Open Letter To Mayor White

[The New Juniper]

The Honorable Bill White

Mr. Mayor:

Let me preface my comments with a couple of statements: I have been a supporter of yours since the get go. I admire what you have done and continue to try to do for our wonderful City. I believe you to be a City Official with a business mind and one who has taken great strides to encourage economic growth here in Houston.

However, what has happened to downtown Houston on your watch is shameful. Let us get past the stadiums and the new development by the Toyota Center. The private sector development moving in at the newly announced mega-development is great. My hat is off to those developers, especially when you consider the state of the remaining 90% of downtown.

One need look no futher than the streets. There is no street level retail of significance downtown. This could be, in large part, due to the success of the tunnel system. Who wouldn't rather travel in the comfort of conditoined air, given our typical weather here? But it is deeper than that.

Just take a walk down Main Street in downtown. It is littered with filth. One cannot travel one city block without being accosted by a panhandler, seeing the homeless sleeping in doorways, or smelling the lovely aroma of human urine and feces. I feel for these folks who are down on their luck and evidently have no other recourse but to live in the streets. However, I have personally witnessed the same man begging for change at the same intersection for more than 3 years. Three years? How can we ask restaurants and residential projects to come downtown when we absolutely don't do anything to provide them an environment where patrons will feel safe?

Please read the many books and articles written on "The Broken Window Theory". If we allow the small crimes such as panhandling, sleeping and defacating in public, or vandalism to go unchecked, it sends the message that A: we condone such actions, B: nobody is watching, or C: nobody cares. Any of these three very logical conclusions leads to further crimes. And, they are just that: crimes.

Perhaps the straw that broke my proverbial back was hearing that further budget cuts in the HPD will cause fewer police to be patrolling downtown. I cannot imagine the balancing act you and your staff perform when doling out the city funds. However, pulling what few cops are downtown out of the area will kill what retail and residential that has managed to survive thus far.

On behalf of those who own residences, businesses, or work downtown: Please clean up the streets. Get the panhandlers off the streets and out of the vacant buildings. We have many shelters designed to provide for these folks. I understand you may take some heat from those that for some unexplained reason believe it is heartless to move these people to shelters and out of doorways, but you have shown in the past you will take on challanges and this is another opportunity. Please provide more lighting and more police.

There must be creative ways to accomplish this. I will not pretend to know enough about the City machine to tell you how to do your job.

Please don't ignore downtown any more. Clean it up. Taking small steps is the only way to make a large difference.

With absolute respect and deference,

The New Juniper

[RedScare]

HPD budget cuts? Really? Did you look at the City's budget before writing this letter?

http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/2007stateofthecity.html

2007 Budget

Police Budgets During Mayor White's Tenure

2004 - $473,222,992

2005 - $524,465,157

2006 - $542,379,465

2007 - $575,751,853

2008 - $601,868,946 (proposed)

[Jax]

I definitely agree with most of your letter, but I haven't had much problems with the homeless the last few times I was downtown. I don't know if that's just a coincidence, or a sign that they are cleaning things up a bit.

I think if there was a higher pedestrian / bum ratio, nobody would notice the homeless as much. The problem is that nobody is around BUT the homeless at certain times. Montreal has just as many homeless hanging around downtown, but there are a lot more pedestrians so it doesn't bother people as much. The urine smell is definitely one factor that keeps people away though. For some reason the homeless tend to urinate/defecate on the streets more here than Montreal.

I definitely agree with you that empty buildings only promote crime. I'm glad there are plans to redevelop the ugly green building near the bayou, and the Sheraton hotel. I hope some of the other nice empty buildings are redeveloped as well (anybody know of any other plans). There are some abandoned buildings on the south side of downtown though that should probably be torn down.

[H-Town Man]

I had never heard of the "broken window" theory, but it makes a lot of sense. I think it also applies to garbage lying on the roads. I have been living in Dallas for about two months, and it is just amazing - no garbage on the freeways! A friend of mine recently moved from Dallas to Houston, and says he wonders if it rains trash in Houston, there is so much of it. If we clean it up and make the freeways look nicer in general, then people will do it less and we won't be Slob City, USA.

[bachanon]

Although I've never heard it called "The Broken Window Theory", it is the same concept that Rudy Giuliani utilized to clean up NYC while Mayor.

[Jax]

Fixing Broken Windows

[jfre81]

OK, I agree in principle with all this - but where else exactly do homeless people sleep? It's not like they can just check into the Hyatt or something when a cop tells them not to sleep on the side of the street.

