Houston Blogs: Houston Political Blog

Police Union "doubling down" on its choice for Mayor

2009-11-20T09:29:26-06:00

Many Houstonians have said that public safety is one of their top concerns for the city of Houston. Now, one candidate is attacking the other as being weak, but the other candidate is hitting back.

The widow of HPD Officer Tim Abernathy and other members the Houston Police Officer's Union raised the stakes Thursday. They not only reiterated their support for Gene Locke, but also attacked Annise Parker as a candidate without a plan on improving public safety

"Every question that would move the police department forward, Gene had the right answer to and Ms. Parker would not," said Union President Gary Blankenship.

But Parker shot back Thursday, pointing out that she's had public safety plan on her website since August, promising that she "will protect the police department budget in this economic downturn."

"My goal as mayor is to make sure we have the best trained, best equipped and best paid police officers in the state," she said.

Locke says he too has a plan on his website and his main objective is to find more money for the police department.

"One of the things I want to do is try to find the money necessary to put more officers on the street, starting with overtime," he said.

Parker has challenged the HPOU to release or post the videos of the screenings the union conducted. However, when we asked Blankinship about the video, he said they only had the video of Locke's screening. The "tape ran out" when it was time to screen Parker, he said.

Our political consultant, Dr. Richard Murray, says Locke should showcase the police union endorsement because he says it could be an effective campaign tool and this is one race the union doesn't want to be wrong.

"These public safety unions, police and fire, have a huge stake in the election," said Dr. Murray. "It's interesting they made a bet on Gene Locke, and now they're doubling down."

Dr. Murray says neither candidate wants to appear weak on crime. While Locke has received the largest police union's endorsement, three smaller law enforcement unions have endorsed Parker.

Parker and Locke will debate live on ABC13 on Tuesday, December 1 at 8pm. We will have live coverage, both on TV and here on abc13.com. And if you want to ask a question to be used in the debate, you can send it in here.

Blakemore hosts meeting between Locke Campaign & Morales

2009-11-19T18:26:55-06:00

Update: Kim Devlin, Senior Advisor to the Locke campaign, wanted to pass along a few notes. Devlin says that Since Christian Archer joined the campaign in June, there has been no discussion of hiring Blakemore. In addition, Devlin says Blakemore is not among Locke's group of paid advisors, nor among his cadre of key supporters.

Blakemore has always said he doesn't work for Democrats anyway.

There has been a lot of rumors swirling around what Steven Hotze and his Political Action Committee will or won’t do during the run up to the December 12^th election. The widespread belief is that Hotze’s PAC, Conservative Republicans of Texas, will pay consultant Allen Blakemore a pretty penny to print mailers attacking Annise Parker’s sexual orientation. So far, that hasn’t happened.

But a lot of other things are on the record.

Just yesterday, Allen Blakemore hosted a lunch time meeting in his office between Christian Archer and Roy Morales. Archer is Locke’s campaign manager, and Morales is the Republican who finished with about 20 percent of the vote during the November election. Blakemore is Hotze’s consultant, but everyone involved says the meeting was not about attack ads. Rather, the meeting took place because Locke’s campaign wanted Morales’ endorsement. The topics were focused on financial and tax issues. This was confirmed by all sides present at the meeting.

According to Locke’s campaign, Morales sent both Parker a letter saying he intended to send a mailing to his voters with Gene and Annise's answers to 5 topics, and they were meeting because of that proposed mailing. However, Blakemore told me over the phone that he held the meeting in his office because he thought it was a “good idea” and it would be “good for Roy” if he endorsed Locke.

After about an hour, nothing happened. Morales told me he decided not to endorse anyone right now. Blakemore told me he thought it was an hour not very well spent.

Earlier this week, Locke said he met with Hotze “because I meet with all Houstonians.” He said he asked Hotze before the November elections for his support, Hotze endorsed someone else, and they haven’t had contact since.

While Locke may not have spoken with Hotze or Blakemore much, it’s clear that Blakemore’s had semi-consistent contact with parts of Locke’s campaign. Blakemore’s told me that on several occasions. Blakemore says he’s Republican, and he won’t work for Democrats, even though Locke’s campaign staffers have asked him several times if he’s interested in working with Locke. Blakemore, though, is offering up free advice here and there. It’s clear that Blakemore is relishing his role as an uncommitted, unpaid player.

