©
This publication is dedicated & 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 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 publication is our collective voice.
THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR EVIL TO TRIUMPH IS FOR GOOD MEN & WOMEN TO DO NOTHING....ONE BRAVE MAN OR WOMAN MAKES A MAJORITY
If you do not wish to receive this publication...click here~~> NO
First, an update on our friend, ED WENDT.....Ed is out of surgery and doing fine. This e-mail from another friend of HOUSNITCH "I called St. Lukes at 6:30 and was told Ed's family just left to get some much needed rest. His nurse said Ed came through the operation in good condition. This is wonderful news. Sorry, that's all the details I know at present except that Ed needs 20 units of blood. Anyone interested should call Jennifer McNeal, 713-791-2963." "Ed Wendt called me tonight and he is doing fine. His voice was strong and his mind seemed sharp. It's amazing. Ed said he hopes to be able to receive quests in a few days. Beck Derarais, Ed's sister, promised to alert me as soon as St. Lukes allows visitors. Ed ask if I would spread the word that he still needs more units of blood. Lastly he said thanks to everyone for their prayers and to please keep praying for him, his family and doctors. Becky's email address is beckyd321@aol.com in case anyone wishes to contact her." We know there are many of you good caring people out there...let's see he gets the blood he needs guys.
We're trying something new for us...click on the underlined links to see the documents ...this should help with loading darlins...we can go back to the other format if ya'll don't like this one...but it does take a while to load when we do it that way....let's see how this goes....(lot easier to print & run if you have to!)
Gifts to council members probed
Insurance contractor for city sends premium Christmas presents
By MATT SCHWARTZ
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
The Office of Inspector General is looking into the Christmas gifts sent to City Council members by an executive whose company has part of a $6 million insurance contract with the city of Houston.......
The Inspector General's office was alerted to the gifts by the office of Councilman Rob Todd, which received box containing a crystal clock from Houston businessman Lutfi
Hassan.......Inspector General Tim Oettmeier said his office had picked up the gifts and was in the process of gathering information to determine whether a formal investigation was warranted.
Todd said he was told by the operator of an online government watchdog group earlier in the week that some council members had received questionable gifts from
Hassan just before Christmas.
(that's us guys!!!!!! YA'LL did it!)
From: rtodd@cnl.ci.houston.tx.us (Todd)
Sender: rtodd@cnl.ci.houston.tx.us (Council Member Rob Todd)
To: housnitch@aol.com
Dear Housnitch:
I tried calling you, but missed you. Anyway, I want to thank-you for the heads-up regarding the gifts.
I sincerely appreciate it.
Best regards,
Rob
WE ARE HAVING AN IMPACT.....HOUSNITCH SAW NEW COUNCIL MEMBER GOLDBERG TRYING TO GIVE BACK A CALENDAR THAT THE CHRONICLE HAD SENT HIM!!! Laugh Out Loud......NOW...IF DEPARTMENT HEADS WOULD ONLY GET SOME ETHICS. WE BELIEVE PGAL & LAN, WERE PASSING OUT CHRISTMAS "BOTTLES" TO DEPARTMENT HEADS AND SOME FAVORED ENGINEERS ..... ANYONE WANT TO OFFER MORE PROOF THAN AN E-MAIL?
Back in September, when HOUSNITCH met with the Mayor....We did question him about the propriety of Deputy Directors & Directors & other such city employees attending a $1000.00 a plate fundraiser for the Mayor as guests of many of the City's contractors. We sent ya'll the documents in HOUSNITCH 5...(click on the link), where Showri Nandigiri (click on this link IF you have sound...we've added some 3 STOOGES SOUNDS for ya'll!) sent a letter thanking Jim Dannenbaum for having he & his wife as guests. You see boys & girls, Dannenbaum runs Dannebaum Engineering Corp. and they hold engineering contracts with the City. Dannenbaum is not the only company who does this. Traditionally the "players" and also the "wanna be players" buy up a table, then hand out the tickets for those seats at the table to Directors, Deputy Directors...etc etc etc. CITY EMPLOYEES....at the time We spoke with the Mayor...he told us that he could waive EXECUTIVE ORDERS ......well darlins....click on that underlined link....the Executive Order on gifts was written by FORMER Mayor Bob Lanier on November 2, 1993...and as you can see THIS executive order is CUMULATIVE, of FEDERAL, STATE & CITY ORDINANCES. OUR ATTORNEY'S BELIEVE HE CAN'T WAIVE THIS ONE!!!!!!!