Jax hit it on the head - you notice it here because there is much less pedestrian traffic in our downtown.

[RedScare]

I understand the "Broken Window Theory", though I do not know if it has been proven, other than anecdotal evidence. However, whether the theory works or not is not the point of this post. I am still scratching my head at Juniper's letter.

He starts off by saying ignore the $260 million baseball stadium and the $240 Toyota Center. Why ignore them? Because they rebut your argument? Should we also ignore the $150 million Hilton Hotel, the 50% increase in the size of the GRB, and the $80 million park under construction?

Then, Juniper goes on to say, "look at thestreets". Would that be the 90 blocks of streets repaved and residewalked under the $62 million Cotswold Project? Would that include the 19 blocks of Main Street repaved and residewalked with the installation of light rail? Would it include all of the new sidewalks around the aforementioned ballpark, basketball arena, hotel, convention center and hotel that we cannot discuss? Certainly it cannot include the Buffalo Bayou projects that are adding sidewalks and parkspace and lighting, since those are not streets, right?

Then Juniper goes on to lament that there is no street level retail to speak. Of course, for some reason we must ignore the $200 million, multi-level, 3 block retail development that broke ground earlier this year. Apparently, we must also ignore the proposed retail in the new apartment tower under construction, and the retail in the Saks building and the new Main Street tower that is proposed. Not sure why we should ignore it, but we should.

Then Juniper moves on to the panhandlers. This is apparently the source of his ire, since there are few, if any broken windows on Main Street, certainly fewer than we had during the 70s, 80s and 90s that apparently serve as the benchmark for measuring Mayor White's shameful performance. I office on the Main Street "littered with filth". Daily, I say Hi to the employees dressed in teal and yellow who sweep up the trash with broom and dustpan in hand. I don't recall these cleaners in decades past. Perhaps that is because I would never walk on Main Street back in the 80s and 90s like I do today.

I already pointed out the 27% increase in the police budget in a previous post, so I won't ask again where the "budget cut" is.

In summary, I must ask, just what are you comparing this to? Why can we not look to the multi-billion dollar investment in downtown? And, just what is the mayor supposed to do to increase retail...open the stores himself? Downtown isn't perfect, but did you ever look at it in previous decades?

[Daniepwils]

I couldn't agree more! As someone who lives and works downtown, I am very upset at the fact that Main Street is in such horrid condition. It seems after The Stuperbowl, Main Street was forgotten.

Also, the increase in the GRB is a joke, it is never fully used. It was only increased so that we could get the Stuperbowl

[MetroMogul]

I guess you never saw Main Street prior to say, 1999? It was a wasteland and the homeless were much more of a problem then.

[jfre81]

I guess you never saw Main Street prior to say, 1999? It was a wasteland and the homeless were much more of a problem then.

Exactly.

It's not good right now, but it's better than it was then.

Same goes for the areas around MMP and Toyota Center. That was wino central before that was built.

I might even play the devil's advocate here and say that the revitalization of downtown is still a work in progress that Mayor White and the city can continue to work on...

[RedScare]

Also, the increase in the GRB is a joke, it is never fully used. It was only increased so that we could get the Stuperbowl

Really? Houston was awarded the Super Bowl in 1999, 2 years BEFORE expansion of the GRB started.

[musicman]

It seems after The Stuperbowl, Main Street was forgotten.

what parts of town are being remembered?

[H-Town Man]

I think his point is to not just dwell on our accomplishments downtown, but to be proactive about fixing this continuing problem.

[Jax]

Yeah, the rest of town is irrelevant in this discussion.

When do the pavilions open? That's the earliest I think we're going to see any significant change, and it's over a year away, right?

[musicman]

Yeah, the rest of town is irrelevant in this discussion.

so homeless in other parts of town are irrelevant? petty crime is happening more which is why crime has been on the news more.

When do the pavilions open? That's the earliest I think we're going to see any significant change, and it's over a year away, right?

so the opening of the pavilions will result in less homeless?

[Jax]

so homeless in other parts of town are irrelevant? petty crime is happening more which is why crime has been on the news more.

Since we are discussing downtown here, I don't think it's relevant whether other parts of Houston were remembered after the superbowl. Nothing to do with the homeless.

so the opening of the pavilions will result in less homeless?

No, but it may result in a higher non-homeless/homeless ratio.

