No, that’s not a mistake above. The mistake was made in Austin. Check out the inventive response at the Lone Star Times.
Two Damn Funny!
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Annexations
Ok, I said someone ought to look into those “annexations for limited purposes,” and someone was me, since access to the agenda backup isn’t possible outside the city’s computer system. It seems awfully odd, if you ask me, that this information isn’t made available. It’s already there on a webserver, but for whatever reason, it’s only accessable over the city’s “choice.net” intranet.
In other words, if you’re not on a City of Houston computer, you ain’t getting it. (Hmmmmmm. Are the public computers in the Houston Public Library firewalled off? Probably….)
The problem with me getting it is pretty simple. The files are freaking huge. As in 15-20 megs; this week’s is a light heavyweight, coming in at nearly 17MB. That’s a bit large for a thumb drive, and someone might take it amiss if I start bringing a USB HD to work. Even assuming I owned one, which isn’t happening anytime soon. Then there’s the matter of disk space on my server. I haven’t exceeded my limit yet, but I’m getting close: 85 MB left. That’s actually a significant concern of mine, because I’ve kept my cyberbegging fairly low-key to date. If I start having to spring for extra space, well, I won’t go broke(r), but I’ll need to think about actually doing one of those obnoxious funding drive graphics. (As part of my work ‘under the hood’ this weekend, I’m going to see if I can reduce my space used.)
Dr. Heinous has some spiffy setup that allows him to run his own server at home despite the fact that his IP changes randomly; I don’t pretend to understand it and I just can’t see taking the time to learn Linux, Apache, PHP, SQL, and everything else I’d have to admin in order to host the site myself. J. Greely and Pixy can obsess over scripts and servers, I don’t have time to do so, which means I’m stuck paying for it.
In other words, there’s a significant problem with my being able to continue doing this. The file I bring to you today is a 15-page extract from the .pdf file, and at that, I’m sure I’m shorting everyone some interesting things they’d like to see. Unfortunately, it’s the best I can do, with the resources and restrictions I have. So without further ado, here’s the key portion of the RCA (Request for Council Action) from page 5 of the extract.
Good Start to the Weekend
Hey, I got a third reader!
Today we start the Baker blog. There are some amazing savvy bloggers in the Houston area and I hope to eventually be as good as them. I will provide links to my favorites like bloghouston.com, houblog.com and isfullofcrap.com which offer brilliant analysis covering local news and happenings in our city.
Nice bit of cheering up. I needed it after the last couple of days. Sometimes my job is filled with people almost as smart as one of Laurence’s customers.
On the other hand, then there’s folks who want me to call them in Buttcrackistan and talk them through something when a simple screen capture of the screen image will clinch what their issue is. You know, because I can’t see over their shoulder.
Nope. They want me to call them. Tying up five microwave relays, two satellites, and a network of tin cans strung across goat herds is their idea of a good time, apparently.
Only in my case it’s more like “Sir, you’ve been out of compliance for two years. This isn’t exactly an obscure rule, we’ve been sending you notices every month for TWO YEARS. We know you got them because we’ve got a record of you calling on such-and-such-a-date.”
Babble, babble, babble.
“Yes and I’m sure they’re all very cute kids and it’s a damn shame we’ve called down hellfire and damnation so that you can never feed them again — unless you do this one teensy-weensy little thing that the rest of our customers find possible.”
Babble, babble, babble.
“Let me get this straight. You’re objecting to us enforcing the VERY well-known rules?”
Babble, babble, babble.
“I’m sure Marvin will be pleased to hear from you. Give him my regards.”
I wish I could really answer them like that.
(As usual, I’m being a little obscure as to what I’m talking about here. If you’re thinking “why are you being such jerks about some stupid regulation,” believe me, if I specified it, you’d be asking how the holy hell we let them go for 2 years. Laurence can talk trash about his customers becasue there’s a number of companies he could be working for. There’s only one City of Houston, and it would probably take a dim view of even this much glasnost, komrade!)
In other news, I found some information on those “limited” annexations, and I’m working on making it available to blog with this weekend. However, I’m going to be spending time tinkering under the hood (I may upgrade to WP 2.0.3) so I may be slow posting. Or I may FUBAR the site completely. Any bets?