NO ONE CAN WAIVE FEDERAL, STATE OR CITY ORDINANCES------NOBODY...so essentially the Mayor aided City Employees in breaking the law (LIKE SOME OF THEM AREN'T DOING ENOUGH OF IT ON THEIR OWN!) We do have a city ordinance against accepting such gifts....They say the Mayor has 4 degrees, you'd think he was smarter than he has shown us to be. WE WILL FILE A FORMAL COMPLAINT with the OIG...we already know the ethics committee doesn't have any jurisdiction here......(YA KNOW MAYOR...LEGEND SAYS PANCHO VILLA COULDN'T READ OR WRITE OR DO MATHEMATICS, BUT HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO COULD....AND IF THEY CHEATED HIM ....OR MADE HIM LOOK BAD, HE HAD THEM DEALT WITH ..... IMMEDIATELY ..... YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A LESSON. Of course you seem to be doing all your own embarrassing)
THE CITY'S RUSH TO BUILD THE DOWNTOWN
CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL
Are we putting the cart before the horse?
Submitted by:
Thomas A. Bazan
The City Council just voted to sell $75 million in Hotel Tax notes, and the Mayor has
the Hotel deal on a fast track. Has anyone noticed that the feasibility study has yet to
be completed and delivered to the city. If you don't hurry that consultant up, they are
liable to miss the groundbreaking ceremonies.
In 1988, the Whitmire administration wanted to get into the hotel business. They had a
feasibility study, possibly from the same consultant, that forecast the creation of
6,000 new jobs along with $8.6 million in
Hotel occupancy taxes.
City Controller George Greanias refused to sign-off on the scheme. He concluded that
the city was required to make too large of an investment and that the risk was too great
for the taxpayers.
It was reported that the George R. Brown failed to meet revenue projections and there
was concern that the city's portion of the Hotel occupancy tax would not be sufficient
to cover the interest costs that were rising from the variable rate bonds while the city's
share of Hotel occupancy tax had dropped $1 million from the prior year.
In 1991, the Whitmire administration had the City Council increase the Hotel occupancy tax
to 15%. This was the 4th increase since 1982, and was double the 1982 rate of 7%.
In 1993 and 1995, after private sector financial analysis forecast huge revenue losses to the developer, the Texas Senate
passed legislation favorable for a developer to build a hotel. The plan was to allocate
all the Hotel occupancy taxes, sales and mixed drink beverage taxes to offset operational losses and to pay interest on the
revenue bonds.
The city waited four years, but the developer never started construction since they were
unable to make the project financially feasible. The Brown administration believes
a hotel is feasible and is moving forward with great dispatch to get knee-deep in the
hotel business.
Recently, the proposed site was moved to another vacant site. Has anyone thought of
asking about the technical soil studies? Didn't the Sports Authority encounter some
soil and engineering problems when they started construction on Enron Field? One
would think that an accurate estimation of the construction costs of a high-rise
building would be most challenging prior to receiving the soil and engineering analyses.
There are also sure to be a number of underground utility pipes as well as overhead
power lines that may need to be rerouted.
A million bucks here, a million bucks there...pretty soon you've got some significant cost over-runs.
Prudent taxpayers might think it is unwise to put the cart before the horse.
A
HERB LUM PRODUCTION!
Directed by Leonard Washington
(Let's don't forget, Gary Oradat brought us Leonard
Washington!!!)
Sidewalks are a GREAT political tool when running for office. Everyone wants them if they don't have them. Sure to guarantee votes! Shows that the Officeholder is interested in your area if you're scheduled to receive one. Look at this one in Gabe Vasquez's district. These photos were shot on Thursday, last. This project is a week old. Mr. Vasquez did not return a call to Housnitch to discuss this project, and honestly it was scheduled to be done before he took office, but we wanted to discuss the WASTE.....the ineptness. Show the new council member how he needs to check on projects in his district...because you can't leave it to P W & E. We do have a meeting on Tuesday with an assistant to Darryl Simmons, the Mayor's Director on Disabilities....Here goes dear readers:
First of all, this side walk benefits NOBODY. It is along the feeder road on 45N between Airline & West Little York. There is no foot traffic here. Nothing but businesses here & lots of empty acreage.
Photograph A: See how there is no curb?.. City regulations say when building a sidewalk, including a 6" curb it needs to be 6' across....this one isn't even 4'. The sidewalk has been built with the light pole just "circumvented"...and the same for the phone call box. The proper procedure is for the Project Engineer (LEONARD WASHINGTON) to have these items moved BEFORE construction begins. During the design phase the designer is suppose to inform him so he will know what is where. The City has a franchise with both the light company & the phone companies for moving these items. This was not done here. Also Mr. Washington obviously didn't check the site or he would have known to do this...or maybe he did and just doesn't care. And, we pay ATSER Consulting to inspect our construction jobs...sidewalks included. Guess what?.....ATSER ONLY HAD ONE INSPECTOR UNTIL 3 WEEKS AGO. THEY HAVE HIRED ANOTHER....BUT THE EXPERIENCED ONE HAS BEEN MOVED OVER TO TRAFFIC & SIGNALS. Did you know we pay ATSER ROUGHLY $2 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR TO OVERSEE CONSTRUCTION. The City isn't suppose to pay the contractor unless ATSER says the job is ok. This job isn't. But we paid for it. In front of the call box.. it's not even 2 feet wide. This project cost approximately $750,000 from design to construction, and it will not pass the Texas Department of Licensure and Regulations for ADA accessibility. (ADA=Americans with Disabilities Act) wanna see some more violations?
