in court, arguing that the park is a pretext for the city's true purpose: to assist a prominent local developer who has amassed most of the property around theirs for a 21-acre mixed-use development known as BLVD Place.

"When you cannot get what you want, it is good to have friends in high places," the Collins brothers' attorney, J. Cary Gray, said in a petition responding to the city's November condemnation suit.

The city acquired the property, at the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak Lane, on behalf of Uptown Houston, a management district created by the state Legislature in 1987 to oversee public improvements in the Galleria area.

The Collinses said city officials first advised them of plans to develop a park on the 7,200-square-foot property in October 2006 — three months after their negotiations to sell the property to Wulfe & Co. for the BLVD Place project broke down.

(snip)

Ed Wulfe, the president of Wulfe & Co., serves on the Uptown District's board. Wulfe is well-known at City Hall and is active in numerous civic organizations.

Wulfe said he played no role in the Uptown District's plans to develop a park on the site. Once his company's negotiations with the brothers stopped, "we were out of it," he said.

After the discussions broke down, Wulfe said he made plans to develop his project around the Collinses' property. Portions of the development are scheduled to open by the end of this year.

(snip)

Breeding disputed the allegation that the district acquired the land to benefit Wulfe & Co. rather than the public.

"I'm offended by that," he said. "This will be a public green space in the future."

The district needs part of the property for a planned widening of San Felipe, Breeding said. The Collinses agree that this is a legitimate purpose for condemnation, although they say the city's offer was insufficient.

No one mentioned the idea of a park on the site, they said, until after they stopped negotiating with Wulfe.

(snip)

Joe Turner, the city's parks and recreation director, acknowledged that it is rare for the city to use its eminent domain authority to acquire land for parks. But in this case, Turner said, the action was justified.

"We have a shortage of parks in that area, and the Uptown District has done a good job of maintaining parks," Turner said.

Wow, where to start?

OK, let's start with the obvious: If Wulfe is on the Uptown Park Board of Directors then it makes no sense that he had no say in the decision to condemn the land. Undoubtedly the so-called "pocket-park" will make his land more desirable and it will primarily benefit his development. The facts are obvious that the City is doing a favor for a psuedo-governmental entity which has a developer on the board in an obvious conflict of interest.

Next, let's look at the value: According to the details of the story the City has offered the brothers around $433K for the property. Wulfe Co. offered them $1.7 Million in their buyout offer. If I'm reading the eminent domain provision correctly then the City has an obligation to pay the property owners "fair market value" for the parcel of land. According to recent history "fair market value" would be at least the $1.7 Million that was offered by Wulfe Co. which was the rate that the "market" was obviously willing to pay for the land.

Finally: "A shortage of parks in the area?"

Here's the picture from the Chron mapping the location:




Forgive me if I'm wrong, but itsn't this area pretty close to here?




So, not only is City Government asking us to ignore everything we know about Boards of Directors and decision making, but they're also asking us to ignore the largest park in the Houston area as well.


If today were April 1st I'd think this was a ham-fisted April fools' joke.


OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston: City uses imminent domain to acquire land for "pocket" park.

Lone Star Times: Friends in High Places

And these are the people you want running your healthcare? (Part 4)

The caucus mess continues:

The Chron's natural redhead cliche's herself to death...

(from Lisa Falkenberg)

Caucus-going Texans got their historic chance to slow dance with democracy the other night.

But it wasn't like any Texas Two-Step most had ever seen. More like some kind of exotic, elaborate tango, in stiletto heels, on ice, with a leading partner who learned on a home video he bought during an infomercial.

Of course, there were certainly reports across the state of smoothly run precinct conventions where Democratic participants glided gracefully along with the ease of a sawdust floor.

The two events I attended in northeast Houston on election night were a bit more, shall we say, bumpy. For most, it was their first experience with a precinct convention or caucus, which in Texas, helps decide which Democratic candidate will get one-third of the state's pledged delegates.

Dale Lezon and Mike Tolson tell us about the frustration and the move to abolish them...

Moments after Precinct 123 had finished its convention, with participants huddled in the chilly darkness outside a polling place too small to accommodate them, Greg Turetzky was all but consumed by the thrill of joining in politics at the most basic level.

