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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
"you
have come to see us dance for you,
and dance for you we shall,
but the dance that we will share with you,
is a part that we will choose.
our dance will be filled with our inner passion,
fulfilling our expectations alone.
and if this dance isn't pleasing to you,
then you must find a dance of your own
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."-Plato
(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/opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of our editors or
sponsors.)
IT'S A CIRCUS DOWN HERE!!!!!!!
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Yes, a guard told this employee, in a metal wheelchair that the policy was that ALL city employees were required to go through metal detectors without exception!
One major problem, his wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the narrow metal
detector. Then the security guard got upset because he couldn’t “wand” the employee in the wheelchair because he also wears
heavy leg braces! This was all happening in front of everyone waiting to go
through security! The employee didn’t know if he was going to be required to
be taken somewhere every morning and strip-searched because of his braces and
wheelchair just to be able to get into work!
Has someone out there thought of the impact on disable city workers in regards
to this security issue? The answer from this employee’s experiences would have
to be no!
When there are fire drills and all city employees have to go out of the
building. How many hours will we have to stand in-line just to be able to go
back to work? Some employees say they’ll hide under their desks just so they
won’t have to stand in long lines to get back into the building after a fire drill.
Is someone out there not thinking about the severe impact of this policy? This
answer would have to be no! I guess it is better to hide under your desk
everyday than have to face security checks 10 times a day! Why can’t we get
cots and just spend the night at work?
And on Sept. 1st it will be legal to carry a gun in City Hall and all city
property! One council member stated we want those carrying guns to have special
badges that alert us that they are carrying guns.
Well, if the city does that, they are establishing those with gun permits as a
different class of citizen solely based on they have a gun permit and that will
likely result in legal action for discrimination against the City and further
waste of tax payer dollars!
You can’t treat gun permit holders as a different class of citizen solely
based on their having a right to carry arms. The Constitution holds that it is
legal to carry arms and the State of Texas says you can with a legal permit! How
can the City of Houston treat gun permit holders as a different class of citizen
and hold them out for different treatment? They can’t and the citizens will
pay if they try!
The most severe impact to this policy is the city worker! Who have suffered with
no pay increases, lower than market value pay, and now we can’t be trusted!
The most important fact is this policy will not stop or deter anyone, citizen or
employee who is intent on hurting someone else.
Individuals have been killed with telephone cords. Are we now going to remove
all telephone cords from City property?
Individuals have been killed with cords from electrical appliances/equipment.
Are we now going to remove all electrical/power cords from City property?
Individuals have been killed with scissors. Are we now going to remove all
scissors from City property?
Individuals have been killed with box-cutters. Are we now going to remove all
box-cutters from City property?
Individuals have been killed with blunt-objects. Are we now going to remove all
blunt-objects from City property?
Individuals have been killed by being stabbed with pencils/pens. Are we now
going to remove all pencils/pens from City property?
However, our Mayor can’t loose face by admitting the fact he’s overreacted
to a problem that wasn’t a problem. He is so far out of reach from the average
city employee and what they do everyday that he can’t see how disastrous his
policy is! All City employees don’t have his kind of workday. Many have varied duties and this
policy has really impacted their work productivity and no one considered the
impact of the policy on the average City employee before it was enacted!
Actually, the man we have for a Mayor is reacting all
wrong to that NEW YORK mess. IT WAS A COUNCIL MEMBER WHO ALLOWED THE ASSAILANT
PAST SECURITY. (Ya Know...my Mama taught me that "THE GUILTY DOG
BARKS FIRST" reckon the Mayor is so afraid of his own employees
that HE IS GLAD OF A REASON TO DEMAND THIS?????) Lots of Civil rights being
violated here....reminds Housnitch of a quote...""Those
who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety. Nor are they likely to end up with
either."- Benjamin Franklin (nice one huh?)
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You mean Leepy actually told one of his henchmen to shut up???? That must be a first, he usually let's them do as they want....(MAYBE that's why we have all this security! The "natives" are restless...after all, they only have so much time left to give out "buddy/buddy" deals.) Hmmmmm, maybe HOUSNITCH should come down to City Hall...in my wheel chair.