[musicman]

Since we are discussing downtown here, I don't think it's relevant whether other parts of Houston were remembered after the superbowl. Nothing to do with the homeless.

to quote juniper, Downtown is littered with filth. One cannot travel one city block without being accosted by a panhandler, seeing the homeless sleeping in doorways, or smelling the lovely aroma of human urine and feces. juniper is addressing the homeless/panhandlers/etc and how the city isn't doing much to help resolve the situation.

No, but it may result in a higher non-homeless/homeless ratio.

all it takes is one person to cause that lovely aroma of human urine. i guess your "higher non-homeless/homeless ratio" will mean more people will see and experience the problem.

why pass and expand the civility ordinance (or any ordinance) if it isn't going to be enforced?

[Jax]

I was simply replying to your statement "what parts of town are being remembered?" when I said the other parts of the town didn't matter. Your comment was about the super bowl not the homeless. Of course the homeless downtown matter when we discuss downtown. My point was "what parts of town are being remembered?" doesn't matter when we are discussing downtown.

I think other major cities have just as many homeless as Houston does, and it doesn't generally keep people out of the streets. When there are more people downtown, you won't notice the homeless as much.

Yeah people pissing on the sidewalks is a problem. The issue is "how do you keep the homeless form pissing on the sidewalks", not "how do you get rid of the homeless altogether". The solution to that might be to create more public restrooms... more shelters... I don't know for sure, those are just random ideas. For some reason, the homeless in Montreal and Toronto don't piss on the sidewalks as much. Maybe if there were more people walking on main, the homeless would piss in a more secluded part of downtown. Maybe the reason they piss on Main is because nobody is around and they find it is a very private place to do it. Maybe that's the reason you don't smell urine in downtown Montreal or Toronto. All the pissing goes on away from where the people are. Again, just an idea. I don't claim to be an expert on pissing in public places.

[musicman]

I was simply replying to your statement "what parts of town are being remembered?" when I said the other parts of the town didn't matter. Your comment was about the super bowl not the homeless. Of course the homeless downtown matter when we discuss downtown. My point was "what parts of town are being remembered?" doesn't matter when we are discussing downtown.

i was replying to the statement below.

Main Street was forgotten.

the problem isn't only happening downtown, it is happening to quite a few areas. the city is paying less attention to these petty crimes which definitely isn't good when you're talking quality of life issues.

I think other major cities have just as many homeless as Houston does, and it doesn't generally keep people out of the streets. When there are more people downtown, you won't notice the homeless as much.

so more people walking through an area that smells of urine means less will notice?

Yeah people pissing on the sidewalks is a problem. The issue is "how do you keep the homeless form pissing on the sidewalks", not "how do you get rid of the homeless altogether".

the solution offered to midtown residents by the current administration was to expand the civility ordinance which banned the homeless. this is what the area wanted.

The solution to that might be to create more public restrooms... more shelters... I don't know for sure, those are just random ideas. For some reason, the homeless in Montreal and Toronto don't piss on the sidewalks as much. Maybe if there were more people walking on main, the homeless would piss in a more secluded part of downtown. Maybe the reason they piss on Main is because nobody is around and they find it is a very private place to do it. Maybe that's the reason you don't smell urine in downtown Montreal or Toronto. All the pissing goes on away from where the people are. Again, just an idea. I don't claim to be an expert on pissing in public places.

at least you're trying to address specific problems instead of saying let's just ban them. i don't think rice offers the EPPP degree, yet. LOL

[The New Juniper]

OK. Couple of things:

First, thanks to all for the spirited debate.

Next: Just b/c Houston used to be a complete disaster and now is only 3/4 of a disaster is no reason to celebrate. That argument is the equivalent of "sure there are a lot of murders, but at least rape is down". Broken is broken. Once we tolerate this type of sub-standard behavior and environment in any meaningful way, we are, in essence, approving all of it.

And Jax, I generally agree with you, but here i diverge. Creating more public toilets for the homeless to urinate in just A: Throws more money at it; B: Ignores the underlying problem; and C: puts a bandaid on a bullet wound; and D: Allows some public official to feel better about himself.

Clean up the streets and sidewalks. This i mean in its most literal sense. Scrub it. Wash it. Keep it clean. If people are sleeping on the street, it is AGAINST THE LAW. Give people pride of ownership of Downtown. If something looks nice, people take care of it.

"Oh Juniper you heartless bastard. How can you refer to these people like they are not human? They are someone's mother/father/son/daughter????"

