TAKE IT OFF THE TOP MAYOR!!!!!!!!!!

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.

WE NEED YOUR HELP ... this page costs money to keep on-line PLEASE help us keep it going WE NEED SOME DONATIONS!!!!!!!! ....

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."-Plato

Take it off the top Mayor!!!

Houston Mayor Lee Brown set himself up Wednesday for a nasty budget showdown with the City Council by calling for a 1-cent tax rate increase despite surging property values. The increase, which would bring in an estimated $9.3 million, would be used to increase staffing on fire trucks from three firefighters to four. It would undo a 1-cent tax rollback forced through the council over Brown's objections last fall........Without a tax rate increase, the city is expected to take in about $60 million more in revenues...... (YET BROWN WANTS MORE OF OUR MONEY) ..... Taxpayers, they want a safe city, Brown said in explaining why he supports raising taxes. They want a good police force, a good fire department......(OVER ALL WE HAVE BOTH, THE MAYOR JUST HASN'T FULLY FUNDED THEM, OR MADE THEM A PRIORITY) ....... Brown said the city is experiencing challenging times because of growth and must make hard choices with limited resources.... Paul Bettencourt,Harris County Tax Assessor Collector

scoffed at Brown's description of the city's financial state. He called it simply stunning that Brown is describing soaring revenues as challenging .......

Statement on the FY'02
City Budget
Monday, May 21, 2001
City Hall Annex Building
3rd Floor Conference Room
900 Bagby
Houston, Texas

    Mr. Chairman, I don't have any questions at this time, but I would appreciate your indulgence so that I can read a short statement into the record.

    Chairman Castillo, I would like to begin by thanking the Mayor for meeting with all the Members of Council to hear our views on this year's budget.

    Let me also thank you Mr. Chairman for agreeing to place on our May 29th committee meeting agenda a discussion and vote on setting a General Fund Revenue projection for Fiscal Year 2002 (FY'02) and my Public Safety and Employees Compensation Motion to take money off the top of the General Fund Revenue projection for:
1. Fire Department staffing;
2. Police "Meet and Confer";
3. A Pay Raise for civilian employees; and
4. Fully funding a "Rainy Day" Trust Fund with cash.

I don't know what the outcome of those discussions and votes will be, but I believe that it is important that we settle these issues at the beginning of the budget process rather than allowing them to fester and explode at the end of the process.

I would also like to commend Dr. Scheps for his work on the budget to date and remind him that questions from Council Members and changes in the first draft of the budget are all part of the process and nothing personal towards him.

What I expect to continue receiving from Dr. Scheps is honest numbers, objective analysis and multiple options. I need more than just the "company" line. If that is all you have, then you are of no value to me. One option for funding more firefighters is just not good enough. Building the city's budget is a collaborative process where eight votes of Council sets city policy.

Dr. Scheps I would like to meet with you to get specific answers and numbers in response to the memo I sent you dated May 10th, 2001.

Mr. Chairman, some people have said that my plan to fund the fire department's staffing needs, police "meet and confer", a pay raise for civilian employees and fully funding a cash on hand "Rainy Day" Trust Fund by taking the money off the top of the General Fund Revenue projection is too simple a plan.

Let me say this, where government gets itself into trouble is when it tries to make things more complex than they need to be or really are.

My plan calls for taking a total of $38 million off the top of the General Fund Revenue projection.

The Administration has already included $13.8 million of the $38 million dollars in their budget plan.

That leaves a balance of $24.2 million dollars.

I know that we can find the $24.2 million dollars without a property tax increase when we will take in close to $1.4 billion in General Fund Revenue in Fiscal Year 2002; $60 million to $80 million dollars more than in the current fiscal year.

Let me explain how we can fund my plan.

On page 6 of the budget transmittal letter, the Mayor calls for a 3% reduction in the cost of General Fund administrative services, which he distinguishes from the cost of direct services to the public.

The letter also states that a 3% savings on administrative cost would be $2.1 million.

Using the Administration's numbers, we will be spending at least $73 million dollars in General Fund revenues in FY'02 on administrative services.

A 10% reduction in the cost of administrative services would save approximately $7.3 million dollars.

In Table I of the FY'02 Proposed Budget All Funds Summary, General Fund Expenditures/Expenses-M & O line item, it shows that we will be spending at least
$250, 360,000.00 on Supplies and Services.

