Some quick thoughts on a few things that I currently don't have time to give full-treatment to.
Prop B will be fought over in the media. - It seems pretty clear that Turner is still operating under the assumption that by continuing to make the case that Prop B is punching a gigantic hole in the budget, he will win this issue in the public mind. Given that we're dealing with the Houston electorate, he could be correct.
The answer is ALWAYS more money. - Of course, there's already a gigantic hole in the Houston budget. Harvey et al. is usually blamed for this but the real reason is that what passes for leadership in Houston hasn't focused on Public Works at all for at least a decade now.
Even when money is coming, they don't know what to do with it. - It's amazing that, this long after the disaster, we're still not at a place where people can have access to needed funds. Are you surprised that many have totally given up on the process?
Give Credit to Acevedo, he knows to toe the party line - He might not be the best police chief, but he's a savvy politician who hasn't found an issue he can't try to exploit, or a TV camera he's shy to get in front of. He's also not shown an aversion to changing tack for partisan reasons. He's going to find an elected office to run for soon. This is all groundwork.
On another note: It's time to retire "iconic" and "beloved" when speaking of shuttered businesses. - The example here is a Burger King for chrissakes.
Beware: It's almost rodeo season. - I'm planning on being out of town, a lot, during this time.
Lina Hidalgo's solution is probably NOT to hire Ed Emmett - Hidalgo hasn't done anything really wrong yet, but hiring Emmett is not some magic bullet that's going to save the county. If we cannot survive without the services of one political figure then the Houston region is in bigger trouble than we've been saying on here. Also, Hidalgo seems to have put "equitable" on auto-repeat for pretty much every issue. I would substitute "need".
Politics as perpetual election machine is #BadPolitics - There's precious little "public service" going on, more and more "patronage payback" and way too much "running for office". On the bright side, the more they're focused on getting re-elected the less stuff they can mess up. Still, elections should only be a small part of the political process.
Lina Hidalgo promising not to take money from county contractors is a good start. - Which needs to be tempered with the realization that there are many other campaign donors who could push her to equally bad policy. It's like the "climate" politicians who propose not to take money from "Big Oil". That's OK on it's surface, but still leaves them open to accepting donations from groups that don't have the public's interest at heart. How do you stop this? You don't. What's needed is tougher and more public disclosure rules around campaign finance. I don't mind people having biases, just be open and honest about them. (See: Fletcher et al)
In the matter of the State of Texas vs. the Houston Region. - We're to the point that HPD Chief Acevedo says Houston is fighting a "gang war" on day and then poo-poohs the same after Abbott suggests expanding the Gang Task Force because "lines on a map" or something? It's sad to see the Jazmine Barnes tragedy exploited this way by politicians who are just looking for their moment in the media spotlight.
And finally....
Sadly, illegal tire dumping in poor neighborhoods is an issue again. - It seems that the poor neighborhoods are only issues when politicians want their votes for political office, and then they go away under a flood of world-classiness and other initiatives designed to create plaques and naming rights for prosperity. Meanwhile, how long will it be before voters start to question exactly WHAT and who they're voting for? Or, more sanely, to realize that voting is a lazy-man's way to participate in democracy and start taking alternative action? (And no, I don't mean vigilantism, I'm referring to civic engagement and the actual work of doing things, something our politicians have forgotten of late)
2019 is off to a heckuva start.