Animé vs. American TV
It’s funny how a meme crops up among several people at the same time, as I was recently reflecting on the same things that I’ve found Steven Den Beste and Pixy Mixa Shamus ruminating on: The differences between Japanese anime and American TV — and whether it’s possible to become as burned out on the former as we are on the latter.
Animé Fansubs, Part IV
So, Tuesday night was time to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, episode 11. After a slump through episodes 6-9, the last two have definately been on target again with the insanity, Kyon’s sarcasm, and the totally unpredictable madness of Haruhi.
Even though it was predictable that the Computer Society would cheat and that Yuki would hack their cheat codes, it was just a riot to watch.
From the Mayor: HOPE
The following email appeared in my inbox today:
Dear City Employee:
This message is to help ensure City employees are well informed on matters concerning their jobs. Senate Bill 2866 passed by our Legislature allows City employees the opportunity to voice their opinion on whether or not to be represented by an employee association in a meet-and-confer process with City management. Our classified Fire and Police employees already have such representation through their employee associations. Now the rest of our work force has the opportunity to make that choice.
As you are probably aware, two City employee associations, AFSCME and SEIU, have been competing to be this recognized association. Each of these organizations has individually submitted petitions signed by thousands of city employees for the right to represent them.
Both organizations have determined that their common goal is to promote the best interest of all City employees. To this end, both organizations see greater success by seeking the recognition of not one or the other, but of both through the creation of a joint organization to be known as the Houston Organization of Public Employees, or HOPE.
As Mayor of a city with many competing interests I always support consensus aimed at producing the best result for all parties. I also support the right of our employees to voice whether or not they support a particular employee association as their agent.
HOPE, in accordance with the state law, will have to gather employee signatures on a petition asking for it to be considered the recognized employee association. HOPE will have access to the public areas of our work sites so they can provide information to you. Of course, your choice about whether to join an employee association is yours and yours alone, and should not be dictated by me, an organizer, your supervisor or anyone else.
I appreciate the hard work of all our employees and respect your right to consider joining an employee association. Employees and management working together to continually improve productivity and working conditions ensures a better work force and more efficient services to our customers, the citizens of Houston. We work hard every day in a manner that allows us to take pride when we say that we work for the City of Houston.
Bill White,
Mayor
Hmmmmm. Rolling with the punch or planning for the future? You decide.
More Parking Woes
Kevin at BlogHouston notes that KHOU is reporting on a goof by the city: issuing invalid parking tickets. Like that’s a surprise. Equally (un)surprising is where the blame is placed: on the employee.
Repeat after me: “It’s a training issue.” Its always a training issue: i.e.: the employee’s fault.
It couldn’t be that we have a mishmash of parking rules where it’s paid parking from 8am to 4pm on that street but it’s paid until 6pm two blocks over, or no parking from here to curb, or no parking from from 8am to 6pm except on weekends, but on a third street Saturdays are exempt, except in a certain zone where ‘special event’ parking runs until 10pm (keep your calendar handy) unless it’s handicapped parking or ‘special permit’ parking, or ’30 minutes only’ parking, but on on days with a ‘W’, it’s 2 hour parking until 5pm on streets that have a ‘q’ in their name…except where posted.
Got all that?
Good. Now explain it to me. And don’t forget, getting that ticket dismissed by phone is just another example of how Mayor White’s Parking Authority is improving the life of Houstonians! Of course Ms. Rambo will probably be at a loss to explain how the “mistake” happened.
More city parking tickets are sticking
Fewer citations being issued, but a better-trained staff also means fewer dismissed
Fewer tickets have been dismissed because better-trained parking enforcement officers now make fewer technical errors, said Liliana Rambo, assistant director of parking management.
Especially since she was undoubtedly out of the office that day.
Rambo, who has been on the job about a year, could not explain the drop in tickets in previous years.
Heaven forbid that she try to become informed on anything that happened before she arrives at a job.
Fortunately, the poor lady who had to go through that hassle was not “out on the streets at particular times of night and particular areas of the city.” Nor did she have to worry about needing funding to have mishandled or bogus forensic evidence investigated in order to clear her name.
