Sunday, May 13, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Was there another boss at Precinct 1?
At least two deputies are under interal investigation at Precinct 1 now -- more fallout from that corruption scandal, and there's been another big resignation.
Jack Abercia may have been the guy in charge at Precinct 1, but was there another boss in the shadows? This guy...
"How powerful is he there?" we asked retiring Pct. 1 Sgt. Rita Britt.
"Extremely powerful," she said.
His name is Mike Abercia. Where have I heard that last name before? Oh, he's the constable's son.
"When Mike Abercia wants to get something done, it usually gets done," Britt said.
"People are afraid of him?" we asked.
"Very," she said.
Afraid of the guy in charge of the precinct's patrol cars? Behind closed doors, they called him untouchable. Even the precinct's internal affairs officer complained he wasn't allowed to investigate Mike Abercia.
"Who is more crooked -- him or his son?" a deputy asked ex-Pct. 1 Chief Michael Butler says on hidden camera.
"I'd say it's a toss up," Butler says.
On paper, Chief Michael Butler was Abercia's boss, but the constable's kid set his own schedule, a shift that began at 4 o'clock in the morning.
"Because he gets calls, they tell me all during the night, on cars breaking down and them needing help," Jack Abercia said.
"Try telling him (expletive) about his son. He don't want to hear it," Butler says on hidden camera. "And what kind of cars would you be working on at 3 o'clock in the (expletive) morning?"
It's kind of hard to fix Precinct 1 patrol cars then because there were no mechanics on duty. But it was convenient. Michael Abercia had a second security job outside county government that started -- you guessed it -- at noon.
It's not the only reason Michael Butler was worried about what 13 Undercover would find if we took a closer look at all those patrol car records.
"It ain't gonna look good on TV if them (expletive) go out there with that (expletive) inventory sheets and say, 'Where are all these cars? Why are they not in service?'" Butler said.
You mean these cars? We found them parked at a toll road facility off the Northwest Freeway -- more than a dozen Precinct 1 cars. Most have rarely been used; some have never been driven. We found four Crown Vics with 0 miles on them, and they were bought two years ago. Money wasted, while deputies were being laid off.
"Two years? That's a tremendous waste of money," we told Jack Abercia.
"Right, and I know you mentioned my son, but you need to go one step further. Mr. Butler was in charge of that stuff, not me," he replied.
"Did you know about that?" we asked him.
"No I didn't know about it," he said.
"What are you going to say to taxpayers who are going to scream bloody murder?" we asked Harris County Pct. 1 Chief Deputy J.C. Mosier.
"I think they are going to have reason to scream bloody murder in some instances," he replied.
Constables May Walker and Victor Trevino still face ongoing criminal investigations. Both deny wrongdoing. And 13 Undercover, we're still on the trail of what one critic calls a culture of corruption and cronyism here in Harris County.
(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more 13 Undercover »13 undercover, wayne dolcefino
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Is There a Houston Real Estate Bubble?
The real estate bubble refers to the bursting of the real estate market based on economic instability. It is what a lot of consumers worry about prior to investing their money in real estate. Realtors believe that real estate markets cannot crash because of several key factors. The real estate market is based on local or micro-local economies that are more stable than the world economy. They also believe that the real estate market is actually a compilation of local economies that have never been down since the 1960s.
The Houston real estate market has been subject to a lot of "bubble" rumors in recent years. Houston has seen a decline in its job market in the recent years, making Houston quite unpopular among professionals. Although living in Houston is fairly affordable, its lack of professional opportunities, compared to other urban areas, makes it less preferable. This may be one of the reasons behind the Houston real estate bubble. Local realtors, however, believe that the local economy is growing, and real estate sales have not declined significantly. This is accompanied by promising projections of more careers available in the years to come.
Real estate agents believe that the Houston real estate bubble has no basis at all, contending that real estate price appreciation rates may be considered high at almost 4 percent. Desirable neighborhoods in Houston still fetch high prices and may be sold even higher in a few years or when properties are developed further. Houston offers a little bit of everything, which makes it appealing to young families, especially with the insurgence of computer industries that are setting up facilities in Houston. The number of educational institutions in Houston that offer students a competitive edge over other areas also attracts a lot of individuals to Houston. Aside from these, Houston, despite being the fourth most populous city in the United States, has a fairly low crime rate. All these reasons make it quite improbable that the Houston real estate market will crash and never come back.
Houston Real Estate provides detailed information on Houston Real Estate, Houston Real Estate Agents, Houston Real Estate Schools, Houston Real Estate Listings and more. Houston Real Estate is affiliated with Austin [http://www.i-TexasRealEstate.com].