Runoff election today, Harris Commissioner forum, and more

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The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance's favorite week of the year -- the NCAA national championship game coinciding with MLB's opening day, and other sporting events on tap through the weekend -- has us buying some peanuts and Cracker Jack as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at the potential redistricting effects of Texas' continued population boom.

Libby Shaw at Daily Kos discovers that Trump's presidential candidacy is proof that the GOP is, in reality, a Neo-Confederate Party. The Dixiecrats are still in charge: The Bigoted Party of Jesus, Bait and Switch Deserves its Devils.

Lawyers figured out how to monitor late payments from insurance companies. Who's at fault? The people who found the problem? Nope. The lawyers. According to the people who are paying late. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme knows we live in an oligarchy.

Socratic Gadfly found yet more reason last week to be disappointed with Rachel Maddow.

In developments in the special election to fill the vacancy on Harris County commissioners' court, PDiddie at Brains & Eggs notes that interim appointee Gene Locke has broken his word and decided to run for the job, and state Sen. Rodney Ellis and his long career as a municipal bond lawyer has come under scrutiny.

Egberto Willies posted pictures and video from the National Endowment for the Humanities forum on inequality, hosted at Lone Star College's Center for Civic Engagement.

Texas Vox blogs about the Democracy Awakening event in two weeks, with details about the Austin and Dallas rallies.

Neil at All People Have Value said that even worse than Trump's comments on punishing women who have an abortion, is the fact that in Texas women seeking an abortion are subject to the state-mandated rape of the forced sonogram law. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

And Dos Centavos reviews Stefani Montiel and her latest release, La Dueña.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill attended the Final Four in Houston this past weekend and picked the perfect day to dine al fresco, according to Culturemap Houston.

The Houston Press has the news that DuPont will shut down the LaPorte facility where four workers lost their lives in a 2014 gas leak.

Chuck Smith decries the current wave of discriminatory politics.

The Lunch Tray is not loving McDonald's latest attempt to get into schools.

Tamara Tabo explains why the Planned Parenthood video fraudsters really did break the law.

Austin Eater reports that the gas station used as the set for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s barbecue restaurant will soon be opened as a "horror barbecue resort".

Abby Johnston wades into the sweet tea debate.

And Pages of Victory retells a WWII battle story -- the kind that occurred between soldiers and officers -- in Wilkerson's Tank.

Harris County Commissioner's race updates: Locke in, Ellis' bond deals

Gene Locke lied finally and publicly changes his mind about running for the job to which he was appointed 'interim'.  Here's what he said on January 22nd.

Asked if he intended to run for the post in November, Locke said, "My intention is to go back to the practice of law and enjoy my family,." (sic)

Never-corrected punctuation error Chron's.  Here's what he told the Chron a month later, a few days after Carl Whitmarsh outed him on Facebook.

Locke said he has not made a final decision, but his statement signals a shift for the former city attorney, who previously said he intended to return to his job as a lawyer and spend time with his family after the end of the current term in December.

It also would conflict with County Judge Ed Emmett's previously stated desire to appoint a caretaker commissioner who would not seek the job beyond Dec. 31.

"It's the number of people who I respect that are asking me to consider it," Locke said. ...

He declined to name those asking him to run and said he needs to talk to his family about it. He did not give a timetable for when he would make a decision.

You can find oodles and oodles of blogging about his bid to become mayor in 2009 and the subsequent bitter runoff that year with Annise Parker.  (I received a telephone call intimating physical violence to me during that period as I wrote about Locke.)

Parker defeated him and his African American/Republican coalition of smear merchants and homophobes and hate-mongers in founding her legacy as Houston's CEO.  But that conservative coalition of hate prevailed in the HERO campaign last year, and we see those efforts being duplicated now in North Carolina.  Ashton Woods, who also blogs at Strength in Numbers, summarizes my objection to Locke's candidacy in less than 140 characters.

If @genelocke broke the very first promise he made as a commissioner, how can we believe anything he says? (5/5)

— Ashton P. Woods (@AshtonPWoods) April 1, 2016

All of this would be of interest to me as a constituent of Locke's and formerly one of the 130 Democratic precinct chairs who will vote for him -- or one of the other politicos seeking the office -- in an election to be held at the Democratic county executive meeting in June.  But as my disinterest in local politics has swollen, I just haven't taken it as blogworthy ... until the Chron took note of Rodney Ellis' lucrative bond lawyering over the recent decades, and the various ethical dilemmas one can find oneself tangled in (if ethics is ever a concern, that is).

Over the past 26 years, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, has voted to confirm gubernatorial appointments to the Lower Colorado River Authority, a powerful electric utility in Central Texas. During the same time, financial firms he either owned, worked for, or owned stock in have profited handsomely by helping underwrite $3.7 billion in bonds sold by the authority.

[...]

... (B)ecause of Texas' lax ethics law, much less is known about Ellis' equally impressive career in the lucrative government bond business, which repeatedly has placed him in a position to exercise authority over local governments and public agencies whose bond proceeds were being used to pay Ellis' firms. His dual role as lawmaker and bond underwriter has left him straddling the line between politics, municipal finance and public policy, raising questions about potential or actual conflicts of interest, or the appearance of conflicts.

You should probably go read the whole piece -- you know, if you're interested in this sort of thing -- but here's one more excerpt.

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group, has watched Ellis in action from the start of his legislative career. During that time, Ellis has taken the lead on ethics issues, from requiring more disclosure to overhauling how judicial campaigns are financed, Smith said.

"There's the good Rodney and the bad Rodney. The good Rodney knows what needs to be done, but he also has made a lot of money off of connections, knowing who to talk to, and selling bonds," Smith said.

On several occasions, Ellis has defended his work in public finance by noting that legislators receive only $7,200 a year in salary. Ellis said in 2013 that he wouldn't run for Congress because he couldn't take a pay cut. Congressmen are paid $174,000 a year.

Here it might be important to remind everyone that a county commissioner's salary is currently -- as of two years ago -- $165,900 annually plus a $550/month auto allowance (that some commissioners take and some don't).  So since this number appears to be in the range of a Congresscritter's jack, you might ask yourself, or Senator Ellis: what has changed about Senator Ellis' financial stipulations for accepting a new job?

Do you think he'd be willing to disclose his tax returns so that the public can help him assess whether he's being market-appropriately compensated for his work?

I'm guessing without asking anybody that it's the side jobs that county commissioners get paid for that appeal to Ellis, and I don't mean the high-dollar commissions for bond lawyers (since those will have to go away for him, see story).  The most polite way of referring to this income is campaign contributions, and here you might be reminded that the dearly departed El Franco Lee left behind a campaign war chest of $4 million, despite not having either a Democratic or Republican challenger for decades.  Questionable ethics seem to be the standard among state senators as we know, and that's why several of the also-rans in the commissioner's race -- you can find their names in some of the links above -- will focus their attention on replacing Ellis in Austin as soon as they lose this very special election.

Because even though the stated pay grade is poverty-level, some of these guys are becoming millionaires while serving the public interest.  And that apparently is fingerling potatoes compared to what a county commissioner can grift earn.

