Just a comment...

Recently I read a commentary on one of my peer’s blogs about the condition of Austin’s parks and greenbelts. If you would like to check it out first hand you can find the original post at the Secure the Texas Border blog. The commentary mentions a few local creeks where the local water quality has been deteriorating for years. And as the author mentions at certain places it has become simply unacceptable. I would agree with the author’s position one hundred percent; we need some type of local legislation in order to preserve Austin’s immense beauty, which many of us take for granted on the daily. The fact that Austin has been growing so rapidly for years has definitely taken its toll on the local environment. The reality is that the growth does not appear to be stopping any time soon (Austin recently was voted one of the best places to live in the country).It is for this reason in particular that this type of legislation is going to be so important within the next couple years. Like the author points out in his commentary, one of Austin’s most important assets is its natural beauty, one that needs to be preserved for future generations. We should go beyond just trying to preserve what we have already, we should try to reclaim park and greenbelt land. Although I don’t think that a reclaimation program will take off anytime soon, I would hope that the local government seriously considers a preservation program. I think that the author of the commentary did a good job raising awareness and tying it to local parks and creeks in which we can all relate. High Five.

The Texas Economy

Recently it would appear that everyone and their dogs have been on Capitol Hill looking for a handout from Uncle Sam. With the subprime crisis, credit crunch, and financial meltdown, economies all over the world have been retracting and feeling the effects of the slowdown. Many industries have been hit very hard by the current economic conditions, but for a few, it has laid the framework for disaster. The sectors that have been hit the hardest have been: banks, housing, and more recently, the motor industry.

Here in Texas it appeared that we were going to avoid the brunt of the recession the country is going through, but it seems that things have been slowing down here as well. We have been experiencing a slowdown of job growth and the unemployment rate has slowly crept up about one percent to around four point seven percent (still under the national rate of six point five percent). San Antonio is home to a Toyota auto plant that employs around two thousand Texans. Toyota recently was forced to scale back production, during which time they had their employees help out around the local community. Hopefully we won’t see Toyota on Capitol Hill with the Big Three.

Oil has always played a role in the Texas economy, though over the years its impact to the states bottom line has decreased. Last year oil hit a record high of $147 a barrel, now it is hovering around $55. It’s not hard to see that the price has been slashed well in half and oil producers here in the state are feeling the effects. Texas is also home to many smaller oil and oil service companies which may not fare as well as some of the corporate giants. Texas’ reliance on oil has slowly been dwindling over the years and now it would appear that is a good thing as petroleum has seen one of the hardest declines recently.

Texas has also seen an increase in forclosures and short sales here in the state. Specifically in central Texas there has been an increase of twenty five percent in foreclosures from this time last. As reported by KXAN, many economists say that the reason for the increase in foreclosures is due to the increase in unemployment. Austin still remains one of the most desirable and affordable places to live in the country. Although there has been fewer homes built this year, there is by no means a shortage. Finding the financing is another story.

If you have watched the news at any point during this last year you would have been lead to believe that it is the end of the financial world as we know it. Texas has been lucky that our economy has comparatively held up strong. It has been a crazy year and that is for sure, but the world will continue to turn and things will improve.

Drink, Drive,Go to jail...

I read a commentary on one of my colleague’s blogs about how the Austin Police Department deals with individuals who are suspected of being under the influence. It is a good commentary and is definitely worth checking out at the Governmental Confusion blog. The author of the blog explains how APD will tack on additional charges to suspects who refuse both a breathalyzer and blood test. The author then goes on to say that this more than likely will not detour many drivers who are in fact under the influence. I would agree completely with the argument put forth in the commentary .I do not necessarily think that the threat of a blood test is going to stop anyone who is intoxicated from getting behind the wheel. If they have decided to drive drunk then they have already consciously made the decision to break the law in the first place. Not to mention to put their lives and others at risk. This brings me to the next item the author discusses, the idea of making the punishments for driving under the influence significantly harsher. Drunk drivers should absolutely face stiffer punishments. People should know and fear the punishments for driving drunk or intoxicated. It should be a one shot deal, not this maybe jail, maybe not game that it is today. By no means is driving drunk a victimless crime, as it can quickly turn incredibly dangerous and often fatal. People should be detoured from driving while they are intoxicated in the first place and hopefully that would be achieved with stiffer penalties. Perhaps this new blood testing policy will act as a deterrent to some would be drunk drivers. It is a bit unnerving that we are just short of having police officers acting as phlebotomists. However, the thought of getting broadsided by a drunk driver seems like an even worse deal.

Chief Acevedo-A Report Card

When Police Chief Art Acevedo joined the Austin Police Department in July 2007 the department was plagued by excessive spending and allegations of excessive force. The department’s reputation was so tarnished under former chief, Stan Knee they were even being investigated by the ACLU for possible misconduct. Although, to Knee’s credit under his guidance Austin became America’s third safest city according to F.B.I. statistics. However, the reputation of our police department was faced with much criticism. Acevedo has been in charge of the two thousand or so APD officers for a bit more than a year now and it would appear that things have changed under his watch.

