Densify: Houston

It must be Summer in Houston before a Mayoral Election. It's Hot, and development talk is in the news. All over the news to be precise, and the blogosphere (and here, here, over here, and here) Houston is a City that loves it some development talk come election time. From the mean ol' bad development lobby to the pure-as-the-driven-snow Historical Preservation Society. From the demonic seeds that are Metro critics to the saintly music-and-perfume in the air goodness of Metro boosters, trying to stem the tide of the urbanization of Houston has to make one feel like a modern-day King Canute with one major difference: Canute, at least, was King, and could get his opinion out there. If you're not a member of God's alliance on transit (Transit now being defined as a moral issue) then your voice will be excluded from the conversation thank you.

As the debate rages on unabated, with both sides speaking over one another in a wave of false Cajunizations, charges of ludditism and a never-ending battle over FOIA requests, what's being lost in the hubub is that there are some common-sense issues on which both sides could probably agree, were they allowed to think about them for a moment. The key here is 'probably'. Because, in the weird, wacky world of Houston development, nothing is guaranteed.

Take street capacity and flood prevention as an example. If a developer decides that what the market needs are three houses on a lot that used to fit one, fine. Ask anyone in Houston today and they'll tell you that yard's are overrated anyway. The problem is that said developer is sub-dividing the lot in a manner which it was never designed. Not only is water usage going to be increased, but so is run-off and traffic on the abutting thoroughfare. Of course, the developer will tell you that infrastructure improvements and mobility concerns are the exclusive domain of the City. In other words, its the taxpayers responsibility to fund development of the networks needed to accommodate this increased capacity. To a point, this is true. The City is responsible for ensuring adequate infrastructure, but that doesn't mean that the developer's hands are totally clean. I consider it much the same as a marginal tax rate. Let's call it: Marginal infrastructure.

If your plan, as President of Tuscany in Houston Development Inc., is to build a hi-rise for 200 people in a lot and area that's originally designed to house 20 people, then I don't think it's unreasonable for the City to require that you upgrade the surrounding infrastructure to cover the margins. In short, you've got to assist with the upgrades needed to support the additional 180 people. Not through direct work of course, but through funding agreements in most cases. (the exceptions being retention ponds and underground storage tanks, which developers should be required to install) The problem lies in the lack of infrastructure planning that goes along with building a new hi-rise, or sub-dividing a residential lot. Packing more people into a contained space means demand for resources will be increased. This is why it's folly for some politicians to promote increased density as the solution to all of Houston's problems, to the detriment of the surrounding area.

Other issues aren't so cut and dried. When approaching the issue of where to add density things get a little more hairy. Everyone wants density, but no one wants to lose their yard. Everyone wants public transportation, but no-one wants to use it, everyone wants mixed-use, but no-one wants to live next to a night-club. Often the solution to these problems is to petition the City to enact strict ordinances which prohibit changes in a preferred neighborhood or area. In extreme cases this can have drastic effects. Some European countries are finding out that, by naming certain districts "historical districts", they are destroying certain neighborhoods by refusing to allow anything other than historical renovations on properties within. The Plaka region of Athens is one such example of this. Faced with the inability to afford super-expensive renovations (and unable to perform more-affordable updates) old European neighborhoods are a mish-mash of dilapidated buildings next to modern-day ruins as properties are left to the deteriorating forces of time. I'm reminded of the Plaka when I hear anyone from the Heights Historic Preservation Society speaking of the need to take Draconian steps to 'save the bungalows'. Never mind that 'saving' dilapidated-old buildings is a newish phenomenon, replacing the ideal that updating with new technology and materials is typically an improvement over older, more inefficient design. All of this masks the fact that this version of "history" is superficial at best. The original bungalows weren't designed with $20,000 central heating and air systems, or come equipped with detached two-car garages. They also didn't have Travertine tile imported from Tuscany or wall paint tinted with clay that was hand harvested by albino workers in the South of France. As a matter of fact, quite often these bungalows had paints with lead contents so high Superman couldn't make a go of it as a peeping Tom. When it comes to "Historic" what we see in places such as the Heights is a gutted-out, soulless, artificial ode to some European ideal that even the Europeans come to experience to escape the mundane.

Lost in all of this is the rising influence of the Hispanic Culture in Houston. Remarkably, they've decided that they kind of want things to look somewhat like they did back in the old Country. This is greeted with revulsion by some, and jubilation by others. It's just another dynamic to add to Houston, a City that's growing more diverse in population, but homogeneous in vision. (Read: The vision that's being broadcast in the media)

If density is inevitable (and I believe that it is, to some extent) then Houston's discussions regarding it are going to have to become more varied than just the local newspaper getting quotes from the same small group of sources repeatedly and throwing them up as fact. Missing from the media debate is the Hispanic voice, the Asian voice and the Black voice. There's a lot of white-noise about pretty families taking idyllic trips from the Medical Center to the Galleria on a shiny new train while stopping off at a French inspired Bistro to purchase a lunch consisting of organic vegetables, locally sourced, and blessed by a Wicca priest during harvest who also happens to be a Vegan, cooked on a stove fueled by peat-moss that's genetically engineered by a group of Rice Scientists to burn clean, using plates that were recycled from dog-shit collected from Discovery Green by children who were using the experience to fulfill their service requirement that they agreed to in return for a free College education. The plates, of course, were sterilized and kiln-fired in a wind-powered reactor ran by former oil and gas engineers making $10/hr. This entire program created 5 jobs at a cost of $17 Million dollars. The Obama administration has held it up as a bell-weather of the new, green economy.

That's a nice picture, but it doesn't address how the former oil and gas engineers are going to get to the kiln, or where there going to live now that Suburbia has been systematically bull-dozed to make way for the Peter Brown Memorial green-belt and economic relocation zone where tents made of naturally harvested silk....well, you get the idea.

The point is that the Density issue is being carried out on the extremes. And, like many of America's current habits, the results being discussed are unsustainable in the long-term.

Houston Area Asides (06/30/09)

The "build it over there" edition.....

Add broken pipes to heat woes. [Mike Tolson, Chron.com] - No one cares about infrastructure spending until a water pipe breaks and their front yard is turned into a moat. (but hey: We're spending more for a downtown park and a soccer stadium! Whee!)

Perry pressured to add CHIP, Voter ID to special session. [Peggy Fikac, Chron.com] - First political groups don't want a special, then they want to ensure their ideas are included to the exclusion of all others. Make everyone a deal: CHIP for Voter ID. (Because what we really want to have is party acrimony and Sen. Whitmire's infamous temper on display. Makes for better news stories and blog posts about said news stories after all.)

How Urban can Houston become? [Mike Snyder, Chron.com] - Highlighting the folly of the thinking that the solution to the problems is moving everyone in the region inside the Beltway. (Of course, the real problem is that the wrong neighborhoods are getting redeveloped. Upper middle class, predominently caucasian, neighborhoods are supposed to be left pastoral, or didn't you know that?)

Coming today: Firefox 3.5 [Dwight Silverman, Chron.com] - Good, It's been due an update. (Blogging will be light today....)

Fate of the Flagship: Landry's mulls selling, demolishing iconic Galveston Hotel. [Laura Elder, The Daily News via KHOU.com]

Landry’s is pricing demolition for the hotel, built in 1965 as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla, Jeff Cantwell, senior vice president for development, said.

After Carla, a show of confidence from business leaders in Galveston. After Ike? Tear down and pull away. (Not that I would consider Landry's to be a "leader" in anything, but they sure do own a lot of real estate down there.)

The fight over speed-humps in Kingwood. [Lee McGuire, Chron.com] - Houston drivers are terrible about speeding through residential neighborhoods. This stems from their inherent selfishness on the road. (As opposed to Dallas, whose drivers are just BAD, Houston's drivers are very selfish on the whole, often giving no thought to how their actions behind the wheel affect others.)

Council set to renew $11 Million Arts contract. [Kevin Whited, Chron.com] - From a group that's shown little ability to, you know, deliver any art. (Fortunately Annise Parker is on the case, her concerns being 'addressed' by the group. I know I feel better knowing that "The Houston Way" is alive and well.)

The end of blogging as we know it in the UK? [Shawn K Quinn] - Another point in the 'anonymous vs. psuedo-anonymous' blogging batte. (I blog under my real name but, really, that doesn't mean much to you unless you know me personally. Otherwise my blog name could be Hereford Alexander and it wouldn't matter right?)

Medina making progress in TX Governors' race. [David Jennings, Lone Star Times] _ I'm not sure how relatable an LST on-line poll is to results State-wide but there you go. And now there's an option for Republicans who can't stomach either Hutchison or Perry, which could be a sizable percentage. (The question is: Is it sizable enough to put a Democrat in the Governor's office?)

Jeff Weems [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - Takes a look at the emerging top of the Ticket races for the Democratic Party as well. (Gilbert is a solid candidate for Ag Commish, outside of that there's not a lot of familiarity with any of the candidates. Name ID is going to be a problem, and fund-raising.)

TX Smart-Growth and Houston Urbanism. [Tory Gattis, Houston Strategies] - Good post on Houston's growth issues. Or, more accurately, Houston's "don't grow near me" issues coming from some big smart-growth enthusiasts. (You know, people who like trains provided other people use them.)

Side Benefits [Slampo's Place] - Heh.

Lipstick on a pig.

The sad state of the Chron's Metro columns.

Falkenberg on BARC:

Who knew? She acknowledged that there have been “occasional slips” implementing the policy. But, she copied me on an e-mail in which the new BARC bureau chief, Ray Sim, estimated as of Wednesday the percentage of dogs vaccinated to be “95 percent or greater.”

It’s definitely progress, even if it’s a basic reform that could have been implemented long ago.

Sad, all Falkenberg did was read a report by Craig Malisow and then call BARC's PR department for their version. She then based a column on their version of events seemingly without doing any additional research.

Fortunately for us, one of the Chron's volunteer bloggers actually went out and did some research...

Despite the so-called "good news" coming out of BARC, the truth is they are still starving dogs there. Here are some pictures taken at the Meet & Greet in the Heights on June 6th:

The attached pictures are just sad, and reflect a level of naivete in the Chronicle that seems to be spreading to the executive wing.

It's enough to make one feel sorry for the good reporters remaining on staff who have to put up with juvenile, Orwellian acts by management, columnists who can't get the facts right and who inexplicably attack those who question things they have written for which there is much evidence the columnist was wrong.

After the devastation of the recent layoffs to the news room of the Chron, their focus is ever shifting toward lifestyle and fluff pieces, at the expense of real hard news. And what they're putting out in terms of opinion is, increasingly, of a sub-par nature. In short: there's precious little "news" in Houston's newspaper these days. I don't care what your political leaning, that's bad for Houston. Losing a watchdog press is never good for a City. Of course, there are many who say that the Chronicle long ago abandoned their role as media watchdog instead taking on the guise of shill for Government projects. Given the Chron's recent history of overlooking massive problems at Enron, the Houston Crime Lab and Metro I'm not disinclined to agree with that way of thinking. Unfortunately, its a way of thinking that says the damage in Houston has largely already been done, that the malaise and corruption in City government has been allowed to set in without serious question, and that no one is minding the store counter as the kids steal all of the candy.

If that's the case then recent Chron.com re-designs are nothing more than putting lipstick on the proverbial pig.

My question then is this: Why in the heck did they select such a hideous color?

CFISD: Homestead Exemption to stay...

....for now.

[Ericka Mellon, Chron.com]

Homeowners in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district will keep their special tax break, and about 75 employees will lose their jobs, the school board decided Thursday.

Superintendent David Anthony had recommended cutting the optional homestead exemption in half to 10 percent to try to ensure the district’s long term financial stability and give all employees a raise. But the board voted 5-1 to keep the exemption at 20 percent, after being flooded with complaints from residents who wanted that tax break.

“It balances the budget for this year only,” the district’s attorney, Marney Collins-Sims, said in an interview after the board’s vote on the $687 million budget. “We know we’re going to grow, so we’re going to have to take action next year to balance the budget.”

While homeowners will keep their optional exemption this year, their tax bills still will go up due to an expected increase to the tax rate. The district’s chief financial officer, Stuart Snow, said he expects to have to raise the rate by 6 cents, which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home an extra $39 a year.

Under the plan approved by the school board, all teachers, nurses, counselors, librarians and speech pathologists will get a raise – ranging from $1,100 to $1,500 – that was mandated by the state. No other employees will get a pay hike.

As much as I hate for anyone to have to lose their job, when an organization faces lean times, things have to be cut. People everywhere in the private sector are losing their jobs daily, companies are announcing job-cuts in the 1000's. Yet school districts and Government agencies rarely face that decision. Maybe its one they need to face from time to time to keep from getting bloated and inefficient?

As is usual in these cases, the mis-information monkeys are out in droves....

lack of pay, lack of appreciation, lack of respect = lack of teachers

Posted by: Teachers at June 25, 2009 09:56 PM

That's fine except that all teachers are getting a pay raise under this budget. So there's no 'lack of pay' issue here. Respect and appreciation are earned. Just as there are good teachers who deserve our respect and admiration there are bad teachers as well. Using pay raises or willingness to increase tax payments as the sole determinant of individual respect is silly and counter productive to the education discussion as a whole.

No wonder this country is going to he** and is losing ground to China, India, et al. Cy-Fair residents would rather keep around $300 or so in their pocket than do what it takes to properly educate their children and secure their (collectively) economic future. Once again, the concept of "I've got mine, now screw you" comes into play.

I hope that the (short-term) savings are worth it to them....

Posted by: Random Poster at June 26, 2009 07:39 AM

The idea that a community refusing to pay more taxes to fund a School District who's expenditures are out of control is hardly representative of the reason's we're "falling behind China and India" but it sure sounds good doesn't it?

Except that, China and India aren't hiring professional architects to design schools that are cutting edge, or wasting money on an athletic center, or putting waterfalls in atriums for aesthetic purposes. Somehow these projects are overlooked in the American education debate when quality of education issues are addressed.

This is very sad, schooling is the future. This issue is not over by a long shot, this fix is only for this year. this 20% will be gone no matter what. Why you ask because the district will always fall short on the yearly budget and have to make more cuts each year, This would involve school closures and over populated schools. Next year the 20% will be gone.

It doesn't have to be that way however. This defeatist thinking that districts will always fall short on their budgets is a license for fraud and abuse. Yes, Cy-Fair has made some terrible financial decisions in the past, approved by the voters, that are rising up to bite them in the ass currently. They will continue to pay for these mis-steps for years to come. In private industry, were a company painted into a financial corner similar to Cy-Fair, the executive leadership wouldn't be long for employment. IN Cy-Fair ISD however, the share-holders are being asked to pony up more funds for stock they purchased in the past. Their failure to want to do so is somehow being viewed as anti-education when, in reality, it's a vote of no-confidence for the current leadership.


For one year, at least, the moaning and complaining from the teacher's union and local education experts is going to be deafening. Cy-Fair has now become the tin can on the fence at the firing range of dis-information that people use when discussing education issues in Texas. The end result of this will probably be the eventual revocation of the OHD next year, after education advocates properly smear the honesty, integrity and dedication to the next generation of Cy-Fair voters.

Unfortunately there will be no serious discussion about Cy-Fair financial reform, or if what the district is doing is really achieving the desired goal of educational excellence or if it's just building a lot of temples with plaques and names on them to glorify board members and build legacies.

The biggest frauds in education today are the arguments of education activists. Increasingly they are about enlarging budgets and enriching the politically well-connected, and less about the children. You know, those little heathens that education activists love to feign concern for while pushing for no-tolerance laws that put the handing out of an aspirin on a kids permanent record as a drug charge?

Yeah, them.

Houston Area Asides (06/29/09)

The "keeping my competitive advantage" edition...

New State regulator disappoints environmentalists. [Matthew Tresaugue, Chron.com] - Which probably is an indicator that he's doing a good job.

Troubled arts agency's contract close to being renewed. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] -

The nonprofit only has produced one major piece of public art in its three years of existence, failed to complete a planned Gateway Project for George Bush Intercontinental Airport on time, and recently had to scrap plans for the artistic portion of the $7 million Tolerance Bridge because the organization could not raise enough private money.

Which, according to the Houston Way, means that the contract will be renewed with little debate.


The non-endorsement, endorsement for Mayor. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] - Why endorse when you have three people who share 90% of the same priorities?

Jack Daniels store opens at IAH [Houston Business Journal] - I can't think of no better metaphor for the coming economic climate in Houston.

Houston Couple finds unknown man dead in their bathroom. [AP via KHOU.com] - And you think YOU have rough mornings?

Houston's crime lab faces more scrutiny. [AP via KHOU.com] - But remember: Lee Brown "worked hard" to get them the resources they needed....

City official in charge of approving HASDC activities now in charge of auditing them. [Kevin Whited, BlogHouston.net] - According to The Houston Way, this makes total sense.

Securing Houston's economic and World-City Future. [Tory Gattis, Houston Strategies] - Interesting theory, but probably a day late and a dollar short. Oil companies will be fine, but the thousands of people that work for them in the Houston area probably will not. Even in the short-term as cap n' trade ramps up and the lay-offs start.

Time for a full-time legislature? [Dan Patrick, The Texas Observer] - Remember when Dan Patrick ran on the premise that "Government wasn't the answer" to a lot of the State's problems?

Mark this vote.

House Energy Bill passes by narrowest of margins. [Houston Chronicle]...

In one of the narrowest votes in its recent history, the House of Representatives on Friday evening passed a sweeping energy and climate-change bill that supporters say could revolutionize the nation’s industrial economy.

The 219-212 vote represented a major victory for President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., both of whom invested significant political capital in ensuring the success of the ambitious measure. Obama’s administration and Democratic leaders in the House worked feverishly in the final hours before the vote to cement enough support for passage.

“This is a transformative moment,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., shortly before the final vote. “This is a moment to build a clean energy future for our country. This is a moment to create jobs. This is a moment to take on, at long last, a defining challenge of our time: global warming.”

It's been described as a 1,500 page economic suicide note another in an increasingly long line of bills that Congress has passed without reading.

And yes, you read that last part right. Hadn't read it. It was the same scenario with the TARP legislation as well, and it's likely to be the same with health-care "reform".

There's a chance that society's Least Common Denominator can make changes to the bill for the better. A flat carbon tax would be better than a cap n' trade scheme designed to enrich a few influential donors. It would probably save a lot of energy sector jobs as well. Unless you believe the argument that this bill will 'create' 4 Million so-called "green energy" jobs...

