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This publication is dedicated to & maintained by those of us who really care about this city. We are many --- (and growing stronger with more people joining our ranks everyday). We are the nameless , faceless city, county, state, federal, and corporate taxpaying citizens & workers who are sick of the good ole boy system here in Houston, Texas --We were born on 7-30-1999. We are --- married & single-male & female, maintenance worker to Deputy Directors. We are the faceless civil servants who year after year do our job. We are the one's who see the hard earned tax $$s of the citizens in this area used & abused and given away to enrich a few greedy people with each new administration. Our hobbies include: Watching our backs---as we try to bring you the truth of what is happening in Houston, and getting the REAL information out to the public.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise
their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary
right to overthrow it."
-Abraham Lincoln
This publication is our small attempt in exercising our revolutionary right.
This one is TOO infuriating to just let go....
Houston Chronicle
Editorial: Search for solutions is only just beginning
June 19, 2000, 4:36PM
Make a start in dealing with city's $6.2 billion debt
By COUNCILMAN GABRIEL VASQUEZ
Wake up, Houstonians! As of now, the city of Houston's total debt is $6.2
billion. Is this an appropriate level of debt for the city? How does a debt
of this magnitude affect the future of our city?
The debt did not just happen overnight. Incurring debt was a key part of
revitalizing the city and stimulating the economy we enjoy today. For example,
voters approved capital improvement bonds in 1991 and 1997 for items such as
roads, parks and bridges. Debt has also been incurred to finance growth at the
airports, to improve water and sewer systems, to improve drainage and to reduce
flooding.......
First off, WE here at Housnitch KNOW that no matter what Council member Vasquez says ... this garbage came straight from the Mayor's office ... Gabe & Frank (his aide) may have put it in their own words, but this is a complete suck up job to the Mayor. (For some time now many in the city, and especially his colleagues on council have seen the complete sellout of this council member to the Mayor, and his agenda ... we even hear he has told the Mayor about the need to jerk other members in line ... a freshman council member who knows it all ... ah well, his own rope will do him in ...)
#1 Former Mayor Bob Lanier is not to blame for all our woes so quit trying to lay it off on him ... Mayor Bob also had a comprehensive plan for addressing this debt .... this administration doesn't have a comprehensive plan for ANYTHING ..... ("You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."-Abraham Lincoln)
*Debt has also been incurred to finance growth at the airports, to improve water and sewer systems, to improve drainage and to reduce flooding ... PULLLLEASE! Our water rates are the highest in the country ... our water projects are funded by, the HUGE reserves we have generated from these large rates, also many are under federal & state programs that we recieve monies from ....
...... Revenue collections were then negatively affected by a number of uncontrollable events including a rise in oil prices, energy-sector job layoffs, delays in a federal grant to increase safety and police ticket issuance, and unforeseen adjustments by the state comptroller that reduced sales tax collections .......
#2 * Rise in oil prices? That has only happened very recently, and we are a city BUILT on the energy industry, a well informed, administration would have taken pre-cautions for these contentions.
* There have been no significant energy-sector job layoffs that could impact our revenues .... We challenge you to name ONE and the revenue it impacted.
* Delays in a federal grant to increase safety and police ticket issuance ... The only delay WAS BY THIS ADMINISTRATION to fill out an application in a timely manner to extend some grants that we were using to pay police officers for overtime. They happened to expire in April, but the administration KNEW when the date of expiration was & failed to get the paper work in on time, so there would be no gap in the funds. (Much like that FEMA application that sat on Hilda Garza Scott's desk for a year, oh it has been taken care NOW, but not before WE pointed it out)
* Unforeseen adjustments by the state comptroller that reduced sales tax collections ... UNFORESEEN? ..... The City is audited by the State EVERY year, last year the State gave us a ONE TIME $1.5 million payment they said we had earned ..... THIS ADMINISTRATION included that ONE TIME payment in their revenue projection to the State ... and now, we OWE them $1.5 million ... this was not UNFORESEEN, this was just stupidity working our budget.
Now is the time to implement policies to manage our debt while maintaining economic growth.
