2016 - blogHOUSTON

King: Turner pension plan includes largest bond issue in Houston history

October 17, 2016 Editor

TURNER PENSION PLAN INCLUDES LARGEST BOND ISSUE IN HOUSTON HISTORY: BUT YOU DON’T GET TO VOTE ON IT! by Bill King Included in the “outline” of the City of Houston’s new pension plan is a

King: A tale of two local governments

October 6, 2016 Editor

THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF HARRIS COUNTY VS CITY OF HOUSTON by Bill King The divergence of the financial performance of the City of Houston and Harris County since 2003 is stark and telling. Since that

Metro watch update: Texas Medical Center – Missouri City commuter rail line and 2017 bond referendum

October 3, 2016 Neal Meyer

It’s been over five months since I published my last blog post on flooding. I have to confess to not belting out my rancid criticism of local government like I once did, but I don’t

King: The pension amortization scam

September 22, 2016 Editor

THE PENSION AMORTIZATION SCAM by Bill King Fair warning: This post is going to get way off in the weeds of the complex math that defined benefit pension plans entail. So if you are a

King: Turner’s Pension “Plan” – The good, the bad, and the incredible

September 17, 2016 Editor

TURNER’S PENSION PLAN: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE INCREDIBLE by Bill King Sylvester Turner announced his pension “plan” Wednesday. I put the word plan in quotes because the outline Turner delivered was so painfully

Flooding in Houston for the 21st century and beyond

April 27, 2016 Neal Meyer

This second flood will either kill me or ruin my marriage. I cannot deal. My house is in shambles, my kids are overwhelmed. And my husband and I are fighting over what to do or

Bad editorial board at middling regional newspaper makes bad mistake (part whatever)

March 17, 2016 Kevin Whited

The Houston Chronicle‘s editorial board — a poor collection of writers/thinkers at a middling regional newspaper — relishes telling readers how to think (and often letting many readers know that their Texas sensibilities are NOT

It’s good to be part of the Houston ruling class (Super Bowl edition)

March 5, 2016 Kevin Whited

From Ted Oberg and Trent Seibert at KTRK-13: The publicly funded organization whose job it is to run Houston’s performing arts and convention facilities sent a gaggle of officials, and a few of their spouses

King: Kudos to Brown and Green

January 10, 2016 Editor

KUDOS TO BROWN AND GREEN by Bill King At the first meeting of our new City Council on Wednesday, Controller Chris Brown and CFO Kelly Dowe made their regular financial reports. Their reports were grim.

King: Audit shows city is nearing insolvency

January 9, 2016 Editor

AUDIT SHOWS CITY IS NEARING INSOLVENCY by Bill King On New Year’s Eve the City released its annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. Because of new accounting rules that require the