These posts discuss city government.
Is it a vendetta and a witch hunt or a legitimate investigation into questionable activities? The public may not know but one thing is certain: City Hall is hopping with gossip, innuendo and intrigue. Council Member Jolanda Jones was investigated most recently for a complaint filed against her for abuse of city property. The complaint […]
Continue reading →Today, the City Council will embark on their annual rite of passage – the Budget. Each year, they must tackle the complex issue of the city’s finances. For many years, I have watched this process and find it fascinating. Even in the “flush” years, it is never easy to balance the budget. There is always […]
Continue reading →When we established Term Limits for the Houston City Council, we had Council Members who had been serving in office for decades. It seemed like the only way we could move them would be to limit their terms. There was much enthusiasm about the idea. When a person has been serving on Council for 30 […]
Continue reading →As promised, we’ll continue to assess term limits this week. The last post focused on the conjunction of term limits and city budgets. Today, let’s discuss rapid administration changes. Prior to term limits, Mayors would definitely replace officials from the previous administration – both staff and appointed – with their own choices. They would frequently […]
Continue reading →In 1991, Houston voters adopted Term Limits. It took another election cycle to truly remove the long-term Council Members due to a loophole that grandfathered them. However, by the 1993 cycle we began to see new blood on City Council. The first group of term-limited Council Members was very outspoken, engaged and active. Some of […]
Continue reading →Dearest Children: We truly do have your best interests at heart. We know you are the future of Texas and we want the very best for you. Part of growing up is learning how to survive in tough times. Many of your families have faced economic challenges over the last few years. We know that […]
Continue reading →The City and County have been steadily handing out “pink slips” for the last few months. Each have been laying off employees, eliminating positions through attrition, and overall trimming their staffs to balance budgets. Government jobs are not as easy to eliminate as in the private sector. Due to the lower pay of most of […]
Continue reading →City Elections are finally kicking into gear as summer approaches. This is actually a late start to the campaign season. The City’s redistricting process has held up the usual frantic fundraising process as candidates study the lines and watch to see districts materialize. Mayor Parker drew an opponent last week. Deputy Fire Chief Fernando Herrera […]
Continue reading →Dr. Stephen Klineberg of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University released the results of the 30th Annual Kinder Houston Area Survey last week. Dr. Klineberg and his team have been conducting this systematic research for over 30 years. “It has measured this region’s remarkable economic and demographic transformation and recorded the way […]
Continue reading →Houston area Latinos pulled their disparate organizations together and presented a revised redistricting plan to the Houston City Council yesterday. Most of you probably think this makes good sense and see nothing unusual about it. However, I must tell you that it is significant. There are many forces that work for varying aspects of improvement […]
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