Indeed, the best democracy money can buy.

Rodney Ellis wants to fill vacancy on Harris commissioners' court

But he doesn't want the interim job.

Longtime state Sen. Rodney Ellis has begun making calls to local Democratic Party leaders and plans to run for the Harris County Commissioner seat left vacant after the death of El Franco Lee, a spokesman said Thursday night. 

County Judge Ed Emmett will announce and swear in Lee's temporary replacement in Precinct 1 on Friday and Lee's name will remain on the ballot for the primary. 

But Ellis' campaign spokesman David Edmonson said late Thursday the Houston lawmaker was not pursuing Emmett's interim appointment. Ellis has researched the statute, and has asked an aide to lay out the steps a candidate like him would need to take to get his name removed from the November ballot for senator should the Democratic Party chairs choose him as the general election candidate for the commissioner's seat.

I take this at face value; Judge Emmett will appoint someone to serve for the rest of this year who is not named Rodney Ellis, and that is a little surprising.  Whatever it means, Emmett will announce his pick at ten a.m. this morning, and I'll update here (but not until this afternoon, so watch your Twitter for breaking news at that time).

Update: It's Gene Locke, former city attorney, former mayoral challenger.

Locke, 68, a senior partner at the Andrews Kurth law firm, served as city attorney under the late Mayor Bob Lanier in the 1990s and ran for mayor in 2009, losing in a runoff to Annise Parker. 

"I plan to be a hands-on, on the ground, let's get with the program commissioner, which means that I will follow in El Franco's footsteps," Locke said. 

He added: "This precinct belongs to El Franco Lee, and anything that I do over the next several months is dedicated to him." 

Asked if he intended to run for the post in November, Locke said, "My intention is to go back to the practice of law and enjoy my family."

Locke tried the old "black, brown, and red" (names you'll recognize) route to the mayor's office in 2009, made the runoff but didn't come all that close to City Hall.  In a related development, Quorum Report notes that another powerful state legislator is thinking of challenging -- in whatever fashion that happens to take, since at this point it's the Precinct One chairs who will vote to select a permanent replacement this summer -- for the seat on commissioners' court.

... Rep. Garnet Coleman tells QR he is looking at it as well: "As chair of county affairs, it’s something I’ve looked at for a very long time. I didn’t think that Rodney would pursue it, but he decided to."

Update II:

City Councilmen Jerry Davis, Dwight Boykins and Larry Green said Friday they have begun campaigning, such as it is, under these unusual circumstances. Councilman C.O. Bradford said constituents had encouraged him to run, and he's considering it. 

[...] 

A legal memo prepared for county Democratic chair Lane Lewis outlined a path by which Ellis said he could seek the (November) ballot spot. In mid-June the Democratic party chairs for Precinct 1 will vote for a candidate to replace Lee on the ballot. 

If the party chose him for commissioner, Ellis could withdraw his name from the ballot for state senator, which would trigger a second process by the Democratic leaders to pick a Democrat for state Senate.

Presumably there will be six months of schmoozing the precinct chairs with votes in the contest.  We can start the Ellis/Coleman replacement watch to ticking, and Borris Miles is allegedly the early front-runner in a potential SD-13 special election.

Happy Fourth, Houston Democrats

Jared Woodfill, Dr. Steve Hotze, Dave Wilson, et.al. just gave you a gift.

Opponents of Houston's new non-discrimination ordinance Thursday turned in well more than the minimum number of signatures needed to trigger a November vote on whether to repeal the measure.

Staff in the City Secretary's office will have 30 days to verify that the names - 50,000 of them, opponents said - cross the minimum threshold of 17,269 signatures from registered Houston voters that foes needed to gather in the month following the measure's passage in an 11-6 vote of the City Council.

Texas Leftist leads the local response, with Kuff and Lone Star Q close behind.

The referendum is going to be hard work, but it could actually end up being very good, not only for Houston Progressives, but for Progressive causes across Texas. Here are the reasons why...

Go read them.  Wayne joins me and Charles in that assessment.  They both seem a little more cautious about engaging the enemy than me, but that's okay.  Soon enough everybody within the city limits of the nation's fourth largest city -- the only one without a non-discrimination ordinance prior to Council's action in May -- will understand the electoral ramifications of what this development represents.

Make no mistake: this is a golden opportunity to pummel the very worst of the conservative opposition a second time, and lift the fortunes of every Democrat on the ballot simultaneously.  To fully capitalize requires an extensive GOTV effort... which BGTX and the HGLBT Caucus should be primed and ready to make.  It feels to me as if it's another favorable break in a gathering confluence of serendipitous events over the past few weeks -- Greg Abbott's ongoing series of mistakes, an accumulating pile of serious problems for he and others among the GOP here and elsewhere, the positive momentum generated by the filibuster anniversary and the party's state convention last weekend, the reactions to SCROTUS and Hobby Lobby, and now this -- that make me feel suddenly optimistic about the blue team's chances in 120 days.

Oh, and then there's that humanitarian crisis happening now at the southern border, which Republicans are responding to with their usual dignity and compassion.  I always appreciate their reminding us precisely what fine Christians they are come election time.

Nobody who cares about any one of these things should be sitting on the sidelines, like they did in the primary and runoff, like they usually do in off-term election years.

What Woodfill and Hotze are banking on is the tried-and-true loser's coalition of African American social conservatives joining them in their lily-white Pride of Hate Parade.  We've seen it lose with Gene Locke in 2011 and we've seen it lose worse with Ben Hall in 2013.  The one thing that causes me the most cognitive dissonance is the image of a black pastor raging against civil rights for a discriminated minority group on the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.  But I have greater faith that the majority of their congregations will be able to see through that hypocrisy.

The corporate media will parrot the truthiness that 'nobody pays attention to elections until after Labor Day', but you can dispense with that.  One of the tasks before the leaders in turning back the Hate Parade is holding the local press accountable for their failure in exposing the lies of the right adequately covering the topic when it came before Council two months ago.

Ground zero for both Republicans and Democrats in statewide elections remains Harris County, somewhere between a fifth and a fourth of their respective statewide vote totals.  The HERO ordinance referendum will only be on the ballot for Houston residents, however; excluding the red-ass suburban voters in Kingwood, Sugar Land, the Woodlands, Clear Lake, Katy, etc.  That's why you can safely predict that it is doomed to lose.

Still, even prohibitive favorites can fail to execute; just ask Eric Cantor.  Which is why -- with three and one-half months to the start of early voting, and around 90 days before voter registration concludes (make sure your ID is proper) -- this should be a very fun political season.  Hard work, yes, but with plenty of extra motivation to close the deal.

It is ON.

Update: A little more snark from Susan Du at the Houston Press.

Still waiting for that shame to show up

Lisa Falkenberg at the HouChron on the disintegrating civility in the mayoral tilt.

Already, (Ben) Hall and (Annise) Parker are trading jabs about everything from personal income to the definition of a debate. I'm sure allegations of illegal campaign signs will be next, especially with prospective also-ran Eric Dick in the mix.

But I was most interested in asking Hall one question: What the heck are you doing?