"This is the most exciting election in years, and I love it," said Turetzky, an admitted political junkie and a Barack Obama supporter who fulfilled a goal of becoming a delegate to the next convention in a few weeks. "This is democracy in action. Democracy rocks!"

Though most shared his enthusiasm for Tuesday's primary, not everyone appreciated the cumbersome, so-called Texas two-step. At larger precincts, people had to wait for hours for voting to be over and then hours more to complete the convention. Some precincts ran out of preference sign-in sheets. Others had no one present who really knew the rules.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner, who spent the night at two polling places comprising eight precincts in his district, saw so much anger and frustration that he is calling for the elimination of the caucusing element of the precinct convention.

"It's time to end the Texas two-step — the music is over," the Houston Democrat said.

And the funniest part of all?

None of it really mattered...

(from Richard Dunham of the Chron)

Resting up after a bruising primary battle, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama left Texas in their rearview mirrors Wednesday and headed home to plan for three more months of political combat.

But even as the candidates tried to decipher the daunting math required to lock up the closest Democratic presidential race in a half-century, their surrogates squabbled over which candidate actually won the most delegates in Texas.

The Lone Star State's complicated delegate-selection methods gave both campaigns a plausible reason to claim victory. In final, unofficial results, Clinton won the popular vote, 51 percent to 48 percent. But Obama backers boasted that the Illinois senator had won a majority of the state's pledged delegates — a result of his ability to mobilize supporters in the evening caucuses, which account for about one-third of the delegates selected Tuesday.

(snip)

But whichever campaign ends up with Texas bragging rights, Clinton's narrow 12-delegate edge in Tuesday's contests in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont has done little to change the intricate delegate dynamics of 2008.

Bottom line: With just 600 delegates up for grabs and front-runner Obama 658 short of the 2,025 needed for victory, it is mathematically impossible for either candidate to clinch the nomination before the process is scheduled to end with Puerto Rico's June 7 caucuses.

Obama remains in the overall delegate lead, 1,567 to 1,462, according to Associated Press estimates.

With neither candidate able to wrap up the nomination during the primary season, Clinton and Obama must try to seal the deal by courting the 350 still-uncommitted superdelegates, including 14 from Texas. These party insiders get invitations to the Democratic National Convention in Denver based on their elected positions or leadership role in the party.

So the "party of the people" will decide their Presidential candidate in an incense filled back-room with payouts and political promises.

Ain't (little-d) democracy grand?

Obama was right: HOPE found a way.

Reading the report by Carolyn Feibel and L.M. Sixel in the Chron regarding the HOPE and City of Houston Labor deal some interesting tidbits came to light:

Houston and a municipal union announced a tentative agreement Wednesday for a three-year contract that would cover 13,200 city workers and boost minimum pay to $10 an hour by the end of next year.

To finalize the contract, union members and City Council must vote to approve it. If both sides agree, Houston could become the first city in Texas to sign a union contract with its civilian employees, those workers who are not police officers or firefighters.

The Houston Organization of Public Employees, or HOPE, has been negotiating for 11 months.

The proposed contract calls for an immediate, across-the-board 3 percent pay increase, followed by an annual 3 percent increase in fiscal 2010 and 2011. In addition, each year the city would create a "performance pay pool" equivalent to 1.25 percent of the payroll. The pool would fund merit pay increases based on employee performance and reviews.

City officials estimate the total cost of the compensation package at $179 million during the three-year term.

The union plans to vote within two weeks, after which the proposal will come before council, said Norman Yen, the HOPE president.

The agreement gives workers predictability about compensation, but will be affordable for taxpayers, Mayor Bill White said. The city, he noted, is competing with private industry for workers, particularly in the areas of computer technology specialists, paramedics and building inspectors.

(snip)

The eligible workers represent almost 60 percent of the city's 22,000-strong payroll. Department heads and elected officials such as council members are excluded from the contract, and police and firefighters have their own union contracts.

Jere Talley, one of 38 members of the HOPE negotiating team, said the contract ensures that every city employee will make at least $10 an hour by September 2009.

