Keeping up with the Kubosh

Houston's red light cameras not about to stop: Despite vote, could be up tillMarch 15 as crusader steps back

Getting rid of the voted-down red light cameras is anything but simple.
Are the red light cameras staying till March?
Photo by Barbara Kuntz

Houston's red light cameras are overstaying their welcome, but that's not going to stop activists from opposing the continued issuing of citations after Houstonians voted to oust the robot photographers last week.

"The city signed a bad contract," says anti-red-light-camera campaign manager Philip Owens, who presented his case at a Tuesday morning meeting of City Council. Houston's deal with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions doesn't terminate until May of 2014, and because of a 120-day termination notice contractual clause, the city doesn't want to flick the switch to turn off the cams until March 15, 2011.

In the interim, the city is still dispersing traffic tickets to the speedy drivers who fall under the judgmental cameras' watch and maintaining they must be paid, much to Owens & Co.'s chagrin.

"There were three other speakers, all asking that the cameras be taken down immediately," Owens tells CultureMap. He describes the council's response as largely supportive, with Jolanda Jones, C.O. Bradford, Ed Gonzalez and Melissa Noriega among those echoing his campaign's movement.

"We trust City Council," Owens says, "but the voters are going to hold them accountable."

Randall Kallinen, an activist and civil rights attorney also put in his two cents, expressing willingness to file a class action lawsuit if the city continues to dole out tickets. That stance echoes the cause's original mastermind, Paul Kubosh, who's backing down from his formerly virulent stance and letting the city sort out a potential suit with ATS.

"What it comes down to is, 'How much of Kubosh can you stand?,' " he says. "I think we made our point. This thing's over — they're going to take down the cameras and if they still want to ticket people after this vote, they've go to deal with that at the ballot box."

Why the sudden back down?

"I got real angry, and a lot of the media published that," Kubosh says. "I like to think that a lot of people felt the way I did. It's still very crazy to me." Kubosh was not present at today's council meeting.

Owens, the heir apparent to the Kubosh cause, is awaiting the certification of the Election Day results on Nov. 15 before he moves forward.

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family