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1.) If you are a frequent visitor to the Courthouses around town (not a county employee) for $75 to $100 you can "buy" a pass that let's you bypass security. (i.e. lawyers, legal aides, couriers, etc,) and of course the Post Man gets in without a pass! (postal carrier...now that one I would have thought would be an automatic suspect...after all "going postal" came from some where, didn't it?)
2.) That a young female employee had some trouble getting past the metal detectors. Seems she had a "piercing", below her waist, and her "jewelry" set off the alarm..... interesting developments.
Here's another good quote we thought we should stick in
this issue:
Beware the leader
who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic
fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the
blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a
fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader
will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry,
infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights
unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And
I am Caesar.
-- Julius Caesar (remind ya'll of anyone?)
ESTATE RECOVERY COMES TO TEXAS
(After a discussion with Mr. Barry Klein ( president/founder
of Houston Property Rights Association, we
thought this next article should be added to this post)
The following House Bill, Sponsored by Representative Joe Nixon, ya'll know...the guy who received $300,000 for his "MOLD" suit while passing legislation to limit how much the rest of us fellow Texans can have/could receive. With the passage of this bill...he's now decided that if you aren't WEALTHY and sick...you shouldn't have anything left of your own.
Despite a 1993 Congressional mandate for states to adopt
Medicaid estate recovery programs (i.e., to seek repayment from one’s estate
for Medicaid expenditures on that person’s behalf during his or her lifetime),
Texas has had no estate recovery program up to 2003. A Texan who moved
from his or her home to a nursing home could file an “intent to return home’
form, Medicaid would pay for the individual’s care (if he or she was otherwise
eligible), the family could hold onto the house, and the house could pass to the
individual’s heirs at his or her death, free of Medicaid claims.
As a result of the passage of House Bill 2292, which is generally effective on
Sept. 1, 2003, estate recovery has come to Texas, and assets – including the
homestead – will no longer pass to heirs free of Medicaid reimbursement
claims.
Sec. 2.17 of House Bill 2292 reads:
Sec. 2.17, Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding
Section 531.077 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.077. RECOVERY OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) The commissioner shall ensure that the state Medicaid program implements 42
U.S.C. Section 1396 para(b)(1).
(b) The Medicaid account is an account in the general revenue fund. Any funds
recovered by implementing 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(1) shall be deposited in the
Medicaid account. Money in the account may be appropriated only to fund
long-term care, including community-based care and facility-based care.
What is in 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(1)?
(b) Adjustment or recovery of medical assistance correctly paid under a State
plain
(1) No adjustment or recovery of any medical assistance correctly paid on behalf
of an individual under the State play may be made, except that the
State shall seek adjustment or recovery of any medical assistance correctly paid
on behalf of an individual under the State plan in the case of the following
individuals:
(A) In the case of an individual described in subsection (a)(1)(B) of this
section, the State shall seek adjustment or recovery from the individual’s
estate or upon sale of the property subject to a lien imposed on account of
medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual.
(B) In the case of an individual who was 55 years of age or older when the
individual received such medical assistance, the State shall seek adjustment or
recovery from the individual’s estate, but only for medical assistance
consisting of:
(i) nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related
hospital and prescription services, or
(ii) the option of the State, any items or services under the State plan.
(C)(i) In the case of an individual who has received or is entitled to receive)
benefits under a long-term care insurance policy in connect with which assets or
resources are disregarded in the manner described in clause (ii), except as
provided in such
clause, the State shall seek adjustment or recovery from the individual’s
estate on account of medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual for
nursing facility and other long-term care services
(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply to the case of an individual who received
medical assistance under a State plan of a State which had a State plan amended
approved as of May 14, 1993, which provided for the disregard of any assets or
resources
(i) to the extent that payments are made under a long-term care insurance
policy; or
(ii) because an individual has received (or is entitled to receive) benefits
under a long-term care insurance policy.
