July 2009
Page 3: Nonprofit becomes linchpin in Ecuador deal →
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There aren’t many things that Ralph Nader and the Heritage Foundation agree on. But they are of like mind on this: They both hate OPIC.
That’s not OPEC, the consortium of Middle…
Page 4: City could become villain if Quito deal... →
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Don’t ask the mayor’s office why Richard Vacar retired in May. They don’t want to talk about it. Don’t ask Vacar, either. He says it’s no one else’s business but his and the…
Swamplot spotlights our interactive map of Houston... →
We wanted to give a shout-out to the folks over at the esteemed Swamplot for blogging about our new interactive map of Houston City Councilmembers’ ethics forms. The map provides links to the forms…
KHOU-Channel 11 interviews Texas Watchdog about... →
Texas Watchdog’s Trent Seibert appeared on Houston’s KHOU-Channel 11’s 10 p.m. newscast Wednesday night to talk about our site’s reporting on the Houston Airport System and its overseas airport work….
Airport nonprofit’s work mentioned in Houston... →
The Houston Airport System’s work overseas building and running foreign airports was brought up in the city mayoral campaign today, the Chronicle’s Brad Olson writes tonight, as candidate Gene Locke…
City of Houston’s efforts to rein in airport... →
The Houston city government could be in a pickle over the city airport system’s work overseas, building and running airports in Latin America and elsewhere. But the two most obvious solutions —…
Page 2: Nonprofit gave Canadian firm access to... →
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On the morning of July 25, 2001, as City Council members assembled for their weekly meeting at City Hall, item No. 38 of the day’s agenda had already generated some interest among…
Houston City Council ethics forms published via an... →
The Houston mayor and City Council members’ 2009 personal financial disclosures are available here at Texas Watchdog via an interactive map. Learn more about how your elected officials make their…
Houston elected officials’ financial disclosures a... →
You may have seen our story yesterday about how a handful of Houston City Council members were late paying their property taxes.
Finding that type of information is not hard. It’s available via…
Houston airport nonprofit is independent from city... →
Nine days before the results of an internal investigation of the city-approved airport nonprofit — HAS Development Corp. — are to be announced, the city has made up its mind on at least one thing,…
Coming later today: An interactive map of Houston... →
Check back at Texas Watchdog later today. We’re going to roll out an interactive map that will allow readers to access the ethics forms — and other important information — of Houston’s city council…
Houston City Council members’ tax bills →
County tax records show that three Houston City Council members were late paying their taxes this year:
Jarvis Johnson, 2602 Staples St.
Jolanda Jones, 3217 Dowling St.
Sue Lovell, 2820 Eagle St.
Chronicle: HISD superintendent interviews to be... →
The Houston Chronicle has an update on the secret process of the search for a new superintendent. Candidates vying to be superintendent of the Houston school district will start interviewing for the…
UT-Dallas seeks to withhold records regarding... →
The Dallas Morning News continues to follow the alleged malfeasance and abrupt departures at the UT-Dallas Police Department. Now, the Collin County district attorney’s office has been sent…
Three Houston City Council members late paying... →
Houston City Council members Jarvis Johnson, Jolanda Jones and Sue Lovell all had outstanding property tax bills, collectively owing almost $9,000. But they are all paid up now, the council members…
Watchguard Trooper Robbie Barrera →
Watchguard Trooper Robbie Barrera was uploaded by: texaswatchdog Duration: 187 Rating:
Nanci Wilson testifies against closure of public... →
Nanci Wilson testifies against closure of public employees’ home addresses was uploaded by: texaswatchdog Duration: 584 Rating:
Closing Texas state employees’ dates of birth →
Closing Texas state employees’ dates of birth was uploaded by: texaswatchdog Duration: 210 Rating:
Closing Texas state workers’ dates of birth →
Closing Texas state workers’ dates of birth was uploaded by: texaswatchdog Duration: 470 Rating:
Texas Watchdog highlighted in ABC-13 story about... →
Our team here at Texas Watchdog has been digging through the mystery at the heart of the city-approved nonprofit — called HASDC — that serves as an arm of the Houston Airport System.
KTRK ABC-13’s…
Airport-linked nonprofit has ’systemic problems,’... →
The nonprofit agency through which the Houston Airport System builds and runs airports in other countries has “systemic problems” and could hurt the city’s bond rating, the city’s chief financial…
Texas Watchdog’s Jennifer Peebles featured in... →
Award-winning Texas Watchdog journalist Jennifer Peebles was the subject of a very complimentary write up in this month’s newsletter of the Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional…
The Houston Chronicle: Metro rehires consultant to... →
The Chronicle’s Carolyn Feibel took a look recently at Metro once again rehiring a consultant to help the agency build light rail.
The Metro board has renewed a contract with a $107-per-hour…
Coming Tuesday: Three Houston City Council members... →
Can you guess which three members of the Houston City Council were late paying their property taxes this year?