The day after the November election, he told me during an interview that it’s clear that Republicans will gravitate toward Locke’s business background, and that Parker’s sexual orientation will drive voters away. This afternoon, Blakemore says he still has not been paid by anyone, including Hotze, in relations to this Mayoral race. He says Hotze still has not made a decision on whether to jump in the race with his money yet. In addition, he says no decisions are imminent because both Blakemore and Hotze have family weddings to attend this weekend.

Police Union increases pressure in Mayoral Race

2009-11-19T11:58:13-06:00

The Houston Police Officers Union, HPOU, is putting an all out effort to get their guy, Gene Locke, elected as the next Mayor of Houston. Before the November election, the Union sent out two targeted mailers on behalf of Gene Locke. One of the mailers featured the widow of Officer Tim Abernathy talking about her husband and the need for Gene Locke to be elected Mayor.

Once Locke made it into the runoffs, the Union's efforts have increased. Yesterday, HPOU sent out a press release accusing Annise Parker of week on crime. The release alleges that Parker has threatened to take apart the Police Department, and the Union says it's "lost confidence" in Parker.

Gary Blankinship, president of the 5,000-plus member Houston Police Officers' Union stated, "Our organization screened all the candidates and found Gene Locke to be, without equivocation, the only candidate to make the commitment to increase officers on the streets of our city and in the investigative divisions so that HPD officers can do a better job of protecting the people of Houston.
...
Although HPOU has endorsed Parker in her previous campaigns, she has on several occasions been on the opposite side of Houston Police.

Today, the Union is prepared to turn up the rhetoric even more. It's holding a news conference with the widows of both Officers Abernathy and Rodney Johnson. The Union will make an effort to paint Parker as weak on crime.

It will be interesting to see how Parker responds. Parker has said publicly that she wants Chief Harold Hurtt out. Meanwhile, Chief Hurtt made an appearance at Gene Locke's party on election night. Parker lost the HPOU endorsement, but has been endorsed by several smaller law enforcement unions that represents both police and Sheriff's Deputies.

Will the Union's efforts pay off? We're heading to the news conference and you can watch later tonight on eyewitness News.

Mayoral race getting rougher

2009-11-18T10:28:30-06:00

It's been a pretty quiet race, at least until now. Now there are new accusations on both sides in the run-off race for mayor of Houston.

As we are getting closer to the December run-off, the attacks have definitely increased. Gene Locke and Annise Parker are trying to differentiate themselves from each other. The biggest question is, will voters be paying attention?

In the hunt for voters, the last thing Locke and Parker want to hear is an opinion like Peter Diama's.

He said, "These two guys, I don't know. You can flip a coin."

So at forums they are sharpening their attacks on each other.

Locke said, "The reality is when (Parker) came in as city controller, she immediately, first year, opposed a tax cut that Bill White was suggesting."

In an email sent today, Locke's campaign says Parker voted against lower taxes, opposed capping homestead values and will raise taxes as mayor.

Parker disputes that, saying she was simply trying to protect needed city services.

"I have voted against lowering taxes on several occasions, when certain council members made motions that would have gutted the budget," she responded.

In return, Parker's campaign says Locke has ethical problems. Pointing out that his law firm, Andrews and Kurth, made millions from local government work and that clients like METRO and the sports authority create conflicts of interest, a criticism Locke calls disingenuous.

Locke said, "I am going to resign from Andrews and Kurth upon taking the office of Mayor. And the reason I have pledged to resign is because it will eliminate any possibility of a conflict of interest."

Neither candidate apologizes for the sharper tone.

"It's all about full disclosure," Parker said.

ABC13 Political Consultant Dr. Richard Murray says it might finally get some voters interested.

"It's a totally new game now," he said. "With a reset election, more people will vote in the run-off than in the first round. That will likely determine the election outcome, and they don't know who they're going to work for at this point."

Both Parker and Locke have pledged in this economy, they will not raise taxes if elected mayor. They've also said that public safety and the economy are their top priorities.

The Job Hunt..

2009-11-16T19:45:00-06:00

With Mayor Bill White's tenure at City Hall winding down, more and more staffers are finding other places to land. Though White's long time right hand man, Michael Moore, has not said publically where he will land, other senior staffers are finding new employment.