The sad thing is, this isn't going to accomplish a thing. China, India and other developing Countries aren't going to follow along rendering any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions moot. So, in return for nothing, the US has happily given away its economic competitive advantage.


(Full disclosure: As I've said many times before my 'day job' is as an accountant for an oil & gas company. Yes, the odds are I'm going to lose my job because of this bill, and I'm not confident there will be anything to replace it now.)

Dog Rescue Update (06/25/09)

The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake has a problem. They currently have 140 animals for which they are providing care, and not enough donations to buy food for them. If this situation isn't rectified soon they'll be faced with the unfortunate reality of having to put adoptable dogs down or watching them starve.

I understand that, during hard financial times, the charity calls are long and the stories are heartbreaking. There's only so much that all of us can do. What I try to do is break it down into attainable pieces.

For Cedar Creek Lake it breaks down as follows:

Monthly Food budget: Approx. $1,000

LaE daily Readers: Approx. 200

Months of food if each LaE reader serves up a $20 donation: 4

Think about it.

Also, If you're looking for a dog to adopt: Toby is ready for a forever home.




As for the wife and I, since Sly (now re-named Torque by his new owners) and Blanca have been adopted, we're fostering Simon: Or as I like to call him: Simon "Babaloo" Sanchez. He'll be ready for adoption soon, just needs a little training.


There's nothing like the love of a rescue dog.

On BARC: Houston Press > Houston Chron

Today, finally, someone at the Chron decided they better take a look at the whole BARC issue, until now almost the exclusive reporting territory of Craig Malisow of the Houston Press.

Unfortunately for readers, they put Lisa Falkenberg on the case:

It’s never hard to believe otherwise hard-to-believe news coming out of Houston’s terminally troubled Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care.

But every now and then, there’s a good explanation.

Like earlier this week, when a Houston Press blog reported, among other disturbing facts, that BARC vaccinated only 8 percent of incoming animals between July and January, according to the “FY 2010 Supplemental Budget Justification.”

The document, which this columnist obtained as well, explains that “best industry standard is to vaccinate all animals entering a shelter — to minimize the spread of disease among the existing animal population.”

And here’s BARC at 8 percent. This, I thought, could explain all the sad tales of people who have adopted dogs from the shelter, only to watch them die a short time later of illnesses such as distemper.

But when I called BARC spokeswoman, Kathy Barton, she explained that the document citing the 8 percent figure was a draft and that it hadn’t reflected the new statistic since a recent, dramatic policy change.

Since January, Barton said, it’s BARC policy to vaccinate 100 percent of dogs upon intake and cats within a few hours.

Who knew? She acknowledged that there have been “occasional slips” implementing the policy. But, she copied me on an e-mail in which the new BARC bureau chief, Ray Sim, estimated as of Wednesday the percentage of dogs vaccinated to be “95 percent or greater.”

What's obvious from this column is that the Chron's Jr. Columnist didn't do much more than read Malisow's coverage and make a call to BARC's PR.

"Who knew?"

According to some actual journalism by Malisow Falkenberg would have had she put forth a little effort.

That's because the article refers to an "estimate" by Bureau Chief Ray Sim that, "as of Wednesday," the percentage of dogs vaccinated was "95 percent or greater."

The very next sentence is Falkenberg's conclusion that "It's definitely progress, even if it's a basic reform that could have been implemented long ago."

However, we wonder if Falkenberg asked over what time period this magical 95 percent occurred.

On Monday, Hair Balls referred to a draft for additional BARC funds that estimated an eight percent vaccination rate between July 2008 and January 2009. In conversations with city Health and Human Services spokesperson Kathy Barton and HHS Director Stephen Williams, Hair Balls was told that the eight percent was accurate, but it was strictly for January -- that the prior months, in fact, had lower vaccination rates.

Last Sunday night, upon receiving the supplemental budget request (which is now being called a "draft"), Hair Balls e-mailed Barton, Williams, and HHS Assistant Director Michael Terraso, asking to confirm the eight percent figure.

Barton subsequently explained in an e-mail that "Immunization before intake was not consistently conducted until January of 2009. The statistic may be technically correct, but does not reflect that intake immunization is a new policy initiated by the interim management."

That might have been a good time to include any information that the vaccination rate somehow jumped 87 percentage points since January. So this morning, Hair Balls asked Barton what time period Sim was referring to in the Chron column, and she said "I believe what he said was, 'At this time.'"

Que pasa?

So naturally, our next question was: Could Sim have meant that, on Wednesday, June 24, 95 percent of animals were vaccinated?

Barton said: "It could be."

She then explained that vaccination rates have increased since animal control officers started vaccinating animals in the field. This policy was implemented, Barton believed, on June 10. So at worst, the 95 percent Falkenberg trumpeted as "good news" was actually a one-day statistic; at best, it was a 14-day snapshot (minus weekends, of course).

(Sorry for the long excerpt)

So, in other words, instead of verifying the information spoon-fed to her by BARC's public relations, or conducting even a cursory review, Falkenberg went forward with, and her editors approved, a column that basically serves as a rebuttal to the hard work of Malisow without verifying the facts she was promoting.

Before you get too worked up however remember one thing: This is the Houston Chronicle we're speaking of. Their role as "government watchdog" is severely (irreperably?) tarnished after the rail memo, the free pass they gave to Enron as well as their early silence on the HPD crime lab kerfuffle. Given that Houston is now looking down the barrel of another local scandal brewing under the watch of a mayor who's favored by the members of the masthead it's no surprise that this is the treatment given to what is turning out to be a serious issue.

Congratulations to the Houston Press' Malisow, who joins a long list of local reporters who've done a better job than Houston's (former) leading information source in uncovering areas of concern in local Government.

Give the Chron a break however, between choosing that god-awful baby-puke green for their new color scheme, choosing dresses for their latest photo layout and attending social events of the well-heeled who has any time to do any actual reporting these days?

A question about on-time performance.

Metro's expensive blogger authors a post rah-rahing a 97% on-time rating for the new "Quickline" bus service....

[Mary Sit, Write on Metro]

The 402 Quickline Bellaire has an average of 97 percent on-time performance.

"It's doing really well," said Pat Porzillo, associate vice president of commuter rail at METRO, and the go-to guy for Quickline operations. "Our on-time performance has been really great."

As is typically the case in 'press release' dispatches such as these there are some key data points missing that provide additional information to the readers.

According to Metro's most recent Quarterly Report (2Q FY 2009) "on time" service is defined thusly:

(on Pg. 30 of the report)
The OTP definition was revised in January 2009, allowing buses to depart from a parameter of 5 minutes late to less than 6 minutes late.

Given that the "Quickline" bus service has a targeted frequency of 15 Minutes, it's possible (under the current "on-time" guidelines) for a rider to sit at a "Quick-Line" stop for almost 30 minutes (assuming the worst case scenario - that the previous bus left early and the next bus left 5 minutes late) for a so-called 'express' service. In contrast, Bellaire 2 (whose route the Quickline mimics) has busses scheduled to arrive every 13 minutes. Since it's virtually impossible (from the information Metro provides online) to determine the on-time percentage of a certain route,(Metro's overall on-time percentage is well below 80%, and their "goal" is only 61%, something they frequently have difficulty meeting, even using the expanded definition of 'on time') it's also virtually impossible to provide any meaningful comparison of the Quickline service with existing service. Was the money spent worth it? Who knows?

Another valid point is raised (surprisingly) in the Chron.comments section of the Move it! press release column about the Quickline service....

Lets look at the real math on Metro... the Quickline runs 24 times inbound and 23 times outbound every day..... total 47 .... divide 530 boardings and you come up with less then 12 people riding each bus..... probably the same 12 people that were riding the regular Bellaire route anyway.... Lots of money spent to just shuffle things around..... no ridership gain, more money spent.... end of story...

At $12-14 Million dollars cost, its going to be impossible for the public to determine what the ROI is for this service based on Metro's hazy numbers.

From what I'm seeing the "QuickLine" service is a cash-hog that provides very little marginal value to commuters. We already know that it can't beat a bicycle and there's mounting evidence that it's not efficient, either in cost per passenger or from a time perspective. Perhaps a better plan would be for Metro to work on improving their core bus service instead of spending Millions of dollars on spiffy marketing campaigns and ripped-off mascots?

Houston Area Asides (06/25/09)

The "Gooooooal!" edition....

Obama: Texas gains more than it loses under my energy plan. [Richard S. Dunham, Chron.com] - Unfortunately, the hard numbers don't back up that assessment. There aren't enough so-called "green" jobs to replace those that will be lost because of Cap n' Trade. Al Gore will get richer however.

A Break for first time homebuyers. [Jennifer Hiller, San Antonio Express-News via Chron.com] - And Barney Franks wants Freddie and Fannie to relax rules again. Those who don't pay attention to the past etc. etc.

Districts get subsidy but also criticism. [Ericka Mellon, Chron.com] - I still think the exemption is a goner this evening. Oddly enough this will make anti-tax advocates the happiest. (except, of course, those who live in Cy-Fair) The problem lies with how Texas funds schools, and our antiquidated property tax system that's increasingly unworkable.

Habitat for Humanity marks mileston in Houston. [Allan Turner, Chron.com] - Good for them.

Windstorm insurance group plans 10% hike along coast. [Purva Patel, Chron.com] - After all the money paid out, the well is dry. Unfortunately there's even more coastal construction on-going and in the planning stages.

Comcast, Time Warner working for the clampdown. [Dwight Silverman, Chron.com] - Ridiculous.

New Questions for former special education head. [Wayne Dolcefino, KTRK 13] - Ruth Watson is a piece of work. Watch the video and laugh.

Corrections Chron style: Wrong = Outdated. [Kevin Whited, BlogHouston.net] - Yeesh.

Check out Watchdog in the AM: Details on Vacar resignation. [Trent Seibert, Texas Watchdog] - This should be an interesting report.

About Sen. Ensign: Only someone with morals can be considered a hypocrite. [Dr. Melissa Clouthier] - Unbelievable.

Another idiot Republican not thinking with his brain. [RickG, Lone Star Times] - For Dr. Clouthier et. al....(Pay attention here) The Repub 'sex' scandals are so heinous in the public eye because its these same Republicans that are scolding people for their lack of morals. It's like the little boy pointing at the naked emperor while everyone gawks. You can't try and govern from the moral high-ground if you're wallowing with the pigs. Parse it all you want, say the Democrats are worse etc. It's not going to go well for you from a PR standpoint. (I admit, when this story first broke I was uninterested. Once the news of the affair became public all that changed. A Gov taking a hike? Not a story. A Gov having an affair with a 'dear, dear friend' from Argentina? Public gold.)

Turn out the lights the family values party is over. [John Cobarruvias, Bay Area Houston] - If history has taught us anything, its that nothing in politics is truly ever 'over'. The Republican brand is damaged right now for sure, but if Chris Dodd can be put in charge of leading America out of a mess he had a huge hand in creating, then anything is possible.

Three vetoes that will come back to haunt Rick Perry. [Vince Leibowitz, Capitol Annex] - Insurance, Transportation and education, what I expect to be the State Democrats "holy trinity" in 2010. Unfortunately for Republicans, there's plenty of ammunition available on these issues.

The latest Lyceum Poll. [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - Kuffner questions most polls that don't agree with how he sees it, and has a tendency to over-value polls with which he agrees. {EX: The now infamous "Noriega has a shot against Cornyn" poll} (As opposed to me. I'm overly critical of every poll, event the good ones. We all have our idiosyncracies) That being said he's pretty much nailed the issues with the Lyceum poll in this post.

Meeting of the utterly insane minds: Glenn Beck interviews a secessionist from Houston. [Richard Connelly, Houston Press] - The Connelly vs. KTRH fued rages on. (and on and on and on)...

One National piece of interest:

Did Obama make his case on healthcare? [Jake Tapper & Karen Travers, ABCNews.com] - As someone who likes Obama (although I disagree with many of his policies) I was surprised to see him perform so poorly last night in a setting that was organized to play to his strong-suits. He repeated the same narrow talking points over and over, didn't seem to have even a basic understanding of the details behind the plan (that one falls on his staff) and basically dodged every question by repeating the "we have to do something" or "you can keep the coverage you already have" mantras ad nauseum. At the beginning of the affair it seemed as if the audience was on his side (shots to the audience showed attendees nodding in agreement with his opening statement) but by the end the 167 "ordinary Americans" (including the head of the AMA and other health and insurance professionals) seemed stunned by the lack of detail and the sheer amount of evasion that Obama was offering up. If anything the "Prescription for America" was returned unfillable due to sloppy handwriting.

On the other hand - Charles Gibson could not have come off worse. He was fawning, kept (incorrectly) referring to the Town Hall as a "debate on healthcare" {Odd since there has been no significant debate on this issue} and was obviously attempting to lead Obama to the answers he wanted to hear.

How do they know?

Nature makes a better pool than man could any day, and my last pool party was pretty nice.


Of course, what they don't say is that, for 99.99% of Houstonians, you couldn't have attended that particular pool party anyway. You either don't have the money, the connections or (judging by the pictures) enough plastic surgery to get you past security.

Houston Area Asides (06/24/09)

Now even less approved by the Bloggers O' the Right....

Heat, drought prompt Harris burn ban. [Roma Khanna, Chron.com] - My dogs are rooting for a full fireworks ban.

Wall Street blamed as UH hikes tuition and fees. [Jeannie Kever, Chron.com] - Well...they had to blame someone considering the Lege increased their funding and all. Keep that revenue stream growing!

Reactor foes question Bay Area plant. [Anton Caputo, San Antonio Express-News via Chron.com] - NIMBYism is going to kill any meaningful progress on alternative energy. Which, of course, means that we'll have to revert to old methods that are going to be made unaffordable by Cap n' Trade. I don't think this plan was thought through.

Most Texans say they're worse off than last year. [Gary Scharrar, Chron.com] - Typically the Lyceum poll is a policy wonks wet-dream, but flies under the Texas public's radar just a bit. Now that "journalism" is in its death-throes expect ready-made polls and stories to move to the fore-front. No, that's not a dig at Chron.com. It's just an observation about journalism period. Budgets don't allow for research and investigative journalism any more, and me and my fellow bloggers don't really have the know-how or resources. The logical move is to increase the importance of polls.

Lawmaker asks power companies to show compassion. [Kevin Reece, KHOU] - The Corporatist ideal is that 'businesses are in the business to make money', the Progressive ideal is that 'businesses are there to pay for things I don't want to be taxed for'. Ideal would be a view that businesses need to make a profit to survive, but have an obligation to be good citizens and work to bring up the standard of living in the community around them. As we've forgotten this, America has slid behind the rest of the World. A little compassion during the heat would be a good thing, but I'm not counting on it.

Texas Mass Layoffs jump between April and May. [Houston Business Journal] - The Depression she is here and, as the energy sector braces for a pounding, it's only going to get worse.

UH-Victoria to begin admitting underclassmen. [Houston Business Journal] - Another 4-year University in the Houston Region is a good thing.

Conference to focus on transportation-linked air quality issues. [Ford Gunter, Houston Business Journal] - How about focusing on Jobs that can be created by fixing air quality issues. The (bogus) "green" economy and all of that? The problem is we're transitioning full-bore toward an economic model with no employment projections, and no defined profit structure. Hope I guess.

Strike the Question Marks. [Unca Darrell] - I've had quite a bit of fun at the expense of 29-95, as have others. Any serious Chron journalist should be embarrassed beyond belief that they're even remotely linked to such an enterprise.

Radnofsky in for AG [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - Critics will point to her lack of experience in elected office, and supporters will point to her experience as an attorney and her drubbing race against Kay Bailey Hutchison. They'll both have a point. I'm not sure which will resonate with voters. As a Senate candidate she was not good, in over her head and floundering. As an AG candidate she will probably do better, but can she raise the cash? Petty cash donations from small progressive groups aren't going to do much in an election that requires Millions.

Friends and Foes [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - "We hate 'best & worst' lists" says the Texas Observer. Then they reel off their version of a 'best & worst' list, but change the name. Brilliant!

Parker Campaign touts 56 endorsements. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] - 56 Local Democrat precinct chairs. I too received this e-mail but didn't see much there. I'm not criticizing the Chron for running it. (As a matter of fact I'm glad they did) I'm just not sure if it actually means anything at this point.

HPD loses one of its own.

Officer, suspect, die in shootings. [Cindy George & Mike Glenn, Chron.com]

An undercover Houston police officer was killed Tuesday night in a shootout with a man killed moments later by another officer, officials said.

The officer was identified as 42-year-old Henry Canales. He joined the Houston Police Department in 1993. The identity of the other man was not available.

Canales was part of an undercover team investigating stolen televisions when he was shot in the parking lot of a Walgreens drugstore at Hillcroft and Bellaire, officials said.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt described Canales as dedicated.

"He was not only an outstanding officer but an outstanding individual," Hurtt said early this morning outside of Ben Taub General Hospital, where Canales was taken after he was shot and later pronounced dead.

"He cared a lot about the people that he worked with," Hurtt said. "He cared a lot about the citizens of the city of Houston. And, he was a hero to his family."

Condolances to the Canales family.

If you have the means, I'm sure a donation to either the 100 Club or to a fund the HPD Union sets up (link when it becomes available.)

These are the voyages......

...of the "Star"ship Chron.com.. To explore, strange new blogs and Caucasian opinion, to search out no-cost, amateurish, reader-based content, to boldly make errors like no news organization that has come before....(cue music)

The Chron's new green Star Trek logo has been on online chief Dean Betz Twitter Page for a while now so it came as no surprise. He did admit today that he knows the logo is Trekkish so I guess that's what they are going for.

Off Into the Future!

Heh: funny from Twitter:

RT @mattbramanti Chron.com replaces Day-Glo orange with Linda-Blair-vomit green, adds winged Star Trek logo: http://chron.com | #vomitous

It IS a rather hideous shade of green, but it's still easier on the eyes than was the Hi-Vi, retina-searing Orange.

TX Gov: Another one out, and a maybe.

The Chron's Peggy Fikac provides the skinny on Leticia Van de Putte

A 'thanks but no thanks'...

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio said she won't make it a race for the Democratic nomination but she thinks Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin should.