Individuals to Whom the Provisions Above Will Apply
(a) imposition of lien against property of an individual on account of medical
assistance rendered to him under a State plan
(1) No lien may be imposed against the property of an individual
(i) who is an inpatient in a nursing facility, intermediate care facility for
the mentally
retarded, or other medical institution, if such individual is required, as a
condition of receiving services in such institution under the State plan, to
spend for costs of medical care all but a minimal amount of his income required
for personal needs, and
(ii) with respect to whom the State determines, after notice and opportunity for
a hearing (in accordance with procedures established by the State), that he
cannot reasonably be expected to be discharged from the medical institution and
to return home, except as provided in para. (2).
What is One’s “Estate” for Purposes of Estate Recovery?
(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term “estate” with respect to a
deceased individual:
(A) shall include all real and personal property and other assets included
within the individual’s estate, as defined for purpose of State probate law;
and
(B) may include, at the option of the State (and shall include, in the case of
an individual to whom para. (1)(C)(i) applies), any other real and personal
property and other assets in which the individual had any legal title or
interest at the time death (to the extend of such interest), including such
assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the deceased individual
through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living
trust, or other arrangement.
What Comes Next?
The loss of protection for Texas homestead at the death of an individual who has
received Medicaid will make significant changes in which individuals
plan for long-term choices and care.
THIS STATE HAS ALWAYS PROTECTED THE HOMESTEAD FROM DEBTS. (EXCEPT STATE, CITY, COUNTY, SCHOOL TAXES)
To quote Mr. Klein.....
"The moment the idea is admitted into society that
property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of
law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence."
The Gregory School – To Be or Not To Be
AGENDA - COUNCIL MEETING - WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 20, 2003 - 9:00 A. M.
COUNCIL CHAMBER - SECOND FLOOR - CITY HALL
901 BAGBY - HOUSTON, TEXAS
42. RECOMMENDATION from Director Department of Finance & Administration to approve proposed Fiscal Year 2004-2008 Capital Improvement Plan and establish a charge of $50.00 plus tax and postage for the approved CIP documents
Hidden in this agenda item, is $2.5 million dollars for the City of Houston to fund, the "Houston Museum of African American Culture", at the Gregory School in Freedman's town.
We are going to say some things here that EVERYONE knows to
be a factor, but are afraid of being labeled as a racist or of being
"politically in-correct" if they voice them. (hell being
"politically in-correct" has NEVER bothered us.) So we're sure
that Roy Douglas Malonson at the "African
American News & Issues" newspaper will point out to everyone just
how "politically in-correct" we are. (bring it on...we love it!)
Current plans call for the Library Dept. of the City of
Houston to maintain and operate an African-American Research Center and Archives
at the historic Gregory School.
The major concern of many citizens in the 4th Ward Community as well as
throughout the citizens of the City of Houston, genealogists and historians is:
Can the Houston Public Library maintain and operate a historic building.
History would clearly indicate that Houston Public Library is currently
struggling and mostly failing to maintain its current inventory of historic
buildings.
For example, the library’s solution in the Master Library Plan for operating
the historic Julia Ideson Building was to get rid of it and close it down!
The Library allowed the historic Heights Branch Library to fall into such
disrepair that the library wanted to get rid of the building and building a
"new modern facility." Only intensive community pressure caused the
"leadership" of the Houston Public Library to back down and close the
Heights Branch for extensive renovations to allow it to continue in operation!
Additionally, the Clayton Genealogy Library has three historic structures at
that library and again, the Houston Public Library’s approach to maintenance
and operation of historic structures has been to
ignore the problems and close the buildings. The Clayton House building is so
structurally unsound that no one is allowed on the 2nd floor. The Carriage House
that was formerly used as a meeting room has been closed, again because of the
Library’s failure to maintain the building and it is
structurally unsound. Lastly, the Garage structure, which could be converted
into office space, archival storage, etc., is also unused due to the library’s
failure to maintain the building.
Apparently, the Houston Public Library’s approach to maintenance of historic
buildings is to ignore the problem, fail to adequately maintain the structures,
allow the problem to get so out of hand that the only solution they can come up
with is "demolish the buildings."
