Houston Blogs: Houston Political Blog

Council Member Adams sued by Campaign Consultant

First on the Political Blog:

Houston City Council Member Wanda Adams is the defendant in a civil lawsuit.  Her former campaign consultant, Kathryn McNiel, has filed suit asking for back consulting fees and legal costs totalling around $47,000.

This is a case that first began in 2008, and both sides have been working hard to keep it quiet.  Neither attorneys involved wanted really to comment on the record, but they also did not dispute the public records available.  In fact, I have posted some of the key pages, but you can download the entire lawsuit by clicking on this Download Mcniel-petition.

Sources first tipped us off that there would be a trial on the matter this Monday, July 6th.  However, last week, a legislative continuance was filed by Adams' attorney, State Rep. Sylvester Turner.  As you can see from the filing, the date was Thursday, July 2nd.  The continuance asks for the standard 90 day delay.  However, we should point out that the Special Session ended last Thursday.  It was only a two day session.  We've been told that Richard Flowers, attorney for McNiel, intends to ask for a trial at the quickest possible date.  You can download the continuance petition right here. Download Mcniel-continuence

According to the documents in the lawsuit, McNiel contends that she consulted for Adams during her 2007 race for City Council.  She alleges that she is owed $34,255.20.  Obviously, Council Member Adams disagrees.  The two did not part on happy terms.  McNiel left before the campaign was over, but knowledgable sources say she feels like she played an important role in shaping Adams campaign.  Since she did win, McNiel expected to be paid.  Adams, however feels that McNiel did not play a vital role in her eventual victory.  Both parties have tried mediation, but could not agree to terms.  The images you see here are from court documents. Simply click to enlarge.

Could this end up in a trial where various local current and former politicians (such as Ada Edwards) are forced to testify in open court?  Absolutely, but for now, the case is continued.  Of course, if both sides come to some sort of happy arrangement, the case could disappear.  So far, they have not agreed on a number.

Sylvester Turner will NOT run for Mayor

I don't know how he exactly came to the decision, but Gene Locke has to be one happy guy.  Controller Annise Parker and Council Member Peter Brown were hoping that Turner would jump in, but guess not.  State Rep. Sylvester Turner is not running for Mayor, and put out the following statement today.

 

After careful consideration and consultation with a number of individuals, I have decided I will not run for mayor of the City of Houston in 2009.

Although I believe the race is eminently winnable, a late entry into the campaign would have required that I drop every other project in which I am involved—community endeavors such as the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Acres Homes and continuing my work in the Texas Legislature, to which I am deeply committed and thoroughly enjoy.

I thank everyone who took the time to discuss this race with me and the many, many supporters who urged me to run.  I have much more to accomplish in my life and I will continue to work hard for the citizens of my district, my city and my state.

 

Former City Hall insider set to become next METRO board member

Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Bill White is set to be appointed as the next member of the METRO board.  Terence Fontaine, who left the Mayor's office earlier this year, will be replacing Pastor James Dixon.  Fontaine joined the private sector a few months ago, but it's no secret that he holds aspirations for higher political office.  Fontaine was pretty popular during his tenure at the Mayor's office.  I remember he cut down on the city's communications budget by getting rid of pagers when people had cell phones.  He also was really into solving flooding problems around the city. The appointment, if approved, will give him a visible and powerful perch to develop his political acumen.  No word on whether he'll ride the light rail to the board meetings.

The Battle over District H

By all accounts, it's just a few thousand votes. The winner will have to run again in November anyway.  But, judging by the number of emails and calls I've been getting you'd think the District H race to replace Sheriff Adrian Garcia is a race for Mayor or something.  yesterday, I had a chance to talk to the two remaining candidates:  Maverick Welsh and Ed Gonzalez.  You can see a video of the story at the end of this link.

During the past few days, there's been much ink spilled over so called negative campaign flyers by Welsh. To be honest, after looking at the flyers, I thought they were pretty mild.  Sure, Welsh might be acting like he's behind, and our political guru, Dr. Richard Murray, still says Gonzalez is the man to beat.  However, it's not like either man is accusing the other of not living in the district, brandishing a gun, violating election laws, or any of those other things we've seen published by other people running for office.

Overall, the men have been pretty civil to each other.  There might be some yard sign stealing going on, but in reality, it's nothing out of the ordinary.  Besides, it'll all be over on Saturday. Or so we hope.  May the best candidate win, and good luck in November.

Rep. Turner mulling over Mayor's run... again

Rep. Sylvester Turner is thinking about running for Mayor of Houston, again.  His press folks just confirmed to me that he's "thinking it over" and will make a decision in two weeks.  You'll remember that six years ago, Turner failed to make the runoff against Bill White, coming in third behind Orlando Sanchez.

He ran for Mayor before that as well, if you remembered what happened then, you've truly been around for a while.

Anyway, Rep. Turner, a Tom Craddick D, saw his Speaker Pro Tem job handed to Rep. Craig Eiland, (D) Galveston, this session in Austin.  He was thinking of running for Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee's job, had she moved on to a job in the State Department.  Since Jackson-Lee is staying put, so is Turner (and a whole bunch of other Dems.)

