With Hestiancy, I’m Supporting Annise Parker For Mayor Of Houston

With some hesitancy, I’m supporting Annise Parker for Mayor of Houston.

(Above–Annise Parker)

Ms. Parker, our current Houston City Controller, is the best bet to address issues of importance to Houston’s poor and working class. Ms. Parker is the candidate most likely to pursue anything approaching a liberal and progressive agenda that involves social, environmental and economic fair play.

Though all three serious candidates for Mayor of Houston are Democrats, each has run to the right so as to appeal to Republicans. It is not the fault of Democrats, and of people in Houston who could use help from government, that no credible Republican thought Houston important enough to run for Mayor.

Into this vacuum , Ms. Parker and the other leading candidates have talked at length about crime and so-called fiscal conservatism.

If you’re a Republican reading this please be clear—Annise Parker, Peter Brown and Gene Locke are Democrats. 

Nobody wants to be a victim of crime and it is the poor who are most likely to be victims of crime. Yet it must be noted that crime rates have been going down in Houston.

It is one thing to address an issue that all people are concerned about. It is another thing to use that issue to obscure the facts and to deflect attention from the wide range of critical issues that have been ignored in this empty campaign.

On economic issues, Ms. Parker’s occasional embrace of the “fiscal conservative” label has been disheartening. 

I was ready to write in support of Ms. Parker last week. However, I was given pause after the Parker campaign circulated a blog post written by my fellow blogger Martha Griffin. Ms. Parker’s campaign used Ms. Griffin’s post to appeal to so-called fiscal conservatives.

Ms. Griffin’s post discussed how Ms. Parker had saved the City of Houston taxpayer dollars in her capacity as City Controller.

That’s good. That is what Ms. Parker should be doing as Controller.   

However, fiscal conservatism is a philosophy of governance. It is about far more than how one  executes the duties of City Controller. To confuse the two is to confuse the voter. Ms. Griffin was saying that Ms. Parker has done a good job as Controller. Yet it is hard to think that this is what the Parker campaign was trying to convey in circulating the post.

Did Ms. Parker pitch herself as a fiscal conservative when she won the endorsements of the Houston Federation of Teachers, the Harris County AFL-CIO Council, HOPE Local 123 and the Service Employees International Union?

Is this what we have come to in our majority-Democrat City of Houston? If I want a fiscal conservative, I’ll vote for a Republican. The fact that no credible Republican is running suggests that voters in Houston are not as receptive to a Republican message as our 2009 Mayoral candidates seem to believe.   

Still, the union endorsements and some aspects of Ms. Parker’s record provide hope that Ms. Parker offers more to the people of Houston than she’s been advertising in her campaign.

Ms. Parker has done great work in helping low income residents of Houston gain access to banks. 

Ms. Parker has supported efforts by janitors in Houston to be better paid and to receive benefits.

Ms. Parker has a personal history of fighting for the political and social rights of people seeking a rightful place in society.

The Houston of 2009 is not of Ms. Parker’s making. We’re all trapped to some extent in a world we did not create. Ms. Parker must run a campaign that is mindful of Houston’s political climate.

That said, there is also a place for courage and for leadership. This is not a place Ms. Parker has yet realized in this campaign.

My hope is that Ms. Parker wins the chance to serve as our Mayor, and that her tenure is one dedicated to the aspirations and needs of all citizens of our city.

This post can also be found at the Houston Chronicle where I am a featured political reader-blogger. 

(For those seeking a better understanding of the social, environmental and economic landscape of Houston, the book Energy Metropolis–An Environmental History of Houston and the Gulf Coast connects many of the dots.)

Democrats Parker, Locke & Brown Must Earn Support Of Liberals, Progressives & Democrats

Recent stories in the Houston Chronicle detail tough conditions for people in Houston and all of Harris County.

These stories have reported…  

High rates of domestic abuse….

Houston leading the nation in teen mothers….

and

Low rates of health insurance in our city and area.

All these concerns are directly connected to the economic distress that is inherent to much of Houston even when we are not in a recession.

You’d think that with all three serious candidates for Mayor of Houston being Democrats, that these issues and concerns about poverty in our city would be part of the discussion as we approach Election Day.

The three candidates are Annise Parker, Gene Locke and Peter Brown. 

Health care reform is clearly a local issue and it is an issue currently on the table in Washington. When you’re a Democrat and you’re running for Mayor of a city of two million people, you’d think the prospect of health care for all would be a matter you’d address.

How can liberals, progressives and people in Houston who need some help count on any of these three Democrats when they are silent on such a big question?

Don’t believe the lie that City of Houston elections are non-partisan. Party identification can’t be made known on the ballot, but candidates are certainly free to identify themselves with a political party during the campaign. All three of the main candidates are Democrats.