A 10% reduction in this area would free up another $25 million dollars for a total of $32.3 million dollars. This is $8.1 million dollars more than the $24.2 million needed to fully fund my simple plan.

Other steps can also be taken to achieve more savings. They include:

· First, capping the General Fund Non-Classified FTEs at 7,200 by the end of the 2nd quarter of FY'02.
· Second, consolidating the Planning Department into the Public Works and Housing and Community Development Departments.
· Third, consolidating all Communications and Public Relations personnel and functions into the Convention and Entertainment Department.
· Fourth, consolidating all Purchasing personnel and functions into the Finance and Administration Purchasing Division and Building Services Department as relevantly related.
· Fifth, if we fully fund the "Rainy Day" Trust Fund with at least $5 million in cash, Council should cap the Fund Balance requirement at 5% for Bond Rating purposes and use the remaining money to help pay off General Fund bond debt thereby freeing up more General Fund money to invest in infrastructure maintenance and construction.

This change in Fund Balance accounting would help make possible a Billion to a Billion and a half dollar General Fund Bond Referendum for Parks, Libraries, Infrastructure and Housing.

    Putting the bond referendum on this November's election ballot would save the city $1 million dollars.

    Council should also commit ourselves to depositing all year end surplus above the 5% Fund Balance into the "Rainy Day" Trust account and $5 million cash annually until we have achieved a $50 million cash balance in the account. After that, year-end surplus above 5% should be used for paying off General Fund Bond debt and paying a Taxpayers Dividends.

    People may not like or agree with my ideas, but I do not intend to play politics with public safety or the lives of Houston Fire Fighters.

    If public safety is our number one priority it can't be the last thing fully funded.

    We shouldn't hold funding for more firefighters hostage to use as a pawn for forcing a property tax increase.

    In fact, what we should be talking about is more tax relief in the form of:
· A taxpayers dividends program.
· Asking the Legislature to lower the current 10% cap on how much of the Harris County Appraisal District's annual increase in appraised value can be added to a property taxpayer's yearly property tax bill.
· Increasing the Senior Citizens and Disabled homestead exemption.
· Working to have the Appraisal District lower increases in appraised values in an entire neighborhood when some homeowners in that neighborhood successfully challenge their increase in appraised value.

As it concerns the city budget, I agree with Mayor Brown that we have to, as he wrote in his budget transmittal letter, and I quote, "work together over the course of this budget review to make the right decisions for the citizens of Houston."

    We have to be clear however that the "right decision" does not mean just simply doing what the Mayor says.

    Mayor Brown also wrote in his transmittal letter, and again I quote, "let us lower our voices…."

    Again, I agree, but that does not mean that Council's voices should not be fully heard and respected.

    I respect everyone at this table and hope to find common ground with each of you during this year's budget process, but I will not sit in silence and allow anyone to distort my positions or the facts of our budget and this process.

    I intend to respond to all misinformation and baseless generalizations about reductions in basic city services. If someone has facts, stats and analysis, let's put them on the table and put them to the test.

    Finally, I don't intend to be blackmailed into supporting a property tax increase. City government must become better, faster, more cost effective, efficient, entrepreneurial, innovative and customer friendly. The status quo is no longer acceptable.

    Let me end where I began; let's Take It Off the Top.

    Thank you Mr. Chairman.

We really should not have any simplistic solutions to a complex budget process, Brown said

May 24, 2001, 8:14PM

City councilman draws up petition against tax increase
By RACHEL GRAVES
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

Hoping to whip up public sentiment against a property-tax increase, Houston mayoral candidate Chris Bell is asking his City Council colleagues to sign a petition opposing Mayor Lee Brown's proposal for a one-penny hike.......

Council members have voiced strident opposition to the tax increase and nine of the council's 14 members signed a petition against it. The petition was started by Councilman Chris Bell, who is running for mayor.

Housnitch1 [9:47 AM]: .....who HAS signed your petition?...
CBell4Hou [9:49 AM]: in order:.....bell, keller, ellis, tatro, goldberg, robinson, todd, vasquez and sanchez

CBell4Hou [9:51 AM]: "If they want to locate the money they can, and they can take the money for fire off of the top," Bell said Thursday. "Unless it's a combined effort of the mayor and council, it's simply not going to work."

