Sunny Side /South Park Super Neighborhood

Communicating with the Office of Inspector General V

Council Member Ada Edwards Correction 10/31/02

Memorandum
October 31, 2002


To: Council Member Ada Edwards
From: Charles X White, SSSPSN
Subject: Meeting Request
Cc. ethics committee and executive board – G. Quan

Council member, Edwards thanks you for your invitation to attend a meeting with Robert Litke and Bessie Swindle. Since you did not include an agenda along with the purpose and goal or intended outcome, I see no need to attend such a meeting at this time. If you can give me more information in the future I am sure we can work something out.

In response to your phone message I am encouraged that you are offering your assistance regarding our request to the ethics committee to consider helping to develop some policies and procedures for the planning department at city council. In that regard the Sunny Side/ South Park Super Neighborhood has an Ethics Committee – chaired by Mrs. Willie Belle Boone, 713-733-5825. This committee has five members with two alternates as well as a corporate advisory committee for technical assistance.

This committee has been asked to draft some recommendations based on the information that we have been able to compile from the planning department, other city documents and other references related to ethics and protocol. Their recommendations will be presented it to our corporate advisory committee for review and then given to our executive board of SSSPSN. From that point these recommendations will be given to the city of Houston’s ethics committee.


We would like for any discussion regarding protocol between the city Houston’s planning department and our super neighborhood to be channeled through our ethics committee. A meeting with members of this committee can be easily arranged, to meet with you and anyone else, by contacting the chair at the above number.

Council member I must say that I have supported your causes in the past and I will continue to do so whenever it is in my power to do so. I continue to give you my full cooperation and support with the Chocolate Bayou Festival to make it successful partnership and community badge of honor.


Sincerely
Charles

More Questions Unanswered - 10/17/02

Memorandum
October 17, 2002


To: Office of the Inspector General - Lt. Hartnett
From: Charles X White
Subject: Formal Communications


After speaking with members of our committee we would like any information related to Robert Litke requested of us to be put in writing.

Instead of asking us what policies did he violate?

What policies did he use to create two super neighborhoods in the same district, with the same super neighborhoods without discussing or getting the approval of the existing super neighborhood's elected board not governed by the planning department? Best practices principles are constantly being violated by Mr. Litke in this matter. We want to know why?


Mr. Litke has no authority to do what he did - if so show it to us.
This is the question that he has not answered and continues to insult us by not responding.


If he could establish a basis for his action in writing before our request for an investigation this could be the common ground for a civilized discussion. He has ignored our requests. As a public employee this is not ethical or in the best interest of the city's relationship with it's customers.

We would like to see his department's policies and procedures manual related to super neighborhoods?

Thank you

Games 10/29/02

The information I sent you yesterday has the same elements in what I sent to Mr. Litke. We have several communications that we have ask for due process, procedural and policy questions that have gone unanswered. Note this communication also says that we have no objection to a division or split per-say.



----- Original Message -----
From: Charles X White
To: Robert Litke
Cc: Rose Valenzuela ; Marvin Delaney ; Alma Rincon
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 9:37 PM
Subject: involvement


To: Robert Litke
From: Charles X White
Subject: Policy
cc. Mayor Lee P. Brown
Executive Board



Mr. Litke, I am clearly speaking to policy issues that have impacted our community and its stakeholders negatively without due process or a fair evaluation of the facts. Your continued denial of my requests to discuss policy issues for prevention and continuity is unfortunate. Although the super neighborhoods by-laws and issues are not under city legislation there is an accountability relationship.

I do not want to create an email express between us
I do not want to put up false barriers with you or anyone else
I am pointing out a simple solution for a simple policy issue
I have no objection to a division as such - but I am strongly dedicated to ethics, policy and procedures

I do respect your experience as an administrator however, I can assuredly say the way this was handled including your involvement is not reflected in the way you supervise the planning department on a day to day basis.

I cannot believe that you have no idea as to what I am talking about for the following reasons:
I have sent you and Mr. Tinnermen several request related to discussing matters related to policy. Policy where there is no policy is good.
We have an established procedure to address issues not in our old by-laws that your department acknowledged as procedural and reasonable.
There are additional reasons that I care not to include at this time
I have no knowledge of the accuracy of the information given to the Mayor, however he can only make a decision based on the information he is given. If he received incomplete information, then his decision is not complete. The election has not been contested officially. If that was used as part of the basic information given to the Mayor, you should be able to see my point.

Changes in our group is a group activity not the city as you stated in your previous response. Your department selectively decided to exercise a course of action that has not included me as the president nor the executive board or the thirty-four voting members of the 71-72-76.

I am requesting and recommending that no action be taken in this matter until and unless any or all allegations are formally submitted and investigated to find out to what degree they are true. Once that is done then create a larger policy for the prevention of future misunderstandings or prevent unintended consequences from occurring as much as possible.

Again I am requesting a meeting with you over lunch as soon as possible to discuss this issue.