''We're really proud of that," said Talley, a civilian employee in the police department. The $10 hourly base pay means all city workers will earn wages above the poverty line for a family of four, Talley said. The union estimates 1,000 city employees were living below the poverty line of $20,400 annually for a family of four.

(snip)

Only city employees who are union members can vote on the contract. About 4,200 have signed a membership card, though only 1,223 pay dues. Union dues are one hour of pay for every two-week period, up to a maximum of $35 a month.

Talley said she is confident that a majority of employees will end up joining the union.

Texas is a right-to-work state, which means workers do not have to join a union as a condition of employment.

It'd be interesting to see what the increase in total compensation would be versus the prior plan before making blanket statements that this new agreement will be "affordable for the taxpayers" would it not? On the one hand I'm fine with people taking advantage of their right to unionize. I wouldn't do it because I prefer to negotiate my own compensation but, hey, to each their own.

My guess is from reading this is that most City employees, whether union members or not, will be receiving a 3% bump in pay while the lowest earning employees could all get raises at much higher percentages than that to hit the $9.50 (and eventually $10.00) floor for salaries. Also, does the $10.00 floor apply to part time workers as well? A lot of questions unanswered here for me to agree that "it will be affordable for taxpayers".

As with any deal taxpayers should be very interested in the margins, and not the total cost. If Houston residents can tear themselves away from the National spotlight to focus on mundane local issues that is.


Aside: Anyone want to be that this contract is used as a blunt object to beat non-union members over the head to convince them to sign up? With only roughly 25% of members paying dues you have to think that the lower paid employees were offered a limited free ride until the full effect of the raises kicked in, and then they're going to be required to participate.

Were it me, and if I didn't have to do any work and was going to recieve the benefits anyway, I'd be content to let others pay for the negotiations while I saved $35.00 per month. But that's just me.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

A "quiet" approval of a $15.5 Million dollar expenditure...

(from Carolyn Feibel of the Chron)

City Council voted today to spend $15.5 million to purchase five downtown blocks, a site being eyed for a Houston Dynamo soccer stadium. The council also voted to obtain a sixth block by swapping some city-owned land.

Mayor Bill White would not confirm that the land east of 59 would ultimately be used for a soccer stadium. He said if a deal with the team owners fails to materialize, then the city could seek private development offers. Negotiations with the team are ongoing.

White remained firm that if the Dynamos want to build a stadium on the site, the city's financial contributions would be minimal and would come from the local Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, not from general fund revenues.

"We're not in the business of providing most of the money for these facilities as was done with other [arena] venues, with public funds," White said.

"It will not cost us any police officers or fire fighters," said Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Garcia. "We will not put any entertainment in front of public safety."

"most" is a big departure from "no":

The mayor was adamant that no taxpayer funds would be used to build the stadium itself.

Also notable is Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Garcia's quote....

"not costing" any police officers and fire fighters is a lot different than "won't hinder our ability to make new hires" is it not?

Of course, he's planning on subsidizing the HPD with County Sheriff's patrols by the time this all comes down anyway (to the detriment of the unincorporated areas of the County one can only surmise.)


Louis Macey got his ROI, and Oliver Luck is one step closer to getting his downtown corner office.


Oh, and Houston's one step closer to "world class".

May I have your attention please.

The following are heretofore banned from intelligent, political discourse....



RePUKElicans
RePUGNICANTS
any other supposedly clever, yet exceedingly daft, dirivative of the party name.

Also...

DUMBocrats
DIMocrats
DHIMINIcrats

any other supposedly clever, yet exceedingly shallow, alteration of the party name.


Continuing....


HELLary
HUSSEIN Obama
McLAME
Shillary
Obummer
McLATE

Any other supposedly witty, yet exceedingly petty, alteration of the candidates name.


And finally....


lemmings
sheeple
mouth breathers

Any other supposedly wry, yet exceedingly tepid, description of the other party's electorate.

Texas sucks
Dumb Bushites
Rednecks
THOSE people

Or anyother supposedly clever, yet exceedingly obvious, attempt at hiding your racism/classism/sexism.