White's Director of Communications, Frank Michel, will be heading to the Texas Heart Institute, where he will head up the public relations division. His last day is the end of the week. With 160 doctors in the institute, I'm sure Michel will be busy. Meanwhile, Press Secretary Pat Trahan will be making the transition to the Houston Fire Department. Let's hope Trahan will help the department move away from the Friday late afternoon news releases. That's what happened last Friday with the suspected Heights arsonist arrest. The news release was sent out so late in the day that it even caught some Senior Command Staff at the fire department off guard.

City Attorney Arturo Michel, who came from the private sector, is expected to head back into the corporate world. So far, Ann Travis, the Mayor's Director of Government Affairs, has not said where she will go. Travis is the former District Director for then Majority Leader Tom DeLay. She's got lots of connections on all sides of the aisle, so she should be landing somewhere fairly high profile.

A number of career civil servants in City Hall are expected to stay put, that includes the Director of Special Events Susan Christian, who manages to keep track of all those parade routes year after year.

It brings to question who will be populating the new Mayor's inner circle, whenever the new Mayor is elected. Janice Evans, who has been Controller Annise Parker's right hand woman for quite a while, is expected to remain with Parker should she win the election. As for Locke, since he is not a current elected official, he doesn't have a chief of staff that would obviously move with him to City Hall should he win.

Make no mistake about it, there are plenty of people who are angling for jobs, and a few who want to return to a city job. For example, I ran into Jordy Tollet (the former head of the Convention and Visitors Bureau) a few months ago. He made it very clear to me that he would love to return to City Hall, and have been chatting with the mayoral candidates to see if that can be accomplished. Similarly, almost-candidate Bill King is widely rumored to be eyeing the job as head of the Board at METRO. King has never denied the rumor the few times I've asked him about it.

So there you have it, the musical chairs have started at City Hall, we'll just have to see where all the pieces fall.

Endorsement shifts: Pastors to Locke, Brown to Parker

2009-11-10T13:35:00-06:00

A week after the November election, Annise Parker’s campaign appears to be gaining some steam. On Tuesday afternoon, Peter Brown, the third place finisher in the race, threw his support behind Parker. The endorsement follows a series of analysis by local political watchers that showed Parker either winning or finishing a strong second in many of the precincts. In fact, Parker's campaign manager Adam Harris feels so strongly about their position that he released an internal memo. Download Parker-internal

The endorsement by Brown should help solidify her inside The Loop base, something she already had a pretty strong foothold in anyway.

However, the endorsement game isn’t a simple one to play. Locke and Brown were stuck in a back and forth debate over who had the endorsement of the African American community. Brown had three prominent African American ministers on his side. After Brown backed Parker, Pastor William Lawson, Bishop James Dixon, and Rev. D.Z. Cofield switched sides. They moved from Brown to Locke. That means Brown’s supporters will probably split, something our political consultant Dr. Richard Murray has predicted all along. Half will go to Parker, half will go to Locke.

Is that confusing enough? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. With Locke and Parker very similar on the issues, the biggest voting bloc of questionable voters are actually the conservatives. Voters in Republican heavy West Houston, Kingwood, and Clear Lake have no natural candidate to gravitate toward. Some politicos have said they will stay home. Others wonder if conservatives are less likely to vote for an African American or an openly gay woman. Either way, I think a good number of this crucial voting block will be showing up. These are dedicated voters. They vote for the school board, they vote for bonds, they even turn up for precinct chair elections.

So, let the campaign continue.

Beverly Kaufman's not-so-secret plan

2009-11-06T11:52:00-06:00

A few weeks ago, when Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman announced she wouldn't run for re election, I didn't think it was a big deal. Kaufman's always been friendly, and very available to the media during election season. She's always good for a "find your precinct and go vote" sound bite.

When she announced her retirement, I assumed there would be a jockeying of candidates from both Democrats and Republicans. On the Dem side, several names have been bantered about, including Sue Schechter. On the Republican side, while there have been talk of several semi-notables, the main guy is shaping up to be Kevin Mauzy. Who is he? Mauzy has been Kaufman's chief deputy for years, and Kaufman quickly endorsed him as HER choice.

To be frank, I didn't give this much more thought until we taped an elections edition of "City View", ABC 13's public affairs show about three weeks ago. During a typical segment on voting, Harris County Clerk PR man Hector DeLeon brought Mauzy to our TV studios.

"Where's Kaufman?" I asked.

"She wasn't available," answered DeLeon.