"Prominent Democrats must put personal ambitions aside and very pragmatically nominate the person best equipped to win in November. Just because one can win the Democratic nomination for Governor doesn't mean one should, unless he or she is best positioned to defeat the Republican nominee in the fall," Van de Putte said in statement that appears to be a pretty direct slap at Schieffer, a Fort Worth lawyer with ties to George W. Bush.

"That's why I think Senator Kirk Watson should raise his sights and run for governor ... if he declines, Democrats should recruit and support someone who, like Watson, is energetic, pragmatic, focused, and smart; and who can fully energize Democratic supporters while also attracting a broad range of independent voters in every region of the state," Van de Putte said in the statement.

For his part, Watson is non-committal and its still too early to tell how Democrats really feel about Scheiffer. Moderation typically doesn't play well in the primary.

Over on the Republican side it's all Hair Helmet vs. KBH all the time. Since polls right now are glorified popularity contests the best indicator of support can be found on the blogs. If you check my blogrolls for both the Bloggers O' the Right and the InterLeft, you will find both parties split...at best.

For the rest of us it's wait and see. My current preference is as follows:

KBH > Scheiffer > Friedman > Hair Helmet > Far Left or Far Right candidate.

I'd vote for KBH over anyone, and would accept a moderate Democrat over Hair Helmet, but would reluctantly cast a vote for Hair Helmet or Friedman should the Democrats or Republicans nominate someone out of the mainstream. Unless something drastic happens, I think we're more than likely to have a couple of moderates running for the Gov. office this year. Contrary to the protestations of many, that's music to this Independent voters ears.

Houston Area Asides (06/26/09)

The "you've got to be kidding me" edition...

It's a Texas Two-Step with a green twist. [Cyrus Reed, Sierra Club via Chron.com] - "Building the green economy" has become a hollow rallying cry akin to "for the Children" and "World Class". None of them really mean anything any longer, there's no quantifiable goal in sight, and no measure of how we're going to get there. Other than by destroying the old economy. What's not clear is how long members of the old economy will be without jobs until the 'green' economy is built?

Is it Kumbaya time for the Ags? [Lisa "UT-Austin Alum" Falkenberg, Chron.com] - Horns lecturing Ags. That'll end well.

Chron.com makes a mess of the columnists page, again. [Kevin Whited, BlogHouston.net] - That's our Chron!

Matt Stiles joins Chron Exodus. [Richard Connelly, Houston Press] - Stiles is a good reporter, and aside from a spurned co-worker in the Press comments, was well liked and respected for his reporting. Also hinted is that Roma Khanna is gone. That's two good reporters gone from the increasingly light on hard news Houston Chroncile.

I believe it matters. [Dr. Melissa Clouthier] - An argument for change from a party that resists change in opposition to the party that claims to be all about change. All kidding aside, outside of her stereotypes of liberals, she makes some good points here about political activism and what Republicans need to do. (Which, FWIW, is probably different then what I would want them to do but, admittedly, I'm not a Republican so there you go.)

Hey Cy-Fair voters, take a hike! [David Jennings, Lone Star Times] - For the life of me I can't figure out why Republicans have an image problem?

Whadya mean Kemo Sabe? [Unca Darrell] - It's amazing that America is in the trouble she's in considering no one has done any of the things that people are pointing out as the root causes of the problem.

He said/He said on County ethics reform.

Groan...

[Roma Khanna, Chron.com]

Long-stalled proposals to increase accountability and transparency in Harris County government appear headed for yet another delay today after the county attorney said his office may have to review them.

After months of political maneuvering, County Judge Ed Emmett is asking commissioners to approve a series of ethics reforms. They include the voluntary registration of lobbyists, online posting of officials’ personal and financial disclosure forms and the adoption of a county statement of ethics.

The proposals are weaker than those recommended by an ethics task force assembled by Emmett last year. But even they have been met with skepticism from commissioners.

(snip)

County Attorney Vince Ryan said Monday that the ethics measures differ from those that Ryan reviewed earlier at Emmett’s request.

“His proposals are dissimilar enough that, if asked, we will need to review them again,” Ryan said. “We just need to review them again in light of any action the legislature may have taken.”

A review by the county attorney undoubtedly would stall the reforms. Emmett, however, maintained no further study is needed. He noted that Ryan has reviewed the proposals before and that they were written in accordance with what Ryan previously said was appropriate.

“I think he must not have read them because they are exactly what has been put forward before,” the county judge said.

Emmett added that Ryan also campaigned on ethics reform and noted that the county attorney does not have a vote on the matter.

“This is a decision for Commissioners Court, not the county attorney,” Emmett said. “This has been kicking around for a year almost. Let’s talk about this out in the open, but let’s not kick this back to the county attorney.”

Previous proposals have been sent to the county attorney’s office for review, twice under Ryan and once under his predecessor.

All of this brings us to the Emmett vs. Ryan, your word against mine, etc. etc.

Blah.

There's a growing thought amongst the citizens (read the Chron.comments on the story) that County Ethics are an oxy-moron. The way things are structured the foxes are guarding the hen house, and meaningful change is unlikely to come regardless. The proposals that Emmett is offering up for vote are so weak as to barely constitute reform at all. In lieu of enacting real reform (which, FWIW, I really believe he would like to enact) he's stuck wrangling with a corrupt system that's developed fiefdoms which Commissioners have little interest in giving up.

Not to be ignored is the political angle to all of this. Emmett ran on ethics reform, and failure to pass this would be ideal campaign fodder in 2010. I'm sure that Democrats would love to see this fail, and fail in a public manner. "Ed Emmett can't keep his promises" campaign commercials are probably already in the early planning stages.

If he runs again that is. Given the sorry state of County governance, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

The (New) Houston Political Dictionary (Revised) T

Tabasco - A watered-down, rather bland, hot-sauce that's used to add 'Cajun-flavor' in restaurants that source from Sysco.

Talking Points - The life-blood of any political blog.

The "talking point" in the political arena has become the most effective mechanism of political message dissemination since the sound byte. Much like the sound bite partisans often knowingly utilize them in their accusations that the other 'party' has a monopoly on their use.

T.A.R.P. - A slush-fund that was neither especially well-planned, nor provided any relief for troubled assets. Very effective at paying off large political donors.

Tariff - A tax against the goods of a Country whipping your ass in the open market.

Telephone, home - The telegraph of the 21st century.

TelePrompTer - A speech-making device that saves one the trouble of fumbling through suit-pockets looking for illegible notes.

All good politicians understand that politics is really about selling (instead of about public service as they proclaim publicly) and are well-versed in the art of speech-reading from the device. The best politicians make us forget that they are reading, and convince us that the words are their own. The worst have an annoying inability to finish a coherent sentence without the worded screen in front of them. This flaw leads to politicians from the other side giving speeches criticizing one's reliance on a TelePrompTer in a speech given with the aid of a TelePrompTer.

Texan, Native - An antique figure from an ancient past.

Texan, Naturalized - Hip word for Texas politicians who want to appear 'genuine' despite the fact that they grew up and were educated in the North East United States.

Be especially cautious of the Ivy League educated politician who assures you that they "weren't born in Texas but got here as fast as they could." As fast as they could meaning after getting an Ivy League vacation and then realizing the Texas Job market was a LOT more open than that from which they came.

Texas - The largest collective inferiority complex in North America.

Nobody internalizes a perceived "slight" like the citizens of Texas. From not getting the Olympics (which is due mainly to climate, and not because of a lack of facilities) to over-blown concerns about "anti-intellectualism" Texans are more concerned about how the rest of America (and the World) views them than any other State in the Union. Want to get under a Texans (read: politician, government official, socialite or media member) skin? Tell them that they aren't "world class" and then list off some things that will make them so. Then sit back and laugh as they ignore pressing issues to aspire to "world-classiness" despite the fact that the list you gave them consists almost entirely of projects that are totally unworkable given their geography and logistics.

Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas' answer to CHiP's in California, but with bigger cars and better uniforms. (No Pancharello however)

Texas Legislature - A political body so inept they have to be limited from meeting more than 1/6th of the time to limit the damage.

Texas Politics - A jobs program primarily for private sector washouts.

A review of Texas' Political rosters reveals more bankruptcies and failed business than the US Automobile industry, and more lifetime politicians than Kennedy family biography.

Text - Formerly: A written item of some importance. Currently: The logical use in modern society for opposable thumbs.

Textbook - Like history, written by the winners.

The Loop - Geographical area inside Loop 610 that is the limit of the civilized world for Houston's socially connected.

Metro's "solutions" plan is proof of the Loops impermeability. Not only do rail lines have difficulty crossing its formidable boundaries, but bus routes outside it's life-giving urbanism find themselves shriveling up and increasingly being pruned.

Theology - A dual-sided hammer that stifles logical debate.

Tier One Research Facilities - What was lost when parochialism led to the hi-jacking of the Permanent University Fund.

Time - The most flexible constant in the world.

Your perception of time is often directly related to the current position of your political ideology on the power scale. Should you identify with the party in power, then their ideas and flawed plans just need more time to work. Should you disagree with the party in power, then Texas (or America) is running out of time before a fix is unattainable. For example: The Reagan years went too fast for Republicans, and seemed to last an eternity for Democrats.

T.I.R.Z. - A legal method of funnelling tax revenues to political supporters.

Developers love T.I.R.Z. as do contractors. Unfortunately the downside of a T.I.R.Z. is the depletion of the general fund, which is used primarily to fund infrastructure maintenance and improvements for the general population. Quite often the 'goal' of a T.I.R.Z. could easily be accomplished through planned, thoughtful allocation of City resources. Of course, this would deny campaign donors the chance to place a T.I.R.Z. board membership on their CV.

Trains - The absolute best transit option for everyone else to ride.

Everyone wants trains built, in areas other than theirs. Sure you get a few true-believers who scream and holler when the train by-passes their neighborhood but, for the most part, transportation debate is often about where the train shouldn't go rather than where it should. Strangely this debate is often held in forums where the parties have no interest in riding at all. No one asks the poor where they want transportation to go. That's too bad because the odds say that they'd be the people most likely to tell you it should come as close to their neighborhood as possible.

Train, Danger - The triumph of marketing over sound engineering.

Transportation, Public - A convincing coda to the argument that definitions are opinion rather than fact.

Where you stand on the political spectrum often defines your view of public transportation. Are you of the Democratic persuasion then you are more likely to define public transportation as trains, monorails and other fixed systems. Republicans, on the other hand, tend to skew their definition more closely to buses, giving fixed systems little place in the transportation mix. When asked to 'define' public transportation the answers would be markedly different, yet both would be held forth as 'truth'.

Transportation, Texas Department of - A quaint name for what will soon be known as the Texas Toll Road Authority.

Tree - All too often they spoil the view.

Truancy - The unenforced legal state of 40% of Texas students if official drop-out results are to be accepted as truth.

Houston Area Asides (06/22/09)

The "Down goes Frazier!!!" edition....

Unprecedented power over tobacco. [AP via Chron.com] - In unrelated news: Texas is increasing its tobacco tax to fund schools....Yeah, I know. If it were anything other than the Government you'd think it was a comedy act.

Vendors say Texas Fireworks are arbitrarily banned. [Moises Mendoza, Chron.com] - Of course they are. Another case where lack of sensible regulation is anti-business. Of course, the 2nd prevailing argument is to ban their use by private citizens outright so.....

New Database will identify uninsured drivers. [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - Which, in turn, will lead to more attempts to evade, etc. etc. Yet there's still no serious discussion about revoking the 'personal responsibility' law that's at the heart of all this. I'm not saying it should be done away with, but to leave one option totally off the table limits the debate.

Another school funding suit ahead for Texas? [Gary Scharrar, Chron.com] - How much longer can Texas go without amending the Constituation to allow for a Statewide education tax? Also: How much longer until we just admit that Judge Sim Lake is the de facto ruler of Texas?

Texas shuns common standards for schools. [Linsay Kastner, San Antonio Express-News via Chron.com] - Yet another bullet in the anti-intellectual gun weilded so frequently by anti-intellectuals. And what the hell does New York know about cow tippin' anyway?

Democrats may go it alone on National Health Care. [AP via Chron.com] - I was wondering how long the sham of "bi-partisanship" was going to be maintained. Bi-partisanship meaning I can find one person from the other Party that will agree with the way I see things.

Low-ball home values [The Chron's Caucasian Think-Tank, Chron.com]

We won’t venture an opinion on that subject

There are some who wish they wouldn't venture an opinion on many subjects. Just sayin'

El Estacionamientos Diabólicos [El Capitan, Baboon Pirates] - America has a long history of crude, offensive humor and this blog is one of the best places to find it in Houston. I would argue that one of America's biggest problems now is that we've forgotten how to laugh at ourselves, taking everything way too seriously. Lighten up America.

Where in Texas is Mayor White? [Anne Linehan, BlogHouston.net] - Off running for Senator. Having completed his mission of building up his political cred by forstalling Houston's financing woes until after he leaves office.

1560 The Game cracks Top Ten for morning drive. [Kevin Whited, Chron.com] - I'm a listener. And it's much better radio than either the political dreck or the corporate sports 'content' that's offered up by their compeititors.

Sen. Patrick endorses Gov. Perry in 2010 [David Jennings, Lone Star Times] - Jennings is positioning himself as the 'conservative true believer' over on LST, so he has to be happy that the High Priest of new-conservatism has hitched his wagon to his chosen candidate. I guess Patrick has strayed from his policy of not endorsing until after the Primary? Eh, as with all things Patrick, it was probably more of a personal preference than a principle anyway.

Schieffer and Centrism [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - There's a point to be made about what's really "mainstream" and what isn't. IMO the big mistake the new-liberal (or "progressives" as they like to call themselves) wing of the Democratic Party is making is assuming that the whole of the Country considers their ideals to be mainstream. It's the same mistake the new-corporatist right-wing of the Republican party made during the Bush years. Typically the whole of America is fairly centric, leaving activism and what-not to the fringes. The second point is one that I (and others) have made frequently. Most political bloggers typically operate in a huge hermetically sealed echo chamber. They choose to read and interact only with those whose opinions largely sync up with their own world view. It's not easy to attempt to engage the other side in the zero-sum, politics-as-personal-worth-meter world of poli-blogging after all. Nor am I sure the blogging world would be better off if both sides tried to do so. Ideological blogging is, quite often, a more entertaining read.

Weekend Theatre....

I've said before that I'm a big fan of Broadway. To kick off your weekend here's one of the best moments from the 63rd Annual Tony Awards held a couple of weeks ago.

The "angry dance" number from Billy Elliot...



And...on a lighter note: Brett Michaels of Poison getting flattened...

Houston Area Asides (06/19/09)

The "doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well" edition....

Helping celebrate Juneteenth with art. [Douglas Britt, Chron.com] - Happy Juneteenth to all.

Bystander in Metro shooting is now suing. [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - Considering how Metro refused to provide any information, this lawsuit was inevitable. Good luck to her.

Forget the Houston Dome, what should we really build. [Eric Berger, Chron.com] - Well....?? Go weigh in.

HPD's new property room pleases Chief. [Allan Turner, Chron.com] - Ah, a positive step forward for Houston's Police Force.

Judge indicted of keying a neighbors car. [Peggy O'Hare, Chron.com] - Not a good year to be a Republican Judge now is it?

Unhealthy numbers. [The Chron's Caucasian Think Tank] - The CCTT seems to be calling for a single-payer publicly funded system here. Ask the Canadians and British how paying into the "National Insurance" has worked out....In their closing statement the CCTT urges that Congress "take their time" to work out the best solution. Sadly, that's not what's happening on a lot of important legislation lately. If history has shown us anything its that hastily passed legislation (The Patriot Act, TARP, to name some recent examples) usually ends up being monumentally bad.

Iran's Supreme Leader defends elections. [CNN.com] - Finally the real leadership in Iran speaks out.

How does he really feel about the City's efforts? [Kevin Whited, BlogHouston.net] - How in the world does that get passed a professional editor....oh...wait.

More phone exclusivity agreements come under fire. [Shawn K. Quinn] - Americans are rather unique in our willingness to accept things like exclusive phones and long-term contracts on cell-phones. Hopefully that's changing but, given the average attention the American consumer gives toward their purchases, I doubt it.

The GOP reaches out to the Black Community [John Cobarruvias, By the Bayou] - Nice job Republicans.

New Mexico Prospers, Texas Burns: The stupidity of opposing Solar. [Katherine Haenschen, Burnt Orange Report]

Rick Perry claims to like solar, but won't do anything that will curtail profits for the oil and gas industry.

How you get liking solar = punishing the oil and gas industry (and putting at threat the jobs of almost 1/2 the work force) is beyond me but there you go. This is the same, odd, mind-set that says the way to improve transportation is to reduce traffic lanes for cars, that the way to solve the education crisis is to reduce options available to families. Maybe the talk should be how to diversify our energy sources rather than cutting back on them? Nah, there's no political payoff that way now is there?

Houston's Future?

Something about Detroit's problems got me to thinking parallels this morning...

[Andrew Grossman, Wall Street Journal via Yahoo!]

They call this the Motor City, but you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep.

Borders Inc. was founded 40 miles away, but the only one of the chain's bookstores here closed this month. And Starbucks Corp., famous for saturating U.S. cities with its storefronts, has only four left in this city of 900,000 after closures last summer.

There was a time early in the decade when downtown Detroit was sprouting new cafes and shops, and residents began to nurture hopes of a rebound. But lately, they are finding it increasingly tough to buy groceries or get a cup of fresh-roast coffee as the 11th largest U.S. city struggles with the recession and the auto-industry crisis.

No national grocery chain operates a store here. A lack of outlets that sell fresh produce and meat has led the United Food and Commercial Workers union and a community group to think about building a grocery store of its own.

One of the few remaining bookstores is the massive used-book outlet John K. King has operated out of an abandoned glove factory since 1983. But Mr. King is considering moving his operations to the suburbs.

Last week, Lochmoor Chrysler Jeep on Detroit's East Side stopped selling Chrysler products, one of the 789 franchises Chrysler Group LLC is dropping from its retail network. It was Detroit's last Chrysler Jeep store.

(snip)

The city's 22.8% unemployment rate is among the highest in the U.S.; 30% of residents are on food stamps.

"As the city loses so much, the tax base shrinks and the city has to cut back services," said Margaret Dewar, a professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan. That causes such hassles for retailers as longer police-response times, as well as less-frequent snow plowing and trash pickup.

