text: 2009 December 18 – Off the Kuff
  Friday random ten: You better watch out
  I have a ton of Christmas music in my collection, but only ten songs that refer to Santa Claus in the title:
  1. Back Door Santa – Jon Bon Jovi
  2. Here Comes Santa Claus – Asleep At The Wheel
  4. The Night Santa Went Crazy – Weird Al Yankovic
  5. Ride On, Santa, Ride On – The Priestess and The Fool
  6. Santa Baby – Madonna
  7. Santa Brought Me Clothes – Trout Fishing in America
  8. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Ella Fitzgerald
  10. Zat You, Santa Claus? – Asylum Street Spankers
  We're one week out, so I hope everyone is being nice. What's Santa bringing to your iPod this week?
  Meet the team that will help Mayor-Elect Annise Parker get the ball rolling.
  State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, one of the only area political heavyweights to endorse Parker, will lead efforts on intergovernmental relations. Coleman also has been involved in community housing issues in some of the city's tax increment reinvestment zones.
  Gilbert Garcia, managing partner of an asset management firm and chair of Parker's campaign, sits on the city's municipal pension board and can attend to budgetary matters.
  Nancy Kinder, a Republican philanthropist who played a pivotal role in the creation of Discovery Green Park, will focus on quality of life issues. Kinder, who is among the most prominent Houston supporters of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and is the wife of billionaire pipeline mogul Rich Kinder, also was a major campaign donor.
  "They are there to help me cast the net widely," Parker said.
  According to a press release, which I've reprinted beneath the fold, the team will focus on the following topics:
  Metro/transportation;
  Housing and Community Development funding, contracts and personnel;
  Intergovernmental Relations, including opportunities for collaboration and cost efficiencies;
  Neighborhood protection involving everything from weeded lots to graffiti abatement;
  Permitting efficiency and procedures;
  Public works and infrastructure including streets, flooding and drainage;
  Density and development ordinances to help residential neighborhoods;
  Minority and women business enterprise contracting.
  Quite the full plate to start off with, but I doubt anyone expected anything different. If you think you might be interested in serving on one of the panels, you should send an email to [email protected] for more information. Miya has more.
  Search for the Chief
  More speculation about who will replace Harold Hurtt as HPD chief.
  Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, and other officers said they've heard Timothy N. Oettmeier, 57, Vicki L. King, 48, and Kirk A. Munden, 49, all assistant chiefs, mentioned as possible candidates to replace Harold Hurtt, who announced his resignation on Tuesday.
  Munden, who joined HPD in May 1981, oversees operation of the department's 14 patrol areas across the city.
  Parker's spokeswoman said the mayor-elect has not singled anyone out.
  Two of those names have been previously mentioned as possibilities. Whoever it is, I hope he or she has a good plan to clean up the latest mess within the crime lab, as well as a plan to lobby the Lege and Commissioners Court to create and fund an independent regional crime lab. The next chief will certainly have plenty to do.
  FTA gives preliminary engineering approval to University line
  The Federal Transit Administration notified Metro on Monday that the line has been approved to move into the Preliminary Engineering phase of the Transit Administration's matching-funds program. Two other light rail lines, the North and Southeast corridors, are further along in the federal approval process.
  [US Rep. John] Culberson contended last week in a letter to the Federal Transit Administration that Metro's finances were precarious and he questioned the agency's ability to build all five lines. The Houston Republican took advantage of a 10-day congressional comment period that is part of the approval process.
  In a statement Wednesday night, Culberson said he still expects "a transparent process where the public can review how their tax dollars are being spent."
  As far as that goes, I'm happy to agree with Culberson. The process should be as transparent as possible. I also hope we can get a process that's free of meddlesome stalling tactics from our elected representatives. Surely neither of these things is too much to ask.
  Anyway. That's one interminably dragged out federal hurdle cleared, some uncountable number of equally dragged out federal hurdles to go. This counts as progress.