So just remember folks, staying safe in Houston means:
1. Don’t park anwhere near an untrained meter maid.
2. Don’t let anyone paint grafitti on the car while it’s parked.
3 Don’t go into certain areas of the city, such as public parks.
4. Close up shop early.
5. Don’t go to Lamar High
6. Don’t park at a Metro Park n’Pillage.
7. Don’t let HPD do any forensics tests if you’re accused of anything.
8. And above all, don’t depend on H.E.C. to be able to handle your call. Far more likely that they’ll misroute it, as they did me, Wed. morning, when I reported a car fire.
Is it just me, or does there seem to be a trend with our local government here? Did we import more from New Orleans than just the residents? I mean, did they bring the water with them or something?
Laptop (In)Security III
Some folks just do not learn. Unsurprisingly, they’re with the federal government.
But speaking of government, what has the city been doing to keep our records safe lately? From what I’ve heard, the Health Department’s recordkeeping is fairly lax (almost as bad as HPD’s storage rooms)–but I don’t know how much of that is lax paperwork security and how much is lax computer security. And I have no idea about the city’s Human Resources department — which scares me. I’m also concerned we’re not moving fast enough either, but right now lots of employee time and effort are being taken up in the SAP change-over and the federally mandated disaster training.
Pencils and Paychecks II
Or Papers and Paychecks, whichever…
Laurence of IFOC points out in this thread where I went wrong with this character. I should have rolled up a background in journalism, not retail.
Kevin further notes:
It seems like lots of journalists in this town wind up with PR gigs eventually.
Off the top of my head, I can think of: The Chron editor who’s now at METRO, the two journos who now man Mayor White’s press shop, McClinton, and the journo who handles press for Bettencourt’s office.
At least I didn’t go to work for HISD.
Kenneth Cuadra, the only HISD employee charged with a crime in the 2002 scandal over dropout rates, has refused plea-bargain offers. He sold his home to pay legal fees to plead his case to a jury, which could force the state’s largest school district to relive an embarrassing episode.
Jurors will want to know why a low-ranking employee is the lone person being held accountable for the scandal, [Houston Federation of Teachers President Gayle Fallon] said.
“He’s a whistle-blower,” she said. “Jurors aren’t really stupid. They can see right through that garbage.”
Fallon said she thinks Cuadra was targeted to take the fall because he was a noncontract employee, not entitled to the same type of hearing a teacher would get. HISD suspended him without pay for 10 days.
If I had to guess, I’d say he was targeted because he objected to the order.
Schedule the Apocalypse Now, Please.
I have found myself in complete agreement with both Carol Alvarado, and SEIU’s favorite council member, Sue Lovell. The apocalypse must be on the way at this very moment.
The independent investigator examining past problems at the Houston police crime lab said Monday that he needs $1.5 million to finish his work – a price Mayor Bill White isn’t sure the city will pay.
The investigator, Michael Bromwich, told a City Council committee that he needs the extra money to study recommendations for improving the lab’s operations. He said the money also would pay for an expansion of an investigation that has identified 93 cases involving DNA or serology analysis with “major issues�? that raise doubts about the reliability of work and the accuracy of analysts’ conclusions.
At this point, I don’t think the city is in any position to quibble over costs. The creditibility of the police department’s lab is shot to hell, the DA’s office is being dragged down with it; we know we have people in jail for whom the evidence isn’t worth the paper their verdict is printed on — in fact, the evidence should have helped their defense. And what does Bill “run-it-like-a-business” White say?
“I hate to spend any money on anything that we don’t need to.�?
Uh, listen really close, Bill: We need to spend on this.
Lo, and behold, who favors spending the money? Avarado and Lovell.
Councilwoman Carol Alvarado said she supports paying the extra money. She said the city should pay whatever is necessary to ferret out what she repeatedly called “intentional scientific fraud�? by some lab employees.
Councilwoman Sue Lovell agreed. “We have a moral obligation,�? she said. “There needs to be an exhaustive investigation.�?
Well, the old saying about stopped clocks being right twice a day occurs to me but I’d have called it unscientific fraud. Carol sounds particularly vindictive, though.
“This has been very frustrating for me because a long time ago I said, ‘I’m not going to rest until somebody’s head is on a platter.’ And we still have not been able to pinpoint anyone and hold them accountable.�?
Well, it was so long ago, I don’t remember that (and have no time to search for it at the moment) but I’m in full agreement with the sentiment. Unfortunately the head I think should be served up belongs to a former police chief and mayor, so “that ain’t happnin’.” On the other hand, another council member would rather use the money for a cadet class:
Councilman Adrian Garcia, a former police officer who chairs the [council’s public safety] committee, said he wants to see the work completed within the current budget. “I want to find out what needs to happen to resolve this,�? he said.