It doesn't make you sound smarter, you're not clever, and certainly not original. So PLEASE (and you know who you are) stop. now.


For the good of us all.


Thank you.

And so the media circus ends

Much to the chagrin of those who were basking in the National glory...

Let's get to it:


Winners:

Dan Patrick Alan Fletcher...

Van Arsdale: 47.8%
Fletcher: 52.2%

Expect the Church of Dan to ramp up the Republican Party Inquisition from here on out.

John McCain...

Well, sorta. He received half the votes of both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama each recieved so he's got a long road ahead of him.

Still, he's your nominee Republicans.

Hillary Clinton...

In total vote count in three out of four States. Delegate count? Eh, not so much.

Telling quote from a Hillary supporter overheard on the news last night: "Well, that's why we have Superdelegates, so the right candidate is picked."

Yeah, ignore those pesky voters eh?


Rick Noriega...

Look Ma! No Runoff! (barely) Oh, and Cornyn looks weak, almost 20% of Republicans voted for an unknown in what I can only assume was a protest vote.

Houston's highest profile political family must be STOKED!!!!


Which leads us to...


Losers:.....


The Texas Democratic Party....

Hey guys, its a caucus, other State's have been doing this for years. It's not like you didn't have hints that this was coming.


Barack Obama...

Seems like a long time since that's been said eh? Oh, and the media's decided to take the kid gloves off to boot. Bad night.


Thugs and Texas Cheerleaders...

Word is on this one there were "voting machine irregularities" that are going to be contested. Anyone surprised?


Baseless campaign charges...

Word is that Bacarisse was in the lead in recent polls. Do you think his baseless attacks and negative campaign strategy by his team did him in?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So, now we move forward and the Democratic Presidential Race really is going to get ugly. There's rumor circulating that the Clinton camp is going to move to get the Florida and Michigan delegates counted at the convention, and now the so-called "super-delegate" vote becomes very interesting.


Plus, there are the run-offs.

CD 22...

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs
Pete Olsen

Harris County (Rep) DA....

Kelley Siegler
Pat Lykos

Plus a handful on the judicial and JP slates for both parties...


One lat thing: The Craddick mess was a push...

"Quite Scared!!! Quite Scared!!!"

If you're not watching Top Gear on BBC America Monday evenings at Seven then you are truly missing one of the great shows on television, even if you're not a car person.





Last night's attempt at crossing the English Channel in amphibious vehicles the hosts designed and constructed themselves was the funniest bit of television that I've seen in quite a while.

Here's a video clip (audio's pretty bad however)

Primary Day: Donkeys? Elephants?

Heck no, Crawfish!!!




More specifically: The Crawfish Po'boy from T'Beaux Cajun Restaurant on NW Hwy 6.

First, a word of caution: One thing T'Beaux hasn't quite mastered yet is the art of professional service. It sucks, but there you go. The bartender is a very nice guy, but for some odd reason they seem to think it's a good idea to have him waiting tables both in the bar and on the outside. Since the wife and I like to go there on lazy Sunday afternoons this isn't a problem for us, but if you're pressed for time keep that in mind and sit at a table.

Happy Hour is the time to go, and crawfish and oysters are the items you want to eat. The wife ate 10 lbs of boiled crawfish by her lonesome on our last visit. I had a dozen oysters (from Louisiana) some gumbo (the bisque is better) and the crawfish po'boy above. They also have Bloody Mary's on a Sunday happy hour special for $3.00. The crawfish, oysters and Bloody Mary were good, the po'boy had good fried crawfish, fresh lettuce and tomatoes too much bread and no remoulade sauce to help it go down. If you've ever eaten a dry po'boy you know the problem that this causes. I was sucking down Abita after the third bite until I remembered how much I wine I consumed the previous night, so I switched over to water. Then I got some cocktail sauce from the bar keep and the rest of the sandwich was ok.

The second problem was the disintegration that ALWAYS comes with po'boy consumption. No matter how many po'boys I eat I still haven't figured out how to stop the thing from falling apart by the time I'm done with it. Part of this is due to the tendency of restaurants to overstuff their sandwiches. It's like a rite of passage with fried seafood po'boys that you get double the amount of good stuff over what you would normally receive on a fried seafood entree (at twice the price I might add). The upside of this is that you typically get a lot of food for a low price. The downside is the disintegration factor. Ah well.