Not that Houston is anywhere NEAR Detroit right now, but let's look at the similarities....

1. Local economy predominantly skewed to one industry that's currently looking down the barrel of change. - For Detroit, it was the collapse of the Union-driven car industry, for Houston its the coming of cap n' trade legislation designed to enrich Al Gore reduce carbon emissions. For as much talk as there is about the 'diversity' of Houston's economy, is a scenario where 30% of workers lose their jobs that much out of the question?

2. Inattention by local leadership to critical infrastructure needs. - If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, then Houston City Government is playing the symphony while Houston crumbles around us. Quasi-governmental agencies such as Metro are collecting large amounts of tax money and providing little in return, the inner core is transforming into a mish-mash of abandoned buildings and night clubs/restaurants with an expected half-life of two years, and big-box retail (and grocery stores) are increasingly moving out to the Suburbs. (in a manner similar to Detroit) Granted, in Houston its not that bad right now, as there's still plenty of shopping (and groceries) to be found inside the loop, but the continuing trend is to the suburbs, with inner-loop advocates pushing more for 'boutiques' than 'big-box'. That's not sustainable in the long-term for a City's poor.

3. Zoning rules. - Detroit's zoning makes big-box development an almost impossible task. While Houston doesn't have rules in place at this time, there are a variety of moves to make future development of such difficult, if not outright impossible. Some form based zoning codes could make sense in certain neighborhoods, but over-application of the same makes new development of "the wrong kind" of retail impossible. In Houston's dichotomous debating environment it's always "either/or", "black/white" with no shades of gray. We've seen that in transportation, police staffing, and now, planning. "World Class" cities deserve better.

I'm not predicting that Houston is going to morph into a burnt-out, hollow husk of a City overnight should the current Cap n' Trade legislation be passed. If anything I think that Houston's population will dwindle somewhat and the taxable base will plummet. On the bright side most of Houston's flight will probably be from the suburbs, but there will be significant losses felt inside the Loop. Diversifying the economy for the next century and working to enact legislation that serves the current economy are among those issues that should be American or Houston issues and not subject to the usual "Red State/Blue State" or "inside/outside the Loop" boundries of debate. If Houston is going to thrive going forward, and avoid the fate of Detroit, then its going to take all of the Regions residents coming together and developing workable plans that elevate the condition of everyone, and not just a select few campaign donors of political candidates.

In the end, the future of Houston is up to its residents, and the choices they are making each and every day.

Houston Area Asides (06/18/09)

The "all the news that's fit to print" edition...

Landowners fudge vegetation line at Bolivar beach. [Harvey Rice, Chron.com] - Unlike certain Texas Republican Lege Members, who can attach an amendment allowing them to circumvent the law, regular beach owners are trying to do what they can to save their homes. Whether or not you agree that construction should occur down there, you have to admire their spirit.

Rep. Coleman ordered to pay $9,500 ethics fine. [R.G. Ratcliffe, Chron.com] - How weak are Texas' ethics rules? At almost 9% of the amount involved, this action, heck any action, by the TEC is considered major. Since perception is key in ethics cases, what bothers Coleman is not that he underreported, but that it makes it look like he mis-used money. This is why ethics reform doesn't happen quickly, all incumbents don't like giving challengers ready-made issues in the next election cycle.

HISD puts off union wage issue. [Ericka Mellon, Chron.com] - Agreeing to support in return for promises of higher wages? What? In the private sector that would be called bribery. Of course, bribery is illegal, unless you live in a country where it isn't. *wink, wink*

Council OK's City Budget. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] - A 'marathon' one-day session to approve $4 Billion dollars. Most telling is the fact that the most contentious item in the entire budget was the proposed 1.6% cut in City Councilmember's budgets. Jolanda Jones was "impassioned" about losing funds to paint her office pink and purchase flat-screen TV's. The horror!

Tighter appraisals hurting home sales. [Nancy Sarnoff, Chron.com] - In a boom market appraisals don't matter, competition drives the price up beyond the appraised value, in a down market? Which leads us to the problem of having people who overpayed for their homes thinking they 'deserve' to get the same value out of it. Remember this: "What the market will bear." Until some elected official decides free-markets are the problem that is....Oh wait.

Gov. Perry I SIGNED A TAX CUT (*and a tax increase too*) [Peggy Fikac, Chron.com] - There's no such thing as a "tax cut" only a "tax shift" in today's Government. Pet projects have to be funded after all. For the children of course.

Latest U.S. Climate Study Predicts Sweltering Future. [The Chron's Caucasian Think-Tank, Chron.com] - Who could have imagined that departments ran by Obama appointees issue a report that supports policy positions championed by Obama? Nah, that never happens in Gov't right?

Minority View. [The Chron's Caucasian Think Tank, chron.com] - There are a lot of plans that need a "respectful hearing" but inside wisdom says that's not going to happen. Which, of course, means that the health plan we end up with will be a lightly debated, hastily thrown together piece of crap. Much like the energy plan, the bailout, etc. etc.

Chron.com "as good an example what not to do with a newspaper website as any". [Kevin Whited, BlogHouston.net] - Thrown in behind party pictures, fluff pieces and citizen-bloggers is hard news. Oh that you didn't have to work so hard to find it.

Houston Airport System: Releasing salary list would make system vulnerable to terrorism. [Jennifer Peebles, Texas Watchdog] - I'm sorry, WHAT!?!? Unless public review is now classified as 'terrorism' *wouldn't doubt it in today's 'don't trust the public' governmental environment*)

Two on one: Conceptual art smackdown provides much need relief from Summer doldrums. [Slampo's Place] - Most bloggers only wish they could write with this kind of prose. Self included. My prose being more fit for bedtime books, and e-mails to accountants. (guaranteed to put you asleep)

Lee Brown: "I fought hard to get them what they needed"

Not that hard...

[Mary Flood, Chron.com]

Lee P. Brown testified today that the crime lab mistakes that happened during his tenure as Houston police chief weren’t his fault and that he worked hard to get the lab the resources it needed.

Brown is testifying before a jury that’s been asked to decide whether the city owes any money to George Rodriguez, who spent 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. A crime lab employee falsely testified during Rodriguez’s criminal trial that genetic evidence linked him to the attack.

Brown, who is also a former Houston mayor, said that as police chief he fought to fix the only crime lab problem he knew about — understaffing.

(snip)

Brown said he always understood the lab problems centered on getting and retaining good people and having enough manpower to get through all the cases. Brown said he did not learn about shoddy lab work and falsification of evidence until the media revealed the problems in 2002.

Showing Brown several police department memos about the crime lab, Rodriguez’s attorney questioned Brown about being told the lab was understaffed and that people lacked training and supervision. A 1986 memo said the lab was “cutting additional corners” and had “diluted quality assurance” and that it could be “embarrassed” because of lab deficiencies.

Brown testified he thought all the references were to staffing problems.

“It was tough for the city,” Brown said. “I fought hard to get them what they needed.”

“It turned out it was tough for some criminal defendants who were not guilty too,” shot back Rodriguez’s attorney Mark Wawro.

One of the biggest criticisms of Lee P. Brown as Mayor of Houston was that he never seemed to "get it." Whether it was a need for spending on infrastructure or any other vital City service, Lee Brown always seemed more intent on having his legacy secured than he was administering the nuts and bolts of a large City.

Look at the salary numbers: (from the City of Houston 2004 budget - the last year Brown was in office)

*Click on images to enlarge:
So, by doing "everything he could" and "fighting hard" for the HPD crime lab the last three budgets submitted by Lee P. Brown's administration had marked salary decreases for the code in which the crime lab was clustered......

Oh, and you know who implemented that 'hiring freeze' right? (Hint: the HPD Chief serves at the pleasure at the Mayor.)


Imagine what would have happened if Mayor Brown hadn't 'fought hard' to get them what they needed?

OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

Boneheaded: Forgetting that there's a Tomorrow

In March, Governor Rick Perry angered many when he rejected a portion of the Federal stimulus package relating to unemployment insurance. At the time (and I agreed with him) he cited concerns about the 'long-term cost' of provisions in the stimulus as a main reason why.

Today, the Chron's caucasian think-tank let's him have it with both barrells....

Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to reject more than a half billion federal stimulus dollars to cover unemployed Texas workers earlier this year was a thinly veiled gesture to woo his conservative base in anticipation of a re-election bid. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of state employers and jobless workers.

Perry claimed his motive was to prevent wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars and avoid federal demands to expand unemployment benefits to additional categories of workers.

Just how boneheaded the action was is only now becoming apparent, as soaring claims by laid-off employees are projected to empty the state unemployment compensation trust fund by next month. The number of claims paid out last month was over $350 million, nearly $260 million more than in May 2008.

As a result of the added claims, state officials have been forced to borrow $160 million from the federal government and will need another $360 million to pay benefits through next October.

As the Chronicle’s R.G. Ratcliffe reported, the stimulus dollars would have reduced the amount of loans the state needed and lowered the upcoming tax increase that Texas employers will be billed to refill the depleted unemployment fund and pay off the loans.

The Texas Workforce Commission is currently studying a proposal to sell up to $2 billion in bonds to repay the no-interest federal loans next year. According to commission Chair Tom Pauken, the tax rate charged employers could jump from 1.3 to 2.4 percent, or an added $60 per employee. Pauken tried to convince Perry to accept the stimulus dollars, but the man who appointed him to the post wasn’t listening.

A bipartisan coalition in the state Senate passed a bill to take the federal dollars, but it failed in the House. Had the legislation passed, Perry indicated he would veto it.

That's all well and good, but tC-CTT is still ignoring the long-term implecations of accepting the money in lieu of short-term interests, the type of interests that we expect our politicians to campaign on, not the long-view required of serious analysis.

The crux of the argument centers around rasing taxes now (granted, not the most ideal option in a recession, or delaying tax increases until later, to be enacted at a time "when the recession is over" or...just about the time all of the promised Obama "painful decision" tax increases are scheduled to hit. Of course, also lacking from the Chron's analysis is the fact that, when these 'future' (i.e. not to be worried about) tax increase do finally hit, they're going to be even larger than the ones being currently bandied about, in large part to pay for mandatory expansions to the unemployment system that the Federal Government is requiring as a condition of accepting said stimulus.

You might think that I'm suffering from a little bit of cognitive dissonance by supporting unemployment tax-increases now (on a non-expanded unemployment system) while railing agianst the Cy-Fair Optional Homestead Exemption Roll-back. Might I remind you that I've also supported a tax-increase in the Cy-Fair situation, one that's put to the voters:

Hold a vote to raise the rate. If it is really among the lowest in the region then make the case to area voters.

If anything, I understand the need for revenue to fund Government programs. I just want to see that revenue handled in a fiscally responsible manner. Accepting the Federal Stimulus money, and the strings attached to it, wouldn't be fiscally responsible in the long-term.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where long-term issues have been pushed aside in lieu of "for me, right now". This, rather than space travel or computers, will ultimately go down in history as the single, most influential, impact that the Baby Boomer Generation had on Amerian society.


Full disclosure: My wife was laid-off from her job a few months back. She worked temp from time to time but now that spigot has dried up. To bridge the gap we're recieving unemployment checks. Expanding the program would help us, because unemployment sucks. It's designed to suck however, so that you don't get too comfortable accepting that check every other week. If anyone's looking to hire an A/P clerk with 10 years experience shoot me an e-mail. (cheap plug alert)

Houston Area Asides (06/17/09)

The "It's hot, damn hot" edition....

Report: Climate change is here now. [Jennifer Dlouhy, Chron.com] - You know, the dinosaurs wanted to stop climate change as well. The Earth's climate is always changing. Only humans have enough hubris to think we can affect that one iota.

City ranks well in U.S. recession report. [Jennifer Latson, Chron.com] - All of the 'best' cities have one thing in common: robust ties to the energy sector. Just wait though, the current Government in D.C. is doing their best to ensure that everyone undergoes "painful choices" which, conveniently, will be solved by an expansion of Government power. Cool how that works isn't it?

Houston's Police Chief not heading to San Fransico. [San Francisco Chronicle via Chron.com] - Dang.

Parents nightmare: 2nd kid placed on wrong plane. [Shannon Buggs, Chron.com] - There's a morality tale here, something about not expecting others to care for your kid in your place, but since that will be ignored Continental can expect to be in deep water from a PR standpoint for the short-term. In a perfect world this would make people think twice about sending young children, who can't fend for themselves, onto planes alone. Won't happen in today's "it's not my fault" society however.

Endeavor scrubs, NASA vows to find root cause. [Eric Berger, Chron.com] - During a time when manned space flight's future is in question, you know NASA is hoping things go right. Muddling around without a clear mission is one thing, muddling around poorly without said mission....

Unsteady Ground: Houston's fault-lines slowly tear homes apart. [Courtney Zabowski, Chron.com] - Some places just shouldn't be developed.

Lake levels dip into hazardous zone. [Karen Grace, KENS 5 via KHOU.com] - It's dry, real dry. Seems like you can't water your yard enough.

Cy-Fair ISD approves bus ads. [KTRK.com] - This doesn't mean the Optional Homestead Exemption is off the table, far from it. It just means more revenue for the District to squander in addition to the Homestead Revenue. (which, from what I hear, is going to pass regardless of citizen anger)

AT&T announced upgrades to U-Verse. [Houston Business Journal] - How about an upgrade that doesn't cause my signal to 'brown out' twice per day? That'd be pretty neat.

What the Republicans need right now

..is another affair?

[Chris Cillizza & Paul Kane, Washington Post]

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer in a statement released by his office. "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions," said Ensign.

(snip)

Elected in 2000 and reelected in 2006, Ensign has been a leading conservative among Senate Republicans, playing a key role in demanding the resignation of Larry Craig in September 2007. Ensign called Craig a "disgrace" after he was arrested in June 2007 in an airport men's restroom on disorderly conduct charges. Craig resisted the calls from Ensign to resign but retired from the Senate last November.

The question now is rather or not he will resign, or if he'll "continue the fight" to keep feeding at the public trough for the people (of course)?


OTHER EYES:

Lone Star Times
Off the Kuff
Red Ink: Texas

Rapid Eye Movement (06/16/09)

The "Mullahs are everywhere" edition....

The Collision of Conviction and Tolerance. [Dr. Ed Young, Chron.com] - Well said.

Wrongfully convicted man takes City to court. [Mary Flood, Chron.com] - Worth following if only as a reminder as to the sheer magnitude of Mayor Lee Brown's incompetence.

IRS and Treasury want Cell Phone Tax repealed. [Stephen Ohlmacher, AP via Chron.com] - Start by blowing up the tax code and beginning again.

Limited vote recount possible in Iran's disputed election. [Ali Akbar Dareini & Nasser Karimi, AP via Chron.com]

UK firm unveils 360/MPG equivilent car. [AP via Chron.com] - Calm down...they don't have a working production model, and everything right now is "theoretically", including the price.

Why we couldn't turn out the Sarah Palin/David Letterman fued. [David Hinkley, New York Daily News] - It's not that hard, just don't pay attention.

Computer finds new math "jewel" in the rough. [Joe Palca, NPR] - Is red or white wine appropriate when a Mersenne Prime is discovered?

Lawsuit: White House will not release visitor records. [AP via Yahoo! News] - It depends what you mean by a "pledge of transparency" now doesn't it?

Koenigsegg Agrees to buy Saab. [Ian Edmondson & Sharon Terlep, WSJ]

FDA: Consumers need to stop using ZICAM Products. [Jennifer Corbett Dooren, WSJ]

Study: Energy industry tops emission mitigation spending. [Houston Business Journal] - Eh, people who don't like us won't believe the facts anyway.

A simple question...

A Simple Answer???


If Metro can instantly determine this:

[Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com]

Interestingly, the Quickline seems to have stimulated ridership on the local bus along Bellaire, officials said. Ridership on the 2 Bellaire crept up a few percentage points. Metro CEO Frank Wilson speculated that riders who switched to the Quickline created more seats on the local, so people who had been avoiding those crowded buses found them more inviting.

Then why can't they provide ridership and budget information to citizens submitting FOIA requests in a timely manner?

Mr. Crap probably has the best answer....

I believe that METRO's numbers are lies.

Forget the science.
Forget the statistics.
Forget METRO becoming a sponge for cast-off Chron Commies and other media lackeys.

What I consider to be the proof is the fact that METRO fights tooth and nail to dodge, twist, avoid, and ignore Tom Bazan's FOIA requests. When a judge or DA backs him up, METRO violates its charter as a quasi-pubic agency and still does their best to refuse to meet his request - that's a sign that something dirty is going on.

The LaE Ark....

Or...the continuing journal of a part-time animal rescue volunteer in Houston.


Remember Blanca and Sly*? Well, they've both been adopted and are now settling into their forever homes. What this means is that the three poops are quite happy with life in general, and think that the current situation (i.e. no other dogs but them) is just fine.

Unfortunately, things are going to change soon. Since this is Houston and there is always another dog in need of a home, we're going to be taking in Simon this weekend. As soon as we get some pictures (and Blogger stops glitching on the uploads) I'll tell you more about him.

For now, if you think fostering might be something you're interested in, consider applying to take in Bree or Rowan. Both are good dogs that just need a place to crash, some food, some love and attention, and someone to 'splain to them the rules.

There's ALWAYS going to be another dog (or cat) in need. One of the easiest ways to help out the animal rescue groups is by opening up your home to foster. Not only does it free up financial resources from kennel fees to be used toward health care, but you get a free lesson in patience and gratitude as well.

Consider fostering, or make a donation to a local rescue group if you are able.





* I just got an update from Sly's new adoptive parents, his new name is now "Torque" as in the torque of an engine. That's probably because he likes to run so fast. By all accounts he's doing really well.

Houston Area Asides (06/16/09)

The "got a meeting to discuss scheduling a meeting" edition....

Recession brings boom in public service work. [Jennifer Latson, Chron.com] - Also a good idea would be for people to work, pay down debt, and then build up a savings. Of course, you don't hear that too often. (Calling this a 'compassion boom' is a little bit of a stretch. This story speaks of young people with unmarketable degrees, deciding to do service work in the interim. That's less compassion than it is self-preservation.)

Finding the limit on what fees airline passengers are willing to pay. [Bill Montgomery, Chron.com] - I too draw the line at a fee for the loo.

Ooops! Continental admits error that sent 10 yr-old girl to N.J. [Shannon Buggs, Chron.com] - Uhh..no they didn't. They blamed ExpressJet for the error. Continental didn't admit to anything.