Given that Parker is a relatively well-regarded incumbent who managed to avoid major scandal and any resounding cries of incompetence, why is Hall running? Why throw good money - mostly his own - after bad odds?

"In fact, the odds are that I'm going to win," Hall responded, making it clear that he also disagreed with my "ludicrous" assumption that Parker is generally doing a good job. He most often mentioned her "pension fund neglect" and "mismanagement of assets" in the budget, and her silence on the problems in Houston schools.

You guessed it: God is his co-pilot and political adviser.

As to his reasons for running for mayor, Hall explained that he wants to give voters a real choice. It was a decision he made several years ago, he said, but he had to pray for God's guidance in choosing the right time and to give his reluctant wife "a spirit of acceptance" about the idea.

"Several years ago", but apparently not two, when Roy Morales nearly forced the mayor into a runoff, and not four when Gene Locke did so. Hall seems to have the same problem with the words that come out of his mouth that Greg Abbott has with his Tweets; neither are thought all the way through. Here's the reveal...

When he visits "the barrios and the bayous and the neighborhoods," Hall said, "I don't see where she gets her votes. She made 50.04 percent against no significant competition last round. She's gotten no more popular over the last two years." (For the record, the Chronicle reported 50.08 percent.)

Hall believes part of the problem may be Parker's "strident" leadership style, a bit of which he's experienced during his few private encounters with her. The first time they met, at a University of Houston event, Hall said, the two shook hands and he recalls the mayor saying " 'It's nice meeting you. I'm going to whip your ass so bad that you'll never run for public office again.' " At which point, Hall said, "I immediately told my friend, 'My goodness, I now know what's wrong with the city.' "

Hall then described a later exchange after the Juneteenth Parade. After introducing himself again, Hall says Parker responded, "I'm glad you keep introducing yourself to me because I keep forgetting who you are."

Asked whether Hall's recollections of the exchanges were accurate, Parker spokeswoman Sue Davis said in a statement: "Ben Hall needs to man up. The mayor did not use those exact words and she certainly didn't curse. But it's not surprising that Mr. Hall's response to a confident woman leader is to call her names. Yesterday, Mr. Hall sent out a public statement calling the mayor a liar. What kind of leadership is that?"

Well somebody is certainly not telling the truth. The truth probably does not rest entirely with one account or the other, either.

"Strident" is actually one of the nicer words I would use to describe Madam Mayor. To say that a Dale Carnegie continuing education course would be well worth the investment is understating her case.There just aren't going to be any charm offensives launched out of City Hall in this cycle.

Sue Davis is one of the few consultants who is worth a damn in this city. She's also my neighbor (we live in the same precinct). So I want to say this as nicely as I can, because I like her and respect her: this is poor service to your client, Mayor Parker. Turn down the flames. Stop trying to demonstrate who's the bigger dick in the race. One Dick is one too many already.

Personal attacks are not addressing the legitimate challenges to Mayor Parker's record, aren't increasing voter interest in the election, will NOT boost your vote tally. There is a considerable body of evidence that this sort of thing reduces all those, and worse yet, it gives the appearance that Mayor Parker simply wants to run out the clock on the campaign. Stonewalling the debates to the bare minimum in number and in who gets to participate, discussion in 'forums' that focus on issues that aren't the most pressing (such as crime for example), and other stalling tactics do not serve the best interests of Houstonians.

The underlying assumption here, of course, that it is the intention of Mayor Parker's campaign to serve the citizens of Houston in a positive manner, so perhaps my premise is flawed. If the ad hominem continues, I'll have to revisit and revise it. Back to Falkenberg for the finish.

I have to say, the not-cursing claim was a great disappointment. It seemed kind of an Ann Richards-on-a-Harley thing to do. The "man up" response was even less inspiring.

[...]

When I asked how Hall believes he differs politically from Parker, a fellow Democrat, he said: "I think I am a futurist. I don't think she has that skill set. For me, elemental government is balancing the budget. That's elemental. For her it seems to be an accomplishment."

Hall does seem a formidable politician. In a conversation, he'll use your first name a lot. He's loyal to the script. His oscillation between insulting Parker and then pledging the "positive campaign" mantra could use a little grease. But he's a likable guy with an inspiring rags-to-riches story. His name, Ben Hall, conveniently rhymes with "for all." He's had a bit of trouble paying property taxes on time and he spent too much time living in Piney Point.

But I do believe he genuinely wants to make Houston a better place. And whether or not he wins, he's already made this a better race.

Ben Hall runs strange ads and is just too 'revival minister' for my taste. He's also being managed by Republicans, which ruins his credibility as a Democrat. But Falkenberg is correct; for all of the Hall campaign's unfocused dream-state qualities and inability to find an issue that resonates (hint: it ain't pensions, no matter what Bill King says) there remains a large window of opportunity that Parker and her team have left open to exploit. She is simply not a pleasant and decent enough person in word and deed for her management skills to overcome.

She's like that boss who brags about meeting every quarterly projection even as the workers in his department -- or her company -- tell you what an asshole that guy is. That act may still pay dividends in the corporate world, but if the voters reward similar behavior in the public sector, we'll only get more of it. And we have far too many assholes in both worlds as it is.

So on the theory that Ben Hall is the lesser asshole... he's winning.

There are other people running for mayor who aren't assholes at all, and they deserve consideration from an electorate that would be motivated by that quality. Their only chance to make that case, and for the voters to make that choice, is in the first round in November. So I hope they choose wisely.

In the meantime I'll keep waiting for Godot humility to make an appearance. Respect, empathy, and kindness are not weaknesses. Only Republicans think that.

Eric Dick on Annise Parker's "tyranny"

Somebody get that man a tri-corner hat.

Two City Council candidates facing thousands of dollars in fines for violating the city's sign ordinance during their 2011 campaigns accused Mayor Annise Parker on Friday of targeting them for their conservative beliefs.

Eric Dick, a lawyer who fell short in his bid for an at-large seat two years ago and who is running for mayor this year, drew ample criticism during the 2011 race for blanketing the city with red signs bearing his last name in prominent white letters. He and Clyde Bryan, who challenged westside District G incumbent Oliver Pennington, used the backdrop of the July 4 weekend to, as Dick put it, "declare independence from Annise Parker and her tyranny."

It won't be long before we see Dick backers dressed as in colonial Williamsburg, waving Gadsden flags, and wearing multiple teabags hanging from the brim of their straw hats.

Dick was cited for 90 sign violations, and Bryan for 41. The cases are being tried one at a time. So far, Dick's have ended in a mistrial and a $100 fine; Bryan was found not guilty in one case and had several others dismissed.

Dick and Bryan cited Councilman C.O. Bradford's example as proof of their persecution. Bradford was hit with 22 sign violations in 2011, all of which were dismissed.

"(Parker) selectively chose the people that were going to get violations," Dick said. "(Bradford) received many violations, but he got a free pass. Why? Because he's a Democrat. The Republicans got stuck with it. She's using city money to attack people that oppose her views."

Uh oh, I smell a race card in somebody's hand.