There have been many significant changes within the Austin police force over this last year and many of them appear to be for the better. The new police chief has worked rigorously on reducing the departments spending in order to balance a budget which finds itself lacking on a regular basis. Acevedo centralized many operations and implemented better, more efficient overtime policies to reduce spending. Acevedo has worked to close disciplinary loopholes which were commonplace under previous administrations. Under the previous police chief the department was accused of being too lenient or too harsh on offices accused of misconduct. The system was in a sense, arbitrary and has been referred to as “favoritism”. Acevedo has worked hard to create a uniform and fair policy for discipline which the officers can rely upon. There have also been many visible changes under Acevedo’s leadership. The department has enacted new search policies and reformed others which lent themselves to racial-profiling. More recently Acevedo has begun to implement a “cite and release” program, a program which would give the officers the discretion to simply cite a suspect or take them to lockup for processing. This will save officers countless hours of transportation and paperwork. There have also been more visible changes to the police force, such as new uniforms and cars (those new black and whites are super menacing). Although Acevedo approves of the new look these changes were in the works before he came along. Under Acevedo’s guidance the Austin Police Department has been named a “Flagship Agency” by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. This is most certainly good for our police force’s image as well as our cities. When Acevedo was confirmed back in July of 2007 he said it was time to turn a new leaf, or something to that affect. It is clear that the department has most certainly come a long way. Chief Acevedo deserves a passing grade for his efforts.

The Debate-Burka's Perspective

Last week Rick Noriega and John Cornyn engaged in a debate for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Among one of the members on the media panel was Paul Burka. In one of his posts on his blog titled simply, The Cornyn-Noriega Debate, Burka gives a good overall summary of the debate and comments upon both candidates. He mentions that it appeared that the media had given John Cornyn, a Republican the upper hand in the debate. He mentions that one of the panelists asked about Noriega’s role during the whole “Killer D” incident and that it was as Burka puts it “a gimme” for Cornyn because it opened Noriega up to criticism. Burka also mentioned how badly Rick Noriega’s performance was during the previous debate. He does take a couple shots at John Cornyn in his blog post saying that Cornyn is not the most “dynamic politician Texas has produced”.Paul Burka said that the biggest overall surprise that he had during the debate was how much the Democratic Candidate, Rick Noriega had developed as an opponent to Cornyn. Burka says that if Noriega had more time and better financed he may have a chance at the senate seat. Overall, Burka does good job in giving his opinion of the debate went and how well the candidates preformed. He writes a very articulated and well developed post on his blog.

Paul Burka has a very reputable set of credentials under his belt. He graduated from Rice University with his bachelors and continued on to receive his J.D. from The University of Texas. He has been writing for Texas Monthly since 1974 and today is a Senior Executive Editor with the outfit. He has won several awards for his excellence in journalism and is a frequent contributor on many major political and news networks. Although Paul Burka does not come out and say that he is democratic, the overall tone of the article seemed to ring with that of a democrat. Overall, the article puts forth a very nice summary of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses throughout the debate. Burka does a very good job.

Call to Action

In a commentary on Statesman.com titled Texas’ Education System Deserves Better, the author Texas Representative Eddie Rodriguez raises some serious concerns about the education system in Texas. Mr. Rodriguez calls for a change, a major change of how the Texas education system receives its funding. In a very clear and concise argument he lays forth the significant pitfalls that our education system faces. He makes it very clear that the way our education system is funded needs reform. It is disturbing as a college student to think that the cost of my education is going to amount to a small fortune in student loans if I want to attend a public university. The cost to attend the University of Texas has risen 44 percent in the last four years, this hits really close to home. Mr. Rodriguez explains how this outrageous increase happened in his commentary. It was under House Speaker Tom Craddick that public universities were allowed to deregulate their tuition. Unfortunately, not just Texas’ higher education is in need of some serious reform, this problem makes its way to the K12 schools as well. In many school districts where the primary funding comes from property taxes, schools are finding themselves short the precious resources they need in order to operate and educate tomorrow’s leaders. Many of these districts have opted to raise their property taxes the maximum of four percent allowed by law to try to cover their expenses. It is very, very clear that something has to change if we want OUR kids to have a quality education here in Texas. From the commentary you can tell Representative Rodriguez is a democrat. Even if the (D) after his name was cut off it would not be too hard for the reader to infer which side Mr. Rodriguez is playing for. Mr. Rodriguez clearly has a democratic reader in mind as he repeatedly calls for change to the Republican policies enacted under Mr. Craddick. Overall, the commentary is very effective in raising concern. The information laid forth in this commentary is not to be taken lightly as education is one of the most important things in today’s society. The only thing that seems to be missing in Mr. Rodriguez’s commentary is how exactly to fix the problems our education system faces. Perhaps that is for a different venue all together, a call to action is better than nothing.

Hurricane Ike

 

Hurricane Ike rolled through Texas this weekend causing chaos along the coast for many hours. Early estimates have the damage ranging anywhere from eight to eighteen billion dollars according to several leading insurance companies. Ike made landfall late Friday night early Saturday morning, although the storm surge had been advancing for hours. Right now there is dusk to dawn curfew in affect for Houston and until next weekend giving emergency crews chance to assess and cleanup the damage. President Bush declared Texas an emergency area as a result of the damage Ike caused. Texas and the Gulf Coast region is home to one third of Americas total refining capacity which Ike has also disrupted. Although the damage was less than expected at many of the refineries, production was shut down due to safety concerns and as a result gas prices spiked over the weekend. It is estimated that it take weeks to restore power and make all necessary repairs. If you would like to read more about the areas hit hardest and more specifics related to the storm check out this article from the Houston Chronicle.