Photo B: Guy wire left right in the middle of the sidewalk.
Photo C: Hey...let's just go around it making a dangerous incline for anyone who should happen to be in a wheel chair instead of following procedure & having it moved, and the ground leveled.
Photo D: There was a mud puddle here...instead of filling it
in they just went around it again
Photo E: again...went AROUND the fire hydrant instead of moving it...and how would you like to be in a wheel chair and try to navigate this finish here?
REMEMBER THIS SIDEWALK IS ONLY A WEEK OLD!!!!
Photo F: This sidewalk...on a feeder road...leads to.......A TWENTY FOOT DEEP DITCH.....now if it was at least the bayou, we could say we were in the "fishing pier" business...but it's just a ditch.
Photo G: They just built the side walk AROUND the hydrant & pole here.... they should have been moved
Photo H: That sidewalk is built right up to the side rails on the street...and why?...There is no foot traffic here....and hey it just leads to a 20 foot ditch anyway even if there was.
THERE ARE TOO MANY AREAS IN DISTRICT H THAT REALLY NEED SIDEWALKS TO BE WASTING TIME, MONEY & ENERGY ON ONES THAT AREN'T CONSTRUCTED PROPERLY & THAT GO NO WHERE.....DON'T YOU THINK SO COUNCIL MEMBER VASQUEZ? We bet you could put that $750,000 to better use in another area.....right?
Remember how we told ya'll about that City vehicle parked in the pink zone over at 611 Walker? We'll it's still there. We've got a pic for ya. That left rear tire is still flat...and now it's been more than six months since it was moved, I bet it won't start...that makes it an inoperable vehicle....HEY.. didn't we see a story lauding the efforts of fleet maintenance?.....BOY THAT WAS A LIE...and how about Bea Link....isn't an inoperable vehicle against the city code she purports to uphold & enforce?.. Hmmmm just another example of the laws & rules not being for those who make them.
Council member Keller.....Ask HOW many people are members of the American Water Works before you pass that $179,955 RCA that Jerry King sent ya'll...seems like we also give more than $100,000 in "IN KIND" services to this organization....and the only person we know who is a member is SHOWRI NANDIGIRI. This man stays out of town almost 3 months a year traveling on so called city business...and invoices show we pay no less that $125.00 a night per room for him....if you ask us...Motel 6 can keep a light on for him...save some money. Somebody else do something...ask some questions about this RCA.....WHAT DOES THE CITY BENEFIT from one man spending so much money ? And didn't he take off to INDIA last year & we paid for it?...We heard Pate Jr. from Pate ENGINEERING went with him on that trip....WHAT DO THE TAXPAYERS GET OUT OF THIS???????
"The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands on positions of comfort and convenience but where he stands on positions of challenge and controversy. So on some questions cowardice asks, 'Is a position safe?' Expediency asks, 'Is the position politic?' Vanity asks, 'Is the position popular?' But conscience asks, 'Is the position RIGHT?'" -- Dr. Martin Luther King
HOUSNITCH will be speaking Thursday, January 20th, 2000 at the luncheon for the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club . The Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club is a chapter of the Grand Order of Pachyderm Clubs. Members and guests of the club meet every Thursday at noon for lunch and a presentation on a wide range of civic and political issues from elected officials, candidates for public office, government agency heads and political activists. Meetings are in the banquet room on the Congress Street side of Kim Son Restaurant (Louisiana @ Congress), with validated parking at the Market Square Garage. Lunch is $8 and is served family style. The club also sponsors political education seminars and promotes citizen involvement in the political process....All right guys.....close to work...enough notice for you to save $8...so WE want to see plenty of smiling friendly faces there!
HOUSNITCH needs $500 (we have $377.00) for incorporation papers......we also need another $2000.00 for a legal fund.....WE have no intention of just telling you what's going on.....we intend to use legal recourse if we can raise the funds.....unfortunately donations right now are not deductible....but after incorporation they will be.....YOUR money will be spent WISELY....and you will see the results...not only here but in more traditional news outlets also.....Please help us become even more effective..... Housnitch @ P.O. Box 55423, Houston, TX 77255 We know our readers aren't wealthy....but every little bit helps......Thanks guys...
Be well DARLINS...Tell 'em what you think........ya'll know we do.........