Asked why Parker would dismiss Bradford's cases for political reasons when the two are not allies and Bradford has, in fact, endorsed Ben Hall, Parker's most prominent opponent, Dick said, "He's a Democrat. She's hoping she'll get the support of the black community."

Bradford couldn't help chuckling at that. "The whole idea that this administration gave Bradford preferential treatment?" he said. "Let me just put a big question mark behind that."

Let's simply not conflate Councilman Bradford with the mayor, and not only because he speaks of himself in the third person tense. Even Bradford understands that standing too close to MAP would screw up his chances to be the nominee of the Gene Locke/Ben Hall Caucus in 2015.

I expect this to end badly for Dick, in both the near term and the far one.

Scenic Houston board chair Claudia Williamson said her group understands the use of signs in campaigns, but the group also supports the city's sign ordinance.

"What sort of message does it send that you are asking the voters to support you for a position of leadership in our city, yet you are not adhering to a well-defined city ordinance nor taking the basic responsibility of cleaning up your mess?" she said.

Allow me to provide that answer: it says you're a dumb dick.

Texpate was on the scene and filed a report (somewhat more respectful than mine). And Kuffner piles on.

Update: If Eric Dick actually wanted to understand what tyranny really is, he could check in with poor women in Texas.

The Texas GOP’s jihad against family planning and Planned Parenthood creates unintended pregnancies and leaves poor women with no options. This creates generational poverty and a low-wage workforce with no time to consider how the petrol-funded theocracy of the Lone Star State is designed to make the rich richer and workers less safe and more dependent on the corporations that have indentured them.

That’s how you get 31% of the state with no opinion of Senator John Cornyn, who has been in office for a decade.

And as he reminded us again just this morning, Rick Perry thinks forcing women to have children is something women should be proud of.

This is just too much dickishness for me at the end of a relaxing holiday weekend. The battle is joined again tomorrow in Austin -- and in San Antonio, for that matter. And anywhere in Houston some other Republican Dick might turn up.

Parker kicks off

(Mayor Annise) Parker greeted, hugged and chatted with many of the more than 100 supporters and volunteers who gathered under the shade of a white tent swollen with the sounds of 1980s dance hits, clicking cameras and intermittent cheers. The mayor even put down a few moves between photos and handshakes.

Former City Attorney Ben Hall has announced his intent to oppose her, but Parker dismissed his campaign at the event.

"I've been asked if I have an opponent," Parker said, members of the crowd yelling back, "No."

"I have an opponent, but I don't have competition," she said to louder cheers.

Just as it was in March, that is precisely where things stand with six months to go before election day. That's also what the polling reflects (such as it is). Update, 5/15: The conserva-freaks circulated that link around and turned the tables on the mayor, and that was after she sent out a blast e-mail asking her supporters to vote. Ya gotta hate it when that happens.

Ben Hall's Gene Locke strategy is still in a holding pattern somewhere over IAH, and Don Cook is ... well, garnering the same amount of attention he traditionally has.

If the mayor only comes in for criticism as harsh as this, then it's going to be smooth sailing for her. The race to replace Helena Brown and the council seats being vacated due to term limits will be more competitive (and interesting). Charles also has a similar take on yesterday's pep rally.

Update: Worthy of note is that a perennial Green candidate for mayor in a large Texas city finished second -- with 13% of the vote and ahead of four others -- to a very popular Democratic incumbent just yesterday. Mr. Cook would exceed conventional expectations if he did half as well.

Two and a half candidates for mayor

I'll be having lunch today with the incumbent. The Chronic covered the challenger's announcement earlier this week (but put the story behind the paywall)...

Former Houston City Attorney Ben Hall formally launched his mayoral campaign against incumbent Annise Parker Wednesday night, decrying the burden of taxes and fees he said are driving city residents to the suburbs, and saying Houston's mayor must have a grander vision.

Mike Morris has a pretty good summary of the state of play today.

"A mayor must do more than simply balance a budget," he said. "A mayor must do more than simply dream of ways to tax and penalize residents. We need more than just a manager, we need a leader. And we need more than just a leader, we need a leader with vision, someone who sees a way out of this morass. You can continue the strangulation hold on the taxpayers and residents, or we can choose a different way forward … by opening up the city to the international marketplace."

Parker said Hall seemed to be describing "an alternative universe." Parker said she has led the city through a deep recession without raising taxes, and said the major fee imposed under her watch was a voter-approved drainage fee. As for international efforts, Parker said, the city recently has added direct flights to Turkey and China.

"I don't think I've ever heard any political candidate, but most especially a candidate for mayor, imply that it wasn't important to have a balanced budget," Parker said. "He clearly sees a different city than I see. The city of Houston is one of the best cities in America to live and work and raise a family. It is a magnet for the best and brightest from all over the world, and it continues to get better as we pull out of the recession. I see a city of growth and optimism."

Hall, who holds a law degree from Harvard University and master of divinity and doctoral degrees from Duke University, entered the 2009 mayor's race, but withdrew and supported Gene Locke, who lost to Parker in a runoff. Hall also considered running in 2011, when Parker narrowly missed a runoff against a group of unknowns, leading some to speculate she would be likely to draw a challenger this year.

Hall might have been a stronger candidate than Locke in '09, and could very well have prevailed in '11 when Mayor Parker was most vulnerable. Parker is riding the wave of the Houston economic tsunami, however, and has improved her standing in just about every measure. I agree with Bethel Nathan....

Hall has no moment of historic import going for him, Nathan explains.

“What’s the cry going to be? ‘Elect one of us?’” Nathan asked. “We already elected one of us,” Lee Brown, who served as mayor from 1998 to 2003.

[...]

“There’s nothing emotional that’s driving me to turn out in mass numbers for Ben Hall,” Nathan said. “The only thing Ben Hall does is take African-American votes from Annise Parker and make it possible for a white conservative” to win.

... and Mustafa Tameez.

"There's not a case to be made that she's an awful mayor and that if she was around for two more years it would be detrimental to Houston's future. The Houston economy has done well, there have been no major scandals and, for the most part, Houstonians like Annise Parker."

The last line of that Chron article mentions the 'half' candidate.

One other candidate has filed a campaign treasurer form indicating he may run: Green Party candidate Don Cook, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2009 and 2011.

I'll append this post later with any developments from our luncheon today.

Update: Greg adds...

The bigger, tactical mistake is Hall attempting to recreate the “Pincer Strategy” that didn’t work terribly well for it’s (sic) original practitioner, Gene Locke. There’s a big difference between winning broad Anglo GOP support and having a GOP consultant along with a fringe Republican Kubosh brother by your side at one of the way-too-many announcements of your candidacy.

Well, Hall can always hire Marc Campos.

Update: Since I have been a laggard at attending these, it was great to see so many new (to me) faces; Wayne from Texas Leftist and Stephanie TexansChick among others. And Ben Mendez, Rogene Calvert, Jenifer Rene Pool, and Lissa Squiers were just a few of the aspiring politicos. Here's some pics.

Madame Mayor's re-election chances

They're pretty good. It really doesn't have all that much to do with Ben Hall, either.

"Hall is a formidable challenger but is a long shot to unseat the mayor," University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said in an email.