EXACTLY! Are we doing them favors by allowing them to urinate and defacate on the street??? How is enabling this behavior somehow the compassionate approach?

Fix the broken windows. Enforce the laws, no matter how trivial they may seem. This is all or nothing.

And, for those who want more information on the Broken Window, please read the Tipping Point. This does as good a job explaining as i have ever seen.

I'm not Giuliani's biggest fan, but this was his approach and it is hard to argue results.

TNJ

[RedScare]

OK. Couple of things:

First, thanks to all for the spirited debate.

Next: Just b/c Houston used to be a complete disaster and now is only 3/4 of a disaster is no reason to celebrate. That argument is the equivalent of "sure there are a lot of murders, but at least rape is down". Broken is broken. Once we tolerate this type of sub-standard behavior and environment in any meaningful way, we are, in essence, approving all of it.

And Jax, I generally agree with you, but here i diverge. Creating more public toilets for the homeless to urinate in just A: Throws more money at it; B: Ignores the underlying problem; and C: puts a bandaid on a bullet wound; and D: Allows some public official to feel better about himself.

Clean up the streets and sidewalks. This i mean in its most literal sense. Scrub it. Wash it. Keep it clean. If people are sleeping on the street, it is AGAINST THE LAW. Give people pride of ownership of Downtown. If something looks nice, people take care of it.

"Oh Juniper you heartless bastard. How can you refer to these people like they are not human? They are someone's mother/father/son/daughter????"

EXACTLY! Are we doing them favors by allowing them to urinate and defacate on the street??? How is enabling this behavior somehow the compassionate approach?

Fix the broken windows. Enforce the laws, no matter how trivial they may seem. This is all or nothing.

And, for those who want more information on the Broken Window, please read the Tipping Point. This does as good a job explaining as i have ever seen.

I'm not Giuliani's biggest fan, but this was his approach and it is hard to argue results.

TNJ

Thanks for coming back. Now, let me respond. Your initial post is all over the map. Additionally, it is an over-exageration. Look at this quote from your post.

However, what has happened to downtown Houston on your watch is shameful.

You insinuate that downtown has gone downhill while the mayor has been in office, yet in your response, you acknowledge that things are better (3/4 of a disaster). You also claim the area is filthy and the windows are broken, in spite of the fact that Downtown Houston, Inc. has crews out DAILY cleaning up. Exactly WHAT else would you have them do? As for the broken windows, I don't see them. If I walked up and down every street in downtown, I might find one to take a picture of, but overall downtown landowners (who have the responsibility for their property, not the mayor) have improved their properties considerably.

Your "open letter" is really just a thinly veiled rant against the homeless. There are no broken windows or filthy streets or downhill downtowns. That is just subterfuge for your real gripe, the existence of homeless on downtown streets. While I tire of the intolerant attitude of some who wish to suspend civil liberties and just arrest the homeless and cart them away, I will concede that the homeless population is a persistent problem. I might suggest that you and others who are annoyed at this population might be forthright in your concerns, as opposed to talking of "broken windows" that do not exist. You might also acknowledge what country you live in, and acknowledge that the same constitutional protections from warrantless arrest without probable cause that you enjoy apply to those who do not dress as well as you.

If I heard that downtown and midtown residents were encouraging meaningful solutions to the homeless problem, I would not be writing these responses. Where are the open letters to the Governor and President, demanding that funding for mental health treatment be restored? Why does your open letter not make one single suggestion for meaningful homeless population solutions? Trying to solve the homeless problem by enforcing "civility ordinances (what an oxymoron!) is like trying to solve flooding by building a levee around your house. It only floods the next neighborhood over.

Houston, like all big cities, has many problems. We have crumbling infrastructure, homeless populations, high uninsured rates, mediocre education. These problems take thoughtful approaches by concerned citizens and elected officials dedicated to making this a better place to live. Houston does NOT need self-centered citizens demanding that problems be swept under the rug, while simultaneously refusing to pay for needed services that improve the livability of the city and its residents.

[cwrm4]

Police Budgets During Mayor White's Tenure

2004 - $473,222,992

2005 - $524,465,157

2006 - $542,379,465

2007 - $575,751,853

2008 - $601,868,946 (proposed)

If you look at these numbers in real terms, i.e. adjust for inflation plus rising benefits costs (say a combined total of 5% pa), the total real increase in the police budget between 2004 and 2008 is only 5%. From 2000 to 2006 the Houston MSA population grew 17.5%. Given the Katrina surge and the accelerating Houston economny, I think is fair to interpolate from this data that the population increase 2004 - 2008 would be on the order of 15%

So, efficiency gains aside, the police budget per citizen has dropped over White's tenure. (Note: I am a Bill White supporter).