Really good executive leadership on the part of the Houston Public Library –
creative utilization of taxpayers money – don’t fix it – tear it down!
One can only imagine the library’s approach to the operation and maintenance
of the historic Gregory School. Based on the library’s past performance, it
should be clear to anyone with simple basic reasoning skills – the library can’t
do the job!
(ok ...here comes the "politically in-correct"
part!)
Also, by pulling genealogy, archival, historic material from
the collections of the Clayton Library and the Texas Room, researchers will be
sorely inconvenienced as regrettably research doesn’t always follow racial
lines and they will have to use other resources that will not be at that
facility. Sub-dividing collections does not build the Houston Public Library’s
reputation as a premier research facility! What you do is diminish the
reputations of the Texas Room and the Clayton Library whose collections will be
decimated with the removal of these materials.
The next question that comes to mind is if we begin sub-dividing these
collections – when will it end?
Each cultural community in Houston will be holding out their hand for the City
of Houston to build and fund a research facility for their ethnic group.
Because if you build an archives and research facility for the African-American
Community when will the City build one for the Mexican-American or Asian or
Jewish or German communities?
Is if fair to single out one group of Houstonians by the City of Houston to fund
a cultural research center? Clearly, the answer is no because the City of
Houston should strive to treat all ethnic and cultural communities fairly and
equally without any consideration.
If the African-American Community is singled out for special treatment and
creation of an archives and research center, the City of Houston is only adding
to the segregation of its diverse cultures instead of focusing on cultural
integration!
Segregation is not the way to establish good solid genealogical, historical or
cultural research facilities !
If the City of Houston uses tax dollars to build a specialized research library
for one ethnic community, then the City will be obligated to spend the same
amount of money on each and every other cultural community in the City to ensure
the fair and equal treatment of all citizens of the City!
Unless of course the message the Mayor and SOME City Councilmembers are trying
to get across to the citizens of the City of Houston is that the
African-American Community is entitled to a specialized research and
archives center funded by local government and every other cultural community is
not deserving of the same fair and equal treatment.
The final litmus test of Houston Public Library’s ability to manage the
historic Gregory School Project and African-American Archives is the
qualifications of library staff.
Currently, Rolando Romo, head of the Texas Room and Houston Metropolitan
Archives, does not have the training, experienced or education in how to
operation a historic archives and special collection.
Mr. Romo has a well-deserved reputation of being extremely offensive, rude,
demeaning, haughty and dismissive of library patrons, researchers and
historians.
When you try to talk to him about the collections or issues related to either
the Texas Room or Archives, it is readily apparent his main qualifications for
being selected as head of these facilities is he is
that he is an entrenched library bureaucrat and doesn’t know the first thing
about running a special collection or archives center!
You have to realize the library’s sole purpose for selecting someone who does
not have the training, education or experience in operating or working in a
special collection / archives is to continue to weaken the operation of that
facility.
If the Houston Public Library were seriously interested in the development and
operation of a world class Texas Room and Archives, they would have hired the
best expert in the field. Instead, they choose to utilize the good ole buddy
system and selected from within their staff, even if the person didn’t know
the first thing about running such a facility!
This is how the Library operates and you can’t expect the system to change or
adapt when taking on such a project like The Gregory School.
It’s kind of like having Sylvester the Cat guarding
Tweety Bird!
(We hear another African-American group wants these same items. Are we to have another "MLK" parade fight on our hands? NO RFP was filed for this proposal, and the current funding is based on funds that we don't yet have, simply on the belief that a drainage fee will pass on council. We have news for you Mayor...you don't have the needed 8 votes to pass that fee/tax on the citizens!)
You can find us here, or send us information/donations in the mail. 2041 Marnel Rd. Houston, Texas 77055-1444. No answering machine, no caller ID...713-722-9258
That's all this time around guys...tell em what you think darlins, we get tired of telling them by ourselves.......
click right there and e-mail them ALL at one time!
HOUSNITCH
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"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
-George Washington