Light Rail car derails near Medical Center, no one hurt. [Houston Chronicle]

Chronicle news partner KHOU-TV provided this report.

- That's right!! The Froot Loops bureau returns!!

Is Rick Perry Fair and Balanced? [Lisa Falkenberg, Chron.com] - She's kidding right? I mean, this is a joke column?

Oil back above $71 as dollar slumps against Euro. [AP via Chron.com] - Expect the 'evil oil company' shills to come out of the woodwork now.

Houston Area Asides (06/15/09)

The "sick day due to a stomach bug" edition....

HISD Chief Saavedra leaving August 31st.[Ericka Mellon, Chron.com] - It doesn't seem like too many people are sad to see him go.

A&M regents mull vacant Presidency. [Jeannie Kever, Chron.com] - Anyone want to take odds that the next selection is a white male?

Fired of tenured UTMB Professor's draw probe. [Harvey Rice, Chron.com] - I'm not a big fan of tenure so I'm sympathetic to the University. Too often tenured professor's equate to lazy professors. Not all the time of course, there are plenty of good tenured professors out there, but enough to question whether or not the practice is beneficial.

High Court signs with Conoco-unit over Valdez tax. [AP via Chron.com] - That dang Constitution again.

Look Again. [The Caucasian Think Tank, Chron.com] - The language in the report was terrible, and it's implications(that Right-wing fringe terrorism springs from mainstream sources) have been adopted into the mainstream rhetoric of the Left, which in turn is calling for the active censorship of talk-radio and other 'to the right' mouth-pieces.

Pump pain. [The Caucasian Think Tank, Chron.com] - Let's see, Summer driving season equates to increased demand, as does Federal mandates of a "Summer blend" which costs more....And people are surprised the price of gas is rising? Calls to Obama are useless as well because the President can do little to control the price of oil, an International commodity.

Gov. Perry signs eminent domain bill. [AP via KHOU.com] - Now it's up to the voters.

Church building battle heats up. [Christine Dobbyn, KTRK.com] - Sigh....

Chron: MetroRail has 11 Million riders every year. [Anne Linehan, Chron.com] - The Chron's "watchdog" reporting is suffocating under a mountain of 'free' citizen bloggers and lifestyle 'features' reporting. With news of a 'firewall' coming behind which some of the Chron's material is going to hide.

Houston Area Asides (06/14/09)

The "good weekend" edition...

HPD Officer wins run-off for District H Council seat.[Bradley Olson & Moises Mendoza, Chron.com] - Congrats to Gonzales.

Houston's homeless get nighttime help. [Cindy George, Chron.com] - Always nice to see a good local charity program get some ink.

I'm curious... [David Benzion, Lone Star Times] - What concerns me more is not the government's focus on "right-wing" terrorists organizations, those groups need monitoring. Where I see the problem is when the majority uses said fringe elements to attempt to shut down the speech of those opposed. Of course there are 'fringe right-wing' factions, just as their are 'fringe left-wing' factions out there. Remember when Republicans were trying to silence Democrats for being "un-American" in their anti-war speech? Yeah.

Waste Management to distribute "Big Belly" solar-powered compactors. [Houston Business Journal] - Neat.

Ahmandinejad brushes off Iran election violence. [Anna Johnson & Nassir Karimi, Chron.com] - It will be interesting to see how this develops as time goes on. Of course, the Western media will be called liars, but hey....

Federal funds could be used to improve foreclosed Champions homes. [Audrey Marks, Cy Fair Sun] - Interesting, Federal funding to prop up the home values of the upper-middle class.

Houston Mayor's Race: Parker releases "infrastructure plan"

Just received this via e-mail, I hope it generates some discussion....

Roads, bridges, sidewalks, water pipes, storm drainage and sewer lines: these are the most basic networks that tie our city together and keep it moving.

When our infrastructure is safe, maintained and unobstructed, Houston moves. When it’s dangerous, broken or blocked, Houston grinds to a halt — and that’s not acceptable.

In short: it's a four-pronged plan:

1. Develop a dedicated fund for infrastructure improvements using primarily moneys that come available from expiring TIRZ zones to permanently fund the program. - not a bad idea, one that relies on TIRZ projects to be successful (not all are) in order for property values to increase. I for one like this, although I imagine that the same 'tax cut' crowd will oppose it, wanting expiring TIRZ money diverted into the general funds and the difference made up in tax cuts. I've said it before and I'll say it again: One thing I want the Gov't to do is fix infrastructure.

2. Conduct a throrough Public Works audit. - That sound you hear in the background is the Houston beauracracy ramping up to stop this.

3. Develop a long-range plan - Of course, that's easy to say, but much harder to do

4. Increase transparancy - Again, easy to say, very hard to do. Especially when fifedoms are on the line.

You can download the plan here, or go to Annise Parker's campaign site and download it under the "Issues:Infrastructure" tab. As someone who's been blogging for a while on the importance of infrastructure maintenance by City government I hope this is something Ms. Parker (or the eventual winner) takes seriously after the ballots are counted and the real work begins.

Cy-Fair Homestead issue: The districts talking points emerge.

In the comments of the Chron's Spring/Klein local blog:

I understand that people are concerned about seeing taxes increase. I would be too.

However, there are two points to remember. First, the money is for the education system. Their own children will get a lower quality education. Plus, if the residents of the Cy-Fair ISD want to ensure that their housing values fall, they will succeed by cutting off funds to the school district. This will start a spiral of lower quality education, lower housing prices, declining quality of the neighborhoods, lower property values, lower tax collections, lower quality education, etc.

Secondly, part of the reason that the state funding may not be increasing is because (1) the Cy-Fair area is relatively well off in terms of the property values and ability of the residents to pay the tax; and (2) this 20% Homestead exemption is not universal, and if the local residents aren't willing to support education, why should the state have to make the difference at the expense of districts who cannot afford to pay a higher share of their ISD expenses.

Klein ISD does not offer the 20% Homestead exemption, and the tax rates are similar. That means that on a $150,000 home, the tax bill for 2008 would be approximately $500 dollars higher in Klein ISD than in Cy-Fair. While I don't relish writing the tax check every year, I certainly don't begrudge my child and my neighbors' children the opportunity at a bright future.

Posted by: JAy. at June 10, 2009 08:53 AM

"It's for the children" and "supporting education" are two saws that Districts fall back on when extra expenditures or taxes are unpopular. Another favorite is "declining standards of education equals declining neighborhoods" something that's unlikely to happen even IF Cy-Fair made budget cuts.

Looking at the use of the optional homestead exemption in surrounding school districts, the result is a mixed bag:

Katy ISD does not offer the exemption, Houston does, Klein does not, Ft. Bend ISD does not, neither does Lamar ISD, Kendleton ISD, or Needville. Wharton does, and so on and so one.

On interesting point of contention that the commenter made is that the tax rates are more (or less) equal, here's information on that (from Klein ISD):

Katy 1.5266
Spring 1.44
Cypress-Fairbanks 1.324*
Humble 1.31
Spring-Branch 1.285*
Aldine 1.277
Tomball 1.275
Alief 1.265
KLEIN 1.26
Conroe 1.24
Houston 1.1567*

*denotes districts that offer 20% optional exemption

As you can see above, not only are the tax rates dissimilar but, if the exemption is revoked, then Cy-Fair residents would move from paying some of the lowest taxes in the region, to some of the highest. Cy-Fair's competitive position as a low-tax area will dissolve, leading to depressed home prices as prospective buyers look elsewhere, to better performing schools with a lower rate. Gone is the tax advantage of living outside Beltway 8. It also shoots holes in the District's argument that taxes will still be "among the lowest" in the area.

Of course, the main point is that Cy-Fair parents are getting a deal by sending their kids to one of the best school-districts in the area, an idea that's not reflected in the TAKS scores of local suburban districts:...

Katy ISD 68.10
Cy-Fair ISD 64.40
Conroe ISD 64.20
Klein ISD 60.40

On par, results wise, and prepping to collect a lot more taxes just to say that way?

As I said before, something isn't right in the District's argument.

Houston Area Asides (06/11/09)

The "day before a long weekend blahs" edition....

Oil price, summer demand cut into relief at the pump. [Brett Clanton, Chron.com] - What no one is saying is that $70/BBL oil is a good thing for America, especially if you want to see an increase in alternative fuels and public transportation. It's a good thing for Oil and Gas companies as well, because it keeps them profitable which keeps future exploration on the table, and Millions of people employed. What you have to try and do is avoid spikes in the price. You can do that be increasing domestic exploration to provide a buffer until alternative technologies are ready to go. Of course, that's logical, and society's Least Common Denominator in Washington D.C. can't seem to grasp that.

UTMB plans to reopen Isle emergency room on Aug. 1. [Harvey Rice, Chron.com] - Good.

Full House to weight firing Kent, stopping $174,000 salary. [Stewart Powell, Chron.com] - I'll be shocked if he's not impeached.

Trial begins in balloon battle. [Mary Flood, Chron.com] - Can you imagine is some of Houston's busybody set lived near Times Square?

UH tackles perception, reality of crime rate on campus. [Jeannie Kever, Chron.com] - Too often UH lets the bigotry of some against "that ghetto" (the Third Ward) define the debate. Of course, these charges are often made by Caucasians who haven't been anywhere near the central campus in years. I have. It's a lot safer and nicer than most think.

City Council Members offer 87 amendments to White's budget. [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - Budgets are sausage-making at its finest.

Moving on from ABC 13[Mike McGuff] - Good luck Mike!

Looks like a special session. [Rep. Aaron Pena, A Capitol Blog] - Groan.

Ed Johnson is in a lot of trouble....

Assuming these allegations are true.

[Terri Langford and Matt Stiles, Chron.com]

A high-ranking employee in Harris County’s voter registration office also moonlights for a company that sold nearly $60,000 worth of information on those voters to Republican candidates during the last election cycle, records show, angering Democratic activists.

Ed Johnson is associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office, where he’s worked since 1999. He’s also a paid director for Computer Data Systems, a venture started in 2003 with state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston. The company sells the same voter information Johnson is paid by taxpayers to manage in a nonpolitical manner.

“No question this doesn’t smell,” said Harold Cook, a Democratic political consultant in Austin. “It’s a government official who has duties involving the election process who is a political consultant who has clients who are on the same ballots he is handling.”

Neither Johnson nor Bohac returned calls for comment.

According to a recently dismantled Web site, CDS sells voter data to Republican candidates. No records indicating information was sold to Democrats could be found. Secretary of state records show Bohac as the registered agent and Johnson as a director.

Johnson’s party affiliation was not known on Wednesday, but he is known in political circles as a Republican consultant.

(snip)

Leo Vasquez, Harris County tax assessor-collector and voter registrar, issued a statement that dismissed complaints that Johnson’s job, which can include approving or rejecting voter applications, conflicts with his side business.

“Ed Johnson is an honorable man,” Vasquez said. “It is slanderous and absolutely reprehensible to suggest without evidence that he is involved in inappropriate activity with regard to voter registration in Harris County.”

Vasquez’s spokesman, Fred King, said Johnson has been in this type of business since the mid-1990s, so his involvement in voter registration data was no secret.

“His knowledge of compiling lists and his programming expertise are the reasons Paul Bettencourt (Vasquez’s predecessor) hired him,” King said. “Vasquez may have heard of Ed’s outside business before taking office since many candidates and campaign workers knew of it.”

It will be interesting to see what defense, if any, the Bloggers O' the Right (and Republican Party officials) drum up in light of these charges, unless the old "he's not actually involved in the sale of any information" line is going to be the extent of it. Wouldn't surprise me much, but who knows?

One would think, at the least, if Ed Johnson is the "honorable man" that he's being portrayed as, a resignation to avoide the appearance of impropriety would be in order. Ethics violations being defined in Texas as "anything the other party does wrong" however I'm not holding my breath.

As you can imagine, it's free crack night at the ferret hut for the InterLeft. These charges make partisan political bloggers swoon. Charges of voter malfeasance, insider deals by the other guys. Yup, the only thing this is missing is a sex scandal. Unfortunately the Tax Assessor-Collector's race is typically a low-key affair. There's not a ton of money that flows through its election so the odds of seeing creative commercials of the type that eighty-sixed John Sharp (if, like me, you remember that evil-looking Chaney-esque snarl that Sharp had at the end of that commercial you'll probably always associate the two) is slim, but the radio ads and un-paid blogging solicitations should make for an entertaining ride. Especially if you consider that Democrats feel this next election cycle is the one where they 'officially' flip the County blue.

Either way Vasquez' political clock is now ticking. Also ticking has to be the clock of Jared Woodfill, whose silence in this issue is telling, if nothing else. A strong party chairman would have already brought the parties together, discussed options (including resignations) and issued a press release shouting from the mountaintops that today's "clean" Republican Party won't stand for behavior of the type. Were they serious about ethical reforms that is. Based on what I've seen, there's not a lot of seriousness on either side, unless said reforms center on actions by the opposite party.

The Chron article mentions investigative work done by the Democratic Activist group The Lone Star Project, those reports can be found here. (along with an especially unflattering photo of Vasquez, in a Texas flag shirt.)

The Interleft's coverage of the issue can be found on the following sites:

Bay Area Houston (and here)

Brains and Eggs (and here)

Dos Centavos

Off the Kuff (and here)


So far the Bloggers O' the Right are silent on this, as is the Republican Party (outside of the denials of wrong doing by Vasquez and District Attorney Lykos.)

I'm sure eventually this is going to come to a head, but probably not until the election would be my guess.

The Cy-Fair Homestead Exemption Meeting.

Last night was the first 'sales pitch' by Cy Fair ISD superintendant David Alexander to the general public regarding the 'need' for the district to roll-back the 20% optional homestead exemption on residential property to provide the district with additional funds. The district offered a handout (.pdf) laying out their case for revoking the extension and saddling local homeowners with a 25% increase in school taxes.

KHOU's Allison Tirasi offered the following on the affair:

The Cy-Fair School District is considering getting rid of the optional homestead exemption. This is a 20 percent discount for homeowners and something they’ve enjoyed for 25 years.

Many homeowners are not happy about that option, but Cy-Fair's school superintendent says getting rid of that discount is the best thing to do in order to deal with their budget shortfall of $28.8 million.

"I think it’s bad. Everybody's hurting right now, and no one wants to pay more taxes," said homeowner Laverne Barrow.

But the $28.8 million shortfall is only for this year. The Cy-Fair School District estimates the deficit will rise to over $100 million by 2013.

Much of that short-fall is seemingly related to debt service, the refusal of Cy-Fair to increase employee costs for health care, and pay raises (some mandated and some not).

Accusations of wasteful spending are not new where Cy-Fair is concerned. What is new is community involvement. I'm in the process of going through this report and verifying the numbers, some of which (especially teacher salaries) don't look quite right. I plan to have something completed and posted before the meeting on Tuesday (which I plan to attend). Hey, if the numbers are right, they're right, I'll say either way. I'm also not sure whether the other two 'options' have been presented accurately and fairly. Some of the numbers just don't look right. Not that a Government official would fudge the numbers to achieve a desired outcome...


I'm still not convinced that revoking the OHE is the best solution long-term. It seems to me to be a short-term band-aid proposed by people who don't have the leadership to take a long-term view. Not only would removing this exemption raise taxes (during a recession) but it also has the potential to destroy home values long-term, something that would run counter to what the District's needs would be long-term. So far Alexander and Co. haven't broached any long-term ramifications, choosing instead to fall back on the "it's for the Children" rhetoric that schools lean on when facts are slim. That being said, that could be all they need.


In an ideal world the threat of un-election of school board members would be a sufficient deterrant to ensure a thorough vetting of all options in this case. Unfortunately, given the short attention span and general disinterest of local voters, such a vetting probably won't occur. It would seem logical that this would be something useful in a campaign sometime in the future, but typically School Board elections center on TAKS test results and things having little to do with the board, financial mis-management and other failures are often casualties of an uninformed electorate.

What does this mean in this case? I don't know. But I do know that, before something like this is implemented, there needs to be a full and complete examination of all possible options.

Whether or not that happens here? Eh.

No Good Deed......

File this under "eerie coincidences":

Perry: Special Session is coming. [R.G. Ratcliffe, Chron.com]

Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday a special legislative session will be necessary to keep alive the state’s transportation and insurance regulatory departments but declined to say whether he also will include the contentious Republican-backed voter identification measure.

Perry breaks collarbone in biking accident. [R.G. Ratcliffe, Chron.com]

Gov. Rick Perry was mountain biking near his home in the hills west of Austin Tuesday evening when he broke his collar bone in an accident.

In all seriousness, here's hoping Perry has a speedy recovery. I may not be much on him politically, but I don't wish physical harm on anyone. So far this hasn't hit the blogosphere, but the special session is pretty much everwhere, and pretty much universally derided:

Off the Kuff

Bay Area Houston

Lone Star Times

Paul Burka: Texas Monthly

Houston Area Asides (06/10/09)

The "bike safety" edition...

Harris County out-paces U.S. in drunken-driving deaths. [James Pinkerton, Chron.com] - Cue anti-illegal immigration faction in 5...4...3... (A better response is increased driver education, and peer pressure. There's also a case to be made for stopping the demonization {and, by extension, the exoticism} of alcohol.)

Changes at troubled Harris County Jail already underway. [Roma Khanna, Chron.com] - Keir Murray is quoted extensively in this article (identified as "a spokesman for Sheriff Garcia), yet nothing from Alan Bernstein? Maybe the latter is still getting his feet wet?

Maverick's bizarro attack on Ed. [Rick Casey, Chron.com] - Odd to see the newspaper do a candidates PR work for him, but that's what the Chron has been doing for Ed Gonzales since the appearance of the Welsh mailers. Were they poorly thought out? Yes. "Bizarro" or "egregious"? If you think that you don't pay much attention to politics.

Senate panel agrees to new drilling in Eastern Gulf. [Jennifer Dlouhy, Chron.com] - It's a positive step, but I'm not holding my breath, neither should you. Special interests will shut this down.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is more than a Mom. [Corilyn Shropshire, Chron.com] - Yeah, she's ultra wealthy as well, one of the most wealthy members of the House. Curious that she sees no pitfalls in having one Party with controlling, dominating power. Ask Texas Republicans what the pitfalls are, or Chicago & New York Democrats. Those who do not learn from history etc. etc.