The Bottom line on T'Beaux? It's a good restaurant with so-so service and a great bar to hang out at with good specials for happy hour. They could stand a little bit more authenticity on some of their items (their gumbo comes to mind first) but they do a lot of things very well. (their crawfish, boudin and bisque are great)

Beware if you're sensitive that they are just outisde the City limits and allow smoking at the bar.

For crawfish, oysters and ice cold beer on a Sunday afternoon however T'Beaux is my favorite stop on the NorthWest side.

"You should go out and vote or something."

I give you the battle-cry of the Millennial Generation as overheard yesterday evening at Walgreens. I should also point out that today is National Grammar Day, not that the two are related in any fashion.




Today is your day to practice democracy in Texas however as a breathless media anxiously awaits early returns allowing them to call the race early, and possibly incorrectly. Unfortunately there's not going to be any of those cool purple fingers here in America like they had in Iraq. That's good for me because I really don't have a shirt that would match my digit unless they used a bistre or possibly ecru, plum is so last winter.

In case you may have missed it (and if you just paid attention to the Chron odds are you did) here are some local races worth monitoring if you can tear yourself away from the heavy gravity of Obama's cult of personality for a moment or two....


Texas House District 130 (R): Corbin Van Arsdale vs. Allen Fletcher.

Also known as the Symphony of Dan in C major. The "C" is for contentious, which is what this race has been since its inception. In typical Dan Patrick style its also been cast as "a continuation of the movement" that swept him into power. "If we can win here and unseat an entrenched incumbent then we can send a powerful message to the Austin establishment." Yup, that's the type of hyperbole that Dan likes to bring to a political race. Hyperbole and bad campaign commercials with the "Passion of the Christ" music playing in the background.

We get it Dan, it goes from God, to you, to KSEV radio where Pat Gray and Edd Hendee chuckle about it. If you're in any way connected to the Harris County Republican Party this race should be of much importance to you because it could go a long way in determining how agressive Mr. Patrick is in his quest to re-make the party in his image. Depending on your point of view this could either be a wondrous event, or a fate too horrifying to contemplate.

Either way you should pay attention to this race if you're Republican.



United States Senator (D): Rick Noriega vs. Ray McMurrey vs. Gene Kelly vs. Rhett Smith.

If you believe the progressive blogosphere Rick Noriega is the strongest Statewide Democratic candidate in a decade. So strong, in fact, that challengers are being viciously mocked for daring to stick their toes into the democratic waters. Waters that observers can safely assume, are the sole propriety of the chosen few. Spin it how you want that type of angst doesn't speak well for the strength of your candidate if its directed toward a political novice and a perennial candidate whos sole claim to fame is a name similar to that of a deceased dancer.

Schedenfreude aside there is a legitimate concern for Noriega backers as they anxiously watch the returns tonight at the watch party of their choosing. Winning without a run-off is most certainly a necessity if Rep. Noriega has any hope of drawing the National money he'll need to mount a serious challenge to the well-funded incumbent John Cornyn. Even then Noriega is going to have to overcome some negatives in his run, as early challenges have shown him to be reluctant to answer questions and has shown a propensity to come off as arrogant in the face of questions.

The fact still remains that the current election is going to be tough for Republicans across the board, so despite the negatives, Rep. Noriega is a credible enough candidate and has enough positives to have a legitimate chance of winning the race. Avoiding the run-off is key however.



The Harris County Races (R):

County Judge: Ed Emmett vs. Charles Bacarisse.

Without a doubt the ugliest campaign of the local political season, the recent days have been marked by wild allegations from the Bacarisse camp that have been discredited by the local media and by area bloggers. It remains to be seen what affect, if any, these negative campaign tactics will have on the race but one thing remains certain: A well-funded, politically connected David Mincberg is waiting in the wings.



County District Attorney (R):

Jim Leitner vs. Pat Lykos vs. Doug Perry vs. Kelly Siegler.

