Houston News Blog

Houston is barely coming off the adrenaline rush of the mayoral election, and already it has been set careening into the non-stop thrill ride of the runoff.

You thought Annise Parker and Gene Locke brought the high-octane heat in the first round? You ain't seen nothing yet. (Probably because you weren't paying attention, and who could blame you?)

Parker and Locke now battle it out mano-a-womano without the distractions of far feebler, less electric candidates.

It is on, brosephs. And luckily, it's Wednesday, which means we can put everything in chart form to make things clear.

​Here at Hair Balls, we like to scientifically sift through mountains of poll data, do extensive focus-group interviews, and examine voting trends dating back to the 1960s before making any bold predictions.

This one time, as Michael Corleone would say, we are willing to make an exception.

Our bold prediction: Houston businessman Farouk Shami will not be the next governor of Texas.

Shami, a multi-millionaire who owns a hair-products business, has announced that he's in it to win it and will spend $10 million of his own money to win the Democratic primary for governor in 2010.

We're not saying he won't win the primary; his opponents are lackluster and short of cash, and if there's anything Texas Democrats enjoy doing, it's shooting themselves in the foot on the state level.

​Ah, Peter Brown. You spent more than $3 million of your wife's cash, you put up dazzling ads that showed you jazzercising your way to Houston's future, you led the polls most of the way, as long as "Undecided" wasn't included.

Yet you lost. Badly. Instead of making the runoff, you had to struggle to beat no-name Roy Morales, a Republican running in a Democratic city.

How did this happen?

Five reasons:

1. People don't want to appear stupid when polled. Let's say you're a Houstonian watching Wheel of Fortune and the phone rings. It's some pollster wanting your input on the Houston mayor's race. Your entire knowledge of, and interest in, the Houston mayor's race comes from Peter Brown ads, which seem designed to interrupt your Wheel viewing. Instead of pleading ignorance, you toss out the name of the only candidate you've heard of. That doesn't mean you're going to get up off your Wheel-watching butt and go to the polls, though.

Note to Peter Brown -- if you're going to spend so much money on a campaign, get a microphone that works. His speech to supporters was kinda inaudible on TV, at least on KHOU.

Then again, it wasn't like the guy who's now in third place had anything compelling to say: "I'm not here to say anything definitive...It's not over 'til it's over! But we need a little patience and we're waiting on the surge!! We're waiting on the surge!!"

Keep waiting, councilman. You may need it to stay ahead of Roy Morales.

From our man at Annise Parker HQ:

Fox News (the local kind), you giveth and you taketh away.

First, you go live to Roy Morales HQ, giving the candidate the rare chance to appear on TV (explaining why he's failing miserably). A dedicated coterie of supporters is bunched behind him in the perfect camera angle to make it look like he has a dedicated coterie of supporters, and you go LIVE to your reporter, and....the sound goes out. The world misses the wisdom that no doubt ensued. (Incredibly, the Fox anchor blamed the fact that there was "such an enthusiastic crowd cheering [Morales] on, we're having trouble hearing him." No, she instead should have said "such an enthusiastically crappy piece of audio equipment, we're having trouble hearing him.")

But then, Fox 26, you redeem yourself, entertainment-wise, with your interview of Mayor Bill White. No one else tonight has established so clearly how much Houston just loves Bill White, and what a magnificent fellow he is.

White was in the Fox studios to -- well, say nothing of import, actually.

Who's going to win, Mayor?

"I'm not a handicapper, I just encourage people to read the papers, watch this show, keep informed, get on the Internet and get out and vote," he said, two hours after the polls closed.

Peter Brown, who showed he knows how to spend his wife's money running a mayoral campaign, is showing tonight he can spend it on parties, too.

While the Annise Parker and Gene Locke events are listless and miserly with the freebies, Brown's party at the Heights Theater is crowded, has an open bar and free food, and a DJ playing that there techno music.

"The party is way better than expected and, judging from the television, way more fun than the others," says Kristyn Hogan, a young friend of Brown's son.

