Ever wanted something in return for your campaign donation? Slyvester Turner is your man!

Click over to SlyvesterTurner.com and get you some of that pie!

What did I get for my $500?

Whoo Hoo! I can unblock myself now! And I’ll unblock you too!

What’s in the water at Houston City Hall? Greg Groogan of Fox26 finds yet another scandal, this one involving City Controller Chris Brown.

As the elected Controller, Chris Brown is Houston’s financial watchdog – a watchdog that apparently no one at City Hall was watching very closely.

Documents obtained by FOX 26 News indicate a local developer who obtained a low interest, $3.5 million loan through the City’s Housing and Community Development Department used the proceeds to purchase Commerce Street property owned by Brown.

It was a big payday for Brown, but also a big potential problem because the City’s “financial watchdog” never disclosed to City Council he stood to profit from the publicly funded deal.

(click here to see the story on Fox26Houston.com)

So, let me get this straight. The guy vetting a low interest loan of taxpayer money gets an above appraisal price on a piece of property he owned by selling it to the person that borrowed said taxpayer money. Naw, no conflict there boss! Sheesh.

But wait, he says! I got Sylvester Turner’s appointed City Attorney to approve the deal!

Can’t make this stuff up, folks.

Brown’s opponent in the November election, Orlando Sanchez, was quick to offer a solution to the current system whereby crooked mayors appoint crony people to “serve” as City Attorney.

Press Release

October 10, 2019

Orlando Sanchez calls for change in City Charter

In light of news reports of City of Houston City Controller Chris Brown’s shady real estate deal and his claim that the City Attorney approved it, candidate Orlando Sanchez has called for a change to the City Charter, requiring that the City Attorney be elected, rather than appointed by the Mayor.

“It is clear that the people need an attorney down at City Hall working in their best interest, not the Mayor’s and City Controller’s”, said Sanchez.  “To get a rubber stamp approval from Administration insiders only adds to the distrust voters have in our leaders”, he added.

Harris County already has a County Attorney that is elected.  That individual answers directly to the people.  Houstonians deserve the same representation to protect against this corruption that has come to light.

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Normally I would be against adding another elected position but in this case, it sounds like a good idea. When you have the shenanigans going on in government like the City of Houston does under Slyvester Turner (please click that link for a look), someone needs oversight.

I don’t recall anything like this in prior City of Houston elections, but I might be wrong.

In order to ensure Harris County voters are as informed as possible heading into the upcoming election, the Harris County Republican Party’s Local Government Committee has compiled background information pertaining to each candidate running for office in the nonpartisan City of Houston elections on November 5, 2019. The Committee distributed a questionnaire directly to the candidates and collected each candidate’s primary vote history. Please click the link below to access the information and responses for each candidate. We’ve also included contact information to get in touch with the candidates’ campaigns directly if you have any questions.

Harris County Republican Party
http://www.harriscountygop.com/

In addition to primary voting history, they are using the same four questions for all candidates, regardless of position.

1. Would you or your campaign accept political contributions from city contractors or vendors?
2. Would you support changing Houston’s strong mayor form of government to a city manager form with a weak mayor?
3. Do you support currently maintaining the city of Houston’s property tax cap?
4. Do you support using city funds to pay for lobbyists?

There are some interesting results in these questionnaires. For one, I’m surprised that Orlando Sanchez didn’t respond. (UPDATE: Sanchez’s communications director tells me that Sanchez never received a questionnaire.) (UPDATE to the update: Sanchez’s comms director called back to say that the campaign did receive a questionnaire but it was overlooked in the email.) But neither did Chris Brown, so I guess that equals out.

Also, the number of people that are running for office that haven’t voted in either party’s primaries is interesting. I would have thought that people interested in politics would vote in primaries.

Then there is the Mayor’s race. Obviously, Sylvester Turner, Dwight Boykins and Sue Lovell have voted in the past 4 Democratic primaries. No surprise there. But I was a bit surprised to see that Bill King has only voted in one of the past 4 primaries, as a Republican. As has Tony Buzbee. It was also interesting that King was for funding of lobbyists and against replacing the strong mayoral form of government, while Buzbee was for replacing the strong mayoral form of government and against taxpayer funding for lobbyists.

