A few weeks ago, Houston City Council candidate Mary Jane Smith rolled in to the Downtown Pachyderm to tell us about her race for District C. Mary Jane is a longtime political consultant who pushed Paul Simpson into the Harris County Republican Party Chair position. Since then, Smith has pulled the strings of the party
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Our local judiciary plays a vital role as a check and balance on local governance. And, boy do we need it with Annise Parker and, now, Sylvester Turner at the helm. Many citizens never see our courts, especially our appellate courts, in action. While some folks may serve as jurors in our lower courts, our
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Vote NO on PropA Renew Houston/Rain Tax/Drainage Fee is set for the November ballot, this time as Prop A. I am voting NO on Prop A for many reasons. In 2010, Stephen Costello and Annise Parker worked hard to pass Prop 1, the original version of the rain tax. In fact, Costello originally ran for
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Houston Fire Department vs Mayor Sylvester Turner The Houston Firefighters’ disagreement did not start with a petition to change the City of Houston charter. It did not start with a lawsuit in State District Court Judge Dan Hinde’s court on parity. The issue began with the first negotiation as the smaller of the two Houston
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Houston Flood History 1900-2010 May Day is payday in the world of post-Harvey infrastructure spending by Harris County and the contractors who support the elected officials. The smell of a $2.5 billion bond for Harris County matched with another $2.5 billion from the feds brought out all of the swamp creatures at the May Day
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Days after the disastrous pension bond vote, the Houston Chronicle today called for the lifting of the revenue CAP. This means, for those in Rio Linda, that the local newspaper is telling politicians that your property taxes should increase. Sly and the Chron repeatedly said no new taxes with these bonds. Suckers! I hate to say
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Jim Murphy has outdone himself and it’s hard to tell which accomplishment garnered him this special award. One of this year’s recipients of the Texas Municipal League (TML) “Legislator of the Year” award is Jim Murphy. Fiscal conservatives call this award the “Anti-Taxpayer MVP Legislator of the Year” award – and rightfully so. Past recipients
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Former Houston City Controller candidate Bill Frazer and Gary Polland have joined the growing chorus of conservatives opposed to Proposition A, the City of Houston pension obligation bonds. Bill Frazier writes- City officials and other proponents claim the use of POBs will reduce the City’s pension liability and enable the City to fund future obligations.
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Today early voting begins for the City of Houston Elections. City officials and labor leaders are putting out a lot of false and misleading information concerning Proposition A. Let’s discuss a few of these misrepresentations. I heard several  times over the weekend Proposition A will not raise you taxes. A simple reading of English tells
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On Wednesday, City Controller Chris Brown told Houstonians that Mayor Turner is not who you may think he is. And Houston City Council’s 15-2 vote on Wednesday was not what you may think it was. Here is the real story. After Harvey, Mayor Turner alarmed Houstonians by announcing his desire to RAISE taxes on the victims of
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