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OPINION: Metro’s proposed BRT projects would be the biggest taxpayer boondoggle in Houston’s history
By Bill King | Apr 23, 2024
Metro’s previous leadership proposed the construction of two bus rapid transit (“BRT”) lines. At an estimated cost of over $3 billion, these two projects, if constructed, would be the most colossal waste of taxpayers’ money in the history of the City.
OPINION: Do not mail checks in window envelopes!
By Bill King | Apr 18, 2024
A couple of months ago, I wrote a check for about $200 to my pool company for the monthly maintenance. It was a computer-generated check that I mailed in a window envelope, which made it apparent that a check was enclosed. After about ten days, the check had still not cleared. I called the company and they said they had not received it. A couple of days later, the check cleared my bank twice, except the payee and the amount had been altered. Instead of being payable to my pool company for $200, the check was shown to be payable to a company and a person I had never heard of and were for a total of over $14,000.
OPINION: Harris County grew by 1.2% in 2023 but domestic migration continues slide
By Bill King | Mar 25, 2024
According to the estimates just released by the US Census Bureau, Harris County grew by about 56,000 residents in 2023, a 1.2% increase.
OPINION: Houston’s population inside Loop 610 little changed since 1950
By Bill King | Mar 8, 2024
There is a persistent urban myth that Houston’s core is densifying. But the Census data shows that has not been the case. A decade ago, the City Planning Department did an analysis of demographics of the city inside Loop 610 that largely went unnoticed.
OPINION: Houston ISD issues eye-opening 'Efficiency Report'
By Bill King | Mar 1, 2024
The State-directed administration of HISD has issued an Efficiency Report that documents a long list of expenditures and practices that will leave you shaking your head. Unfortunately, the much of the report is written in educational bureaucracy word salad that makes for difficult reading, but here are some highlights.
OPINION: Why farmers should take advantage of climate-smart ag programs
By Chandler Mazour | Feb 26, 2024
Nobody works harder than our nation’s farmers. Rain or shine, farmers roll up their sleeves to help put food on our tables and power our communities. But it’s no secret that the agriculture sector faces growing challenges. From a changing climate to high input costs to fluctuating commodity prices, farmers must take steps to adapt to an evolving landscape.
OPINION: City of Houston fund accounting
By Bill King | Feb 21, 2024
The accounting for the City of Houston finances is broken down into a number of discreet “funds.” For the most part, these funds are required by law to be segregated and only limited amounts may be transferred from one fund to another one. In some cases, the funds are actual separate legal entities, while others are “divisions” of the City, which various laws require their finances to be accounted for separately.
OPINION: Why is the City of Houston always short of money? – Part I
By Bill King | Feb 19, 2024
As many of you know, I have been closely following the City of Houston’s finances for nearly two decades. Over that time, the City of Houston has been chronically short of money to fund basic municipal services. One major result of this has been a historic underfunding of infrastructure. The most glaring example of this can be seen in the condition of our streets.
OPINION: Poll shows Biden border policy has backfired with Latinos
By Bill King | Feb 9, 2024
A poll by the University of Houston was released last week on the prospects for the March primary elections and the November general election in Texas. The poll unsurprisingly projected that Biden and Trump were headed to another showdown in November, and that Trump was leading Biden in that rematch by 9% in Texas. However, what I suspect the Biden campaign team found shocking was that Biden was losing to Trump with Latino voters by a 47%-41% margin. Twice as many Latino voters had a very favorable opinion of Trump than Biden (39%-19%). Only 55% of Latino Democratic primary voters said they were committed to vote for Biden. The other 45% were undecided.
OPINION: Houston Chronicle’s campaign to unseat Kim Ogg
By Bill King | Feb 9, 2024
In the run-up to next month’s primary, the Houston Chronicle has published over two dozen derogatory stories about Kim Ogg. These stories have regularly given Ogg’s adversaries and her opponent a platform to voice their criticisms with the imprimatur of being objective news stories. Their coverage of Ogg dovetails with the its campaign to convince Houstonians that their concern about violent crime is overblown, notwithstanding that in poll after poll Houstonians across every demographic have identified violent crime as their top concern.
OPINION: Upcoming Senate Hearing with Big Tech CEOs is Missing Biggest Fish
By Matt Mackowiak | Jan 29, 2024
You don’t have to be a parent of children to be concerned about our ever-changing digital world and the unlimited ways for them to be harmed online.
OPINION: Don’t Forget About Alief
By Tommy Wan | Jan 25, 2024
As my father drives our family to dinner on Bellaire Boulevard through Little Saigon and Chinatown, my nose presses against the barren, reflective windows of our 2010 Mazda Van.
OPINION: 2023 Harris County crime stats
By Bill King | Jan 22, 2024
The Texas Department of Public Safety receives reports from all law enforcement agencies in the state of reported crimes. Those reports are summarized in a database that is available to the public and updated on a daily basis as reports are received from the agencies. A few days ago, the database showed that it had received the December reports from all law enforcement agencies in Harris County, giving us the first look at the incidence of crime in Harris County for 2023.
OPINION: Protect Texans from the CFPB’s late fee rule change
By Austin Ward | Jan 22, 2024
An alarming 89% of small businesses in the Lone Star State are grappling with the fallout of inflation. Operating costs have soared by 20% or more, creating hurdles for enterprises to hire, expand, and compete.
OPINION: Transit has a negligible effect on traffic congestion
By Bill King | Jan 8, 2024
In 2019, I attended a community meeting where a Houston Metro representative spoke to campaign for its 2019 referendum to approve an additional $3.5 billion of debt to expand Metro’s footprint. The representative began her presentation by asking, “Who here enjoys sitting in traffic?” Most in the crowd moaned or shook their heads. She continued, “That’s right. None of us do. That is why we need to make sure the referendum is passed.” Most in the crowd nodded in agreement.
OPINION: There’s no place like home for Houston children with disabilities
By Jonathan Willman | Jan 4, 2024
There’s no place like home. This old trope from a beloved children’s movie still rings true today, and for good reason.
OPINION: Metro budget will spend 18 times more on 'planning' than building bus shelters
By Kirby Jay | Dec 22, 2023
Houston Metro has, for the last year or so, been touting its program to build more bus shelters, as it has come under criticism from customers and some elected officials for leaving riders out in the weather. But how serious is it about that commitment?
Texan perspectives on electric vehicles in UH-TSU study
By Houston Daily | Dec 17, 2023
The University of Houston (UH) has revealed that, according to a survey conducted in collaboration with Texas Southern University, electric-powered vehicles have not managed to spark significant enthusiasm among Texans. This information is part of the five-year Texas Trends survey series, a joint initiative by UH’s Hobby School of Public Affairs and TSU’s Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.
Transit carries less than 1% of daily trips in Houston
By Bill King | Nov 20, 2023
In my recent survey on transit, I asked respondents to estimate the percentage of daily trips made by Americans and Houstonians on some form of transit. The average estimate for the U.S. and Houston were 7.3% and 4.3%, respectively. As we will see, these estimates are significantly higher than the actual ridership.
Turner is pressuring Houston first to pay $124,000 for his book
By Bill King | Nov 17, 2023
If you attended the City of Houston’s State of the City luncheon in September, you were given a copy of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s new book, A Winning Legacy – The Power of Vision, Collaboration, Resilience and Transformation. Its ninety pages narrate Turner’s life story and what a great job he has done as mayor over the last eight years.