* This City has POLICIES & PROCEDURES already in place that this administration ignores .... most of them having to do with the awarding of contracts .... (which are bloated & inflated & no one does jack about). UNLESS & UNTIL this Administration starts adhering to the already established policies we have on the books, we don't encourage them to write any more. It's a fricking " FEEL GOOD " legislative move. And we here at Housnitch take great offense that this Council member should sell out & urge his fellow council members to do the same .... This whole article makes us want to ask 2 questions .... When this transfer of information from the administration to Gabe Vasquez took place, #1--- WHO transferred it, and #2---what was the actual physical position of the council member when he received it .... We here, believe the man was on his knees .... (this editor wonders if he swallowed ... or did he spit? And if he spit ... does he have a garment with a stain on it tucked away in a closet for future use?) Watch dear readers, and see who gets those CHOICE CIP projects, for his district, and remember ... he did it at the expense of blaming EVERYONE else in the city, EXCEPT this administration!
Let's move on to another topic ... that last one makes me gag ....
We here at HOUSNITCH have been supporting our firefighters in their plight of dealing with this administration, and getting the word out to you the voting, taxpaying public. Poor equipment, poor management, and lack of man power are causing not only our firefighters to be endangered while doing their job, but have placed the safety of the public at risk also. The latest salvo in this administrations campaign to shut up dissenters has resulted in the firefighters losing their public forum that was on their website. The firefighters could anonymously contribute their observations & thoughts to each other, and the public on their City sponsored website, unfortunately, this administration has seen fit to take away that 1st amendment right ..... here is the letter we received concerning this matter:
Subj: RE: Question
Date: 6/19/00 9:11:24 AM Central Daylight Time
From:
Reply-to:
The public may not have posted to the forum often, but I assure you it was read
and the e-mail's I have gotten showed a public that was really losing
confidence quickly. They don't understand that despite all the talk that goes
on at the station, when the alarm goes off all of that is left at the station
and we go to work.
The chief has expressed a willingness to let it be revived under very
different circumstances. First thing is, it can never be accessed outside the
fire dept's LAN, which means even other city departments couldn't get to it.
It would require log-in's, which shouldn't be a problem. Anyone that had
anything worth reading to say signed their names anyway. The only one's truly
hiding in the anonymity were those few that were responsible for the majority
of the personal attacks and ignorant comments. It would probably be
mediated as well, which means a person or group of people would be responsible
for "keeping it clean". All of that should be possible within a couple of
months, but for the time being it's dead.
Well guys, just further proof that this Administration will do anything
to shut people up who wish to tell the truth. God forbid the public
should have even a sense of how things really are. But we see that you
might get your forum back after it has been censored & you give up
your identity...hmmm, identity so they can use it to retaliate against
you....well, we here at HOUSNITCH want to help ... post your comments to
us ... WE NEVER divulge identities...and we'll post them to your own page
lead off here ..... We promise to be diligent & post them at least
once a day ... Our site isn't as professional as yours ... but we do
offer to help ... we believe in keeping the public informed .... click
here to send your post ~~~
>
HOUSNITCH
(All letters and e-mail correspondence become the property of
HOUSNITCH
and housnitch.com. Unless otherwise expressly requested, we are entitled
to publish all such correspondence. We reserve the right to edit letters
for length and clarity, and for content that might get us sued, or to
withhold their publication. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect
those of our editors or sponsors.)
Subj: Consultant Selections
Date: 6/19/00 3:20:35 PM Central Daylight Time
From:
To: HOUSNITCH
This is a scam that has been played in the past, and since consultant
selections will be made soon, it will probably happen again.
A certain female stooge, (Hilda Garza Scott), tells a certain geotechnical
engineer, (Fred Martinez), which consultants will be getting which projects
in the upcoming selections.
Fred calls the consultants and tells them that he will go to the Mayor and get
them a project provided they give him the geotechnical work.
If the consultants are unaware that they are getting projects, they think that
Fred is politically connected. If the consultant knows that Fred has nothing to
do with the selection and turn him down, Fred tells them that he is going to
tell the Mayor and Director of Public Works and make sure that they do not get
future projects.