Cleburne hires geologist after rash of earthquakes.[AP via Chron.com] - There have always been quakes in Texas, they're just not as well publicized as the one's in California. Still, blaming oil companies is 'trendy' now so why not?

Making Houston even more inviting. [Anne Linehan, Chron.com] - Think of it as a local version of the automobile stimulus package.

Sen. Cornyn launches revamped NRSC website. [David Jennings, Lone Star Times] - Boy those Conservatives I tell you, what winners they are! I guess, in a down period, "aggressive leadership" equates to a website with Twitter updates and a dodgy, ambush drop-down that centers itself off the screen not allowing you to close it? (or access half the site's content.) Further proof that Republicans don't yet have a grasp on the potentials (or use) of social media in campaigns.

Cy-Fair proposes doing away with Homestead exemption.

Seems they're running out of money....

[Erika Mellon, Chron.com]

Homeowners in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district would see their property tax bills jump some 20 percent under Superintendent David Anthony’s proposal to revoke the optional homestead exemption.

Anthony has said the district can no longer afford to offer the popular tax break under Texas’ school funding system, which is especially hard on fast-growing school systems such as Cy-Fair.

The school board will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. today to discuss eliminating the optional homestead exemption to help balance the district’s budget this year. The board is not expected to make any final decisions tonight.

Other options, such as cutting personnel and holding an election to raise taxes, also are on the table, but Anthony has said the best option is doing away with the 20 percent optional homestead exemption. The move is expected to net the district an extra $35 million for operating expenses and $10 million for debt service, he said.

Ah, it was just a couple of years ago that Cy-Fair used a local low-turnout election to push through an $807 Million dollar bond issue. Oddly enough, during that election one of the selling points was the district's "low" taxes:

Milks said the district has a record of building larger, quality schools at a lower cost-per-square foot than many Texas school districts. Plus, he said the district has among the lowest school property tax rates, $1.324 per $100 of property valuation in 2007-08, after the 20 percent homestead exemption is applied.

Fast forward to today. Cy-Fair, proud parent of the Barry Center, the district's $72.9 Million dollar sports and athletic complex which supposedly "pays for itself" according to supporters. (I'm sure the revenue covers operations, but it probably doesn't cover debt service), builder of some of the most opulent new schools in the area (palaces is a more accurate descriptor of some of them) and organization that's been running with almost no local oversight.

Unfortunately, they are also the school district in which I reside. Yes, I've been active in opposition to the bond issue and the Berry Center, but I (sadly) admit that I haven't done enough to ring the warning bells.

So, here we are. Obviously Superintendant Anthony feels getting rid of the optional homestead exemption is the best choice because its the choice that doesn't involve going to the voters before screwing them. Nice gig, if you can get it. Of course, each and every CFISD board member is going to be up for re-election eventually, and you can bet I (and others) won't make the same mistake again by not performing a better watchdog role. A 25% increase in taxes is going to be hard for some people to absorb in today's work environment, efforts of proponents to pooh-pooh it notwithstanding. Want some perspective? This tax increase would effectively wipe-out the "stimulus" tax cut championed by Obama this year. If that amount of money going in isn't insubstantial, then its not going to be painless going out.

If you're a resident of Cy-Fair look for this to hit you one of two ways should it pass:

1. You'll notice a sizable increase in your year-end tax bill. If you put money back every month to pay that you might want to increase your savings.

2. If you escrow, your house payments will increase in the future to cover the increased cost. That resets your entire payment scale.

One additional thought: Long term this is going to be a nightmare for the District. As the only school district considering this people are going to either move further west to Katy, or further south to Sugar Land to avoid over-paying taxes. Also, new owners will see this is a 'no homestead' District every time they consider purchasing a house. To make up for this the market will adjust by lowering home prices.....

Which will further reduce property tax revenues.

Hold a vote to raise the rate. If it is really among the lowest in the region then make the case to area voters. We're reasonable.

Well, some of us are.

Houston Area Asides (06/09/09)

The "blogging will be slow because I'm busy" edition...

Welsh hopes District H breaks with tradition. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com]

Gonzales pounds pavement in District H. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com]

Two candidate profiles, two very different approaches.


More on the Urban Transit Corridors Ordinance. [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff]

Mixed, Early reviews of transit street measure. [Bradley Olson Mike Snyder, Chron.com]

At least we know that Kuff and Olson Snyder read the same two blogs (or more likely, that Kuff reads Christof and Andrew and Bradley Snyder reads Kuff)*


Ed Johnson's Conflict of Interest. [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff]

I think we all have a better idea now why State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Ana Hernandez called for appointed Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez’s resignation over Johnson’s (and George Hammerlein’s) testimony

Harris County Tax Assessor needs to fire somebody. [John Cobarruvias, Bay Area Houston]

The current Tax Assessor, Leo Vasquez, should immediately fire Johnson and begin an internal investigation on Johnson's access and use of county voter information.

Conflict of interest in Harris County's voter registration office. [Perry Dorrell, Brains n' Eggs]

Ed Johnson -- recall his testimony on Voter ID, and that of his consort George Hammerlein during the last legislative session -- has to be fired immediately by tax assessor-collector Leo Vasquez.

The thing is, Republicans might have a valid argument regarding voter ID, but their relationships and disinterest in also pushing for plans to maximize the number of legal voters instead of just calling for minimizing the number of illegal voters overshadows all of that and is causing nothing to get done. Judging by the amount of attention paid to this by the InterLeft you can expect to see it play in big role in upcoming elections.

Firefighters and homebuilders square off over residential sprinklers and 'local control' [Gary Scharrar, Chron.com] - The argument being that local City Councils can decide "what's best for residents". An idea that's laughable, at best. Of course, it's laughable to think that any level of Government can best decide what's "best" for you.

Wow, Michelle Obama hates Carla Bruini, a lot. [Dr. Melissa Clouthier] - Wow, Dr. Clouthier hates Michelle Obama, a lot. (Just more of those 'issues driven' political discussions we're promised I guess)

Hutchison backed by well-known liberal squish. [David Benzion, Lone Star Times] - If you want to seem a microcosm of the battles going on inside the Republican Party, go read this tongue-and-cheek post by Benzion, and then go read the vitriol in the comments. When conservatives are calling out their own for being 'not conservative enough' then you know you've got problems.

It's a nice taxpayer supported gig for former Chronicle Reporter Alan Bernstein. [Richard Connelly, Houston Press] - Do you blame him? Hell, for that type of money any local politician considering hiring a spokesman please consider me to be officially on the market.

Annise Parker, the $5 Mayoral Candidate. [Margaret Downing, Houston Press] - Given the ratio one could assume that a fiver will get you about 1/2 second of influence. Use it wisely.

For Whom the Cock Crows (It's you Bub) [Slampo] - More slice of life goodness.



*Thanks to Rorschach, one of my free editors, for pointing out my error in Identification on the Mike Snyder post. Free Editing: Allowing hobby blogs to keep overhead non-existent for many months now.

What if everything we've been told is wrong?

How does our emerging public policy look then?

[AFP via Yahoo! News]

You worry a lot about the environment and do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint -- the emissions of greenhouse gases that drive dangerous climate change.

So you always prefer to take the train or the bus rather than a plane, and avoid using a car whenever you can, faithful to the belief that this inflicts less harm to the planet.

Well, there could be a nasty surprise in store for you, for taking public transport may not be as green as you automatically think, says a new US study.

Its authors point out an array of factors that are often unknown to the public.

These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple "tailpipe" tally, which is based on how much carbon is spewed out by the fossil fuels used to make a trip.

(snip)

A saloon (sedan) car or even an 4x4 that is fully occupied may be responsible for less greenhouse gas per kilometer travelled per person than a suburban train that is a quarter full, the researchers calculate.

It seems that one thing frequently overlooked in calculating both public transportation AND automobile emissions are the contributions made during construction and by energy generation.

The article didn't say who funded the study. I'd be very surprised to find out that it was a Government.

So far the 'green' movement has run under assumptions made by scientists primarily conducting studies funded by Governments suggesting that more Government programs and expenditures are the key to solving Global Warming climate change. What if all of those studies are wrong? Where do we go from there and, more importantly, is there the intellectual honesty out there to say "I was wrong" before moving in a different direction?

One thing I didn't read in this, and you shouldn't either, is that the automobile is somehow superior to public transportation from a pollution reduction standpoint. If anything, having insufficient capacity for both is a fate worse than anything else. Cities need both good traffic flow for personal vehicle commuters and sufficient infrastructure in place, along well-travelled routes, for riders of public transportation.

Houston currently has neither, and is the middle-stages of a plan that's punitive to automobile travel while creating a system of public transportation that doesn't serve the travel patterns of the majority.



Brilliant.

Other Eyes:

BlogHouston

Houston Area Asides (06/08/09)

The "Billy Elliot is AWESOME!" Edition....

Property tax set at zero seems to suit Stafford. [Renee C. Lee, Chron.com] - Businesses love it, as do residents. Sales and use taxes are exploding because of new business being lured to the area. I'm not a favor of consumption tax only on a State-wide level because I believe it to be too regressive. However, it's interesting to see how it works at a micro-level isn't it?

Ag groups say more eminent domain reform needed. [AP via Chron.com] - Whichever political party takes advanatage of this issue has a ready-made campaign winner. Quaint idea: People want to feel that they, and not the Government, own their property.

Fuel-efficient vehicles can be a drain. [Carolyn Feibel, Chron.com] - Move It! just isn't the same since Ruiz got let go. On another note: There's possibly no worse, less creative Government leadership in Texas than the empty suits in charge of TxDOT.

Low turnout marks European Parliament vote. [UPI] - Not exactly local, but the European and British elections are important for one thing: As America shifts left the rest of the world is shifting right. It's glacial, but interesting nevertheless.

Port Bolivar Church parishioners fight to keep a legacy. [Alex Saenz, KHOU] - If ever a Church was needed, it would be right after a Hurricane strikes an area. Instead of reaching out to help the Houston/Galveston Diocese is abandoning those that need them most in the name of 'economic sense'. WWJD?

Obama promises 600,000 stimulus jobs. [AP via KHOU] - All somehow connected to the public sector of course, but hey.

North Korea sentances two journalists to 12 years in labor camp. [Jonathan Adams, Christian Science Monitor] - "Grave crimes against North Korea". Translated: North Korea has themselves a bargaining chip.

Keep on the Watch! [IJ Reilly, Bayou City Madman] - Curiously, I got the same flyer.

Where is Michelle Obama's Burqua? [Dr. Melissa Clouthier] - Ladies & Gentlemen I give you the new Republican Party focused soley on the issues and eschewing the politics of personal.....oh. wait. Nevermind.

The 81st Legislative Session a success. [Rep. Aaron Peña, A Capitol Blog] - At least someone had a good session.

Appeals court upholds strip-tax ban. [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - In a decision celebrated by men who swear, SWEAR, they would never darken the doors of these establishments.

Rapid Eye Movement (06/07/09)

Fuel economy rules will mess with Texas. [Brett Clanton, Chron.com]

But tougher fuel economy rules do not mean trucks and SUVs are headed for extinction any time soon. Rather, consumers may have to pay more to get them, to cover added costs of fuel-efficient engine technologies, said Philip Gott, a director with economic forecaster IHS Global Insight.

Just as they'd have to pay more to purchase any vehicle under the new CAFE plans. The idea that the "Green" auto plan is designed to rid the world of trucks and SUV's is misguided. What it's designed to do is move the poor out of cars and into publicly funded transportation.

State still slow to warm up to solar energy potential. [Matthew Tresaugue, Chron.com]

The 81st Texas Legislature began with strong interest in cleaner energy — lawmakers filed at least 69 bills related to solar and other forms of renewable power — but ended Monday without the boost for the emerging industry that advocates wanted.

For supposedly 'free' renewable energy, there sure are a lot of costs involved. (costs that, amazingly, makes harnessing 'free' solar energy more expensive than the logistical nightmare of getting oil and gas to market)

Sorry, but the Dr's killer did not act alone. [Ellen Goodman, Chron.com]

As a First Amendment absolutist, I don’t believe that words kill. But this week, I can’t help wondering whether rhetoric can justify a crime in the mind of a fanatic. Can’t words provide the sort of perverse moral platform that jihadists stand on and the alternate universe in which a “lone nut” can find a home?

Amazing how so-called "absolutists" are willing to relax the First Amendment when the issues are right and the mob is loud enough.

Obama team plans more active role in health care. [AP via KTRK.com] - Great...more "painful times" for Americans I'm sure.

Texas officials urge residents to be counted. [AP via KHOU] - Given the political nature of the census, ACORN's involvement, statistical sampling etc. it probably won't matter much if Texans are counted or not. I've a feeling if you compared the 'presumed count' before the census to the 'actual numbers' the census produces the results will be eerily similar.

Damned if you do...[Rorschach, Red Ink: Texas] - HPD's 'chase' policy is a disaster. It's also indicative of the vacuum of leadership the agency is currently facing.

Yet another Astrodome Plan [Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - Much ado about nothing. The only long-term viable plan is a casino, but given the proclivities of the Lege that won't happen.

Another Mayoral Election...

Another Sylvester Turner candidacy?

[Bradley Olson, Chron.com]

State Rep. Sylvester Turner is weighing a third run for mayor of Houston and will decide soon whether to join the race, he said today.

“There have been some people that have asked me to take a look at it,” he said, declining to provide names. “Some have been elected officials and some have been community folk … I’m not interested in trying to dangle something out in front of people, but I will take a look at it and make a firm decision fairly soon.”

One wonders if some of the people 'approaching' Turner were supporters of either Annise Parker or Peter "plan" Brown? (the latter of which wisely dumped his 'brown' website motif for something more 'patriotic')

It'd be a smart move, as Olson describes here:

A Turner candidacy could throw what already has developed as an unusual mayoral race into disarray, potentially driving a wedge into the base of support of former city attorney Gene Locke. Both men are African-American and blacks traditionally have been among the most formidable pools of voters in citywide elections.

Who would benefit most from that?

Either Parker or Brown one would guess.

I, for one, would like to see Turner enter the race, if for no other reason than to raise the perennial candidate number to two.

Of course, were I a member of the Annise Parker advisory team I'd consider asking Chris Bell to throw his hat in the ring as well. Not only would he attract voters from Peter Brown, but he'd then raise the perennial candidate numbers to three, which as we all know is ideal.

Pearland Presidential Paintball?

Just when you think you've seen it all...

[Fransisca Ortega, Inside Pearland @ Chron.com]

There were a lot of opinions about David Adickes' 20-foot-tall bust of Barack Obama kicking off its tour in Pearland. After spending a night in Pearland, the statue will visit 30 cities in eight states on its way to its final destination at the Presidents Park near Deadwood, S.D.

Many readers in the previous blog took the statue's visit to Pearland as an opportunity to express their opinion on Obama's performance so far as president. But then there were opinions such as:

"Somebody needs to dump a bunch of bird seed around the bust." -Pigeon
"Oh good... My dog likes watering statues." -swtxgal66

and there was this:

"I sure hope no one takes a few hundred shots at it with their paint ball guns. That would be just horrible :P" -Turd Fergusen

Such anger, such rage. Such weak attempts at humor.

Because that's all this is, people sitting behind keyboards attempting to be funny. The people who really get hateful about politics are sad little sorts who don't interact well with others and certainly wouldn't be posting things like that on a public forum. These are the types of people who take elections personally and view every policy disagreement as a referendom on (choose one:) a)sanity b)intelligence, c)honesty, d)morality. They probably aren't very social, don't blog other than to run news clippings, don't facebook, don't twitter and certainly wouldn't outline their plans on a Chron.commons blog.

Nope, the people who would vandalize the Obama Presidential head probably wouldn't even pre-meditate on it much. They'd be sitting at home eating some canned beef stew when something they saw on their far right/left website of choice just set them off. Out the door they'd go, paintball gun in hand, and thwock, thwock, thwock, thwock, thwock. Then they'd go back home giggling turning on the TV to watch Soylent Green or something along those lines.

If anything disturbes me about this its the lack of respect for the office of the Presidency that many Americans still harbor. All of this is a carryover from the Nixon years. The attacks have only gotten stronger through Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. Respect for the office of the Presidency is at an all time low. Part of this is an extension of our politics. The loss of an office being personalized so that a personal anger is felt toward the winner. Obama just didn't beat McCain/Palin, he personally beat each and every one of their supporters. Bush didn't beat Al Gore, her personally beat everyone who supported him.

Elections have become the way political wonks validate their intellectual superiority. I've even seen cases where winning an election is equated to being "right" on the issues. This is especially ironic coming from the same people who publically state the electorate can't be trusted to intelligently decide complex party issues.

Again we come back to morality, or its false application in political matters.

The end result of this game is that America doesn't look-up to the President any more. 256 years after declaring our independance, we've come back to our British roots where politics is nothing more than a reality TV show with real high stakes.

When our side loses, we feel the need to lash out, to play an elimination challenge in our minds.

thwock, thwock, thwock, thwock, thwock, thwock

Finally updating the blog roll

(Cross that one off the to-do list)


For a while now I've been planning to update my blog-roll. I made some changes about a year-ago, but was never really happy with the way the lay-out was, or how it catagorized blogs. Plus, most of the blogs I had listed were bloggers that I checked daily, and some of the links were blogs I used to read, but who had fallen off the map of late.

In the side-bar you'll see four catagories that I believe make it easier to navigate. The top catagory is for "non-affiliated blogs". These bloggers may be political, but they're less about 'party' and more about political issues, media crit, etc. Rarely in these blogs will you see politicking or 'all hail the party' postings.

The next two sections are for the Bloggers O' the Right, and the Interleft, primarily in Houston. Some of these blogs are periodic reads of mine, and some of them I've stopped reading all-together, or never read. I'd like to thank State Rep. Aaron Peña of A Capitol Blog and Rorschach of Red Ink: Texas for their blog rolls, which let me put this together fairly rapidly.

The final catagory are for miscelleneous blogs, or journo blogs such as one's affiliated with The Houston Chronicle or other outlets. A lot of these sites are where I get a majority of my news.


Going forward my hope is to expand on this and provide readers with a wide range of political opinion. My hope is that, if you're reading this blog, you'll click around occasionally and see what other bloggers in Houston are saying. Some of these bloggers write some good stuff. Some don't (of course) and some of the blogs are just weird, but all of them (save a couple) come about their criticisms honestly and believe strongly in their perspective. I'll leave it up to the reader to determine which is the wheat, and which is the chaff.


