Jim Noteware is a Houston-based real estate developer, focusing on suburban master-planned and urban infill communities. He also specializes in the turnaround of distressed properties, portfolios and organizations. He has served two big-city mayors, in Houston and Washington, D.C., working to improve the performance of large troubled public agencies.
In my last column , I described how City leaders misled citizens and taxpayers about the costs of the rain tax, earning a stern rebuke from a unanimous Texas Supreme Court. Unfortunately, City leaders have been
One of the recurring themes since my first columns were published by the HBJ has been that City leaders have not been telling the full truth about important issues. Indeed, my early columns specifically called
The proposed “BRT” (Bus Rapid Transit) project along Post Oak Boulevard is proceeding despite growing protests from affected businesses and the few residents who are aware of it. The BRT is a dedicated bus lane,
On April 14, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, deeply concerned over the financial practices and growing fiscal distress of the nation’s largest cities, convened a workshop entitled, “Chapter 9 and Alternatives for Distressed
Recently a concerned reader asked: “If Houston’s finances are so atrocious, then why does the City still have a credit rating of AA?” I answered him, “You should call and ask them; please let me
My previous column presented my reasons why the City should not approve the agreement with the Firefighters regarding deferring payments into its pension fund. What City leaders should do, however, is at least two new
On Friday the 13th (March 13, that is), I was invited to testify before a special meeting of City Council, called by four brave members to hold public discussion on an “agreement” that Mayor Parker,
The City of Houston has not been paying all its bills. It has funded its deficits by borrowing — from its employees’ pension funds, from bondholders and others. Meanwhile, the City’s Long Term Financial Management
Over the past few weeks, many of Houston’s leaders – members of City Council, business executives, journalists, etc. – have posed the question to me: “What can we do to fix the City’s pension problems?”
The previous article demonstrated that the City of Houston is in deep financial trouble, losing population and jobs, while expenses grow faster than record revenues and while the pension problem (the greatest issue confronting the