Rottinghaus noted Hall's funding capability, his vision and his qualifications but suggested that "with Parker's nationalizing profile and perceptions of her doing a good job, it is a more uphill fight."

Rottinghaus added that Parker's most formidable challenge may not be Hall, per se, but a crowded primary field that could squeeze her out of a runoff. "In a runoff, a well-funded candidate like Hall that can put the right coalition together could have a chance," he said. "This may be the model -- almost successful for Gene Locke -- that Hall is looking to create."

Uh, no. Charles is correct. The Chron could not write this story, though, without kissing the ring of the Quitter. Just. Like. Always.

Former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said he and (HCRP chair Jared) Woodfill discussed the possibility of him running for mayor but said his interest was predicated on the possibility that Parker may leave office early to take a position in the Obama administration, thus necessitating a special election.

"In a special election, I could see what the party chairman is pitching, because that's a low-turnout scenario that would be favorable to Republicans," he said.

Bettencourt also suggested that Hall's candidacy was based, at least initially, on the possibility that the mayor would leave office early.

"The glacier's moving," he said. "The question is, where is it going to stop?"

Quittencourt gets one thing right here: he cannot beat Annise Parker.

In fact, Parker doesn't lose unless she gets a medium-strength challenger from her left. And then a conservative, pro-business, religious African American like Hall has a chance -- but not in a head-to-head runoff against the mayor; her ground game is too strong.

See, Annise Parker is really the moderate Republicans' best choice. The only people who have supported the mayor in her previous two races that will not do so again are whatever exists of a progressive voting bloc. It might be enough of the electorate -- 10 to 15% -- to be a factor in the open primary... but it might not.

Oh, there will be one or two fringe Republican options -- a Christianist and a cut-taxes corporatist -- but neither will be named Bettencourt. It wouldn't be close; she'd whip his ass.

The rumor-mongering about Parker taking a job in the Obama administration is nothing but that. Nobody except a handful of Republicans are saying it, and they don't know what they are talking about.

The early line is on the mayor. But her odds were much better two years ago, and she nearly coughed up a big lead then. Expect there to be some kind of a Green Party/Kubosh brothers alliance as there has been over a few policy disagreements, like with the food-sharing ordinance and Parker's handling of the Occupy Houston ejection.

At this point the mayor's chances are good, but they decrease a little every day.

Kristi Thibaut and Jolanda Jones for Houston City Council

A solid 14,000 Houstonians have voted early in person or by mail in the December 10 runoff election for Houston city council. My post isn't likely to move any molehills, much less mountains, with respect to turnout or endorsement influence. Here it is anyway.

Kristi Thibaut, At Large #2: Let's begin by pointing out that Thibaut's opponent, Pastor Andrew Burks, is not only following the Gene Locke "Republicans plus African Americans" electoral strategy but also has a few other, shall we say, non-traditional items in his background, including a second arrest for DWI in 2010. From the Chron's take on the race last week:

Andrew Burks Jr. is harder to pin down. He's a lifelong black Democrat who ran once for chairman of the county party, yet he scored an A on the Texas Conservative Review's questionnaire and had the publication's endorsement for the general election when there were 10 candidates in the running.

Burks is endorsed by the (Harris) county Republican Party. Despite a claim on his Web site that he is endorsed by a former At-Large 5 candidate Laurie Robinson, she said she has not endorsed him.

[...]

Burks said he cannot remember how many times he has run for office. Chronicle research indicates this is his 12th run for public office and his seventh for a council seat. He also has run for state representative, Congress, county school board and party chairman. Two years ago, he took incumbent Sue Lovell to a runoff. Lovell, who is term-limited, endorses Thibaut.

[...]

Burks was under house arrest for 40 days last year following his second DWI conviction. Burks said he had not been drinking nor driving, but that he had been prescribed improper medication at a Veterans Affairs facility, where he was in a parked car at the time of his arrest.

Charles expands:

As a point of comparison, here’s the 2009 runoff overview story. The reason Burks has been endorsed by the GOP despite his “lifelong Democrat” status is likely because he welcomed the endorsement of Steven Hotze in the 2009 runoff. There are plenty of reasons not to vote for Andrew Burks, but that one would be sufficient for me. Beyond that, I just don’t know what to make of the guy. Like Griff, the impression I get is of a guy who’s running to run, not because he has some idea of what he wants to do if he wins. His finance reports are a mess, and he says ridiculous things – in that 2009 story, he talks about a “conspiracy of silence” that he can’t articulate. None of this is to say that he can’t win – he can, and he might. I just don’t know what we’ll get if he does.

The reason Burks might win is that he's black, and because another African American, Jolanda Jones, is also in an At Large runoff. Burks and Jones are as far apart philosophically as Jones and her runoff opponent Jack Christie, but for some voters, sadly, that won't matter. Also driving African American voters to the polls on December 10 is a runoff in District B between Alvin Byrd and Jerry Davis, and Republicans are getting boosted by District A's runoff between far-right incumbent Brenda Stardig and her farthest-right challenger Helena Brown.

Neil has more on Burks' bald-faced duplicity.

It's embarrassing that Burks even made it into the runoff with so many other qualified candidates, including a more qualified African American woman, Roz Shorter. It will be even more embarrassing if he wins.

Thibaut, by contrast, is honest, hard-working, and progressive. She was my co-endorsement last month out of ten challengers for the seat. She deserves to be elected. Burks does not. Simple as that.

Jolanda Jones, At Large #5: Again, a simple choice made even easier by Christie's smear mailer, which arrived in my mailbox on the day after Thanksgiving and even quoted Texas Liberal's Neil Aquino from the post in which he endorsed Jones. Hard to twist someone's words any tighter than that. That's the Republican way, though.

My fear is that the fate of Jones and Thibaut are somewhat linked. Either Democrats and progressives will get themselves to the poll to vote for them, or they'll get overcome by guaranteed GOP turnout. As for Thibaut, there's a double negative: there won't be many tickets split Thibaut/Christie, but likely to be many that go Burks/Jones.

As in the general election, I can offer no endorsement in District B, and because the only Democrat running in District A did not make that runoff, I can easily decline choosing between Stardig and Brown ... unlike Mayor Parker.

Update: Bob Ryan, the sensible Republican who ran in AL#5 against Christie and Jones, endorses the councilwoman for re-election.

“While I may not agree with all of Councilmember Jones’ positions, she is one of the few at City Hall that will stand up for the downtrodden, even when it’s one against fourteen.”

Ryan and Chris Bell trump the hell out of Bill White and Peter Brown IMO.

A little tighter than everyone thought

I read some anti-incumbent anger into the closer-than-expected election results this evening.

Mayor Annise Parker leads her five rivals with 95 percent of Harris County precincts reporting (and all Fort Bend County precincts reporting; there is a tiny bit of Houston over the border) but her support has fallen from 52.76 percent in early-voting results to 50.94 percent now.

Though it appears unlikely, Parker would be faced into a runoff if her total ends below 50 percent; that would be a rare event for an incumbent mayor, particular one without any well-financed challengers.

Most close observers considered Parker a prohibitive favorite in the absence of a well-funded or well-known challenger among the five candidates who ran against her. [...]