If I've missed your blog, please comment or send me an e-mail and I'll be sure to get it updated as soon as possible.

When NIMBY'ism meets World Class.

(image courtesy of Newsday)

Sometimes the new wave of, wealthy, Inner-Loop Houstonians who are gentrifying the City Center make it hard to empathize with their plight. Oh sure, they try to get in front of a news camera and drum up rage about how their 'quaint' little historic neighborhood (of which 70% of the houses are recent re-builds) is being threatened by either A residential tower (GASP!) being built in an area where more density is needed to make future public transportation viable, or an entertainment district (GASP!!) bubbling up next-door to their idyllic homes.

Rucks Russell has the details of the latter...

You’ve probably seen the bars popping up along Washington Avenue.

It seems there’s a new one every month.

Washington, located just south of I-10, passes through nine neighborhoods, one of which is called Rice Military.

“It’s a home for all of us,” Phyliss Thomason of the Rice Military Civic Association said. “The bayous and all of this nature that’s out here for us to enjoy. I think it’s awesome.”

Of course, it's those 'awesome' homes in the area that are the problem...

But that’s just one side of Washington.

HPD Sgt. Robert Steffan knows the other side.

11 News rode along with Steffan, a 17-year police veteran, to witness firsthand what he and his fellow officers encounter on a typical Friday night.

There were illegally parked cars being towed and large crowds of people on the street.

“DWIs, people parking in the middle of the street who are intoxicated is a big issue. Noise is a very big issue,” Steffan said.

The streets were full of suspected drunks – both behind the wheel and on foot – hopping between roughly 30 bars crammed into a 10-block radius on Washington. The strip has become a magnet for people looking to have a good time.

“I don’t understand how all this came together and how everyone decided, ‘Hey, Washington Avenue is a great place to open a bar,’” Steffan said.

I couldn't have anything to do with the location? Possibly because Washington is near downtown, and near an exploding residential area where DINK families, with their disposable income, are looking for something to do?

Such are the risks of living in an un-zoned urban area, especially one with a new-found cache of hip. Just as you have to make certain concessions to live in the suburbs (convenience, commute times, etc.) in order to enjoy the benefits (quiet neighborhoods, larger homes) you also make compromises when you live in an urban core. The expectation of 'quiet neighborhoods' with 'bayous and nature' isn't all that attainable if density (and an urban lifestyle) is the stated goal. Neither is there a guarantee that your neighbors will be (to quote Ms. Thomason later in the article) "the right kind of business". As people living in Manhattan what kind of natural vistas they enjoy, or whether their neighborhoods are pastoral and serene in the evenings. The answer you get will be no, of course, as urban dwellers learn to filter out a certain amount of background clutter. Bar owner Michael Paolucci says it best:

But at the end of the day, this is a big city and this is how it is when you live inside the loop

Making this whole situation even more comic is the Yasmin Ghahremani article in the New York Times discovered by Houston's social scene touting the rise of Washington Ave. as "Houston's new social corridor":

A DRIVE down Washington Avenue in Houston reveals mere remnants of the decay that pervaded this three-mile strip just a few years ago — a bail bondsman sign, a lone pawn shop and a handful of vacant lots hint at what used to be. Sites like these once dominated the street, but today, Washington Avenue has been transformed into one of Houston’s most popular nightspots.

As you can imagine, this had the Houston social scene on Twitter all a ga-ga over Houston's mention in the Old Gray Lady. The only thing funnier than watching NIMBY'ism at work, is watching Houston's social commenters gush with effusive praise when New York so much as casts a glance in our fair city's direction. World Class? You bet. Washington Ave. is so world class that even New Yorkers are standing up and taking notice. Well...sorta:

The humming upstairs lounge overlooks a dining room, where jeans-and-boot-clad professionals enjoy contemporary American food like white pizza with crab meat ($14.50) and seared scallops with Jerusalem artichokes ($25).

Ah the New York Times, caretaker of American mythology, and perpetuator of stereotypes for flyover country. Perhaps some day, Houston will qualify for a mention in the Nation's newspaper of record that doesn't involve boots and cow-chips. Hopefully, but I doubt it. The reason I doubt it is because the City can't help itself. It can't help but run stories about "attracting the right kinds of businesses" to gentrified areas, it can't help fighting to maintain suburban style neighborhoods while encouraging others to increase density.

Houston just can't help itself, and that's why we love it so.

Oh sure, some day there might be some form of zoning form-based coding done to try and prevent multiple bars from popping up in the same location, ruining the quiet natural beauty of Inner-Loop neighborhoods. There could even come a day when Houston has a plan, to develop a plan, to form a planning commission, to study a plan, to create the foundations for a plan that will begin planning to plan the long-term plan for Houston. Of course, by the time all of that is done, the Washington Ave. entertainment corridor will probably have gone the way of the Richmond Strip, the Downtown Houston entertainment district that sprung up, and quickly died out, after the Superbowl, and the old East Houston, Port of Houston 'red-light' district that preceded it. C'est la vie in Houston, bereft of any lasting entertainment, where 'new' is valued over 'traditional' and where the coming light rail expansion will require the christening of a new "Houston hot spot" to satisfy the bets of the politically-connected land speculators, many of whom have already bought up large tracts of land along the, fixed (for now), planned corridors.

Hopefully then the residents of Rice Military will attract the "right kinds of business" that they are so desiring.

Fingers crossed.

Houston Area Asides (06/05/09)

The "idiots and wingnuts" version...

Chairman gives aTm President low score. [Jeannie Kever, Chron.com]

A system spokesman said Thursday that the suggestion focused on finances and was not directed at Murano, who in December 2007 was named A&M’s president.

1/2 a year in office and the sharks are circling. The problem with aTm is that they've always had too-inflated an opinion of their relative standing against other universities nationwide. (Oh, and parochialism, but that's more a Texas thing than something that falls at the feet of Cash-Machine U)

Legislative session gives UH, other State Schools boost. [Jeannie Kever, Chron.com]

And the University of Houston and six other so-called emerging research universities finally have a shot at additional state money to help them reach the ranks of the nation’s best colleges.

That Texas only has two tier-one research colleges is pathetic. I'm glad this is changing. (albeit slowly)

Steroids busts have some calling for increased regulation of fitness industry [Moises Mendoza, Chron.com]

More than 40 percent of male adult anabolic steroid users have college degrees and range from bankers to scientists, according to a 2007 study in the Journal of International Sports Nutrition.

The problem with steroids has always been that....they work...as advertised. Back in the 80's when they were placed on the same drug schedules as cocaine the FDA argued against it but politicians ignored that advice. Now we're arresting athletic trainers and have driven the drugs underground while having no qualms allowing people to undergo major, invasive surgery for cosmetic purposes. Yes, fitness training certification needs regulation, but the ultimate answer to the problem is to allow degreed Dr's to perscribe performance enhancers for cosmetic purposes to healthy adults. The side-effects have been over-blown by the anti-doping lobby who shrivel up into a quiet corner when asked to provide proof of their claims. Increasingly it appears that steroids, when taken at certain dosages administered by a physician, are just as safe as many other drugs people take every day.

Rice to host Spanish resource center. [Allan Turner, Chron.com]

After 15 years at the University of Houston, the Spanish government’s Spanish Resource Center this fall will relocate to Rice University

UH's loss is Rice's gain.

Texan accused of cursing about cat feces aquitted. [Houston Chronicle] - That's some good shit right there. (The preceding quip was made in accordance with requirements laid down in Chapter 3, Section 2, subsection 1(j)8 of the blogger's code regarding obvious snark to pathetic situations)

Are you easily grossed out? You might be conservative. [Eric Berger, Chron.com]

I failed my 'liberal' test, how about you? [Lisa Falkenberg, Chron.com]

Periodically you see journo's link to studies like this in a desperate attempt to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are not liberal. As in these quizzes, often the questions have nothing to do with liberal/conservative and more to do with linking odd, personal behaviors with large groups of people. You know, stereotypes, those things that America's courtisans love to deal in while chastising others for using. All of this is fun, and its a quaint distraction from real news, but ultimately useless. The only way to tell if you are 'liberal' or 'conservative' is to quiz yourself on the issues. Besides, what's so wrong about being a liberal anyway? IMO newspapers would be better off if their liberals would admit to being liberal, and if their conservatives (the one's they have) would do the same. The idea that all journalists are reasonable pragmatists who see things 'right down the middle' is ludicrous at face value. So is the idea that Falkenberg (who's politics is in lock-step with liberal dogma) and Berger (who's not even willing to consider the conservative view of AGW) are moderates.

State sues BP, alleging Texas City Plant pollution violations. [Kristen Hays & Matthew Tresaugue, Chron.com]

BP could face more than $100 million in penalties for releasing pollutants into the air and failing to properly monitor equipment for leaks at its Texas City refinery.

What? No "allegedly"? Earlier this week there was a story of a hit & run case where the driver was found later with the victim's bicycle still wedged beneath the car. The report identified the driver as "a suspected hit & run driver". Nothing like convicting the defendant before the trial eh?

Rubber contained in playgrounds, athletic fields could contain hidden dangers. [Jeremy Desel, KHOU] - Or....it couldn't. You see there's no data saying yes or no.

Green cars....

(image courtesy of Edmunds.com)
Toyota: Hybrids best "green" car for some time. [AP via Chron.com]

A Toyota executive overseeing research said today a battery breakthrough is needed for electric vehicles to become mainstream, and hybrids will remain the best “green” car choice for some time.

His comments came just hours after the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Toyota’s Prius hybrid was the No. 1 selling vehicle in Japan for May, clinching the top spot for the first time — even though the latest model had been on sale for only half the month.

Toyota Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto said the hybrid system like the one in the Prius is the “most important of our energy-saving technologies,” and reiterated that his company plans to have a hybrid version of its entire lineup of products by 2020.

The 2009 Toyota Prius is rated at 51/48 MPG's under normal driving conditions. Not too bad.

Consider this however:(picture courtesy of Popular Mechanics)

The 2009 Volkswagon Jetta TDI is reportedly achieving 58 MPG in real-world testing conditions.

(image courtesy of Autos Express UK)

When you consider that Subaru is finally rumored to be bringing their diesel to market and it appears that Ford is finally bringing the 60+ MPG Fiesta Econetic Diesel to the US Market: (Image courtesy of Wired.com)

The future of "green" seems to revolve around much more proven diesel technology, and not the mechanical mess that is Hybrid technology.

Voluntary pedestrial realms

Kinda catchy dontcha think?

[Mike Snyder, Chron.com]

More than five years after inaugurating its light rail system, Houston is taking its first, tentative steps to make it safer and more convenient for passengers to walk from train stations to homes, shops and offices.

The city’s urban transit corridors ordinance, which it began developing in June 2006, is expected to be considered by the City Council in July. It would offer incentives for developers in six light rail corridors to include a 15-foot “pedestrian realm” with broad, unobstructed sidewalks and other features intended to create appealing, walkable environments.

The new development created under this ordinance will become part of the daily lives of more than 160,000 people the Metropolitan Transit Authority expects to be riding its trains by 2030. Within the next five years, the agency plans to add five new rail lines to the Main Street line it opened on Jan. 1, 2004.

The impact of the ordinance will depend on developers’ willingness to comply with its mostly voluntary standards. Those who agree to create the pedestrian zone will automatically be exempt from rules requiring buildings to be set back a specified distance from the street, giving them more space to build revenue-generating offices, homes or shops.

The good news with this is that it's voluntary, that developers won't be forced (officially) to construct massive development projects with around 3% of the regions' population in mind. If a developer feels there's money in this, then they should have the right to take a stab at it without having to comply with limiting set-back rules etc.

Officials in the city planning department, which drafted the ordinance in consultation with community leaders, real estate professionals and the general public, described it as a first step toward changing a development culture that’s long been focused on the automobile rather than on trains or pedestrians.

Which is OK, except that Houston doesn't have any meaningful public transportation to speak of.

That they don't have anything planned, long-term, to address the transportation needs of those living outside the Beltway could severely limit the amount of buy-in that this ordinance receives.

Look at it this way, even if Metro's ridership projections are accurate (a crap-shoot at best) you're talking about spending Billions of dollars on a project that's limited to 200,000 (let's round up and give them the benefit of the doubt) people, out of a total target market of 5,400,000. (If you're not paying attention that's 3.7% of the population) Unless you're in the business of selling high-end luxury items to the extremely wealthy, that's a demographic target that's rife for failure. On the surface it appears that there might be sufficient demand to fill up the $500K+ lofts that mixed-use will generate, but that doesn't begin to tell the whole of the story.

The promise of 'mixed-use' development is that there will, on some level, be a 'mix' of property types contained in a system that provides the residents of the development with local lifestyle options (say, a grocery store, dry cleaners, etc.) plus entertainment (restaurants, movies, upscale bowling alleys) and shopping. (mainly retail) In order for all of this to work however the development has to do a good job attracting non-residents in the market-area to the shops and entertainment options so that they can turn a profit. The best way to accomplish this is festivals, marketing, events etc. Ideally the retailers will pitch in through sales, special offers, you name it.

Unfortunately, 1000 DINK's living in a high-rise cannot support multiple retail outlets, no matter how much disposable income they have. The 'key' to all of this is bringing in residents who do not reside in the development to shop and play. When this happens, you have a vibrant, bustling development that's thriving both financially and on a community level. When it doesn't work, you become the butt of local jokes. By developing a property specifically designed to exclude the automobile, developers are setting themselves up as a punchline.

This has always been a disconnect between Houston imagined, and Houston realized: the lack of a cohesive plan to move people to these 'car-free' developments in sufficient numbers to make said projects viable. That's why a majority of the Red Line remains largely underdeveloped. Given the restrictiveness of the system to automobile traffic, there's no way to reliably get customers to locations along the line in sufficient numbers to be profitable. Groups such as the Energy Corridor Management District understand this; Metro, seemingly, does not. According to the Chron article, neither do the City employees who crafted this bill, otherwise they would have recognized and addressed the limitations of such a plan and made suggestions how to address the problems.

Currently there's only one reliable way for someone outside the city center to travel "in": That method is the use of a personal automobile. Building alternative modes of transportation is a good thing, provided they expand transit options without being restrictive to the dominant, existing method (the personal automobile). Offering developers options in building is good as well, provided you aren't coercing people to be restrictive toward what will still be the dominant form of transit for years to come. Houston needs to learn to strike a balance somewhere in the middle, something that Metro has shown an unwillingness to discuss, much less consider. Until that balance is taken seriously and until people realize that the personal automobile is not going away, any transit plans are doomed to failure.

One note: Some of you reading this might be tempted to retort with "If you don't like it, move into one of the developments inside the Loop." That's fine until you realize that those developments only appeal to a small slice of Harris County residents. Never mind that few can afford to pay over $500K for a two-room flat, or that they have children and families and pets that disqualify them from that type of living, or that both parents might work in disparate locations not served reliably by Metro, the idea of shoe-horning 5.4 Million residents inside a geographical area that can't comfortably house half that (and whose residents are standing in opposition to creating the density to do so) is folly. The design for "new" Houston isn't centered around the poor and middle class. You don't see anyone at Houston's farmer's markets paying with food stamps, petitions by Houston's elité for them to eat local and healthy not-withstanding. In reality, the design for "new" Houston is a terribly stratified monster, with class-lines being clearly defined as one radiates out further and further from the city center.


Finally: In the ending of the article, there's evidence that the developers understand, and agree with the problems that I've outlined:

David Crossley, who served on an advisory committee that worked on the ordinance, said the incentives might have been more effective had the city included relaxation of its off-street parking requirements, which vary for different types of projects.

City officials, however, said relief from parking requirements would not have been practical because lenders and project tenants are likely to insist on the same amount of parking the city requires.

Intentionally excluding 97% of the regions population by design is not good business, the developers understand this.

If Houston can just get the local opinion and policy makers to understand this there might be some hope for some meaningful progress on public transportation. Don't hold your breath, but at least the debate is showing the signs of maturity, beyond the "MetroSolutions or Anti-transit" dichotomy that's been holding Houston back.



OTHER EYES:

BlogHouston

NeoHouston

Christof Spieler

Houston area Asides (06/04/09)

The "funny" edition...

Similar Message [Nick Anderson, Chron.com]

McLeroy gets a challenger [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff]

McLeroy is a hero to the wingnut fringe

It's nice to know who's reading your blog is it not? To quote Matt Bramanti: Heh

Obama opens to Muslims. [Mark A. Smith, AP via Chron.com] - Some friends and I feel that Pres. Bush missed a huge opportunity to reach out to the rank-&-file Muslim population circumventing the Mullahs, especially in Iran. Too soon to tell if Obama will take advantage of this.

Battle for a Beach. [Harvey Rice & Matt Stiles, Chron.com]

Texas law prevents building on the public beach, but in the chaotic final hours of the legislative session state Rep. Wayne Christian helped craft an amendment that exempts an unlikely piece of land from existing law: his own beachfront property.

Texas Republicans looking for a reason they're losing electoral share need look no further than this piece of legislation. Texans are tired of cronyism, corporatism and the old-fashioned favoritism that's festered for years now in Texas. (As a matter of fact, those are some of the only things that survived the transition of power from Democrat to Republican)

Perry wants Guard patrols to scour border. [Sig Christenson, San Antonio Express-News via Chron.com]

The $135.6 million it would cost the first year isn’t included in the state’s recently adopted $182.3 billion budget for 2010-2011.

In other words, this is nothing more than empty pandering to the anti-illegal immigration crowd that he's hoping to use as his base in the next election. Unfortunately rhetoric goes as far in swaying these groups as it does activist groups on the left so I expect this plan to be applauded.

Peter Brown and the Schools. [Bradley Olson, Chron.com]

"Now, by the way, that the neighborhood is turning more Hispanic, HISD has decided, well, maybe we better reopen Clinton Park Elementary School."

Actually, HISD is not even considering reopening Clinton Park, nor has there been any discussion or board agenda items dealing with the matter, according to Norman Uhl, a department spokesman.

Odd.

The most dangerous game: Man vs. Metro [Mike Giglio, Houston Press] - Yeah, but who will smell better at the end of the trip in August?

Political Payback in Chrysler Dealership Closings?