Anyway, with Gene Locke, Annise Parker, Peter Brown, and Roy Morales already in the race... is there room for one more? 

City wins round: No Redistricting this year

Judge Sim Lake (Enron Judge!) has dismissed a major case against the City of Houston.

Earlier this year, a group of local activists, including the Houston Hispanic Chamber, filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston to force redistricting this year.  They wanted to add two council seats this year, therefore increasing the possibility that more Latinos would be elected to City Council.  The argument being that according to the City Charter, the city must redraw lines when the population reaches a certain point. 

The City resisted, saying they only wanted to redistrict AFTER the census because that is the official.  Federal Judge Sim Lake agreed, saying in his opinion that the plaintiffs basically didn't prove how they were damaged by the city waiting for the census.  I've uploaded an image of the final paragraph, just click and read.  So, no new council seats for now.  We'll have to wait another two years.

Mattress Mac Thanks Houston Firefighters, the Mayor

Jim McIngvale, otherwise known as Mattress Mac, made his way to City Council today to say "thanks." You know by now the famous furniture seller's warehouse burned down last Thursday.  It was a spectacular fire that could be seen for miles.

Today, an emotional McIngvale spoke during public session at City Council.  He said that basically, if it wasn't for the Houston Fire Department, the showroom would have burned as well. He said it was because of the HFD's heroic efforts that the showroom could be saved.

As McIngvale spoke, his voice choked up. Council members were quick to heap on the praise, telling him that if there is anything he needed, just ask.  McIngvale says it will take about six months to rebuild the showroom.

Clifford and Klotz: attracting the politicos.

Okay, there might be a small chance they came out for the good grub, but Cindy Clifford does a pretty good job of drawing the politicos and the movers and shakers to her little events.  Earlier this week, Clifford toasted the folks from Klotz and Associates for some high quality mingling.

I think there was almost a quorum of City Council there.  We saw Ronald Green and fellow controller candidate Pam Holm.  Toni Lawrence, Sue Lovell, County Attorney Vince Ryan, the ever chipper County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, and former State Senator Jon Lindsay all made an appearance.

Speaking of Lindsay, the elder Lindsay is touting his son, Larry, as the next County Commissioner, when current  Commissioner Jerry Eversole retires. Of course, a few other people will want that job too.  Anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

A few judges made the rounds as well.  We expect the political gossip/socialcircles to heat up as we get closer to the election this fall.  Besides Clifford's little mixer, there are almost daily fundraisers, civic club meetings, and a few candidate forums.  We'll try to make it out to a few more as the months go by, so you can see all the fun and sometimes frivolous stuff that goes on in local political circles.

As for the Klotz guys, they are engineers and drainage experts.  They should have no problems staying busy, with hurricane season just around the corner.  I can think of several flooding hot spots they should head to right now. Let's pre-engineer some drainage solutions!

Flooded out residents say it didn't have to happen.

You can see the video here, but basically, a neighborhood has been complainting for quite a while.. hoping City Hall listens.  A neighborhood that has been around for decades is now dealing with a new problem -- flooding. They claim development around I-10 has caused flooding in the neighborhood between Bunker Hill and Blalock.

Kim Clack doesn't have much of a house to show off. On April 28, flood waters poured through the streets of west Houston and into her Bunker Hill home.  "We had to take out 48 inches," said Clack of the damage.

Longtime homeowners say this could have been prevented if city leaders and big name developers had listened to their concerns years ago, but they didn't.

"We had neighborhood meetings. We talked. We expressed our concerns and they basically decided that our concerns were not practical," said homeowner Barbara Hunt.

Hunt says homeowners grew worried when a large development along I-10 and Bunker Hill were allowed to be built without additional retention, and when heavy rain fell, it ran off the parking lots and into their homes.

"I was answering emails about this," said Houston Mayor Bill White Monday.

But Mayor White says the developers didn't get special treatment because the property was already covered in asphalt before the developers bought the land and began building.

"If something is built, and somebody buys it form somebody where it already has some paved over and is already developed, we don't have new detention requirements," said Mayor White.

Mayor White says the city will invest $30 million to build and improve drainage across Houston, but it's too late for the Bunker Hill homeowners. They have a lot to clean up and no permanent solution in sight.

"They voiced their concerns whenever everything was built around here and Bunker Hill being widened, and now we're flooded and everyone's upset," said Clack.

The homeowners know they won't get a drainage basin, but they would like to see some retroactive drainage options for their area. So far, city leaders have no plans to do so.

Head of Houston Airport System retires, YESTERDAY

Richard Vacar, head of the Houston Airport System, retired. Yesterday.  I'm being told by the Mayor's office that Vacar has been talking about retiring for "a while."  The Mayor's office is getting ready a news release on the retirement, and that Eric Potts will be the aiport system's acting director. 

Vacar has been thehead of the airport for years.  I asked Mayor White's person when did he know of Vacar's retirement. He replied "yesterday afternoon."  I asked when Vacar's retirement was effective, he replied "yesterday afternoon."

Now waiting for the news release