The most high profile race in the region is also sure to be the most competative, and will almost certainly result in a run-off to see who gets the honor of facing off with silent candidate C.O. Bradford in the "you're more responisble for the HPD crime lab mess than I am" race that promises outstanding political theatre.

If you've been following this race you know that two of the candidates are well-qualified, and two are in over their heads. Sadly, I'm predicting that one of the well-qualified candidates won't make the run-off.

And finally.....


Texas House District 146 (D): Borris Miles vs. Al Edwards.


Ah yes, the "thug" vs. the "cheerleader's worst nightmare" squaring off to see who will represent a District that deserves much better, but whose representation is being short-changed due to the single-party mindset of many of its residents.

Note to District 146: If you settle for the Least Common Denominator, you're pretty much guaranteed to get it.



That's all for now, vote wisely y'all.

Mrs. White: Rodeo must respond to baseless charges

Well, Just because...

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has enjoyed enthusiastic support throughout this community. It would be dismaying if many Hispanics, the population's largest segment, felt slighted by the organization that puts on this hallmark event.

For that reason, the disagreement over Hispanics' music preferences needs to be resolved quickly and respectfully.

(snip)

A leader in the dispute, former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, said, "We request our friends across the whole state of Texas not to attend the Houston Livestock Show."

One of the points of contention appears to be that rodeo organizers booked non-Tejano performing groups to play at the show's main venue on March 16, Go Tejano Day. That might give the public pause if there were no Hispanic musical acts at all set to play that day. But that's not the case.

(snip)

Unfortunately, this form of musical entertainment appears to have been eclipsed among Hispanic music enthusiasts by other styles. That accounts for why on the main bill at this year's Go Tejano Day are Duelo, a norteño band from Roma, and Los Horoscopos de Durango, a duranguense act from Chicago.

(snip)

Members of VIVE Tejano-Houston, the group formed to voice complaints about the rodeo performers, also charge that the rodeo awards too few scholarships to Hispanic students and hasn't enough Hispanics at the executive level.

But rodeo officials counter that nearly a third of the 927 students who attended Texas universities on rodeo scholarships last year were Hispanic. They acknowledge, however, that the executive committee includes no Hispanics. Those members are elected based on years of service, leadership and financial contributions — a merit system that seems fair enough.

Though the charges made against the rodeo are on the thin side, they should not be lightly dismissed.

I'm guessing that's an example of the elegance, wit and insight that one must aspire to in order to lower themselves to the level of the editorial page of a major news daily.

Congratulations to Mrs. White, she created an issue where none previously existed. At least she didn't create a new International Treaty or mis-identify prominent political figures. Hey, we take our improvements where we can get them right?

Still, give Mrs. White a break on this one, she's probably worn out from all that hard endorsement work.

Where's the support?

Last week the Chron breathlessly reported that the FTA was "on board" in terms of providing matching funds for two of Metro's five planned light rail tracks moving forward.

There was much celebration throughout the land and in the Lee P. Brown administration building. Happy days right?

Eh...not so much...

(from Rad Sallee of the Chron)

Metro brass and elected officials from Houston met Tuesday with the two top Federal Transit Administration executives in the Washington office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The subject was Metro's application for federal funding of two new light rail lines.

When the meeting broke up, Hutchison, Mayor Bill White, Rep. Nick Lampson and top Metro officials expressed pleasure at what they heard. They said the FTA had agreed to work with Metro in its efforts to obtain $500 million in federal funding for the lines.

Some readers were skeptical, as FTA and Metro have not always been on the same page.

One reader posted a comment on the Houston Chronicle's Web page asking, "Could it be that you are reporting a complete fabrication of what (the) FTA administrator told the meeting participants?"

Well, no. The FTA's response was restrained — which was proper, given that Metro's fortunes are largely dependent on Metro's own actions — but it also was positive.

FTA spokesman Paul Griffo confirmed reports from members of the delegation that the FTA had agreed to keep the parties updated biweekly on Metro's progress so any problems could be spotted in a timely way.

Griffo also said: "We are optimistic that the projects could move into preliminary engineering in the coming weeks" — something that Metro needs to keep the projects on their tight schedule.