Well darlin, this ADMINISTRATION condones that kind of behavior...all we can do is warn the public, we understand many of the city's contractors read HouSnitch, so hopefully more of them will be forewarned. Thanks for the letter. We appreciate all you do for us. (and all you contractors who do read us ... pass us along & warn your friends .... IF all of you stand up to this man, he'll back off. Isn't it illegal for Hilda to do this? But then again, she does so many OTHER illegal things & the Mayor sits on his ass & does nothing ...)
Subj: "Give Us the Money"
Date: 6/12/00 6:38:19 PM Central Daylight Time
From:
To: HOUSNITCH@AOL.COM
The Houston Fire Department purchase of 20-million plus some chump change in
Fire trucks with an approximate 1.5-million dollars in waste is nothing and
nobody really cares how they were purchased and why they were received
because it's not the current administrations fault.
It's the last administration and the Fire Chief's from 10 years ago. They
did it! Not Mayor Lee P. Brown or the current Fire Chief Lester Tyra. (so they
say!)
I wonder if the Fire Chief and the Mayor 10 years ahead will be blaming
everything on Lee and the Lester? (why not it works for this administration)
Well, the City of Houston thanks you "the taxpayer" for letting the City spend
your money and we would appreciate that you give us more money to spend next
year. It doesn't matter how we spend it, we just want it so we can spend it.
We regret that your taxes may go up and that those in less favorable conditions
may fall on hard times because if you give us the money, your saying that it's
o.k. to spend your money anyway we want to.
"GIVE US THE MONEY"
We hear Mayor Bob ain't too happy about being blamed for all these problems we got now...and neither is Chief Clayton ... but you can bet NO ONE in the administration did anything wrong ...
Subj: Re: Does anybody know the rules!?
Date: 6/10/00 7:11:49 PM Central Daylight Time
From:
To: HOUSNITCH@aol.com
So far they've only gone once to SHERLOCK'S. I don't think the turnout was what mcgilbra
expected. I just couldn't believe they would go in city vehicles to a club after work to drink.
Also, this was quite a disastrous week for mcgilbra. First was her terrible performance before the council budget committee and everyone, absolutely
everyone, in the department and city hall was talking about how awful she was. An embarrassment. Then, two of her executive staff left her standing
in the lurch. Mendi Weinstein resigned because she had enough of mcgilbra's evil ways and then Brooke Davis was supposedly asked to leave because of her
attitude (seems as though she turned out to be more like mcgilbra than even mcgilbra realized!). Both of these women have been very close to mcgilbra,
with Davis coming with mcgilbra from Hines. You would think that being allowed to breath the same air as mcgilbra, you know, up there were the air
is rare, would be enough to sustain anyone. Fact of the matter is, no one,
absolutely no one, can stand monique and her terrible, arrogant ways. Would
someone please tell the mayor that mcgilbra has no idea what she is doing (destroying a department is what she's doing). She has no people skills whatsoever, no management skills, totally lacks experience for the job she was hired to do, abuses the staff that was on board when she came, and is
too dumb to hire people who can do the work. mcgilbra is such a looser that she makes Jerry King look like director of the year!
Another of the Mayor's Pets that will do her own self in ..... (unfortunately it will cost us taxpayers a lot of money before she does)
HAVE A LISTEN TO HOUSNITCH THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 25TH ON "THRESHOLDS".... KPFT, 90.1 AT 7 PM.
CALL IN # IS 713-523-KPFT....TELL US WHAT YOU THINK HOUSTON
(and to the lady from the city who requested copies of our program "THRESHOLDS"... from our program manager, you'll just have to tape your own...we don't keep copies!)
We are empowered, and empowering you the reader, the little guy like us to say NO! No more! IF each and everyone of one of you out there, send us just $10 we can beat them at their own much better funded game ... please take the time & do so now. The stories that are coming in are well worth the effort. You will see the results right here, please , send us a donation. Nothing is too small. $1 dollar will buy 10 pages worth of a document from the City, $5 will buy a ream of paper for printing out our website for those occasions we have speaking engagements, $30 will buy a tank of gas for traveling to and from council meetings and meetings with snitches ...parking costs... WE NEED YOU ... This is your page ..... help us with it...P.O. Box 55423 Houston, Texas 77255 713-722-9258
tell em what you think darlins.......