The taping went on as normal, and we talked about early voting, precincts and all the run-of-the-mill stuff. Fast forward to Monday, the day before the election. I called up the Clerk's office again, asking for an interview with Kaufman. DeLeon once again said she wasn't available, but that Mauzy was. Really? The day before the election? That's when I asked DeLeon if this was all to get Mauzy more TV time. DeLeon laughed and said "You'll have to ask her, I can't answer that."

Good thing I run into Kaufman a lot. Yesterday, while covering Prof. Barton Smith's bi-annual chat about the Houston economy, I ran into Kaufman and Mauzy at the luncheon.

"Are you trying to get Mauzy in front of the TV cameras so he'll have an advantage?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious what I'm trying to do?" Kaufman answered with a big grin. "It's called earned media, it's very important."

We chatted a bit more about Kaufman's plan. Basically, during the run-up to the November election, she tried to hand over every on camera media request to Mauzy. she plans to continue doing that as we get closer to the December run-off. The idea is to give Mauzy free TV exposure, and valuable name ID. In addition, since most of the questions asked by the media are mundane, uncontroversial clerk stuff, it's easy to sound like you know what's going on.

Basically, Kaufman's trying to give Mauzy the "air of incumbency" without being an incumbent or an elected official. This is not illegal, and it just might work. Think about every media outlet that will need an interview or a quote about voter turnout or polling hours between now and next March. If Mauzy's the one giving the information, then that's an advantage his opponents can't buy. It will help stave off Republican contenders, and force Democratic challengers into an even more uphill battle.

Like Kaufman said, it's obvious, and that's just fine with her, and her chosen successor.

The Election, the day after: lots of coffee.

2009-11-04T12:42:07-06:00

Bleary-eyed politicians dutifully drudged to their day jobs after a long night of both reveling and loathing the election results. One thing good about election nights is that there are definite winners and losers. That was the case this time around as well.

First up, the Mayor's race. After spending more than $3 million of his own money, Council Member Peter Brown managed to finish in third. He was just barely ahead of Roy Morales, the little-known candidate with very little money. It was a surprisingly poor showing for a man who poured so much resources in the campaign. Controller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke were the big winners. With Parker just a few percentage points ahead of Locke.

The Mayoral results this first round were certainly a relief to Locke's campaign. Even though he had the support of both the Police and Fire Unions, as well as former Mayor Bob Lanier, Locke's campaign didn't run as smoothly as many experts had anticipated. Now the battle between Locke and Parker for the run-off should certainly perk up the election. Parker will have her work cut out for her. Even though she is ahead, Locke's got the backing of a lot of institutional powerhouses, including downtown businesses, and the Houston Association of Realtors, etc. He's also out-raised her on the money front as well. It will be interesting to see where the Morales and Brown supporters go.

The Controller's race also yielded a surprise. Council Member Ronald Green was the front-runner going in, but many political insiders had expected him to go into the run-off facing well-financed Pam Holm. Instead, by just a sliver of voters, fellow Council Member MJ Khan edged her out. It will be interesting to see if Green's team questions Khan's nagging issue of residency. Does Khan live in Houston or not? It's a question that's been raised a multitude of times, but so far, voters haven't paid much attention.

Finally, incumbent council members Jolanda Jones and Sue Lovell will both face run-offs. This has to be disappointing to their campaigns, as usually incumbents at City Council get fairly easy election cycles.

It's now a sprint to the finish for the December 12th run-off election. A low turnout is expected, so every vote counts!

The election returns

2009-11-03T19:31:09-06:00

With the latest votes showing Annise Parker ahead, a loud roar went up in the Hilton Americas ballroom.

8:31 p.m. 12.8% reporting

Gene Locke: 19,342 27%
Annise Parker: 20,640 29%
Peter Brown: 17,711 26%
Roy Morales: 12,171 17%

7:15 p.m. early vote:

Gene Locke: 17,183 29%
Annise Parker: 17,169 29%
Peter Brown: 15,387 26%
Roy Morales: 9,451 16%

The Pre-Results election day story!

2009-11-03T18:25:02-06:00

Miya Shay

It's election day! Are you ready?

2009-11-03T06:55:45-06:00

Four leading candidates who want to lead Houston as our next mayor are running out of time to win your vote. With election upon us and the early voting now over, the candidates for Houston mayor have set their sights on turning out their supporters.

"I think there will be a decent turnout on Election Day. I think that a lot of Houstonians now who are focused on the race and who will actually go out and vote," said former City Attorney Gene Locke.
Experts have been predicting a lower than expected turnout, and so far that's holding true in the early voting numbers.

