Weather Report

Yesterday was one of those days where “I get the news I need on the weather report. I can gather all the news I need on the weather report,” from Paul Simon.

I watched KPRC Channel 2 News, and they did their best to prepare us for Tropical Storm Edouard. It missed H-Town as it scooted up east of us. I got a little rain in my neighborhood. I took my umbrella to Daikin Park yesterday evening, just in case, but I didn’t need it. Oh, well.

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I am figuring out most folks in H-Town didn’t know we had an ongoing agreement with The Woodlands Township. We were never going to annex The Woodlands. I prefer not to have them voting in City of H-Town elections. Now see the latest from the Chron:

Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Controller Chris Hollins are split on the benefit of a proposal by The Woodlands Township that would infuse the city’s budget with $50 million over the next four years while allowing the Montgomery County community to retain all of its sales tax and block future annexation. 

The discussion on Tuesday came after the Houston City Council last week postponed action on the agreement to allow the city’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee to review the proposal. The council is set to consider the agreement Wednesday during its regular meeting.

The Woodlands Township Board of Directors unanimously approved the agreement during its Aug. 26 meeting.

The township board originally approved a Regional Participation Agreement with Houston in 2007, preventing Houston from annexing The Woodlands through 2057. The agreement has been amended twice since 2007. 

As part of the agreement, the township created a Regional Participation Fund to which it contributes 0.0625% of annual sales tax revenue generated within the portions of The Woodlands located in Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The proposal by the township would give Houston unrestricted access to $22.6 million already accumulated in a regional participation fund and provide another $27.4 million over three years. In return, the agreement would end The Woodlands’ obligation to contribute sales tax revenue to the fund beginning in 2030 and eliminate the agreement’s 2057 expiration date for Houston’s annexation prohibition. 

“This is the best deal that we could get from them,” Melissa Dubowski, Houston’s finance director, said during the committee’s meeting Tuesday. “It definitely put us in a better financial position.”

Dubowski said the initial $22 million the city would receive this fiscal year would help cover a $25 million budget shortfall.

Whitmire called the agreement a “win-win” during the council’s meeting last week.

However, Hollins called the proposal a “bad deal” and urged the city council to vote against it Wednesday in a Tuesday morning statement sent before the committee meeting. 

“Under the city’s Regional Participation Agreement with The Woodlands, historical projections show that The Woodlands will pay the city nearly $200 million by 2057,” Hollins said. “Yet the administration is considering selling that future revenue stream for less than $30 million, apparently to secure a quick infusion of cash.”

Hollins said the deal sacrifices long-term value and is “kicking the city’s deficit-spending problem down the road.”

Whitmire hit back at Hollins’ statement Tuesday afternoon, accusing the controller of “playing politics” and calling his projections unrealistic.

By 2057, Whitmire said, the Legislature will have met more than a dozen times and could significantly alter state laws on annexation, incorporation, or regional partnerships. Houston is better off making a deal now, he said, repeating his description of a “win-win” agreement.

“No one can speculate what it will be like for the next 30 years,” Whitmire said in an interview.

Woodlands Township Chairman Brad Bailey, who attended the committee meeting, said the city hasn’t made a request for the funds since 2018. The current agreement requires the city to match any funds they would use from the account for projects that must be approved by the township.

“Being able to keep our sales tax, going forward from 2030, is a huge win for The Woodlands,” Bailey told the Chronicle. “Getting $50 million, with no strings attached, is a win for the city of Houston.”

I get where the City Controller must be opposed. That is what he thinks his job entails. I wonder if anyone else will oppose this deal.

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I guess not all older Democrats in elected office are endangered at the polls during a primary election. See this from Politico:

Massachusetts Democrats just put progressive ideals ahead of age concerns.

Octogenarian Sen. Ed Markey, 80, defeated 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton on Tuesday in a bruising Senate primary that put Democrats’ preference for like-minded ideology over generational change on full display — and gave progressives another victory in their yearlong battle with moderates.

The primary flipped the script on other anti-incumbent clashes this cycle in which younger, progressive challengers ousted older, more moderate incumbents.

Markey, who’s served in Congress for nearly a half-century, leveraged his left-wing bona fides as a Green New Deal coauthor and Medicare for All champion to fend off the more-moderate six-term representative and military veteran who argued it was time for a new generation of leadership. He got an assist from a number of progressive luminaries, with endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Moulton had support from more moderate names and fellow military veterans like New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, as well as from service-oriented groups like VoteVets and New Politics. But he faced an uphill battle against the popular incumbent and struggled to overcome progressives’ criticism of his past remarks about transgender athletes.

It’s the second election in a row that Markey has survived a right-flank challenge from a younger opponent. He is the heavy favorite to win in November for what he says will be his last term.

I will say it again. The Democratic Party voters from Massachusetts made the decision. I must respect that and so do you.

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Both of my September Beatles wall calendars are black and white photos. One is from the so-called final Beatles photo shoot from 1969 with the four outside, standing in front of a door with John wearing a black hat. The other is from 1963 with the four and has George holding a Gretsch guitar.

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The featured photo is the seating section at Daikin Park next to mine. No lines to get Dollar Dogs or a Saint Arnold. I also get that some folks stayed away because of the tropical storm, or it was a weeknight. Still, we are in first place in the AL West.

We have 23 games left in the regular season, 11 at Daikin Park. We lost last night and are down to a 1-game lead.