HMMMMM ......... You can forget Boney & Galloway, one of them would hold the door open for the Mayor if he wanted to rob a bank, while the other would drive the get a away car..... Good thing Boney's term limited OUT this year.

    Management Districts How many layers of taxing authorities can they cram down our throats?

We received a call yesterday about some bills that had been sent to the Governor for signing. These bills deal with the creation of "special districts."   We thought that they were talking about an enabling legislation, but after doing some research, we found that already exists. I was familiar with TIFF/TIRZ where the incremental property tax revenues were dedicated to the zone rather than going
into the general revenue stream. We have serious reservations about that concept. But this Management/Improvement District concept must be stopped. Having looked at the way these districts are being created, We are convinced that this is nothing more than Leepy Brown's NOG gone mad.

These special districts are created with the power to levy taxes and sell bonds. But, in our estimation, the worst part is that some of these districts will have the power of eminent domain.

These districts are governed by boards which, as nearly as We can tell, only require that a portion of the board actually reside in the district. In one case, the Energy Corridor Management District, the
appointments are made by the Mayor from persons recommended by the board, only 2/3 must be residents of the municipality - there are no district residency requirements.

One of the troubling aspects of this is that the districts can issue bonds if it is so petitioned by owners of "a majority of the assessed value of real property in the district" or at least 25 property
owners if there are more than 25 property owners. (The number of property owners varies by district.)

We have listed below the bills which would create the proposed districts in this area. We have also listed the bills which deal with the authority to create such districts. There is a bill which deals
with modifying the boundaries of one of these districts which already exists in Houston, the Upper Kirby Manglement District.

There are existing Management Districts:

    1997    Houston Downtown MD
    1997    Westchase Area MD
    1997    Greater Greenspoint MD
    1997    First Colony MD
    1997    Upper Kirby MD
    1997    Harris County Improvement District No. 2
    1999    reater East End MD
    1999    Midtown MD
    1999    Harris County Improvement District No. 1
    1999    East Downtown MD

Here is the list of bills that we could find relating to creation of specific special districts, and to the creation of special districts in general.

HB 0529/SB 470 - Aldine Community Improvement District
            (duplicate - HB 741)
            a. Bailey

HB 0741/SB 470 - Aldine Community Improvement District
            a. Bailey    s. Gallegos
            5/18/01 sent to Governor

HB 1990 - Creation of Near Northwest Management District
            a. Turner        s. Whitmire
            5/16/2001 sent to Governor

SB 0647 - Old Town Spring Community Improvement District
            a. Lindsay        s. Hilbert
            5/18/01 Sent to Governor

HB 3634 - Creation of North Side Management District
            a. Farrar    s. Gallegos
            5/23/01 Passed Senate

HB 3692/SB 1830 - Creation of the Greater Southeast Management
                District
            a. Coleman            s. R. Ellis
            5/17/01 Passed Senate (amended)

HB 3639 - Modifications to the Upper Kirby Management District
            a. Danburg; Wooley    s. Brown, J.E. "Buster"
            5/22/01 Passed Senate (amended)

HB 2998/SB1226 - Creation of Energy Corridor Management District
            a. Callegari co/Bailey, Coleman, D. Ellis, J. Nixon, Noriega,
            Tillery, S. Turner, Yarbrough
            Scheduled for public hearing on 4/4/01
            4/4/01 Withdrawn from schedule
        SB 1226
            a. Lindsay        s. Elkins
            5/23/01    Passed House - Enrolled

HB 1053/SB 0468 - Creation of Industrial Development Zones
            a. Coleman     s. Gallegos
            5/21/01 sent to Governor

HB 1096 - Creation of Fire Control, Prevention and Emergency
                Med Districts
            a. V. Luna; Seaman    s. Gallegos
            5/21/01 Passed Senate (amended)

HB 1880 - Creation of Agricultural Development Districts
            a. Swinford co/Homer    s. Duncan
            5/22/01 Passed Senate

HB 3172/SB 1716 - Authority of a County or Municipality to Create
                Public Improvement Districts
            (duplicate bill HB 3362)
            a. Thompson; Menendez        s. Van de Putte
            5/22/01 Passed Senate (amended)

HB 3362 - Authority of a County or Municipality to Create Public
                Improvement Districts
        a. Menendez

HB 1538 - Creation of Commercial Development Zone - Aldine
            a. Coleman
            2/14/01 In Committee