No one seems that concerned with the results so far -- the giant TV is playing a movie, or something, Who cares as long as the bar's open and free?

KHOU has the latest results as Parker 28 percent, Locke 27 and Brown 24.

Photo by Mike Giglio

​Things are very quiet at the vote-watch "parties" tonight, as the candidates and their supporters settle in for what's likely to be a long night of seeing who ends up being the odd person out.

This description, of the Annise Parker bash, is pretty much true of the others. Except for the music, possibly.

Parker has decided to do the evening in style, holding her party at the Hilton Americas on the Avenida de Americas and Lamar; fancy trees decked in lights a la South Beach outside, valet parking; classical music on endless loop in the lobby, which also features a waterfall.

But maybe they should have saved some money for the essentials, as there is no band (the music selection is currently on "Just a Little Bit"), a cash bar and -- gasp -- you even gotta pay for the food.

As far as turn out, there's not much to speak of yet; the media/bloggers seem to outnumber the other guests, who are spread out at bar tables drinking wine.

Forced to pay for the pigs-n-blankets? Is this the kind of leadership we want?

Rise up, Luddites!

​What do you do if you want to vote today but have a fervent opposition to using a computer?

You get screwed, that's what.

Rad Rich, who pretty much founded the punk scene in town in many ways, went to vote today. He then concisely described his experience for Hands Up Houston's message board: "I was told I cant vote because I refuse to use the computers so I was denied the right to vote. F U Houston and I have filed a complaint."

Houston is trembling, we're sure.

We haven't heard back from Rad Rich, but we did talk to Hector DeLeon of the Harris County Clerk's office, and he confirmed that if you refuse to use the eSlate machines, you have no other options today.

"There may be some other jurisdictions that offer another method of voting, but only if it would be easy for them because there were not many voters," he says.

Photos by Blake Whitaker

ELECTION FEVER!!!!!! You probably won't catch it.

​
Outside the East End's Settegast Park Community Center this morning, the situation was getting out of hand. Annise Parker and Gene Locke campaign workers were engaged in a shouting matching over one of the myriad issues that have caused bitter rifts between the mayoral candidates and their supporters. A Peter Brown campaigner looked ready to join the fray; a Roy Morales volunteer even glanced up from his Sudoku puzzle to see what the fuss was about.

We wanted to remain impartial, but Hair Balls was forced to become part of the story when one woman pulled out a box cutter, waving it menacingly. We fell back on our Special Forces training and disarmed her -- barely. It took all of our 200 pounds of lean muscle and extensive martial-arts skills to restrain her. The campaigner worker's strength, heightened by adrenaline, was some very physical proof of the incendiary turn this election has taken.

​President Obama and his new administration were going to be so tough on the corporate villains who had such a large role in fostering the recession that has upended the finances of so many.

But as author James Lieber points out in this week's cover story "No Justice," that just hasn't happened.

As it stands now, there's only one federal prosecution related to the credit crash and bailout cycle, and it was begun by the Bush administration's Justice Department in June 2008.

Turns out, most of Obama's crew were in on the ground floor of the factors leading up to the collapse, and did nothing to stop it.

If you're satisfied with what's been done so far to hold someone, anyone accountable, this story might upend your beliefs.

​Sam Houston Race Park has a new way of trying to entice customers to the park: radical, extreme political events wherein the office of the President of the United States will be disparaged and its occupant compared to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and whatever other figure talk radio comes up with.

The event is similar to the anti-Iraq war protests held during the Bush administration, where Park officials welcomed the thousands upon thousands of Americans to disagree with the current White House occupant, and compare him to Hitler. It's similar to it in the sense that such a thing never happened at Sam Houston Race Park during the Iraq War period.

But what was impossible then is very possible now, so the Park is hosting the North Houston Tea Party Patriots and their "Stand Up America! Vote!" event, which features Mattress Mack and climate-change skeptic Lord Christopher Monckton. Also such subtle political thinkers as radio's Walton & Johnson and Joe Pags.

