Subject: Local Politics

• Mister Beebe Goes to Marfa

  May 14, 2008

• Man Allegedly Beaten by Jailor and Denied Tape of Incident

  October 7, 2008

• GOP Mayoral Pipe Dreams

  West U rejected them, so how will they ever win Houston's City Hall?

  May 24, 2001

• Food Fight Indigestion

  A losing lobbyist claims a councilman switched after failing to get his pals in on the deal

  October 24, 2002

• Mayoral Field of Dreams

  If you pay them, they will come

  February 20, 2003

• Tense Times In La Marque

  We have one question for La Marque: What the hell is going on down there?There's a crime spree, the City Manager might or might not be keeping his job, and the Mayor resigned. That's just this week. No telling what's gonna happen next. La Marque is the kind of small town where the city council members post their home phone numbers on the town website and homes, not businesses, take up most of Main Street. At the last official count, the population was just over 13,000. As most people would expec

  January 15, 2009

• The BARC Survey The City Should Be Conducting

  Photo by Daniel KramerBARC is asking for the public's input on how to improve the shelter by completing an online survey. According to the preamble, the Mayor's office is ready to roll up its sleeves and get to the bottom of the "complexity" of BARC's problems. (Apparently, the 2005 Mayor's Task Force and City Controller reports, years of red flags raised by animal welfare activists, and countless media horror stories detailing problems at BARC were just fun exercises).This process involves "fiv

  April 10, 2009

• Smackdown at City Hall

  Candidates clash in a castaway district, exes attack, and Bell wringers rumble for a final round with Brown. Voters, pick your fight.

  October 25, 2001

• All I Want for Christmas Is...

  Some pols count blessings; others keep on running

  December 20, 2001

• Hippie Cops and Loan Sharks

  June 12, 2008

• Running Mates

  Michael and Nandy Berry are world-class charmers. But what's really behind those two smiles?

  August 28, 2003

• Send in the Election Clowns

  Don't worry, they're here

  November 13, 2003

• The Triple Crown

  Sick of Mayor Brown? Turned off by everyone else around? Try these alternatives for 2003.

  May 31, 2001

• Playbill

  Houston International Jazz Festival

  August 2, 2001

• To Run or Not to Run...

  In the mayor's race, will Sanchez crash the party? Uh. No. Yes. Maybe.

  March 1, 2001

• Thai Xuan Village

  The city is handing out grants to spruce up apartments near Hobby Airport. Unfortunately, a group of dilapidated Vietnamese condo units don't qualify

  March 29, 2007

• Food for Political Thought

  White becomes Houston's big tuna -- and that's no yolk!

  December 25, 2003

• The Six-Year Itch

  City Hall reality series: Who survives on Bill White's island?

  December 18, 2003

• Why Can't They Be Friends?

  Bill and Annise confront a City Hall curse

  December 11, 2003

• Cockeyed Campaign Gambits

  A Republican runs on Lee Brown's coattails

  October 23, 2003

• A Little Jump to the Right

  Can a ballot triple shift win City Hall for the GOP?

  October 2, 2003

• Dueling Docs

  The city's top MDs collide, but the mayor sides with Shelley

  June 19, 2003

• The Highs and Lows of Life with Lee

  The best and worst from the Brown days

  May 15, 2003

• Parting Shots

  Foes of Mayor Lee Brown can't wait to see him gone. And a lot of his friends feel that way, too.

  May 15, 2003

• We Know You Like to Watch!

  An Internet fishing expedition titillates City Hall

  March 13, 2003

• The Schmooze Returns to City Hall

  Facing an out-of-control council, Brown recalls a veteran vote saver

  December 12, 2002

• Do the City Hall Shuffle!

  Term limits and raw ambition send local politicos on holiday shopping sprees

  December 5, 2002

• Oliver's Story

  Houston's former parks director tried to expand his résumé with a political job. He may have torched it instead.

  November 7, 2002

• Best Activist

  Bob Lee

  September 26, 2002

• Don't Rock My Boat!

  A port commission opening fuels a three-way Hispanic fight

  August 22, 2002

• Overdose

  Dr. Shelley's new operating room reveals the worst and best of a City Council under term limits

  August 22, 2002

• Trading Places

  Who wants to be interim city controller?

  August 15, 2002

• Midsummer Night's Political Dreams

  Mirth and anger follow Berry's decision to run for mayor

  July 18, 2002

• Getting Lonely at the Top

  A recycled city official comes home to roost

  July 4, 2002

• From the Grass Roots Up

  A new Houston voting bloc reaches toward empowerment

  June 27, 2002

• Barry, Barry, Quite Contrary

  A fired investment banker ignites a City Hall rumble

  May 2, 2002

• The Immigrant's Song

  Carroll Robinson has been running for something ever since he arrived in Houston. Now he may be nearly out of track.

  April 4, 2002

• Running on Empty

  Local political campaigns struggle to get news coverage

  October 25, 2001

• An Early War Casualty?

  Mayoral challengers find money, attention and time dwindling

  September 27, 2001

• Cracking the Club

  Latinos find little sympathy from Commissioners Court

  August 30, 2001

• Cutting Through the Fog

  A heated debate in the back room of the City Council chambers

  August 16, 2001

• Brown's Name Game

  The mayor and his staff are using all means possible to get his name out

  June 21, 2001

• The Perfect Political Storm

  In this flood, Lee Brown has stayed high and dry (so far)

  June 21, 2001

• In Through the Out Door

  A new law hastens a Brown official's departure

  May 3, 2001

• Nut Su Oh Redux

  Houston is bass-ackwards

  May 3, 2001

• Brown's Diss-functional City Hall Family

  Drug testing and staff backstabbing have 'em dropping like flies

  March 22, 2001

• Timing Of Vote For BARC's "Change Agent" Contract Surprises Some, Like Councilmembers

  Photo courtesy GHCVB​Silly fuckin' us.We thought that when a Houston City Councilman says something, we're supposed to take him at his word. But sometimes we forget that this is Houston, and things are done a little differently.At the August 3 Human Services Committee meeting on Gerry Fusco's BARC contract, Councilman and Committee Chair Jarvis Johnson said he wanted to hear a progress report from Fusco on September 14, before his contract went to the full council for a vote. But Hair Balls ha

  August 18, 2009

• A Bit Of A Slowdown In The Rush To Approve BARC's Change Agent

  Photo by wsilver​City Council did not vote on BARC interim chief Gerry Fusco's contract because it was not completed in time for the meeting, according to the mayor's agenda director."The documents weren't in," Marty Stein told Hair Balls. "....In this case, what happened was, because this is kind of a special contract, we had promised...[Councilman] Jarvis Johnson's committee in our review, that...the contract would have very detailed deliverables, with [a] timeline." Stein said that inf

  August 19, 2009

• Gay Panic in Cowtown: Houston Pride

  August 20, 2009

• She's Suing To Make Sure Prayers Get The Hell Out Of City Council Meetings

  ​To Houston realtor Kay Staley, religion and organized government mix about as well as tequila and jagermeister. That is to say, not very well. And so she has launched a federal lawsuit against the City of Houston and city council member Anne Clutterbuck in an attempt to sever the two incompatibles, asking the courts to keep prayer out of city council meetings.Six years ago, Staley sued Harris County to get rid of a Bible displayed on a courthouse monument, claiming it was a constitutional vio

  October 27, 2009