HB 2941 - Creation of Technological Development Zones
            a. Capelo
            3/12/01 in Ways & Means

HB 3532 - Creation of Commercial and Industrial Development Zones
            a. Coleman
            4/26/01 Committee Report sent to Calendars

SB 0578 - Creation of Emergency Communication Districts
            a. Madla
            5/15/01 Not again placed on Intent Calendar

SB 1638 - Bolivar Conservation District
            a. Bernsen
            3/14/01 In committee

SB 1773 - Port Bolivar Improvement District
            a. Bernsen        s. Gray
            5/23/01 Passed House (amended)

As a bonus, there is one bill that does have some positive feel to it. This one needs to be passed and signed! Deals with Kingwood annexation.
HB 2215/SB1148 - Disannexation in certain municipalities
            a. Crabb    co/ many!
            5/11/01 Referred to Senate committee

The Northwest Management District is being done by HOMEOWNERS...against the businesses in the area... the businesses don't even know this is coming.....this raises the cost of doing business & the cost of goods & services that we pay for.... a TOTAL of 17 proposed for Houston.....the Southeast will not have ANY grand fathering or exemptions for Nonprofit organizations...

CLICK ON THE DOCUMENT UP THERE TO READ THE WHOLE THING...BUT HERE ARE A FEW EXCERPTS:

(1) all powers necessary or required to accomplish the purposes for which the district was created;

(2) the rights, powers, privileges, authority, and functions of a district created under Chapter 375;

(3) the powers given to a corporation under Section 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and the power to own, operate, acquire, construct, lease, improve, and maintain projects;

(4) the power to impose ad valorem taxes, assessments, or impact fees in accordance with Chapter 375 to provide improvements and services for a project or activity the district is authorized to acquire, construct, improve, or provide under this subchapter;

(5) the power to correct, add to, or delete assessments from its assessment rolls after notice and hearing as provided by Subchapter F, Chapter 375; and

(6) the powers given to a housing finance corporation created under Chapter 394 to provide housing or residentialdevelopment projects in the district.

(a) The board may impose and collect an assessment for any purpose authorized by this subchapter.

(b) Assessments, reassessments, or assessments resulting from an addition to or correction of the assessment roll by the district, penalties and interest on an assessment or reassessment,expenses of collection, and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the district:

(a) The district may not impose a tax, impact fee, or assessment on a residential property or condominium.

(b) The district may not impose an impact fee or assessment on the property, equipment, or facilities of a utility. In this subsection, "utility" means a person that provides to the public cable television, gas, light, power, telephone, sewerage, or waterservice.

Ok...homeowners are exempt, but homeowners will still end up paying for the rise in the cost of doing business...also...(and we really like this) Churches, and other non-profits will be liable to be taxed.....under these bills.

IF you are a small\large business owner... (especially you guys over in the medical district!!!!).....you better speak up now....after June 15th it will be too late.. (several institutes of higher learning are in these districts too!!!!)

AND TELL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER TO NOT SUPPORT ANOTHER OF THESE THINGS!!!! EVENTUALLY WHEN THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS GOES UP...IT'S ME & YOU WHO WILL PAY THIS NEW TAX!

HPD's football team to face L.A. for title

The Houston Gunners, the Houston Police Department's semi-professional football team, will face the Los Angeles Centurions here Saturday in the National Public Safety League Championship game.

The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Strake Jesuit Stadium in the 8900 block of Bellaire Boulevard.

This comes directly from page 54 of the May/June 2001 Texas EMS magazine, put out by Texas Dept of Health. It is in a section entitled 'Disciplinary Actions'.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE PUBLIC NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE BUREAU OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND IS NOT INTENDED TO REFLECT THE SPECIFIC FINDINGS OF EITHER ENTITY. THIS INFORMATION MAY NOT REFLECT ANY NUMBER OF FACTORS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE SEVERITY OF HARM TO A PATIENT, ANY MITIGATING FACTORS, OR A CERTIFICATE'S DISCIPLINARY HISTORY. THIS LISTING IS NOT INTENDED AS A GUIDE TO THE LEVEL OF SANCTIONS APPROPRIATE FOR A PARTICULAR ACT OF MISCONDUCT. TO FILE A COMPLAINT REGARDING AN EMS SERVICE OR PERSONNEL, CALL (800) 452-6086. through March 26, 2002. EMS Rules 157.37(c)(2)(3)(G)