In 2003, during the last openly contested mayoral election, 76,285 early votes were cast. This year, the number is down to 71,368. Absentee ballots are holding a similar trend with 17,583 in 2003, and so far just 10,759 this year.

"The early vote shows that the vote is a little down than in 2003, but in the end we may have a large turnout on Election Day," said Hector de Leon of the Office of the Harris County Clerk.

The clerk's office says as the race among Gene Locke, Peter Brown, Roy Morales and Annise Parker has heated up, that turnout may increase for Election Day. But not every mayoral candidate is worried.

"I have a strong and deep base of community support. It really doesn't impact me whether it's a low turnout or a high turnout," said Parker.

Polls are open from 7am to 7pm today!

A busy week ahead...

2009-10-26T10:58:20-05:00

We are in the home stretch now. Just one more week and it will be election night. Finally, the race is getting heated! Yesterday, Gene Locke and Peter Brown held dueling press conferences. Brown at 1:30pm, Locke at 3:00pm. Both men had supporters and campaign signs waving everywhere, and both men indicated that this campaign combat shows no signs of stopping.

This explosion of controversy is more than just last minute campaign theatrics by guys who want to be mayor. Sure, it keeps those of us who cover this stuff entertained, and it gets the candidates much needed free media coverage. On a deeper level though, it shows the power a group of people can have when they vote, and do so regularly.

Political experts have long pointed out that African Americans vote, and in far greater percentages than Hispanics. You can see the reality of this by simply going to early voting locations. Locations in predominately African American areas are generally far busier than those in largely Latino neighborhoods.

Groups that reliably vote and do so in large blocks generally get more attention from politicians, and they are not just grouped by ethnicities. We hear politicians talk about “home owners”, “working families,” and “seniors,” etc. All good buzz words. But you know what the biggest group is? Tax Payers! Congratulations, you pay taxes you vote, the candidates for Houston Mayor want you to head to the polls! Good luck.

Saving the Locke Campaign

2009-10-23T08:49:07-05:00

Finally, some controversy in an otherwise boring mayoral campaign.

Ever since the Houston Chronicle published a poll showing Gene Locke in third place, the private, high placed, hand wringing of some of Locke's most ardent supporters have become a little more public. In addition, we are finally seeing some negative campaigning. Locke's campaign has unleashed its first attack spot on Peter Brown. The spot, airing on mostly African American radio, alleges that Brown has tried to buy some of the African American ministers' support.

You'll recall that very, very early on in the campaign, Brown announced that he had the support of 100 black ministers. That included well known heavy hitters like Rev. Bill Lawson and Bishop James Dixon. Nobody paid a lot of attention to that news conference, but the pastors' endorsement has been making the rounds in Brown's radio buys. Now that Locke's campaign is basically accusing Brown of attempting to "purchase" votes, it will be interesting to see how Brown responds. I have a feeling another radio ad is coming very soon. (Maybe from both sides?)

In the meantime, I've run into several of Locke's best supporters over the past few days. Let's just say some are more optimistic than others. At an early voting location the other day, I chatted up a bold-faced name, wealthy, connected politico who helped recruit Locke. He said he voted for him, but admitted, he is not too happy with the way the campaign is going.

"How often do you talk to Gene?" I asked. "All the time," he answered, "even just yesterday."

"How often has he taken your advice," I asked. "Not yet," he answered with an obvious sense of frustration in his voice. It's the same sentiment I've run into talking to some of Locke's closest allies. They will support him until the end, but this is not turning out to be as easy as they planned.

Fortunately for Locke, other donors are more optimistic. Mayor Bob Lanier and several major supporters, including outgoing Continental CEO Larry Kellner, held a fund raiser at the Laniers home yesterday. The event was low key, but well attended. In addition, the folks at the Houston Police Officers Union are putting their muscle behind Locke. The Union is sending out several mailers on behalf of Locke. Many are targeting West-side Republicans. One of the most powerful mail pieces set to go out soon features the widow of a slain Houston Police Officer.

As one veteran Houston Police Officer told me, "Gene'll be alright."

This being politics though, people are hedging their bets. Annise Parker's campaign, feeling more confident that she'll make the runoff, is casually chatting up some Locke's major supporters. There's no supporter stealing going on, but the conversations are centering around the "what ifs." As in: "What if Locke doesn't make it, are you going to go to Brown, or would you come over to us?"