We asked Race Park spokesperson Gina Rotolo why the facility decided to get in bed with extreme political groups, even those who hide behind flag-waving rhetoric.

​Houston's boring excuse for a mayoral election is now officially ON FIRE!!! It's EN FUEGO!!!!

Why? Because there's some dull sparring between Peter Brown and Gene Locke over who has the best-est bunch of black pastors endorsing them. Locke is claiming that Brown, a multi-millionaire who is largely self-financing his campaign (or at least his wife is), spread some cash around black Houston churches and is therefore winning endorsements he doesn't deserve because he is not black like Locke. ("Black Like Locke" -- There's a campaign motto in there somewhere.)

Doing what Brown is alleged to have done is, of course, preposterous, something that would never happen in any Houston election....that took place in Bizarro World. In terms of campagin issues, much less scandal, this is right up there with a candidate forgetting to pay a $800 tax bill on some property they rent out.

Still, Houston voters, such as they are this year, deserve to get to the bottom of the burning issue of who has the better bunch of black pastors. Since this is Wednesday, we turn to our Midweek Match-Up, where all such questions are studied in chart form.

Photo by Liana Lopez

A packed room hears about 287(g)

​
It only took 15 seconds for the Commissioners Court of Harris County to approve three additional years of participation in 287(g) after hours of public testimony, mostly in opposition, to the program.

The two Houston Garcias, who, by the way, were not included in the Garcia segment of CNN's Latino in America, went toe-to-toe over the county's implementation of a federal program designed to identify and deport undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

"We can back out of the agreement at anytime. And the ICE shows up everyday to pick up people. There's usually not even 24 hours in our facility before they're taken to an ICE facility," said Sheriff Adrian Garcia as he defended his request for approval of the new agreement.

"I know what you all do now under the current agreement but this is if we do the second part of the intergovernmental agreement," commissioner Sylvia Garcia said. "I'm concerned about...these additional responsibilities and...this court should be a part of that process in terms of determining costs."

​Is Obama trying to kill Texans as revenge for not voting for him?

Quite possibly, if you believe a list of swine-flu vaccine information getting e-mailed around. (And yeah, we're calling it swine flu, you H1N1 snobs.)

What's being e-mailed is a list of vaccine doses shipped, broken down by state. California has gotten 836,900 doses; Texas 178,300. Texas has less than Arizona, and who the hell lives in Arizona?

So obviously there's political skullduggery going on, right?

Not really.

Carrie Williams, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, says the numbers in the e-mail are misleading.

Photo courtesy White House Flickr group

​Let them bitch all they want in Chicago about getting shut out of federal stimulus funds for "smart-grid" power projects. Here in Houston, we're kicking ass.

The federal gummint, that socialistic, fascist Big Brother, announced today how it is spending $3.4 billion of your grandkid's money, and Houston's two largest power companies were big winners.

CenterPoint is getting $200 million to help with a nearly $640-million project to install 2.2 million smart meters and "more than 550 sensors and automated switches that will help protect against system disturbances like natural disasters."

Reliant gets $20 million towards a $65.5-million project to install smart meters.

The CenterPoint check is tied for being the biggest announced today, with Baltimore also getting $200 million.

Photo by Sam Merten

​Our sister paper the Dallas Observer tagged along recently as Houston mayor Bill White visited a suburban deli and learned what it's like to deal with the generic, content-free answers the big man uses when he doesn't want to reply to what you're asking.

The headline? "Will Senate Hopeful Bill White Consider Jumping Into the Governor's Race if Kay Bailey Hutchison Keeps Her Seat? We're Still Not Sure, and We Asked Him Four Times."

"Houston Mayor Bill White's speech Saturday afternoon in Plano was initially as insipid as the front of the brochures handed out at the door touting his experience as a Sunday school teacher. "I'm here to work for you, and that's about it," White said at the Baker Bros American Deli on West Parker Road," the item began.

