Kevin Whited, Author at blogHOUSTON

Texas Supreme Court delivers another stinging rebuke to Parker Administration

July 30, 2015 Kevin Whited

Just over a month ago, the Texas Supreme Court delivered a stinging rebuke to the Parker Administration, holding that Mayor Parker’s handling of the rain tax referendum was deceptive and misleading to voters. Last Friday,

Marking the decennial METRO/Culberson lovefest

July 28, 2015 Kevin Whited

We’ve been busy the first half (or so) of the year — as tends to happen with folks who manage to remain employed in Houston’s energy sector during a major oil price downturn — so

Danger Train ridership below projections; crashes exceed expectations

July 20, 2015 Kevin Whited

In an earlier post, Neal Meyer noted that METRO’s expensive new rail lines are failing to meet the transit organization’s ridership projections, which doesn’t really come as a surprise. However, the new rail lines may

Texas Supreme Court smacks down Parker/Costello rain tax

June 14, 2015 Kevin Whited

On Friday, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston got some very bad news from the Texas Supreme Court. In an unambiguous, 14-page, 8-0 decision, Justice John Devine (writing for the Court) ruled

Noteware: Houston has a spending problem, not a revenue problem

January 12, 2015 Kevin Whited

As a city budget crisis looms, some current city leaders (and a few aspiring ones) have suggested that a shortage of revenue is to blame. In reality, as local businessman Jim Noteware points out, the

Dysfunctional METRO celebrates late delivery of handful of rail cars (rah!)

January 11, 2015 Kevin Whited

With the sort of touch that the dysfunctional area transit organization has mastered, METRO held a celebration(!) this past week of the fact that their unproven rail car manufacturer (chosen as a result of what

Cory Crow looks into 2015

January 11, 2015 Kevin Whited

Cory Crow took an entertaining look into Houston’s future to start the year, and we’ve been slow to call attention to it. Here’s an excerpt: The Astrodome: 2014 was an odd year for the Dome

Shutter the Chron’s irrelevant editorial board (part whatever)

January 4, 2015 Kevin Whited

Cory Crow finds it odd that the Houston Chronicle editorial board, which is frequently distracted by trinket governance and side issues, has suddenly decided that citizens deserve a debate over serious issues in the city

Unca Darrell damns Bill King with faint praise

January 3, 2015 Kevin Whited

Area blogger Unca Darrell notes that “unapologetically moderate” mayoral candidate and former Chronicle columnist Bill King, who has been spectacularly wrong on some of his assessments, nonetheless gets a few things right: What is important

Why isn’t the City of Houston balancing its budget?

January 2, 2015 Kevin Whited

We all “know” that the City of Houston must balance its budget every year under state law. Correct? Technically, that’s true, and under the cash method of accounting, the City of Houston has been fulfilling