All this talk aside, our Dr. Richard Murray has still said this is anybody's game. There's no doubt Locke has a big hill to climb, but no one's saying he can't do it. Everyone just wishes this campaign is a bit more clear cut. And it will be, the day after the election!

HPD: Yea! No murders in 10 days!

2009-10-21T11:06:13-05:00

Both the Houston Police Department and City Council members were excited by one little fact: No one in the city killed anyone for ten days!

HPD sent out a news release touting this lack of violence, and council members talked about this accomplishment this morning:

For the first time in recent memory, the Houston Police Department reported no murders in the city for 10 consecutive days, from October 10 thru October 20.

“The murder rate is nearly impossible to control or predict in any city,” said HPD Chief Harold Hurtt.

He noted that the HPD’s veteran Homicide investigators cannot recall a single week in the past decade without a murder in Houston.

“We welcome this lull in violent crime,” he said, “due, perhaps, to an increased focus of police resources to hot spots throughout the city.”

Year-to-date, 232 murders have been reported in the city compared to
242 during the same time period in 2008, which represents a 4.13% decrease.

So there you go. No one murdered in 10 days. Do you feel safer now?

Red Light camera tug-o-war

2009-10-21T10:52:38-05:00

The City of Houston and Harris County are on opposite sides of the street, facing off over a plan to get drivers to pay up when they try to beat the light. It's a battle over how to punish people who don't pay their red light camera tickets.

The City of Houston believes it can collect millions of dollars in additional red light camera fees if it has a little help from Harris County. But county commissioners are not certain they want to take part.
Spend any time around a busy intersection and it's not too hard to find drivers running red lights. If that intersection is equipped with a camera, you'll get a ticket in the mail, just like driver Andre Lipkins. He's gotten two such tickets over the last two years, and admits he paid neither.

In fact, thousands of red light camera tickets have remained unpaid, leaving the City of Houston with millions of dollars of potential revenue uncollected. Now, the city wants to contract with Harris County to flag car registrations. If you don't pay the camera ticket, you don't get to renew your registration. It's an idea that's unpopular with some commissioners.

Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said, "The bottom line for me is, are we just going to cause people to end up with more fines and fees that they can't pay, and that's just going to put more people out of compliance, because these are troubled economic times."

Commissioners have put a hold on the potential contract. But over at the city, council member Sue Lovell says the county already flags registrations for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, and this idea is fairly similar. "I think probably there are some legitimate concerns, and we just need to better educate the commissioners about the fact that they already do this," Lovell said.

But commissioners are unconvinced, and until their court acts, there is nothing the city can do to force drivers to pay those red light camera tickets, though some drivers say they pay the fines anyway, to avoid potential problems. Meanwhile, the Toll Authority says it gives ticketed drivers three or four chances to pay and even holds a hearing before flagging their registration. County commissioners are expected to discuss the topic at their next meeting, but a vote isn't expected for at least a week.
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Early voting kicks off today!

2009-10-19T10:32:23-05:00

Early voting kicked off today, and most of the candidates were gathered at the West Gray Multi Service Center. It is traditionally the busiest early voting location. Mayoral candidate Annise Parker was the first major candidate to take advantage of early voting, showing up at 9 this morning. Next up, Gene Locke was expected around 11:15.

Besides the Mayoral hopefuls, I saw a handful of other candidates. Council candidates Stephen Costello, Karen Derr, and Davita Daniels were among some who greated voters.

Those who weren't there got plenty of signage around the area. In my unscientific survey, it appears that candidates Pam Holm and Jack Christie had the most signs.

Sign Vandals target Ronald Green

2009-10-16T14:03:05-05:00

Even though the city of Houston's elections are non-partisan, the very old fashioned political trick of damaging signs is alive and well. Overnight, someone stuck "Republican" stickers all over the campaign signs of Controller candidate Ronald Green.

What makes this ironic is that his two opponents, MJ Khan and Pam Holm, are Republicans. Green, meanwhile, is a Democrat. In a technically "non-partisan" election, this shouldn't be such a big deal. However, Green thinks it's a political dirty trick. We hear some Peter Brown signs got the same treatement.
Then again, we are getting close to election day, and it's just a sign of the times!

Council Member confused over SafeClear subcontractors

2009-10-16T10:25:37-05:00

There was a lot of back and forth this week as council members debated on whether or not to pass a SafeClear contract extension. Everyone agreed that the program worked, but the topic of minority participation kept the City Council debating during the meeting. Namely, several council members thought there wasn't enough minority subcontractors, even though two of the prime contractors are women, and two others are men of South Asian heritage.