Reporter Sam Merten tried to find out what will happen if Kay Bailey Hutchison sees the tea-party writing on the wall and decides not to take on Rick Perry. The eventual answer he got: "You can ask me the same question five times, and I'm going to tell you what I think, which that I think she's going to do what she's said she's going to do, and I'm running for the senate."

The mayor then went on to describe how he will battle dropouts and bring a tone of civililty to Houston and zzzzzzzzzz.

White Fever: Catch It! Somehow!!

Breach of contract suits are ordinarily dry, boilerplate affairs, which is why Hair Balls tips our hat to the colorful complaint filed last Friday by Donald Large against City Council At-Large Candidate Carlos Obando.

Large, who is also chairs Harris County Republican Precinct 411, tells Obando in his suit that he "would have rather been tortured by the Nazis at Auschwitz for days, repeatedly raped, and then be left for dead than work for your campaign another second."

And in case that hypothetical didn't convey the adequate amount of acrimony, Large also stated, "I would have rather watched my mother slowly die from her cancer in a hospice than work for your campaign another second."

Oh, and just in case...."I would rather be evicted from my new home in Nob Hill West and be destitute and begging on the street than work for your campaign another second."

(Personally, Hair Balls would've opened with the eviction and built up to Nazi-rape -- we think it not only would've made for a more powerful legal argument, but just works better as a dramatic narrative arc).

Here's the deal: Large resigned from Obando's campaign September 21 and is demanding $50,000-$100,000; figures that appear to be plucked from the sky.

The contract, included in the court filings, states that Large would be paid $1,000 a month, a $550 partial retainer, a 20 percent fundraising commission, and a bonus-to-be-named-later in the event of Obando's victory. But Large told Hair Balls that part of the money he's seeking is based on the victory bonus. We'll give you a minute to let that one sink in, seeing as the election hasn't been held yet.

​Most of Houston seems blissfully unaware that there's a mayor's race going on. This year is supposed to be one of the the years with a hot election -- the incumbent is term-limited, so it's an open seat likely to lead to six years in office -- but, for reasons we lay out in this week's cover story, the thing is instead a run for the top job in Dullsville.

Still, it's your civic duty to vote, or America will slide into the abyss and all that. The three candidates with any chance of winning are current city councilman Peter Brown, former city attorney Gene Locke and current city controller Annise Parker.

You're going to need some help telling them apart. Luckily, it's Wednesday, when we turn complex questions into easy decisions by judicious use of charts. Check the jump for our analysis of this year's mayoral "race."

​

If you're like us, when you see Tea Partiers displaying imagery associating Obama with Hitler, your benefit-of-the-doubt well goes bone dry.

But when we received an e-mail about a local clothing company that's gotten into the Obamanazi business, it seemed like a good opportunity to explore this sort of rhetoric in the halfway sane context of a phone interview. Brad Hamm of Houston, who runs Truthwearshop.com with his wife as an offshoot of their custom-clothing business, was happy to talk.

Hamm, who says he didn't care much about politics until Obama took office, has had the site up for about 40 days and has done a few thousand in business. His stated goal is to sell 250,000 of each design. Hamm plans to introduce about half a dozen new designs, but right now there are only two currently available, the one above and this charmer:

Photo from KPRC

​
The Obama murals across the street from The Breakfast Klub have welcomed downtown commuters for a year now.

Not everyone likes them, apparently.

Someone took spray-paint to the signs over the weekend, writing "Puppet" over Obama's face and adding to the "Yes We Can" the words "lose our freedom."

"Puppet"? Please don't tell us that's supposed to mean he's a puppet of the Marxist-Socialist International One-World Presidium, or whoever it is running Evil these days.

Photo courtesy The Battalion

​
Some Aggies got upset with our interpretation of President George H.W. Bush's open letter to them saying "Chill out, brosephs, when Obama comes to town."

Now the President is in town, and how are they doing?

You can follow along at The Battalion, the campus paper, which is offering all kinds of live coverage of the event, which is designed to promote volunteerism (and Marxism, we have to assume.)