[VicMan]

If you look at these numbers in real terms, i.e. adjust for inflation plus rising benefits costs (say a combined total of 5% pa), the total real increase in the police budget between 2004 and 2008 is only 5%. From 2000 to 2006 the Houston MSA population grew 17.5%. Given the Katrina surge and the accelerating Houston economny, I think is fair to interpolate from this data that the population increase 2004 - 2008 would be on the order of 15%

So, efficiency gains aside, the police budget per citizen has dropped over White's tenure. (Note: I am a Bill White supporter).

CWRM: Did you check to see if the numbers were already adjusted for inflation?

Also HPD only has jurisdiction over the people in the city limits. There are areas in Houston's MSA in other municipalities and in unincorporated areas (those areas are covered by the Harris County Sheriff's Department).

[musicman]

Also HPD only has jurisdiction over the people in the city limits.

i think this is a given.

[RedScare]

It is not entirely accurate to use the 2004 police budget while using the population increase since 2000. Be that as it may, here's a few numbers.2000 population - 1,954,000 (Census)

2007 population - 2,231,000 (COH estimate)

2000 Police budget - $419,000,000

2007 Police budget - $601,000,000

2000 police expense per resident - $214.43

2007 police expense per resident - $269.39

Adjusted for 19.91% inflation from 2000 to 2007

2000 - $257.12 per resident

2007 - $269.39 per resident

Note: I am also a Bill White supporter.

I bogarted this photo by Jax from another thread. Does anyone see the filth alluded to by other posters?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1321/137019...5cb6dda69_b.jpg

[VicMan]

i think this is a given.

He mentioned the growth of the Houston MSA when he should have mentioned the growth of the city limits.

[GovernorAggie]

so more people walking through an area that smells of urine means less will notice?

I think he meant that more people trafficking an area give less opportunity to pull over and have a moment to urinate. Similar to how too much traffic behind you might make you a tad bit uncomfortable in trying to secure that parallel parking spot.

It's the "Eyes on the Street" (Jane Jacobs) logic, and I believe it has a good deal of merit.

[Jax]

I actually think Main Street looks pretty good in that photo. But it was a little smelly closer to Main Street Square station.

Keep in mind that Manhattan stinks too in a lot of places too (I'm not sure why, maybe sewage issues?), and people still walk in the streets.

Interestingly, a friend of mine from NYC who came to Houston for the Marathon said to me "Wow, downtown Houston is amazingly CLEAN compared to Manhattan! It's just so... empty.". I think she was also chased by a crazy screaming homeless lady until I rescued her. This was Jan 2007.

Main Street actually has a lot of retail space, but much of it is empty. I wish it weren't, but unfortunately it is. I still believe that there are enough people close to downtown (midtown, montrose, heights, east end, neartown) that it could become a popular shopping district. That's why I'm saying that things won't change until the Pavilions open. Hopefully the Pavilions will draw enough people downtown and that will allow for some of that nearby retail on Main to fill in. Once people realize that there is actually something to do downtown, more people will come, and there will be more reasons for people to open shops in all of that empty retail space.

That is what I hope will happen anyways.

In the mean time, I agree - keep it clean and let's keep improving main street.

I'm re-posting my photo for everybody to see without clicking the link.

[cwrm4]

It is not entirely accurate to use the 2004 police budget while using the population increase since 2000. Be that as it may, here's a few numbers.2000 population - 1,954,000 (Census)

2007 population - 2,231,000 (COH estimate)

2000 police expense per resident - $214.43

2007 police expense per resident - $269.39

Adjusted for 19.91% inflation from 2000 to 2007

2000 - $257.12 per resident

2007 - $269.39 per resident

I was simply using the MSA data (as I had it at hand) to roughly extrapolate population growth for the CoH. Also, growth in the MSA translates into more people flowing through the city limits every day, even if their mailing address is outside the city limits. That means more people for the CoH police to watch over.

~20% inflation over that period is the CPI number. Given what my fully-loaded labor costs have done over the last 5 years (due mainly to benefits costs far outpacing inflation), I suspect HPD's labor costs have risen faster than the CPI as well. At best, I would wager that HPD spend per resident has remained the same in real terms. Realistically I would think it has dropped slightly over this decade.