A poll last month showed Parker with the lowest approval rating of any Houston mayor in decades, and only 37 percent of respondents said they would vote for her.

The Council races were a mixed bag of close and not-so-close. The tight ones:

With 838 of 885 Harris County precincts reporting, most incumbents are clear winners in Houston City Council elections.

+ District A (near northwest) is one exception. There, challenger Helena Brown leads incumbent Brenda Stardig 46.9 to 41.3 percent.

+ The crowded District B race (northeast and far north) is headed to a runoff, with Alvin Byrd leading at 25.1 percent, followed by Jerry Davis at 24.4 percent and Kathy Blueford-Daniels at 18 percent. Byrd is an aide to incumbent Jarvis Johnson, who is termed out.

+ Former state representative Ellen Cohen leads in District C (Montrose, Heights and other nearby neighborhoods) with 54.2 percent of the vote, having dominated fund-raising in the contest. She is trailed by Brian Cweren at 27.3 percent.

+ In At-Large 1, incumbent Stephen Costello was leading with 51.2 percent of the vote, followed by Scott Boates at 22.4 percent and Don Cook at 18.1 percent.

+ The 10-candidate race for At-Large 2 is still blurry. Perennial candidate Andrew Burks leads with 17.2 percent of the vote, followed by former state representative Kristi Thibaut at 15.8 percent, Elizabeth Perez at 14.2 percent and former planning commissioner David Robinson at 11.9 percent.

+ In At-Large 3, incumbent Melissa Noriega was leading with 55.8 percent of the vote, followed by Chris Carmona at 26.1 percent and J. Brad Batteau at 18.1 percent.

+ In At-Large 5, controversial incumbent Councilwoman Jolanda Jones looks set for her third straight runoff. She faces two strong contenders, chiropractor Jack Christie (who nearly defeated her two years ago) and regulatory compliance expert Laurie Robinson. Jones leads with 38.9 percent, followed by Christie at 32.7 percent and Robinson at 19.9 percent.

Stardig is going to be Teabagged next month. Cohen posts incumbent-like numbers in winning her election. Costello barely avoids a run-off. JoJo and Christie square off against each other in December, again, same as in '09.

The race for AL2 has the biggest surprise of the evening, with perennial candidate Burks leading the ten-person field, and Thibaut making the run-off against him.

“I just went and got me my favorite cigar,” Andrew Burks said when asked for his reaction to leading in early voting in the 10-candidate At-Large 2 race.

This is, by Burks’ count, his fifth race for a council seat. He took At-Large 2 incumbent Sue Lovell to a runoff two years ago. [...]

Burks also bought advertising in the Texas Conservative Review, whose endorsement he secured, and radio station KCOH.

The not-tight ones:

+ Incumbent Wanda Adams will hold her District D (south and southeast) seat, now leading challenger Larry McKinzie 81.7 to 18.3 percent.

+ Incumbent Mike Sullivan is unopposed in District E (Clear Lake and Kingwood).

+ In District F (southwest), incumbent Al Hoang also looks likely to avoid a runoff. He leads at 56 percent, trailed by Peter “Lyn” Rene at 26 percent and Hoc Thai Nguyen at 18 percent.

+ In District G (west), incumbent Oliver Pennington will top Clyde Bryan. Pennington leads 76.8 to 23.2 percent.

+ In District H (near north), incumbent Ed Gonzalez will beat Patricia Rodriguez. Gonzalez leads 68.2 to 31.8 percent.

+ In District I (East End and downtown), incumbent James Rodriguez will top Leticia Ablaza. He leads 64.5 to 35.5 percent.

+ In District J, (southwest) — newly formed based on the city’s growth according to 2010 Census data and crafted by Hispanic leaders as a “hard-earned” Latino opportunity district — non-Latino Mike Laster will win. Laster leads with 67.3 percent of the vote, with his closest challenger, Criselda Romero, at 21.7 percent.

+ In District K, (south-southwest) the second district added in response to 2010 Census data, Larry Green will win. He leads with 65.1 percent, trailed by Pat Frazier at 25.8 percent.

+ In At-Large 4, incumbent C.O. Bradford, a former police chief, will retain his seat. He leads with 67.9 percent, trailed by Amy Price at 21 percent.

While there is plenty to be happy about as it relates to Laster and Green, it's a disappointment that Hoang and Bradford will return to council. Bradford in particular seems to be demonstrating some Teflon ability with respect to the myriad of scandals with his fingerprints on them and the lack of any big hits that struck Parker, Costello, Stardig, and to a lesser extent Noriega.

Bradford will be first in line to challenge Parker in 2013 for mayor, and will attempt to reassemble the Gene Locke coalition of African-Americans and Republicans to take her out. I'm guessing the HGLBT Caucus won't be endorsing him then, but Dr. Hotze certainly will.

The odious Manuel Rodriguez survived his self-inflicted homophobia wounds, getting re-elected to the HISD board by 24 votes. The worst result by far.

More analysis tomorrow.

HISD school lunch menu: Homophobia Burger with extra bigotry sauce

We just wouldn't be the City by the Bayou without a big steaming plate of this.

Some Houston residents are calling for the resignation of Manuel Rodriguez from the Houston school board after the incumbent distributed a campaign flyer to his constituents earlier this week that included language critical of gay people.

“His records show he spent years advocating for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender rights… not kids,” the campaign brochure says about Ramiro Fonseca, Rodriguez’s opponent in Tuesday’s election for the District III seat of Houston school system’s Board of Trustees.

The flyer states Fonseca has received the endorsement of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, “the South’s oldest civil rights organization dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.” (The underlined words are underlined in the flyer.) [...]

Rodriguez said today that the brochure isn’t anti-gay.

“It’s the truth,” Rodriguez said during a phone interview, adding that he is not anti-gay. “I am not bashing gay people.”

Rodriguez said that the flyer emphasized the endorsement of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus to “indicate who (Fonseca) represents.”

The incumbent said he underlined the words, ‘gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights’ “to make sure parents know who’s going to make policy for their children.”

Sidebar first: go look at the flyer. You have to admire the unintended irony of the man who has been at the head of the board for one of the nation's largest school districts writing "Vote NO for my opponent".

The HLGBT Caucus -- which controls Houston elections and has for some time now -- launched itself into frenzied overdrive.

Noel A. Freeman, president of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus called the Rodriguez brochure “trash politics at its worst.” The flyer also describes Fonseca as being 54 with no children and having a male partner.

“A homophobic bigot like this has no business making decisions that affect our children,” Freeman said.

Rodriguez should step down and officials from the Houston Independent School District should investigate him, said Art Pronin, president of the Meyerland Area Democrats Club.

“This is nauseating that a sitting public official would do this. He should be held to a higher standard than that,” said Pronin, who added that during the between 25 and 30 campaigns he’s worked on, he hadn’t seen anything like this.

“It’s inexcusable that a member of the school board would do the same thing that many students to do gay students,” Pronin said. “The flyer is vicious. It specifically makes it sound like it’s perverted to be gay and highlights multiple times that being gay is not ‘normal.’”