In other words, the FTA has agreed to take a look at what Metro is doing to see if the matching funding is doable, but they haven't agreed to the funding as of yet. This is pretty much in line with what I surmised last week: They're planning on using the Luke Skywalker defense: "But we've done so much already."


Granted, they've cleared a hurdle by at least getting the FTA to listen to them, but to report that "The FTA backs Metro plans" strains credibility almost to the breaking point.

Remember, Reasonableness syndrome attacks the truth first.


If I had to guess I'd say the meeting in Sen. Hutchinson's office was a very small, positive step for Metro in acquiring matching funds. To read anything more into it would require an agressive interpretation of the facts.

A Grand "bad" idea that won't go away

There are bad ideas in business that are researched, ran through a cost analysis matrix and then, hopefully, thrown on the scrap heap to be used as illustrative examples in business schools of how to proceed when it becomes obvious that there's no benefit in advancing to the implementation stage. In quasi-government work, there are bad ideas that seem to never die despite the fact that opposition is mounting and the fact that there appear to be better, cheaper alternatives out there...

So, I give you the Grand Parkway...

(from Rad Sallee and Mike Snyder of the Chron)

With fears of $4 gasoline and global warming looming and with the grass roots already in revolt against toll roads, one might think backers of the long-delayed Grand Parkway would be ready to give up.

But a spacious, affordable home and a good school in a safe neighborhood still is a strong magnet, even if it comes with a long commute. And just as strong, in Texas anyway, is the ability of developers to build subdivisions on rice fields quickly and get roads built to service them.

As the second segment of the parkway opens to traffic this week — a 9-mile-long stretch connecting Interstate 10 at Mont Belvieu to FM 1405 south of Baytown — the long fight over the project shows no signs of abating.

Billy Burge, a developer and president of the Grand Parkway Association, is optimistic. Although the parkway plan has been on the books 25 years and only 28 of its planned 185 miles have been built, Burge said last week that he expects to see it completed within a decade.

He discounted the opposition increasingly voiced by local elected officials.

"Everybody wants it — not in their backyard, but they want it," he said. "They want to control it, and they want the revenue it generates."

(snip)

Many of the 180 people who attended a Feb. 20 public forum in Fort Bend County, where design of the parkway's Segment C is scheduled to begin in September, would strongly disagree.

Every candidate for public office who attended pledged to help residents fight the segment, which would run from the Southwest Freeway to Texas 288, passing near Brazos Bend State Park and bridging the Brazos River and its wildlife-rich bottomlands.

Opponents included County Commissioner Tom Stavinoha whose precinct includes the planned route, along with both of his challengers in Tuesday's Republican primary and all five Democratic candidates.

"We're saying, 'Leave off on the Grand Parkway,' " Stavinoha said.

The commissioner said he thinks the county's mobility needs can be met by expanding existing roads.

Opposition also has emerged in the Spring area, where the parkway's segments F2 and G between the North and Eastex freeways would cut through subdivisions; in Brazoria County, where the Grand Parkway Association moved the planned route south because of residents' concerns; and in Waller County, where environmentalists worry about the impact on the Katy Prairie.

Billy Burge, Billy Burge...why does that name ring a bell?

Oh yeah, he's the guy that made an idiot of himself on KSEV a few years back, a guy who's had his hand in more bad ideas than the planning committee of the Lee Brown administration.

He also possesses the tenaciousness of a bulldog, the single-mindedness of an issues activist, and a tone-deaf ear toward public opinion. That's right, he's the perfect person to place in a leadership position of a quasi-governmental agency with very little public oversight. If you want something built on the public dime, Billy Burge is the guy to go to. He'll push to get a job done even when the numbers say pull the plug, he's got the insider connections needed to get funding and approval. And he's willing to take the negative flack that's sure to come when projects meet public resistance.

Billy is a hard dog to get off a scent, because he believes in the "good" of the projects that he's a part of. Unfortunately "good" in Billy's world is directly proportional to how great a rate of return his developers can realize instead of how the project will affect the public good.

If you want to know why so many wasteful projects in Houston and the surrounding area are green-lighted you need only re-read that last line.