If Republicans in Houston want to vote for one of these Democrats they are clearly free to do so—But these folks are Democrats. 

Ms. Parker, Mr. Locke and Mr. Brown are making calculations about who matters based on who they expect to vote in November. Other people, no matter how much in need they may be, don’t seem to count.

Liberals, progressives and loyal Democrats need to be sure they are not pushed aside in a race that they should in fact be defining.

All Three Candidates For Houston Mayor Are Democrats—Where Is Comment On Senator Kennedy And Health Care Reform?

All three leading candidates for Mayor of Houston are Democrats. These candidates are Annise Parker, Gene Locke and Peter Brown.

Despite the fact that these candidates are all Democrats, none I’m aware of have yet to comment on the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. None have offered any support to health care efforts that might well help many uninsured citizens of Houston get coverage. Health care reform was a lifetime concern of Senator Kennedy.

Health care reform is an issue with a direct impact on Houston.

These three candidates have actively sought out the support of local Democrats in Houston. I hope that these Democrats running for Mayor see party affiliation as more than simply something to be used when it suits them and ignored when inconvenient.

Not one serious Republican in Houston thought his or her city was worth putting forth a Republican vision for the future of Houston. Democrats should fill this void with strong leadership that puts the values of the Democratic Party at the center of where Houston should move in the years ahead.    

The lie is that our Houston city elections are non-partisan. The fact is that candidates for city office can and often do make note of their party affiliation. It is time for the Democratic Party in Houston and Harris County to assert control of Houston City Government that voters of Houston seem prepared to allow at the ballot box.  

(Update–Gene Locke has made a Twitter comment on Senator Kennedy’s death. That’s a small start.)

I May Have Rushed To Judgement In Next Year’s Race For Mayor Of Houston

As I recall, the term “rush to judgement” came into wide popular usage when Johnnie Cochran used the line while defending O.J. Simpson. Mr. Cochran spoke the phrase in his opening statement.

I’m going to borrow that line from Mr. Cochran (R.I.P.)

I may have rushed to judgement in my view of who should be the next Mayor of Houston, Texas. The election will be held in November of 2009.

There are, at this point, two leading Democratic contenders. City Controller Annise Parker and City Councilmember Peter Brown.

I’ve always had a visceral negative reaction to Ms. Parker. I’m now questioning if this reaction has been fair. 

Ms. Parker very often uses terms that allude to, or directly refer to, ideas like pragmatism and only seeking to get done things that, in her view, are politically obtainable. 

Ms. Parker’s language frustrates me. I feel that politics is at core about imagination. A political figure begins with an idea, sometimes even an idea that does not seem likely to suceed at first, and then works to see her idea become a reality.

Ms. Parker has reminded me at times of current Houston Mayor Bill White. In my observation, Mayor White is often simply dismissive of ideas that do not conform with his immediate agenda. He’s obnoxious and unimaginative in that way. 

What has given me a second thought about Ms. Parker was that as I was doing some research for another post, I came across an anti-poverty event she attended with former Presidential candidate John Edwards. Ms. Parker has had a standing concern about easier access to banking for low-income citizens of Houston.

Up to now I have been supporting Councilmember Brown. I felt that, when you got down to it, Councilmember Brown was to the left of Ms. Parker.

But just as I learned something about Ms. Parker that shifted my view, I also learned something about Mr. Brown that gave me pause.

In August, Mr. Brown attended a Republican fundraiser that had as featured speaker Karl Rove. I don’t believe Mr. Brown is a Republican. But I did feel that the whole thing was screwy. Just why would an elected Democrat, ( You can take a hike with that non-partisan municipal election junk) go to an event featuring Karl Rove?

Is this the kind of goofball campaign we are going to see from Mr. Brown?

So I’m going to wait and see on the question of who should be the next Mayor of Houston. I’m going to give Ms. Parker a new look and turn a harder eye to Mr. Brown. I may still end up supporting Mr. Brown, but I don’t want to make a “rush to judgement.”

Recovery As An Act Both Of Rebuilding & Imagination —After Hurricane Ike Post #4

It’s evident enough to anybody in Houston that what we will narrowly define as “recovery” is still some weeks away from being completed. The restoration of power, cleaning of debris, and repair of homes and business places will be an involved process. 

( Above–Conditions as they were one week ago)  

For many school kids however, the gig may be up. Houston schools and the large suburban Cypress-Fairbanks school district will at least be partially open on Monday. The snow days I got as a kid were better than hurricane days I’d say. The snow would melt with little enough damage to people’s homes and lives.