* Houston Fire Department, Houston, TX.
$33,000 administrative penalty probated for 12 months effective February 16, 2001. EMS Rules 157.19(c)(1)(A) and (U) and 157.11(d)(1)(A), fails to comply with any of the provider licensure requirements as defined in 157.11 of this title;
violates any rules or standard that has a potential negative effect on the health or safety of a patient; a BLS provider shall staff BLS vehicles, when in service, with at least two emergency care attendants who have active status certification, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF LEE PEE'S INEPTNESS, AND LACK OF LEADERSHIP AND CARING FOR OUR PUBLIC SAFETY & THOSE OF OUR FIREFIGHTERS

.... ALSO SHOWS HOW HE WOULD TRY TO KEEP THE TRUTH FROM US, THE GENERAL PUBLIC!!!

From:

To: <brenda@housnitch.com>

Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2001 9:23 PM

Subject: Donald K. Hollingsworth Isn't The Mayor Nor is His Staff

Who houses the 2nd Floor of the City Hall Annex, no not the Mayor's token
appointment to Building Services - Monique, no it's not the Mayor, it's the
self-proclaimed Director of Public Safety and Drug Policy, Donald K.
Hollingsworth, who follows Lee Patrick Brown around like a step and fetch it
wherever he goes. Abandoning his wife in the last mess Brown made in New
York City. It sounds like marriage has no sanctity.

On the surface "Don" (as he is known to people like his latest flavor of the
month - his staff must call him Mr.. Hollingsworth) is a gracious, successful
and dashing black professional. If you dig deeper it's all smoke and mirrors. Shouting matches with Richard Lewis, a deep disdain for Al Haines, and using intimidation or verbal assault on anyone associated with the aforementioned to show them who is really in charge. There is even a reported case of the city's contracted space planner who left a meeting abruptly when he tried this tactic with her since her client was technically Richard Lewis. But he sure can travel on "city business" whenever possible and put a little personal business in while conducting the people's business.

Remember "Don" was the Municipal Courts Director back in the late 80's and
abandoned ship right when the "new technology" went bust. Ask any veteran
city bureaucrat and they will tell you the tale.

Speaking of Municipal Courts - isn't it curious that the most qualified firm
was eliminated from the running and the Municipal Courts Collection contract
was awarded to a local law firm that purportedly gave handsomely to MLPBs
campaign. Better yet "Don" attends Rockets Games with their lobbyist Daryl
Carter. Isn't that suppose to be on a disclosure form?

But if "Don" is the self-proclaimed Director of Public Safety who is the woman that is in the office next to him. Enter Christina Garibay, a seasoned bureaucrat, with a reputation for torturing people "beneath her". "Cruella Deville" to those who know and love her is the over paid "secretary" of "Don". She drank from the cup of power and has been drunk ever since (literally).

Cruella is a 'wannabe' that will never make the cut, has carved a niche, been excessively promoted under "Don", violated countless city policies like other "Brownies" and those in the know attribute her exaggerated worth "to the organization" to veiled threats of black mail to "Don". The only time Cruella showed her human side was when her nephew, a city employee, in the
police department, was arrested with $250K worth of cocaine while on the
taxpayer's clock. Amazing what an ounce of humility can do. But that was
short lived.

Cruella has her own agenda, (appointed herself as the Domestic Violence
Coordinating Council Director), primarily promoting unqualified Hispanics like Carolyn Alves (the daughter of the famous Mimi Garcia and interestingly
enough they hadn't spoken for ten years prior to her starting at the City).
Carolyn, who signed a city application, falsifying her experience and education, has followed Cruella's lead and adopted an exaggerated self-worth
and creates havoc wherever she goes and the good people who got stuck
working for "Don" have to clean-up time after time.

Cruella has also let the self-proclaimed Assistant Director of Public Safety, Cheryl Murray, an incredibly smart but misguided former council aide (who worked for Ray Driscoll and others then leapt to Lanier's Mayor Office with Kim Ogg) rule the roost. And she's earned the "code name" "junk yard dog" in the hallowed halls as she spews misery to mask her personal pain. Sadly she looks for love in all the wrong places - the Chicano squad from the Gulfton area and has been seen publicly in a compromising position with Mayor's Gang Office Director, Adrian Garcia. Just ask "Cruella".