What needs to happen is that the city needs to stop quibbling and give the man everything he’s asking for. I don’t care if he pads the budget. Short of putting his children on the payroll, the city lost all moral standing to complain about potentially unjust billing when it started sending people to jail, including death row, based on compromised, if not ginned up, evidence and outright lies. Is it any good to put more police on patrol if we’re just going to send the wrong people to jail? Hey, I’m arguing in a thread over at BlogHouston that a transgendered police officer shouldn’t be on the street because of the potential for harm and making the city look bad. I sure as hell am not going to ignore this! Merely “bad” need not apply. And speaking of threads at Bloghouston I think Bill F makes the best possible point about finding money for a class:
…police and fire protection are among the primary reasons why local governments even exist. We should start the next budget from the bottom up. Put in there how much you want to spend on cops and firemen, then add in all of the other priority items in order of importance until you reach the limit of what city revenue is expected to be. Anything over that limit needs to either be funded from another source or needs to be cut from the budget.
Ah yes, the limits of what city revenue is expected to be…. Well, despite windfall sales taxes and revenue bumping up against the limits, don’t forget about the budget items to be voted on tomorrow.
KTRH-740 says the city of Houston will need to borrow and dip into its cash reserves, according to a new budget plan:
The City of Houston will borrow about $100 million against taxpayer money and spend cash reserves to make budget, according to planning documents delivered recently to City Council.
Mayor Bill White says there will be some borrowing for pension obligations, and it will use some cash surpluses that have been deliberately built up over the past two years.
And some people wonder why I don’t want to contribute to the city’s pension plan….
Help! I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up!
Recently, Steven Den Beste let himself get pulled into another argument on Metafilter. I had to shake my head at that, because I avoid those big mass lists like the plague. There’s always some barely-literate type who thinks plants absorb oxygen or something, and you can’t reason with them because they live in their own little world. I have a visceral reaction to seeing someone make that mistake, like Bill Whittle to a friend he thought was about to get embarassed by a beautiful woman:
He threw down his napkin, took a belt of his drink, and worked his way around our table heading straight for fluffy wittle bunny wabbit with the Sharp. Pointy. Teeth. I remember I damn near grabbed at his legs, like a wounded Confederate begging a comrade not to advance on the withering fire coming down from Cemetery Ridge. No Jim, don’t do it! I was thinking. No one can take that hill. It’s death to try!
Or I could go with my favorite philosopher, Robert A. Heinlein (though I don’t know if this one is original):
Never try to teach a pig to sing; it only serves to waste your time and annoy the pig.
Sigh. So much for my being the smart one about those things… Will I ever learn?
At least the ratio of opera singers to pigs is reasonably good over there.
City Of Houston Agenda, 6/13-14/06
One of my cornerstone beliefs is that a republic cannot work if the people do not exercise oversight of their elected representatives. And oversight cannot be excercised without information. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but “Use the Force, Luke” is no way to decide who to vote for each election; I prefer the comfort of a good blaster set of facts.
It is an unfortunate truth that most people simply can’t be bothered to go do the digging necessary to obtain the facts to make informed decisions. Largely, I blame our so-called press for this; they are more interested in bringing us entertainment than information. Why should we have to dig? Isn’t it their job to bring us the facts and do a dispasionate analysis? That’s what they tell us while they whip up bogus TANG memos and the umpteenth report on Brittany Spears. (Of course, theres an argument to be made that they’re only delivering what we want, but I’ll pass on that one for now.)
Fortunately, we now have the blogsphere to make up for their lack. And I have been doing my part, giving the public such information as I have been able to provide without making it terribly obvious who I am and what office I work in. However, it occurs to me that I can do something more: actively summarize the most public aspect of the city government’s business.
Starting with this week, Houblog will carry a brief summary of the upcoming week’s City Council Agenda, taken directly from the City Secretary’s website. Whenever possible, links will be provided to other websites discussing controversial items. The summary will include a link back to the agenda istelf, as the emphasis will be on explaining (or guessing) what the item is about. I don’t claim to have inside info on many of the items and sometimes my knowledge may be a bit inaccurate, or no more than the average layman’s. Where I’m engaging in low-probability guesswork, that will be indicated. I do have access to further backup (the RCAs, or Request for Council Action), but it’s on the city’s intranet–meaning I can only grab them while at work. Due to their large size (.pdf format) and need to chop extraneous pages out, I can’t possibly provide them on a routine basis — the one I did a couple of weeks ago ran 3+ megs, and I’ll quickly run out of storage room.