GOP leaning bloggers and some MSM outlets are making on-line hey regarding potential political 'payback' allegedly made in decision-making regarding the Chrysler dealership closings...

[Doug Scott, DirectorBlue Blog]

Using the list of all 789 dealerships to be closed, WND found that owners contributed $450,000 to GOP presidential candidates; $7,970 to Sen. Hillary Clinton; $2,200 to John Edwards and $450 to Barack Obama. For the "progressives" out there, that's a 1000-to-1 ratio of GOP-to-Obama donations and a 42-to-1 ratio of GOP-to-Democrat donations for closed dealerships.

It's a coincidence, but hardly a "smoking gun" as far as proof goes. There's a lot more to the argument so I suggest you go read the whole thing.

For their part National Democratic Bloggers and some MSM outlets are offering up the following in defense of the methodolgy behind the closings:

[Chad Selweski, Macomb County News]

In Macomb County, three dealerships were closed in the Chrysler bankruptcy process and seven were saved. The FEC records show no noticeable difference in the political leanings of the owners of the 10 businesses.

Anthony Viviano, president of the Metro Detroit Dodge dealer's association and owner of Sterling Heights Dodge, which will remain in operation, said politics was never a factor in the process.

"That's just a bunch of baloney," said Viviano, former president of the Detroit Area Dealers Association.

Both sides are claiming their statistics as definitive proof of the 'truth' of their positions. So either we are living in a parallel universe where 'truth' is plural, or this is just another case of selective truthiness where each side will attempt to deluge the others with a mountain of statistics, stir up the partisans a little and, in the end, nothing of substance will change.

For my part, I'm not convinced that political payback was a driving factor in the Chrysler dealership closings. Nor am I convinced that one's political donations are in no way considered when decisions regarding the politically connected are handed down. However, short of an admission by the Obama administration that they did indeed targe Republican-owned car dealerships this seems to me to be a case of 'proving a negative'. Like explaining physics to a pig, trying to do this will only anger you and frustrate the pig. Besides, even IF the Obama administration admitted that all the Republican charges were true, Democratic partisans still wouldn't see anything wrong with it. There are Republicans out there who still maintain Tom Delay did nothing wrong after all.

The biggest disappointment? Most of the major media outlets haven't covered this issue at all. I'd love to see a major report laying out the facts, both pro and con, and letting readers/viewers decide on their own.

Houston Area Asides (06/03/09)

The "A Million here, a Million there; pretty soon you're talking about real money" edition...

5 Agencies left in limbo by State Lawmakers. [R.G. Ratcliffe & Peggy Fikac, Chron.com]

The Legislature has gone home, but left behind Tuesday was a disturbing prospect: Roads won’t get built, parimutuel racetracks will have to shut down, and Texas insurance companies will be able to charge consumers whatever they want.

For some of these items it might seem like business as usual. That's the sad part.

In a tough year, Council may be immune to cuts [Bradley Olson, Chron.com]

In an austere year for the city of Houston, when the 2010 budgets of several major departments that provide essential services to taxpayers were cut, one highly public group managed to broker a rare increase: City Council.

Houstonians have a right to gripe about police and fire budgets being cut, while the elected "Royals" pronounce the modern day equivilent of 'let them eat cake'. The question is: Will Houstonians care all that much? My guess is no, and that this will be explained away by the usual suspects.

Wind insurance bill has no caps for big storm. [Janet Elliot, Chron.com]

A bill on its way to Gov. Rick Perry includes a 10 percent cap on rate hikes during a 12-month period when there is not a hurricane. However, there are no caps on how much rates could be raised if a costly storm strikes.

Of course, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth over this, for "poor" homeowners only, and I fully expect some cap and subsidize plan will be enacted for all homeowners who make under an artificially created salary level.

When does anti-abortion rhetoric cross the line from free speech? [Staff Editorial, Chron.com]

Free speech is a treasured tenet of American life, but on this issue, hate speech has played a large part in establishing a climate that accepts and even condones violence against abortion providers.

Free speech is important but.... and it's the "but" that's where the slippery slope of oppression begins. From Wanda Sykes suggesting that she hopes Rush Limbaugh's kidneys fail to anti-abortion foes describing what a Dr. does as murder, the history of America is rife with examples of fringe speech creeping into the mainstream. When President Bush was in power the Republicans argued that his critics were "fanning the flames of extremeism" throughout the world. Remember that? The truth is that political party drones each want free speech protections for their side while supporting reasonable restrictions on the speech of "the other side". Remember: It's far easier to cast your opposites as somehow evil or morally deficient, using ad hominem attacks to move the debate from the facts of the issue to the people behind the issue. The problem that you have is that the facts (and emotions) will still be there lurking, behind the veil of silence that we've placed on those with which we don't agree. Democracy has a half-life that's closely associated with the ability of citizens to engage in free, spirited debate.

A Conservative Voice at the Chronicle? [Unca Darrell] - I wouldn't go that far, but the tone has been more measured since the 'purge'.

Legislative Wrap-ups [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] - If it's any consolation to my Republican readers out there, the Democrats aren't feeling too happy about their legislative agenda coming out of the Eighty-One either. At least Kuffner didn't disappoint and threw in the most over-used political fallacy out there: "The Fight". Politics is only a fight to those who let their party of choice define representative democracy . Unfortunately, in America, that means pretty much everyone feels they are in a "fight" with the other side.

Early Voting in District H run-off [Bradley Olson, Chron.com] - The insertion of race into this run-off has made this far more fun than a City Council race should be. Maverick Welsh and Ed Gonzalez hold almost identical views on all of the major issues, so the only real thing to squabble over is that District H was created by the Federal Courts to give Hispanics representation and what this means (if anything) in terms of the race that should represent the district.

David Crossley Sees the Future

And it looks eerily familiar...

Is this the Future of Houston Transit?[David Crossley, City Brights Chron.com]

Between the bus and the rail station we see vehicles streaming by on the freeway, with a Metro park-and-ride bus in the lead, reminding us that there is a park-and-ride station unseen in the left background.
To deal with the ever-present problem of the last mile, the District has put forward a plan for a circulator system of buses within its streets that connects 40 places to each other and to the light rail station and the park-and-ride station.

[Me (on numerous occasions)]

What would be nice is if someone were to come up with a workable solution that involves multimodal modelling that takes into account a more robust, more inclusive Metro service as well as an adequate infrastructure to handle individual vehicles. This could be handled by a mix of fixed "long haul" bus routes well-connected to neighborhood centric "circulator" routes and a network of fixed transportation lines within the City Center. Those "fixed" lines should not be more light rail built at-grade. Which are proving expensive to run and detrimental to mobility for other types of transit.

Note that I point out 'light rail' service should not be built "at grade", something that the energy corridor satisfies by offering a grade-separated plan, something far more sensible and far less punitive to existing traffic. It's good to see someone "mainstream" finally extoll the virtues of circulator bus routes (as opposed to Metro's failing 'hub and spoke' system) as well.

Welcome to the party Mr. Crossley, feel free to drop by any time.

On the plus side: I'm finally happy to see an alternative vision than that of Metro executives and the downtown development lobby see the light of day. One of the biggest lies told in the transportation debate is that everyone in the suburbs is 'anti-transit'. No, we weren't happy paying Metro taxes for decreased service as Central planners did their best to shoe-horn 4 Million people into a geographic space meant for far less, I'll give you that, and we didn't exactly vote for the "Metro Solutions" plan in droves. But maybe that was because "Metro Solutions" really wasn't? At least not for us. Something like this would do a much better job serving the suburbs.

Will it ever see the light of day?

I have my doubts, but at least its moving off lightly-read blogs such as mine an onto the comparative blowtorch that is Chron.com. That's progress at least.

AAAAAHHHHHHH!

We're ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!

[Matthew Tresaugue, Chron.com]

The Texas Coast will likely see significantly more flooding and damage from hurricanes because of global warming, according to a new Texas A&M University study.

The scientists, using data from previous hurricanes and international projections on emissions of climate-altering gases, predicted rising sea levels, more intense storms and increased flooding.

And damage in coastal communities would more than triple by the 2080s, according to the study released Monday, the first day of hurricane season.

The research team focused on the potential impacts to Corpus Christi, home to about 280,000 people, a massive port and the nation’s third-largest refinery and petrochemical complex.

But Jennifer Irish, a Texas A&M coastal engineer who led the study, said the findings apply to all cities along the coast.

“The overall impact would be similar” for other Gulf cities, such as Galveston, she said.

(snip)

The two-year study didn’t include Hurricane Ike, which struck the Texas coast at Galveston last September and was the costliest disaster in the state’s history, with $29 billion in damage.

To evaluate the impact of global warming on future flooding in Corpus Christi, the scientists used data from three storms — Carla in 1961, Beulah in 1967 and Bret in 1999.

The study assumed the storms would occur as they did in the past, but with higher sea levels and greater intensity because of human-influenced global warming. The analysis was based on climate scenarios from the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change.

2 things:

1. Hurricanes never occur "as they did in the past". There are too many variables involved for this to happen.

2. Beware "scientific studies" that are based entirely on "assumptions".

There's an old computer term "GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out" that needs to be dusted off and applied to a lot of the dreck that's posing as "science" these days. When you've moved from testing observable phenomena to plugging in a bunch of variables to a computer program designed around a set of assumptions then maybe its time to re-evaluate your hypothesis? Nowhere in all of this is the skeptic within the scientific community who's shouting "Wait just a darn minute! What the hell are we doing here?"

Because if science would think about it they're plugging in data that they "assume" is going to happen to simulations that are programmed with those assumptions as a given. The result is going to be predictable, yet wholly irrefutable because none of these projections are based on actual events. All they are is very expensive, taxpayer funded "what ifs". I don't know about you, but to my mind that's a fairly loose interpretation of the scientific method.

What this leads to is an environment where skeptics are told to disprove something that hasn't happened, that can't be physically observed, and are called hacks when they point that fact out. This is what happens when 'science' believes that it can predict the future, or when they make absolute statements on the non-observable past.

It just all needs to stop. It's not science any longer, it's psuedo-science with a side of politics. And it's increasing in importance as a base for public policy. Of course, this issue, like most others, probably is in desperate need of further study, at considerable taxpayer expense.

They call it "science" I call it "job security".

Houston Area Asides (06/02/2009)

The "make a fortune with a toothpaste concession" edition...

Houston GM dealers keep hope for staying in business. [Jennifer Latson, Chron.com] - There's growing evidence that party affiliation (rather than profitability) will drive the decision. (Hint: donate to the DNC if you want to stay in business folks)

Rain chance this week for parched Houston. [Dale Lezon, Chron.com] - How dry is it? I watered my lawn yesterday and it gave me a standing ovation.

AmREIT to move domicile to Maryland, merge withe REITPlus [Houston Business Journal] - Is this a portent? Or just a one-off?

We're number 5! We're number 5! [Unca Darrell] - 5th Freest State that is. (yet still an uncivilized Country)

More Tier One Schools [Charles Kuffner, Off the Kuff] (Now in Word Press!) - One of the few good things to pass out of the eighty-one.

DNC Chief: "Texas trending our way and will continue to do so." [Richard Dunham, Texas on the Potomac, Chron.com] - By 2012 the Democrats will have a real chance in Texas, unless the economy goes into free-fall or some other disaster takes place. There aren't enough blind-faith socialists progressive voters in Texas to hold the vote when disaster strikes. As opposed to the North East.

Atlanta vs. Houston [Tory Gattis, Houston Strategies]

Chalk up another trial penalty deal. [Tom Kirkendall, Houston's Clear Thinkers] - Counter-commentary to the Enron debacle.

Carona's reason for filibuster: In his own words. [Elise Hu, KVUE Political Junkie] - Carona is rapidly becoming a bore.

Politicians talk

You and I pay.

It's the American way....

[Peggy Fikac and Janet Elliot, Chron.com]

The 81st Texas Legislature ended Monday after a 140-day session that seemed as much about what lawmakers didn’t accomplish as it was about what they did.

Even in the waning hours of the session, state senators, upset that the House closed down without passing $2 billion in bonds for a cash-strapped road system, refused to go along with legislation that would keep alive the Texas Department of Transportation, which would essentially be abolished if lawmakers don’t pass laws to keep the agency and its budget intact.

In a session fraught with contention and uncertainty, that practically guarantees that a special session will have to be called — at taxpayers’ expense — to decide how to keep the agency.

“Just because the House acted irresponsibly, does that mean we have to drag the Senate into it, too?” asked Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.

“The public doesn’t care about the ping pong of blame going across the rotunda.What they care about is us protecting their right to have reasonable insurance rates and to have ongoing projects on highways,” she said.

In a sense, State Sen. Van de Putte is correct, a majority of Texans do want reasonable insurance rates and ongoing projects on highways. No argument there. Unfortunately, the DoT debate isn't about that at all...

[Michael Lindenberger, Dallas Morning News]

the bill calls for keeping all five commissioners, but allow the governor to appoint only three, subject to confirmation of the Senate. A fourth would also be appointed by the governor, also subject to senate confirmation, but would have to be chosen by a list of candidates presented by the House speaker. The fifth would be named by the lieutenant governor -- apparently with no advice and consent role by the Senate.

Other provisions in the bill:

The department would create a "rail transportation" division.

There's more in there, but the main sticking points in the debate are a)Political power and b)Funding rail. While the rail provision of the bill will impact "what Texans want" (namely, by reducing funds for it) the political posturing that's currently going on between the Governor and the Lege won't affect that one iota.

This is all one big game of "mine's bigger than yours" being played out between Republican leadership (many of whom are eyeing runs for higher office) and the Governor (who's fighting for his political life) with Democrats (who love nothing more than when Republican-led sessions fall into chaos) watching from the sideline with glee, getting plenty of ammunition for the 2010 election cycle.

Meanwhile Texans get to dig even deeper into their pockets to finance what Charles Kuffner rightly describes as "show business for ugly people".

From observation the largest problem the eighty-one suffered from is a lack of sausage-making. Typically the process which spits out meaningful legislation is ugly and full of debate, but the end product is pretty good. This session everything was pre-formed, from the legislation (for the most part seemingly crafted by various special-interests) to the debates (designed not with public policy, but winning elections in mind). Our State Government has morphed into one big campaign stage, with hundreds of opera divas shouting from the dias that they have the solution to Texas ills, never mind that said solutions come pre-packaged from the lobby, like frozen shrimp that's long past its shelf life.

There's an old saying that the Texas Lege only meets for a limited time once every two years to prevent them from messing up the lives of Texans. We've made it to Sine Die, which could be the start of our problems.

From words to calls for censorship.....

That didn't take long did it?

[John Hanna, AP via Google Headlines]

But several abortion-rights activists questioned the sincerity of anti-abortion leaders who have been condemning Tiller's murder while denying that their movement fosters extremism.

"It rings a little hollow to me," said Stephanie Poggi, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, which helped women pay for abortions at Tiller's clinic. "Anyone in the anti-abortion movement who has called abortion providers murders or called abortion a holocaust — any of those kind of vilifying statements — helps create the conditions where something like this can happen."

It's always interesting to watch a meme germinate, start to grow roots and then grow into a full-fledged talking point among the those in the 'reality-based community'. It happens so fast.

Here's the trick: What happened to Dr. Tiller was a brutal act worthy of punishment to the fullest extent of United States criminal law. However, that doesn't give us the right to attempt to censure views with which we disagree, no matter how reasonable the argument against seems.

At the time, the Dept. of Homeland of Security report on Domestic Terrorism was downplayed by Dept. of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano. Now its being used as evidence(second comment) that "wingnuts" are a widespread problem that need to be silenced.

Meanwhile, abortion opponents are working overtime to craft a message that serves to separate their beliefs, from the actions of a disturbed few. This is something they shouldn't have to do. Neither is worrying about their ability to freely express an opinion in what a supposedly free Country, no matter how offensive that opinion may be to a dedicated minority. (Most polls show a majority (or at least a sizable plurality) of Americans support reasonable limitations on abortion)

There's very little in politics that worries me. Politicians with which I disagree? No big deal. The beauty of our representative republic is that the people have the right to undo errors. Bad policy? Typically the worst is either overturned in the Court system or undone via legislative action.

What does worry me greatly is the rash to censure in modern-day America. Instead of hearing debates, enjoying debates and using them to broaden our understanding of issues, increasingly the American knee-jerk is to attempt to silence, or immediately discredit through ad-hominem all of that with we disagree.

One final thought: Let's be very clear. I'm not speaking of allowing bad actors into serious debate, or those whose sole aim is to bring credit to themselves through petty attacks and the use of non sequitur, that group deserves to have their voices ignored. There's also a limit to which one side should have to bang their head against the wall when people just don't listen, or those who don't have the mental capacity to understand the argument. Feel free to ignore them, but never, ever attempt to, or suggest that they should be, silenced.

Houston Area Asides (06/01/09)

The "working hard or hardly working" edition....

Next Hurricane may not knock out power for so long. [Tom Fowler, Chron.com] - Or...it could be longer. You see, there's no real technological improvement, just lessons learned.

Hospitals prepare for Ike "baby boom". [Houston Business Journal]

Houston's budget: Balanced or not? [Anne Linehan, Bloghouston.net] - If expenditures outpace revenues then, by definition, the budget is not balanced. For big companies and governments (who possess cash reserves that most people do not) dipping into reserves can lessen or eliminate the need for taking out new debt. Because of this the argument that "Houston didn't have to borrow money" is a bad determinant that's frustratingly being relied on by Houston's Chief Financial Officer.

Texas Lege looking at Special Session. [R.G. Ratcliffe & Janet Elliot, Chron.com] - All Democrats have to do this next election is make the argument the Republicans failed, and that they should be given a chance to pass needed reforms. Texas Monthly's Paul Burka has asked several times: "Can Texas Republicans Govern?" Based on the legislative evidence, the answer is "No".

GOP Senator slams own party over "Lack of leadership" [Peggy Fikac & Gary Scharrar, San Antonio Express-News]

“If you look at this session, you've got two underlying problems: One is simply the lack of leadership in the top offices and the second is the lack of any clear, compelling agenda,” said John Carona, R-Dallas

I'm not a big fan of Carona, he's blustery, prone to losing his temper and too much of a corporatist Republican for my tastes but, on the agenda issue, he's correct.

Public gets look at Tremont House for Galveston's 're-birth' day celebration. [Scott Gonzales, Daily News via KHOU.com] - Good news for Galveston.