Check it out.

From the “I didn’t see that coming” Inbox:

Houston Realty Business Coalition Endorses Metro Proposition

Houston – The Houston Realty Business Coalition (HRBC) has voted to endorse the METRO Proposition on the November 5, 2019, general election ballot. The proposition seeks voter approval for METRO to sell bonds – which will result in no tax increase – that will provide funding for projects specified in the agency’s METRONext Moving Forward Plan.

Although METRO seeks authority to issue up to $3.5 billion in bonds over 20 years, restrictions contained in the proposition require the agency to issue this amount in much smaller increments that the agency can financially sustain. Moreover, METRO will apply for matching federal dollars which, with local funds, will allow for up to $7.5 billion in mobility investments.

“We are pleased to support this forward-looking bond measure,” said Alan Hassenflu, Chair of HRBC. “To secure our region’s continued economic prosperity as its population grows to 10 million by 2040, and to keep congestion from crippling our region, we must expand our mobility options in a fiscally prudent manner. We believe the METRO Proposition does that.”

The METRONext Plan includes 500 miles of travel improvements, mostly involving various forms of bus service, with a limited expansion of light rail. Specifically, the Plan calls for: 75 miles of METRORapid bus lines that operate similarly to rail lines at one-third to one-half of the cost; 110 miles of enhanced commuter service through two-way HOV lanes and additional park and ride lots; 16 miles of light rail where an extension is necessary to take existing light rail lines to logical destinations: 260 miles of improvements to regular bus routes; and many other service enhancements, including accessibility improvements for the elderly and disabled.

“We asked tough questions, and METRO worked collaboratively with us in finalizing the Plan,” said Brad Freels, Vice Chair of HRBC. “We are pleased with the financial constraints on bond issuances contained in the proposition. It is obviously also highly important that the Plan will not result in a tax increase. We strongly encourage everyone to support and vote for the METRO Proposition.”

To receive an endorsement from HRBC, issues must receive a 2/3 majority of Trustee votes.  No money was accepted from candidates in our endorsement process.

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Like I said, I didn’t see that one coming. You can visit Houston Realty Business Coalition’s web site to learn more about them. Look at their membership list and you can see why I’m surprised.

I talked with two HRBC insiders, one on each side. The one on the “against” side said:

How did that first drainage fee work out? Never believe what government promises!!

HRBC cut a deal and “changed” everything. Do I think a promise will be kept?

The one on the “for” side had this to say:

HRBC supports the proposition because it’s a fair plan that has built in financial constraints and mobility is a big issue. HRBC decided it could roll up its sleeves and work with local leaders to try and steer ideas or just complain from the cheap seats. Working with Tory Gattis, HRBC along with others negotiated with METRO to limit rail to one line to Hobby and BRT and HOV lanes using existing infrastructure and can be converted to autonomous vehicles or platooning high speed vehicles.

Interesting. I can see the logic of taking a seat at the table and working to improve a METRO proposal that would have been larger, relied more on trains and was going to pass regardless of your opposition.

But….we’re talking about METRO!!! An organization that has proven time and time again that they are not good stewards of taxpayer money. Like the guy above, ask yourself: Do I think a promise will be kept?

Back in July over at blogHOUSTON.com, Neal Meyer wrote an excellent analysis of the METRO NEXT proposal, as well as adding in a bunch of METRO history.

The METRO Next referendum, with plans that are yet not finalized, has envisioned extending the Southeast rail line to Hobby Airport. The agency has also proposed extending a rail line down Washington Avenue. Given that Houston now has 16 years of experience with rail, it is highly likely that any rail line that is built to Hobby Airport will not draw more than a few thousand patrons per day since Hobby Airport serves 13 million passengers per year, or some 35,000-40,000 passengers per day. If 10% of those passengers are coming from or going to downtown Houston, that amounts to 3,500-4,000 patrons per day. Likewise, since METRO already has a bus route down Washington Avenue, the #85 Washington Avenue route, which runs for a distance of 20+ miles all the way up to the area around Greenspoint Mall, it behooves a potential METRO referendum voter to know that this bus route achieves 6,500 boardings per day for the entire route. It is highly likely that rail-line extensions built along both Washington Avenue and to Hobby Airport will likely suffer the same high cost and dismal ridership fates as the Southeast corridor and Harrisburg lines. Houstonians would be far better served, and would save over $1 billion of tax money, if METRO were to simply run buses and shuttles along Washington Avenue and to Hobby Airport.