Of course in every group there are those that march to their own drummer. In
the fantasy land of Public Safety it's Andy Kahan the long time Victims
Assistance Director. A well known victim's rights advocate, who at the
taxpayer's expense attends state executions, pro-death penalty rallies, and
spends most of his days collecting death row inmate paraphernalia on the
internet, believing that it's better that he buys it so it's not resold again to the general public. It's kind of a strange way to support the crime victims and I don't think those are the activities that MLPB had in mind. I do hand it to him though he has the perfected the art of defiance, which irritates "Don" to distraction.

Have you ever heard of an office where there are so many directors? Especially those that are self-appointed.

Where have all the people gone? Approximately 15 people have left Public Safety, fearing for their safety (sanity is a better word) during "Don's" tenure. I am sure more will follow.

1. Chryisse Wilson - now Executive Assistant; romantically linked to Don
2. Robyn Broussard - the bumbling "consultant" who had it bad for the Casanova
3. Arthuryne Dailey
4. John Gaitlin & another longtime staffer from Crackdown
5. May Walker (who can forget!)
6. Kim Ogg
7. Rhonda Prince
8. Kelly Guy
9. Mike Antash - 311 Director who has left the city. How is this project ever going to get off the ground?
10. Eva del Rio - A Garibay protégé - who knew?
11. Mary Eversole
12. Melayne Otto
13. Shannon Bishop
14. Kim Price

That's quite a revolving door wouldn't you say?

This builds my confidence as the third term of MLPB quickly approaches. The
Mayor's Office of Public Safety and Drug Policy (Does the city actually have
a drug policy?) adds to the paralyzing dysfunction of this administration at
a great cost to the unsuspecting citizens of Houston - they should ask who
is minding the store before they vote this fall.

MY, MY MY, BRINGS TO MIND THAT HUSHED UP ARREST HOLLINGSWORTH HAD BACK WHEN LEE PEE WAS POLICE CHIEF...YA'LL REMEMBER, CAUGHT ON MAIN STREET PARKING WITH ONE OF OUR CITY'S INFAMOUS "LADY OF THE EVENING" ... BUT WE THOUGHT THAT WAS ALL BEHIND HIM NOW ... SINCE CAROL ALVARADO SEEMS TO BE HOLLINGSWORTH'S LATEST ... HMMMMMMMM, THE THINGS ONE DOES LEARN FROM THE MAIL.

From:

To: SNITCH@HOUSNITCH.COM

Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 8:20 PM

Subject: Metro Rail's consultants get in each others way

Metro has chosen to split up the light rail project between multiple consulting engineers. One engineer does the water line relocations another does the storm relocations and still another does the sanitary relocations. The paving is by a different engineer than the storm. Still another firm is doing the gideways and tracks. Each contractor thinks of the other systems as "by others" and not his responsibility. This results in design conflicts that are going to get to the field. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. It isn't even on the same body! Metro has a bad record for coordinating such multiple contract jobs. Downtown Metro Transit Street had a different engineer on every street and no one to act as a traffic cop at intersections. No wonder the plans took so long to get approved. When one adds in the east west streets of the downtown metro project and the Cotswold TCB project plus every fiber optic cable company in the USA it is going to result in a nightmare. One only hopes that field contractors will resolve the problems. It is cheaper to erase with a pencil than a jackhammer but Metro does not seem to understand this. Metro should get a general engineering design contractor who's job is to ensure that all of the parts of the jobs fit together and not in each others locations.

DO YOU CARE TO SHARE SPECIFICS WITH US?

From:

To: <SNITCH@housnitch.com>

Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 10:26 AM

Subject: Building Services - Deputy Assistant Director Tammy Blakenship

What in the world is going on with Tammy Blakenship and all these OIG
investigations. First, she filed an investigation against the black
employees at HPD for accusing her of being a racist. They won. Then the
black employees at HPD filed a complaint with OIG accusing her of allowing
her secretary to get overtime pay for hours that she didnt work. On top of
that she is being investigated now for accusing a black supervisor of
sleeping with her employees. Wow!

YOU TELL US WHAT IS GOING ON...WE HEARD THAT MONIQUE WAS ON HER WAY OUT.