The paper reports 600 protesters have shown up at Spence Park in College Station, and another 250 on campus.

Their slideshow, which includes the picture above, is here.

Photo by riquard

​In a move to raise revenue for a new adoption center, the City of Houston is ordering veterinarians to provide clients' names and their pets' licensing information. According to a September 28 letter from Administrative and Regulatory Affairs Director Alfred Moran to Houston vets, those who don't comply are subject to a fine of up to $500, plus additional fines for each subsequent day of non-compliance.

Although Moran's letter states that "your compliance with these laws will help lower euthanasia rates for Houston animals," Dr. Jeff Chalkley, president-elect of the Harris County Veterinary Medical Association, said he was told by Moran and other officials that the city needs the revenue for operating the planned Ann Young Adoption Center. Getting more licensing fees from owners who are being policed by vets would be one way to get it.

And the city needs it stat, because some folks have campaigns to run, according to Chalkley.

"Basically, what was told to us by Alfred Moran [was] 'This, BARC, is the last black mark on Mayor White's record, and he wants it fixed before he runs for Senate. And he wants it cleaned up -- and he wants it cleaned up, ASAP. And that's why he's removed it forcibly from under Health and Human Services.' I mean, that was word-for-word, basically."

​President Obama is headed to College Station Friday, at the invitation of former President George H.W. Bush, to speak about community service and whatnot.

Obama, having already spoken at Notre Dame earlier this career, apparently decided to find an even more hostile environment. (Next stop: Bob Jones University! Then Al-Qaeda headquarters and then, The Woodlands.)

Bush obviously is hoping very much for a polite, respectful reception for Obama in Aggieland. He also has a pretty good idea of just how popular the president likely is on campus.

So he's written an open letter to the A&M student body, essentially telling them "Hey, you and me both know this guy is leading us towards Stalinist concentration camps, but for just one day try to forget that he is the Anti-Christ."

He doesn't quite use that language, of course. In fact, you have to read between the lines to find the desperate pleading from the former president:

​We've written several items about Jamie Leigh Jones, the local woman who is suing KBR over a gang-rape she says happened while she was working for the company in Iraq.

The company put up roadblocks to her attempts to resolve the situation and her claims of rampant sexual harassment in KBR camps, but the federal courts have allowed her lawsuit to proceed.

As part of the most recent appropriations act for the Defense Department, Senator Al Franken attached an amendment that would, according to the official Senate site,

prohibit the use of funds for any Federal contract with Halliburton Company, KBR, Inc., any of their subsidiaries or affiliates, or any other contracting party if such contractor or a subcontractor at any tier under such contract requires that employees or independent contractors sign mandatory arbitration clauses regarding certain claims.

In other words, companies must allow rape victims to have their day in court. Pretty straightforward, and who would be against it?

A Texas senator, as it turns out.

What is up with the Republican Party today? It's become a party of quitters.

First, Sarah Palin ups and leaves her job as Alaska governor for reasons only she can discern. Then Tom DeLay throws in the white towel on Dance With The Stars, even as the nation was begging for him to continue making a complete ass of himself.

Did Ronald Reagan ever quit anything? (We mean, besides his effort to install a fiscally responsible government.) No.

But between Palin and DeLay, who's the most egregious quitter? Luckily it's Wednesday, the day when we reduce important issues of the day to chart form.

Check the jump to see the results.

​They say that any publicity is good publicity, so since KTRH-AM spends 15 hours a day talking about ACORN, it must be a good thing to have a business in Houston named Acorn International, right?

Apparently not.

Acorn International, which is a consulting firm, has posted a new message on its website: "No Affiliation With ACORN."

We are sometimes asked whether our company is the same as, or connected with, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, otherwise known as ACORN. Please note that we are not, in any way, affiliated with ACORN. Our company, Acorn International, LLC, provides environmental and sustainability consulting and partnering services to international industries and investors.

Remember: "Environmental and sustainability consulting," come to Acorn International. Massive vote fraud, secret plans to overthrow democracy, install a President-for-life Obama and put all conservatives in FEMA camps, call that other ACORN.