Worse, Pronin said, is that the HISD school board recently strengthened its anti-bullying policy.

“Now Rodriguez is doing it,” Pronin said. “What’s it saying to parents who have a gay child? He has to go.”

If Da Caucus decided to join forces with Occupy Wall Street's Houston chapter, I'm convinced that the Chase Tower in downtown Houston would resemble New York's World Trade Center in 2001 on rhetoric alone. (If that analogy offends you then substitute "the walls of Jericho". But back to the point ...)

I just don't understand why some conservative moron has to go there every single time we have an election in this town. Forget Dave Wilson. Forget Gene Locke two years ago. The Right has been playing the Fag Card -- or the Fagbait Card -- at least since Kathy Whitmire was controller.

I'm sure it was going on well before that, too. It was just a little more obvious and out in the open. For that matter it may have even won an election at some point in Houston's history.

It's done nothing but lose elections for the perpetrators of fear and loathing for the past generation, though, ever since "Louie, Don't Shoot!" lost his comeback bid against incumbent mayor Whitmire.

But that never seems to stop them from playing it.

This is the proof that the Freak Right is clinically insane: they keep doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result.

Manuel Rodriguez is just version 1.6. And by his own words: vote No for his opponent, Ramiro Fonseca.

 No más de este mamarracho (I prefer caca de toro personally but my translator is polite).

Update: The Chron posts a retraction.

Earlier this campaign season, we endorsed Manuel Rodriguez Jr. for another term on the board of the Houston Independent School District. We now retract that endorsement in the race for HISD Position III trustee. [...]

With his hateful flier, Rodriguez perpetuates the kind of stereotypes that put our kids in danger. And he implies that all right-thinking people agree with him - an insult to his constituents, and precisely the kind of blithe, old-school homophobia that makes school hallways so treacherous.

Members of the school board are supposed to be role models, not bullies. They're supposed to support civil rights, not fight against them. They're supposed to fight hate speech, not commit it.

It's important to stand up to bullying, intolerant behavior, whether on the playground or at the ballot box.

It's Annise, and it's history

At shortly after 10 p.m.:

The Houston Chronicle is calling the mayoral election for City Controller Annise Parker.

With 89 percent of precincts counted, Parker holds a lead of nearly 8,000 voters, a divide that former City Attorney Gene Locke cannot make up with the relatively small pool of voters expected to be counted in the remainder of the night.

Parker's election-day advantage has reached nearly 11 points.

With 652 of 738 precincts reporting in Harris County and 100 percent in Fort Bend County (slightly less than half of the total), Parker leads former City Attorney Gene Locke by about three points with 52.7 percent to his 47.3 percent. About 7,000 votes separate them out of more than 145,000.

Congratulation to Madam Mayor, her campaign staff and crew of volunteers and supporters and benefactors.

Stephen Costello's municipal contracts

Costello and Karen Derr are locked in a pitched battle for the Houston city council at-large position 1 seat formerly held by Peter Brown. Previously I blogged about Costello's attempts to have his political affiliation (in a non-partisan city election) both ways. John also noted:

Turns out Costello is anything but independent. Not only has he donated to some of the most far right republican candidates, DeLay, Olson, Sekula-Gibbs, and Culberson, he voted in the republican primaries in 2000, 2004, and 2008. And there is more. He is a member of the Republican Leadership Council which...

"indicates those elected officials and candidates who provide generous financial support to the Harris County Republican Party through membership in the Republican Leadership Council."

And on top of that, he has recently become a sustaining member of the Harris County Democratic Party.

But perhaps most oddly, Chris Bell and Gordon Quan are listed as Costello supporters, and Bell has even been doing robocalls to Democratic households -- mine, for example -- urging voters to turn out for Costello.

Costello, to his credit, rejected the Hotze endorsement that Gene Locke cannot. Further, Kuffner broke down the precinct analysis after the general election in November and found the runoff to be a toss-up.

But this post is about this story quoting him (my emphasis) ...

Costello acknowledged that his company, Costello Inc., has received about $3.5 million in Houston contracts over the past 18 years. But he called Derr's attitude “offensive.” “The people that back me are people who bring jobs to the city, who bring economic development to the city,” the 56-year-old said.

So I went to his firm's website and looked at the page entitled "Municipal engineering". It lists the following:

Glenbrook Valley Street & Drainage Improvements – City of Houston – CI is negotiating the contract to provide Phase I, II, and III services that includes: Erie Street (Park Place to Sims Bayou) and the Glenbrook Valley Subdivision (bound by Broadway – West, Belfort – South, Sims Bayou and Tributary – East and North). The project will potentially include $7 million of paving and drainage improvements as well as 2 improved outfalls to Sims Bayou. Improvements may include 30,400 sy of pavement replacements, 4800 lf of storm sewer replacements (24”-48”), utility adjustments, sidewalks, driveways, street lights, and appurtenances. Engineering services will include impact analyses of outfalls to Sims Bayou and the use of HouStorm and Division 9 of the City Design Criteria Manual for storm sewer design.
Highland Village Pavement Reconstruction – City of Houston – CI, as part of a project team, is performing design and construction phase services for the reconstruction of streets in the Highland Village Subdivision. Design activities include pavement and public utility design, private utility coordination, traffic control, construction phasing, tree protection, storm water pollution prevention measures, and possibly a hydraulic impact study for storm system outfall(s). The scope of construction includes replacement of existing asphalt pavement and roadside drainage system with reinforced concrete pavement with curb and gutter/closed conduit drainage system, in addition to the replacement of portions of existing water lines and sanitary sewers (crossings only), sidewalks, street lighting, driveways, tree protection, and offsite drainage outfall(s). The preliminary construction cost estimate is $2.7 million and construction is scheduled to begin in 2007.
Courtlandt Pavement Reconstruction – City of Houston – CI, as part of a project team, is performing design and construction phase services for the reconstruction of Courtlandt Street and Beauchamp Street . Design activities include pavement and public utility design, private utility coordination, traffic control, construction phasing, tree protection, storm water pollution prevention measures, and possibly hydraulic impact study for storm system outfall(s). The scope of construction to include replacement of existing asphalt pavement and roadside ditch drainage system with reinforced concrete pavement with curb and gutter/closed conduit drainage system, in addition to the replacement of portions of existing water lines and sanitary sewers, sidewalks, street lighting, driveways, tree protection, and offsite drainage outfall(s). The preliminary construction cost estimate is $4.2 million and construction is scheduled to begin in 2007.
Holcombe Blvd. Reconstruction – City of Houston – CI as part of a project team, is providing engineering services for the reconstruction of a portion Holcombe Blvd., from Fannin to S. Braeswood. Engineering services include design and construction phase services for the paving and utility improvements, traffic control, maintenance of access, tree protection, storm water pollution prevention measures, traffic signal improvements, sidewalks, construction phasing. The scope of work includes design of concrete curb and gutter street reconstruction, a 30 inch water transmission line, storm sewer improvements (new parallel trunk storm sewer, inlet leads, and inlets), traffic signal upgrades, street lights, and sidewalk improvements. The preliminary construction cost estimate is $12 million.
South Main Storm Sewer Leads – City of Houston – Costello, Inc., as part of a project team, is providing engineering services for storm sewer improvements on portions of South Main St. , from Holcombe to Sunset. The scope of work includes storm sewer improvements and paving reconstruction (Holcombe – Dryden) and storm sewer inlet and lead replacements (Dryden – Sunset). Engineering services include design and construction phase services for storm sewer, inlet and inlet leads, paving reconstruction, traffic control, maintenance of access, tree protection, storm water pollution prevention measures, traffic signal improvements, sidewalks, and construction phasing.
University Blvd. Reconstruction – City of Houston – CI, as part of a project team, is providing engineering services for the reconstruction of a portion of University Blvd., from Travis to Main . The scope of work includes design of concrete curb and gutter street reconstruction, a 12 inch water line, storm sewer improvements (trunk sewer, inlet leads, inlets), and sidewalk improvements. Engineering services include design and construction phase services for the paving and utility improvements, traffic control, maintenance of access, tree protection, storm water pollution prevention measures, traffic signal improvements, sidewalks, construction phasing.
South Braeswood Pavement Reconstruction – City of Houston – CI, as part of a project team, is performing design and construction phase services for the reconstruction of South Braeswood Blvd., from Kirby to Stella Link. The project is approximately 1.5 miles of 4-lane reinforced concrete pavement in a 120 foot right of way including public and private utilities and appurtenances. The scope of work includes 48,000 sy of concrete pavement, approximately 8700 lf of 12-inch water, 1,400 lf of 8-inch to 12-inch sanitary sewer, 5,400 lf of 24-inch to 120-inch storm sewers, including eight outfalls to Brays Bayou, private utility relocations, 38,500 sf of sidewalks, 22,000 sf of driveways, 3-traffic signals, street lights, and all appurtenances. Design elements includes pavement design, utility design, traffic control, traffic signals, storm water pollution prevention measures, tree protection, sidewalks, and all appurtenances. The preliminary cost estimate for construction is $8 million and construction is scheduled to begin in 2007.
Safe Sidewalk Program – City of Houston – This project consisted of the construction and reconstruction of more than 15 miles of sidewalk within the City of Houston. These projects included sidewalks, driveway replacements, and wheel chair ramps. The scope of services included preparation of plans, specifications, and estimates (PS&E), field reconnaissance to determine eligibility requirements for the program, TDLR reviews and inspections, and final certification of work for compliance with ADA and other regulations and criteria. Construction cost was approximately $1 million. Preliminary engineering was completed September 2004.
Harris Gully Relief Project – City of Houston – In June of 2001, Tropical Storm Allison caused extensive damage in many areas of Houston. One of the worst areas for street flooding was the Texas Medical Center. Drainage for this area is provided by the Harris Gully dual 15' x 15' box culverts which lie beneath the Medical Center. Because of the critical importance of passable roadways in this area, the City of Houston hired CI to analyze the existing storm sewer inlet and inlet lead capacities and determine whether or not the existing facilities were adequate to limit ponding to only one lane during localized rainfall events with a 10-year frequency of occurring. Where deficiencies were found, inlet modifications were simulated to limit the ponding to the desired levels. Two methods of adding inlet capacity were proposed: adding inlets on grade and replacing older sag inlets when adding inlets was not possible due to space constraints. The City of Houston adopted the preliminary engineering plans and the project has been designed by Costello, Inc. However, just recently, the project scope has been expanded to include the reconstruction of approximately 0.75 miles of Holcombe Boulevard in the Medical Center area. The project will include utility coordination and possible relocation, as well as storm sewer construction along both Holcombe and University Boulevards. Construction cost was approximately $4.5 million. Preliminary engineering was completed October 2002.
Almeda Genoa Road – City of Houston – CI performed preliminary and final design of a 4-lane concrete major thoroughfare to replace a 2-lane asphalt roadway with no shoulders for this 2.0-mile project from Almeda Road to SH 288. The scope of services consisted of a Preliminary Engineering Report, right-of-way plans, and final PS&E for the construction of a 4-lane concrete boulevard with storm sewer drainage, offsite channel improvements including detention, waterlines, sanitary sewers, and traffic signals. The scope of services also included preparation of a Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessment. Construction cost was approximately $8.3 million. Preliminary engineering was completed July 2000.
Gaylord Drive – City of Houston – CI performed design surveys, a hydraulic impact analysis, storm sewer design, traffic signal design, SW3P, and final PS&E for the construction of this 4-lane concrete roadway from Memorial City Way to Bunker Hill Road. This 0.25-mile project was located east of the Memorial City Mall, within the boundaries of City of Houston TIRZ No. 17. Construction cost was approximately $471,000. Preliminary engineering was completed April 2000.
Dunvale-Lipan Relief Storm Sewer System – City of Houston – This project consisted of the preliminary and final design of a relief storm sewer system for a 277-acre area in West Houston from Westpark Drive to Buffalo Bayou. Storm sewer sizes ranged from 24”-72”. Design considerations included complex traffic control issues, tunneling along a portion of Westheimer and pavement replacement on Dunvale, and ACOE permitting for the Buffalo Bayou outfall. The construction cost is $6 million and the project will be completed in 2006.

That seems like a lot more than $3.5 million over 18 years. In fact -- and if the sum of the construction costs are not what is paid to the engineering firms, then I will be delighted to be corrected -- those numbers above add up to:

$ 7 MM in negotiations currently
$ 21 MM solo
$ 27 MM "as part of a project team"
$ Several projects' costs unspecified.

There is also this, from the Houston city council agenda of October 20, 2009 (.pdf):

AGENDA - COUNCIL MEETING - TUESDAY - OCTOBER 20, 2009 - 1:30 P. M.
COUNCIL CHAMBER - SECOND FLOOR - CITY HALL
901 BAGBY - HOUSTON, TEXAS
with notes of action taken
MOTIONS - 2009-0753 to 2009-0776 2009-0752-2
ORDINANCES – 2009-0989 to 2009-1042
RESOLUTIONS – 2009-0026 to 2009-30
PRAYER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Council Member Noriega
1:30 P. M. - ROLL CALL

70. Ordinance 2009-1026
ORDINANCE appropriating $1,716,755.00 out of Water & Sewer System Consolidated
Construction Fund and approving and authorizing Professional Engineering Services Contract between the City of Houston and COSTELLO, INC for Design of Waterline Replacement in Memorial Plaza Area, Shadywood Area and Regency Square Area; providing funding for contingencies relating to construction of facilities financed by the Water & Sewer System Consolidated Construction Fund - DISTRICTS F - KHAN and G - HOLM

That "pending" contract alone represents about half of what Costello says the city has paid his company over the past eighteen years. I would like to know if Mr. Costello is simply mistaken about the value of his business with the city ... or misrepresenting it?

And also leaving aside the question of Costello's duplicity associated with his political affiliation, and even the *ahem* 'confusion' of some otherwise good Democrats who have endorsed him, how does a man whose company has profited from so many municipal contracts expect to extricate his business from the city's?

And how can the voters of Houston expect it to happen so that there is not -- at the very least -- an appearance of impropriety?