From:

To: SNITCH@HOUSNITCH.COM

Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 1:41 PM

Subject: HAS Assistant Director

Maybe one of your readers can shed some light on this:

Is this guy the same person who brought in that Cuban engineering firm from Chicago, gave them a big contract, and told them they didn't have to meet the affirmative action goals, which they promptly DIDN'T.

WELL, CAN ANY OF YOU ANSWER THIS???

From:

To: SNITCH@housnitch.com

Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 11:26 PM

Subject: Open Records Requests

Ms. Carol Sharp of the City of Houston Personnel Department Records Division 713-837-9396 has stated that the City can not comply with open records requests for copies of employees job ratings because they have a back log of stuff that needs to be filed. They can not find what you want! How many months of back log to be filed do they have? When will something be done about this? Are any of you aware of how high some city employees have been rated who have had their picture or names in the paper? This would be a good project for a college student majoring in management to study the meaningless of the city job performance reviews. It's a good ole boy system where you get rated high if you kiss up enough....and whistleblowers get punished!
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE ..... THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME

From:

To: <Snitch@housnitch.com>

Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 10:46 PM

Subject: City Employees

Attached is a copy of the first page of a report on how much some City
employees get paid. I wonder what the citizens (taxpayers) of Houston would
think if they knew how much these people are getting paid. City Attorney,
almost $11,000.00 a month. Lee P. wants to raise taxes to pay for the Fire
Department/Police Department to hire more people etc. How about cutting the
salaries of most of these useless people? I work for the City and of course I
receive nowhere near most of these amounts a month much less every 2 weeks.
The lower level of employees, people like me, have not received a cost of
living pay raise in almost 2 years and now they are saying we probably won't
get one this year because of budget deficits. How about cutting these totally
useless people's salary and give it to the people who deserve it? Think of
what could be done with all this money. I will send you the rest of the
report, which by the way with the exception of one person, all the employees
listed make more than $2,000.00 every 2 weeks. (That's all I make a month)
These are the Department Directors and Deputy Directors who make so much and
there are 26 pages of these people!
AND CLEARLY HALF OF THEM AREN'T QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB THEY DO. (FOR SOME REASON WE CAN'T GET THIS ATTACHMENT TO TRANSFER HERE).

The attached article, along with my comments, pretty much says it all - we
are apparently expendable.

Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: MON 05/28/01
Section: A
Page: 29 MetFront
Edition: 3 STAR

2003 mayoral race casting a shadow

By JOHN WILLIAMS
Staff
THE 2001 MAYORAL race has barely started. No television commercials have aired no debates have blared. Incumbent Lee Brown has yet to formally announce.

But already, some are laying groundwork for 2003.

Three prominent businessmen - Ned Holmes, Ken Lay and Marc J. Shapiro - are talking with politicos and others about running for mayor in two years. There are others, including developer Ed Wulfe, Brown's confidant.

And while these powerhouse names provide colorful speculation about the political scene two years hence, they also cast long shadows on this year's landscape because each now prefers Brown to serve a final term.

The concern atop the glittering towers of commerce is that Houston needs another businessman at the helm, someone with the can-do abilities of the past mayor, Bob Lanier.

But not yet.

The increasingly image-conscious business leadership does not want Houston portrayed nationally as the city that booted its first black mayor. It's important for the power elite, still mostly white, to be seen as coexisting with minorities.

[There ya are, Boys and Girls! How's THAT make ya feel? You're
EXPENDABLE for the sake of our Precious IMAGE!]

And there is political reality. It's hard to win citywide without support from a black community that tends to vote as a bloc and was a significant factor in electing four of the last five mayors.

Supporting the term-limited Brown for his final two years could pay dividends later.

Taking stock of their futures [Yeah, THEIR futures, to Hell with
ours, and this city's]

Working behind the scenes, Holmes, Lay and Shapiro are taking stock of their political futures. It is unlikely that they would would run against each other. But each wants to know where he stands and who might make the best candidate....

THE PUBLIC DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN SOMEBODY TELLS THE TRUTH HUH?...BUT VERY SADLY....THIS IS HOW IT ALL PLAYS OUT...BECAUSE WE SIT BACK & DO NOTHING TO STOP THEM...EVERY VOTE COUNTS...GET OFF YOUR BUT & VOTE AND MAKE LIARS OF THEM ALL....ALMOST ANYBODY BUT BROWN IN 2001!!!!!!!!!