The Houston Business Journal (story's not available online) reports that the folks at Acorn-the-consultants had kinda hoped the whole other-ACORN thing might have blown over by now.

Finally, Gene Locke has got a TV ad. The last of the three major candidates to hit the air in these tough-to-raise-cash times, he will be up soon with this 30-second piece of art. (Although, as with the other candidates, there's no telling just how often he'll buy time to run it.)

As we have done with the initial ads of Peter Brown and Annise Parker, let's make five points about this effort.

1. Locke wins the music race. The other two chose boring strings-laden faux-insprirational stuff; Locke goes for more of a very mellow indie-rock thing, with actual drums. He gets points just for skipping the strings.

​Some awesome news coming out of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care today: The City has secured $3.3 million to vastly improve the dilapidated buildings that process more than 20,000 animals each year. But that's not all -- BARC's also planning the construction of a new facility, complete with an adoption program, vet clinic, and a dog park.

According to a press release issued today, a new "modular facility for cats will be in place within 30 days," and renovations to the nearly 20-year-old north building -- to include 200 new cages -- will kick off June 2010. The north building will also see a renovated and enlarged surgery area, which will accommodate up to 50 spay/neuter procedures a day. The grounds will also be getting a new parking lot.

Preliminary plans for the new facility, to be named the Ann Young Animal Center (after its benefactor), call for a 30,000 square-foot building and dog park on 5.5 acres in Gragg Park (2999 South Wayside at Wheeler).

Elena Marks, director of health and environmental policy for the Mayor's Office, stated in the release, "We are committed to progress at BARC, and these plans, coupled with changes we are making in how the facility operates, will help make a positive difference."

​We told you earlier this week that yet another Tea Party event was coming our way. Now we learn that the teabaggers will be taking steps to make sure they get the coverage they (think they) deserve.

There are plans to picket the Houston affiliates of ABC, CBS and NBC (Fox? Fox?) in "Operation Can You Hear US Now?" (See? The "US" can also mean the United States!)

From their announcement -- "Description: Obviously, the 'main stream' media are hard of hearing and seeing. About 2 million mad & angry taxpayers assembling in Washington, D.C. for the largest-ever (most well-behaved ever, most respectful ever) protest did not make it onto their radar screens (or our TV screens)."

Yes, the ol' two-million estimate. Which was partly taken from a misquote of a guy who was talking about the Obama inauguration. (See irony, examples of). And the definition of "most respectful" obviously now includes comparing your political opponent to Hitler.

So what should these non-Fox stations expect to see?

​Continuing a pattern perfected while the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care was still under the auspices of Health and Human Services, another outspoken BARC volunteer has been banned.

Interim Bureau Chief Gerry Fusco banned Nela Brown, a volunteer since January 2007, last Sunday over what the Mayor's Office described as a difference of opinion, but which sources have suggested might be related to Brown's asking about recent euthanasia numbers that BARC's new regime considered "confidential."

Here's Brown's statement to Hair Balls:

I am hurt and puzzled by the whole thing. I don't want any misunderstanding or disagreement between Gerry and me to hurt the animals at BARC. Gerry has called me arrogant, disrespectful, and mistakenly claimed that I have tried to dictate policy at BARC. He also stated that I may have gotten away with this with other Bureau Chiefs, but I won't with him.

Clearly, this is so far from my intent that I have to assume some misunderstanding has triggered this outburst. It has never been my intent to be arrogant or disrespectful, and policies have entered the picture only when I have been asked for my comments. I value my good working relationships with many of the BARC employees.

Decisions have to be based on what is best for the animals, not what is best for my ego or Gerry's ego. In late August, I received an e-mail from someone who was probably using a pseudonym stating, "Nela, Gerry's plan is to be-friend you until his contract is signed. Once signed, he is planning on banning you from BARC. Be careful who you trust!" I shared the e-mail with Gerry and others and readily accepted Gerry's statement that it was not true.