Properties owned by the three members showed up as delinquent on the Web site of the…
City using Bracewell & Giuliani law firm to... →
The city’s Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Hall is “still over the review,” a change from previous information the city provided. Bracewell firm chosen as an experienced investigative body to…
Airport nonprofit makes $40K for airport since... →
HAS Development Corp. was set up to use Houston Airport System employees’ expertise to build airports for other governments, including projects in other countries.
The nonprofit’s work was supposed…
Airport nonprofit releases financial docs; top... →
A nonprofit spinoff of the Houston Airport System has released financial information to the public. Also, a top aide to Mayor Bill White, Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Hall, is no longer…
Breaking news from our series of reports examining... →
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our latest story on the Houston Airport System. We’ve been digging into the shadowy web of companies spun off by a city-approved nonprofit that is essentially an…
Online reporter entitled to same legal protections... →
A Texas appellate court recently ruled that an online reporter was entitled to the same protection that journalists receive under Texas state law, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press…
Houston City Council delays hiring of law firms to... →
The Houston Chronicle reports that the City Council has delayed hiring two law firms to review the culture within the fire department:
Council members held up the contract for two weeks amid…
Houston Mayor Bill White’s administration draws... →
Mayor Bill White’s administration is drawing criticism for selecting law firms with close connections to city officials to investigate the culture of the fire department, the Houston Chronicle…
KHOU: Metro called out over light rail consultant →
KHOU-TV Channel 11 picked up our story on Metro’s light-rail consultant, a former associate of Metro’s CEO who landed the contract with no competing bids sought.
Consultant Clyde H. Garrison Jr., who…
Coming soon (ish): more in our series of stories... →
A quick note to Texas Watchdog readers:
We have delayed publication of a follow-up story on the Houston Airport System because we need to get answers to some questions that cropped up last night. We…
Texas Watchdog wins another open records battle... →
There has seemed to be a pattern lately when we’ve tried to get basic public records from Houston city government. And not a good one, either.
We haven’t been trying to wheedle state secrets out of…
Critics question Texas Alcoholic Beverage... →
The raid on a Fort Worth gay bar late last month, a joint effort by the Fort Worth Police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, outraged gay rights advocates and drew national attention to Texas…
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer interviews Texas Watchdog... →
Texas Watchdog Editor Trent Seibert was interviewed by the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer for an online segment on the future of investigative journalism. The reporter was following the discussion at the…
KRIV FOX 26: Texas to get $327 million in stimulus... →
Texas will get a big stimulus check from Uncle Sam to help the poor make their homes more energy-efficient, KRIV FOX 26 reported Thursday night. The state’s share will be $327 million, 60 times the…
Next Texas Watchdog training webinar to focus on... →
Texas Watchdog’s next training session will be held at the end of this month. The session will be online, open to the public, and free. The topic: investigating local government. The webinar, part of…
The Galveston County Daily News seeks legal... →
Amid a lawsuit involving the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees, The Galveston County Daily News has requested information under the Texas Public Information Act on exactly how much the board spent…
Confidential sources, beer, ethics forms: Here’s a... →
Now that the 2009 session is long gone, here’s an update on the bills Texas Watchdog highlighted in stories and blog items.
Post ethics forms online: Failed
We followed HB 2496, Rep. Jim Dunnam’s…
Airport system’s nonprofit refuses to turn over... →
The nonprofit HAS Development Corp., through which airport workers build and run airports in other countries, has turned down requests by the mayor’s office for its financial records. The agency has…
The ‘chief negotiator’ →
Continued from page 1.
Wilson described Garrison as his “chief negotiator” during the contract process and someone who was involved in the day-to-day contract process while he continued his work at…
Metro says it lacks expertise to manage light-rail... →
The California consultant, who is being paid $300 per hour, was hired without any competing bids sought. The head of Metro says the consultant is needed because the agency doesn’t have staff with the…
Our latest report, which details a no-bid contract... →
If you haven’t seen it, check out our piece about a no-bid contract over at Metro. We thought it was an interesting story, and we’re pleased to have Rosanna Ruiz (formerly of the Houston Chronicle)…
Texting while driving could result in Metro... →
Houston’s transit agency joined others across the country in establishing harsher punishment for cell phone use by drivers, after fatal accidents elsewhere in which driver distraction was to…
Houston ISD spending scrutinized; view district’s... →
The Houston Chronicle has a story today about an audit of the Houston Independent School District’s spending of federal tax money, as well as payments made with the district credit cards, or p-cards,…
Coming soon: Metro officials say they don’t have... →
Come back to Texas Watchdog Thursday morning to read our report about a top-dollar consultant hired by Metro — who is also a former associate of Metro CEO Frank Wilson.
Metro awarded the consultant a…
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole hit with... →
Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole has been issued the largest fine in the history of the Texas Ethics Commission, the Houston Chronicle reports, after a two-year investigation found that…
Revolving door: Employees move as airport... →
(Continued from Page 1)
As the airport system’s network of private companies expanded over the years, HASDC has also sent someone through the revolving door to one of its spinoff entities: Jeff…
Questions abound concerning Houston city airport... →
An expert raises ethical questions about Houston Airport System brass now working for private firms they helped create as spinoffs from the city. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill White remains mum about what he…