From:

To: SNITCH@HOUSNITCH.COM

Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 7:40 PM

Subject: living in the city

This is America!!! I will live anywhere I damn well please. If you want more money then you need to organize and go to Austin. Political Action Committee's are where it's at. When you send a nice big contribution their way, you get results. As for having to live in the city, I feel bad for you. The city has more money than they know what to do with. They are getting nearly 60 million more than last year, yet can't pay the bills. Whose doin' the books over there? The city has crappy equipment and workers have low morale due to low wages and such. Did you know that on the eastside of town, they have whats known as "project renaissance". There are about 4 patrol units that actually run calls for service that citizens call in. (911, burglaries,car thefts, robberies,thefts,suspicious people, etc.) The rest are on proactive patrol, meaning arresting drunks on the street, gang members standing around doinf nothing. These units, which number in the 20's run no calls for service. I gues the citizens just have to wait when they need a policeman. Of course, who gets the earful when they get there?? The officer!!! It just ain't right. With this and other "brilliant" projects going on, you couldn't pay me enough to live in Houston.

Loving it in FT BEND.

OVERALL I THINK 98% OF OUR POLICE OFFICERS DO A GREAT JOB....AND THE ONLY REASON WE HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS HERE IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO RUN, INSTEAD OF STAYING TO HELP FIX THEM. LIVE WHERE YOU WILL, BUT I AM REMINDED OF AN AN OLD SAYING...."NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO.....THERE YOU ARE". So you see, you truly never can run far enough.

From:

To: <SNITCH@housnitch.com>

Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 7:53 AM

Subject: HPD/HFD salaries

Our police and fire departments are the lowest paid in the state. Council has to do something to increase salaries immediately. Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Bellaire and Pasadena all make more. The city is unable to draw quality candidates for this reason and it will only get worse. The mayor and council keep trying to come up with creative plans that do not involve money. That doesn't pay the light bill (30% increase over last year), rising property taxes (income to the city) or rising grocery costs. But they do seem to be able to cough up money for hotels, light rail and constant special events downtown. It's catch up time. Pay your employees or face a serious crisis in a couple of years when the majority of these departments retire and you have no one to replace them.

WE THINK THE CRISIS IS NOW...NOT 2-3 YRS FROM NOW

From:

To: <Snitch@housnitch.com>

Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 9:27 PM

Subject: (no subject)

I am a Police officer and I am really proud of Houston. I spend 65 hours a week here. Sad to say I live in Conroe because I feel when I am in the city I am at work. I can't even go to the Zoo. As for Mayor Brown, he has given HPD a good raise 2.5 years ago and was the only Mayor to give the police dept as well as HFD a good raise. I am confused, were is all the tax money going to?
We have had record revenue taken in. I feel we will have Mayor Brown for the
next term . HPD as well as HFD are the still one of the lowest paid in the state. I also feel for other city workers who are losing workers and they are not being replaced. There is a hiring freeze going on in the city, workers are at a all time low in moral. I see Officers and Firemen burned out and almost in tears. This is a time BOMB. What are the answers, I don't know. I hope this city never goes the way of Washington DC and be taken over by even more politicians from Washington. We can't spend money and get no results. If the city was a corporation we would fail, go out of business. If the city was a government, it would be a Socialist government. There is no accountability for your actions, mainly work ethics. I mean this for public works department as well as others in the city, police and fire. This city promotes by the good ole boy system and taking a test. The best man for the job, YA RIGHT. I am a Republican, middle of the road, and I don't see a easy answer. Without a good Police and Fire dept we can easily go back to the crime wave of the 1990's. HPD as well as HFD used to have the best cars and computers, now Constables as well as other Departments outside of Houston are better equipped. Maybe invest in a crystal ball to see in the future. I read your web sight all the time, good job.
Citizens will complain and get angry about city government but very few will
get involved.
Brenda please don't give out my email.
WE NEVER GIVE OUT/ADMIT WHO WE TALK WITH DARLIN...AND I AGREE WITH YOU WHOLE HEARTEDLY, THE ONLY WAY TO FIX OUR PROBLEMS IS TO VOTE IN A NEW MAYOR.....NOW...NOT 2 YRS FROM NOW! ALMOST, ANYBODY BUT BROWN IN 2001!

tell em what you think darlins, we get tired of telling them by ourselves.......