In Houston, many traffic lights are still out or blinking red. Conversations I overhear on the street or in restaurants are still about who has power and who does not. Power may be on in a home, but the cable TV might still be out. 

Reports today from the island nation of Haiti show the effects of this year’s tropical storms and hurricanes, including Ike, on this poor part of the world. Floods have washed away much of the crops.

While most in Houston have taken the effects of Hurricane Ike in good stride, I wish we had the ability to better place events and problems in the fullest possible context. I say this about myself as well. We often don’t have much sense at all about what is a real problem and what is just a hassle.

In Galveston, of course, conditions are much worse than just a hassle.

At the top of this post I said we will likely use what I term a “narrow” definition of recovery to describe efforts to help Houston, Galveston, and other communities impacted by Ike. I say this because so much work was already needed in our communities to make the Houston area a more decent place to live.

I can’t place much trust in the same leaders and in the same civic structure, such as it is in Houston, that has so often been nowhere to be found when people need help.  

It would be great to see in upcoming weeks potential candidates for Mayor of Houston in next year’s election, such as Peter Brown and Annise Parker, outline a vision for Houston that helps people move away from being one bad hurricane away from economic and personal disaster. We know that before any hurricane, many in our area lived in what might as well be termed disaster conditions of poverty and hopelessness.

In Galveston, rebuilding must involve all people. It can’t be about just those who can build new and bigger homes more suitable to a weekend community. People are going to need a better Galveston for everyday living.

Recovery is about the needed work to fix things that are broken and blown away. It is also about the imagination required to help make our area better than what it was before the storm.

Because He Made Me A Friend On Facebook, I Endorse Councilmember Peter Brown For Mayor Of Houston In 2009

As I’ve posted before on this blog, I’ll endorse any Democrat running for public office who makes me a friend on Facebook.

I do this out of a general tendency to vote for Democrats, a respect for the logical coherence of straight-ticket voting, a belief in the idea of political parties, and because , as the fact I’m blogging suggests, I want attention.

( As a blogger, I want to put forth my views, seek influence, gain attention, and obtain patronage. It depends on my mood as to which of these things I seek the most. While I think patronage may be hard to get, if  Mr. Brown is elected Mayor I will ask him for a job as Houston’s lighthouse keeper. I need work that won’t get in the way of my blogging.) 

Today I was made a friend on Facebook by Houston City Councilmember Peter Brown. Mr. Brown is running for Mayor of Houston next year. 

While Mr. Brown will likely be running against other Democrats in the first round of voting next year, he’s the candidate I was likely to support in any case.   

Now I’m certain I will support Mr. Brown. Please click here to view Mr. Brown’s campaign web page.   

Mr. Brown joins Texas House District 29 candidate Kevin Murphy on my endorsement list. Mr. Murphy made me a friend some weeks ago. 

I will add each campaign to my blogroll. I’ve created a new ” Campaigns I Support” list at the bottom of my longer blogroll.

Peter Brown & Kevin Murphy! Clearly the best!

I Voted Yes On Houston School Levy So Kids Can Take More Civics Classes And Question Legtimacy Of Political Structure Unable To Address Global Economy And Climate Change

I voted this morning in our Houston city elections. I voted just a few minutes ago. I did not get the sense of high turnout.

High turnout would require voters that care, a Republican Party that thought Houston was worth fighting for, and a Democratic Party that had the competence and imagination to make at least some effort to generate turnout of Democratic voters.

We don’t have any of those things in Houston.

For Mayor of Houston I voted for Amanda Ulman. I posted about this last week. Bill White did not need my vote and voters deserve options.

Can you imagine that not one Republican in Houston cared enough about his or her city to run and offer competing ideas in contrast to Mayor White to our citizens? 

I voted forJolanda Jones for Houston At-Large Position 5. Hopefully she’ll make it to a run-off and the sneaky Zaf Tahir will not. Please click here to read about Mr. Tahir and the things he has been up to as a candidate.

I voted for Melissa Noriega and Peter Brown in other at-large Council races. I’m looking forward to Mr. Brown’s possible candidacy against Annise Parker for Houston Mayor in 2009. I think Mr. Brown will offer a hopeful vision for Houston in sharp contrast to the deadening business-as-usual pragmatism that characterizes Ms. Parker’s type of politics.     

In addition to the city candidates, there were a number of important school levies, county bond issues and Texas statewide matters on the ballot.

I voted yes on the Houston school levy because we need to prepare these kids to have the civic awareness to realize that both major parties are selling them down the river on the global economy and climate change.

I think that with a few more social studies, civics and history classes, kids might begin to ask questions about the basic legitimacy of a system that either cannot or will not address the most important issues of the future.