There are times I think I need to make this blog a co-op effort… Anyway, the idea is that I’m doing the initial legwork to get the agenda into a more accessable format and provide a starting point for citizens who may not even know what questions to ask yet. And of course, I’m going to toss in my own observations about the city’s actions.
Assuming I’m able to keep up the pace (this isn’t easy!) you can expect to see a new installment every Monday morning. The agendas are posted online late Friday afternoon, which gives me the weekend to try and fit them in. For ease of locating these articles, I am establishing a new category: City Agendas. I hope that people will find this to be of some use in keeping up with what their city government is up to. Even if you can’t show up at a council meeting, one of the reasons council members have staffs is to listen to you, the citizen, and relay your concerns to them.
And now, without further ado, the Houston City Council Agenda for 6/13-14/06
Continue reading
Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish II
Looks like he did get to suffer a bit. Still not nearly enough.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi lived for 52 minutes after a U.S. warplane bombed his hideout northeast of Baghdad, and he died of massive internal injuries consistent with those caused by a bomb blast, the U.S. military said today.
That’s the entire article. Our press would like us to think about how he suffered, I guess. Awfully patriotic of them…
Of course that begs the question… how do they have his death timed to the minute?
This?
Or something more mundane, like a circling C-130 and a helluva shotgun mike? I imagine the conversation of two soldiers listening in on Z’s last moments:
“Well, sarge, he just croaked.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t catch what he was talking about when he went.”
“Let me replay that.”
CLICK-WHIRRRRRR-CLICK
Hisssssssssssssss…. “Wait, 72 bulls? I thought it was virgins……urk!”
“Heh.”
“Sarge?”
“Soldier, there are some things man was not meant to know. I expect he’s finding out about one of them, right about now….”
Laptop (In)Security II
You had to know it was coming after all that.
On June 6, the Department of Veterans Affairs was hit with two class action lawsuits related to the theft of an employee’s laptop computer. The theft, reported in late May, held the information of 26.5 million current and former servicemen. The veterans behind the suit are seeking $1,000 for each person whose information was stolen.
I recommend that anyone who owns a credit card go read this article. This is exactly what I was afraid of: a fig-leaf policy that wasn’t enforced.
According to information in the complaint, the VA employee whose laptop was stolen had been taking the personal information home routinely for at least three years despite organizational policies that forbid it.
“Even though the federal government has been after the VA to do something about this for years, it’s clear they felt they could thumb their noses at the existing regulations,” said Rosinski. “This wasn’t an issue of ignorance; it was an issue of people who refused to improve data security policies even when told to do so.”
Would the Human Resources, Police, Health, and Public Works Departments like to comment on what they’re doing to safeguard citizen and employee records? Especially the HR Department. Inquiring minds want to know. I can tell you, we’ve looked at it in Public Works, and the reaction when we realized how deep the problem is, was “Yikes!”
There will be changes, oh yessssss…..
Pencils and Paychecks
That was, I think, the title of a fictional role-playing game being played by several medieval fantasy heroes sitting around a table, killing time between orc-killing expeditions, according to a comic in the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide. They role-played clerks and managers in a fictional techonological society, which of course was a total inversion from what the player was doing.
As if I’m in a game of Pencils and Paychecks, I’ve often thought I should re-roll this character. I seem to be stuck in a rut, at say, third level.
Just how much of a rut got driven home to me recently, as I was cleaning out some old files at work. I ran across a lot of things I’d sooner forget: a recommendation for counseling due to “hostility towards management,” a reprimand for disrupting a (poorly organized) training session — don’t get me started on the policy that was the subject of the training itself, and the fact that the trainers had a key issue wrong…. I certainly have an up-and-down history: commendations and reprimands, high marks and low, evidence of keen insights and some things that just make me groan to look at today.
I don’t think they invented the saying about square pegs and round holes to describe me and bureaucracy, but I’m fairly sure it was polished up and saved for application to my case.