Houston Politics

Is Green really a Democrat?

While Green says he has never represented himself as a Republican or a conservative in his campaigning, veteran Houston political consultant Mary Jane Smith disagrees vehemently. She claims she met Green at a Republican gathering during the campaign, where he was wooing conservatives.

"You would like the way I vote," she recalls Green saying. "He went on telling me how Republican he was, how conservative he was -- that he would be voting with all those other conservatives on council."

According to Smith, she later learned that Green was giving Democratic women's groups the opposite message: that he was a loyal party member and did not seek the endorsement of KSEV or other conservatives.

HUD hammers the city for botched house repairs for seniors and the disabled

A report completed this month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and obtained by the Houston Press found mismanagement of the city's $5 million Home Repair Program to be rampant -- so rampant that HUD sent an enforcement letter two weeks ago ordering the program suspended.

"Due to the very serious nature of this finding, the fact that it is a repeat finding, and the city's continued failure to resolve timely and satisfactorily the complaints made by homeowners about the repair work done on their homes…the city is to discontinue immediately its…housing repair program," wrote Katie S. Worsham. She is director of HUD's Department of Community Planning and Development regional office, based in Fort Worth.

Daisy Stiner, the director of the city's Department of Housing and Community Development, did not reply to repeated requests for an interview. Her department has 30 days to respond to HUD's report, which examined 26 homes where repairs had been made and found problems with all of them.

DNA retests fail to match HPD's results

The latest retests bring the number of cases retested by private labs to 102, with problems such as insufficient samples or statistical discrepancies arising in 23 cases. The retests were ordered after HPD suspended DNA testing at its crime lab last year amid concerns about the quality and accuracy of its work.

Poe enters race for House seat

Former state District Judge Ted Poe, known for imposing unusual sentences during two decades on a Houston felony court bench, has announced as expected that he will seek the Republican nomination in the new 2nd Congressional District.

Poe, 55, resigned from the 228th District Court last month, prompting speculation that he would run for the U.S. House seat. He unofficially confirmed his plans when Harris County commissioners honored him Nov. 4.

el - I was wondering about Poe last night. Someone came into La Madeleine on Kirby where we were having a SF book meeting wearing a Poe for Congress button. I had my cap with the Dean button. La Madeleine has good soup, salad and pastries. Jim says he once had a bad experience with them but I didn't get details.