(click here to read the entire post at blogHOUSTON.com)

It’s a long read but well worth it. The paragraph I quoted shows both sides of the argument above. First, it shows that the 16 miles of additional rail are going to be yet another boondoggle waste of taxpayer money. Second, it shows the changes that are referenced by the “for” argument in that the long dreamed of Washington corridor rail line is not included.

The angle that fascinates me the most politically is this: does this signal that some Republicans are returning to the pro-business model that was followed by the Republican Party until the Reagan revolution? Or is this simply an acknowledgement that Harris County is solidly Democratic and the fight will be to slim down their spending habits?

Finally some good news for Harris County Republicans.

As I stated here, Texas law forces county commissions to have a 4 members present to vote to raise taxes. Thank you to everyone who emailed, called or spoke personally to Commissioners Radack and Cagle in support of their move. Maybe Republicans in Harris County can get their mojo back.

UPDATE with statement from HRBC:

“HRBC applauds the actions of County Commissioners Steve Radack and R. Jack Cagle for listening and saving Harris County taxpayers over $185 million of unnecessary tax increases – by denying Commissioners Court the required quorum to increase taxes.  This tax increase was not necessary to fund county government core services and was certainly not approved of by the voters,” said Richard Rothfelder, HRBC PAC Treasurer. “HRBC thought it was vitally important to educate taxpayers across the county about County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s misguided 12% property tax increase and communicate with the Commissioners Court by launching, https://yourharriscountytaxes.com/. Over the course of a short couple of weeks, this site took off on social media and was visited by thousands who sent messages to the County Judge and other Commissioners opposing the tax increase. We would like to thank the residents of Harris County for standing up and making their voices heard and opposing this tax rate increase.”

UPDATE with statement from Paul “Tax Man” Bettencourt:

Harris County Commissioners Cagle and Radack Save Taxpayers Around $185 Million
Lack of quorum prevents a “Tax To The Max” on Taxpayers prior to public votes being mandated in 2020
Judge & Two Commissioners totally misinformed on SB 2, 3.5% voter approval rate and appraisal reforms

Houston, TX – Harris County Commissioners Cagle (R-Harris County) and Radack (R-Harris County) used a procedural move to block a quorum and prevent a proposed $200 million plus (or over 10% more) property tax increase on Harris County taxpayers. Rather than face an increase of $118.68, an over 11% increase, a county taxpayer with an average valued home at $177,690 will instead only see an estimated increase of $46 on their county property tax bills. State law requires that at least four of the five commissioners be present to vote on a property tax increase.

“I want to commend Commissioners Cagle and Radack for standing for taxpayers, preventing Harris County residents from being Taxed To The Max,” said Senator Bettencourt (R-Houston). “Today’s action means that Harris County must adopt the effective tax rate of .6117 which is lower than last year’s rate of .62998.”
According to Tax Code 26.05(c), if a taxing unit does not adopt a tax rate before the required date, the tax rate for that unit will be set at the lower of the effective rate or the tax rate adopted by the taxing unit for the preceding tax year. The section requires the governing body to ratify the applicable tax rate before the fifth day after the establishment of the tax rate.

“It is preposterous to say that Senate Bill 2 did not include appraisal reforms, here are some of them listed below,” added Senator Bettencourt.

Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo (D-Harris County) also repeatedly made inaccurate statements about the impact of Senate Bill 2 on county revenues. Mischaracterizing the legislation as a “cap” that would not allow the county to keep up with growth, she did not mention that Senate Bill 2 simply creates a trigger which would require a public vote in a November election to exceed. Additionally, the legislation exempts new growth and first time homesteads from the 3.5% rollback calculation, now called the “voter approval tax rate” in the future.

“Going forward, Harris County taxpayers will be able to vote on these type of tax increase proposals due to the bipartisan passage of Senate Bill 2,” added Senator Bettencourt. “The bottom line is what I have been saying for 20+ years that as appraised values go up, property tax rates should come down.”