"There should be more minority participation in subcontractors," said Council Member Wanda Adams. "But there is zero participation on subcontracts that's on the Safe Clear program. There are zero."

Adams' claims confused Patrick Mason, who is an African-American subcontractor with Safe Clear.
"Not only Black, you have Hispanic, you have all different races on the freeway," he said. Mason works with Jeanette Rash, a female business owner who's been an integral part of Safe Clear. In fact, six of Rash's subcontractors are minority. She even passed out a list of names to Council Members, but not everyone apparently read the list.

By the end of the meeting, a majority of council members voted to extend the Safe Clear contracts and Rash was overcome with emotion. "All I want to do is take care of the citizens, make sure they are safe and let them know we're not the bad guys," she said.

The plan has a three-year extension has been approved. There are also two one-year options that will eventually be voted on by City Council members at that time. In the meantime, some of the participants who have worked on the Safe Clear program for years are gathering together said they are now working to extend the initiative into surrounding communities.
but

Study up on Swine Flu!

2009-10-14T14:40:44-05:00

The City of Houston is attacking swine flu on the informational front. With the H1N1 virus spreading around the country, local health departments are seeing an increase number of calls and questions. Earlier today, City Council approved two different contracts to tackle the virus. It will spend $317,000 to implement a full communications plan for both the seasonal flu and H1N1. In addition, the city is spending another $190,000 to develop a high volume call center to answer your flu-related questions. A full public health campaign is also being implemented.

Term Limits Redux

2009-10-14T14:35:50-05:00

Without much fanfare, the Houston City Council agreed to the creation of a committee to study the often talked about issue of term limits. Currently, the Mayor, Controller, and City Council are elected for two years terms a maximum of three times. While the turnover does ensure fresh blood, critics have felt the short terms create a permanent fundraising cycle for the elected officials, leaving them less time to govern. In addition, it takes a few years to get the hang of City Hall, and just when council members are figuring out how everything works, they have to move on.

Mayor Bill White says he believes in term limits, but thinks the concept can be tweaked a bit. Within the next 30 days, a panel will be appointed to study the issue. White says the panel should come out with recommendations by next June. If they agree on proposed changes (for example 4 year terms with a 12 year limit) then the issue could be brought before voters next November.

A little institutional knowledge wouldn't hurt, because right now there are a lot of long time behind-the-scenes staffers running the real show.

Outgoing Mayor maps out 2010 budget for successor...

2009-10-13T23:04:20-05:00

Miya Shay

What's in a name.. in the controller's race..

2009-10-13T18:02:27-05:00

First of all, condolences to Council Member MJ Khan, whose father just passed away.

We’re sure it wasn’t intentional, but when fellow Controller candidate Pam Holm sent out a press release expressing her thoughts, she misspelled Khan’s name:

“My thoughts and prayers are with Council Member Kahn in his time of grieving after the passing of his father.”

Like I said, we’re certain it’s not intentional, but misspellings on campaign literature always make people pay attention, and not usually in a good way.

That brings us to the campaign for Controller, which has struggled to gain attention in this snoozer of a campaign season. Enter three candidates, all somewhat familiar with Houston voters because all are current city council members. However, that’s where their similarities end.

M.J. Khan, Pam Holm, and Ronald Green are about as different as they come.

First, there’s M.J. Khan. The successful business man has represented Houston City Council District F for the past few years. Originally from Pakistan, Khan has raised an impressive amount of money for his campaign. With several hundred thousand dollars in the bank, Khan just started running a TV ad this week. If you’ll notice, Khan doesn’t talk in the ad. Instead, he relies on “man on the street” type interviews to drive his point across. This is probably a smart strategy, considering Khan has a pretty heavy accent, and it might be a bit challenging to drive the point across in a 30 second ad.

Let’s move on to Pam Holm, a council member of District G. Holm is the former executive director of Scenic Houston, and is a big proponent of quality of life issues. Like Khan, Holm has also raised several hundred of thousands of dollars. She too, has launched a television ad. In her ad, Holm portrays herself as “watchdog” over the city’s dollars. She recently voted against the City of Houston budget, which is a rarity among council members. She does have a barking dog in the ad, which is either effectively drives the point across or is just extra fluff in a television commercial.

The third and final candidate is also a City Council Member: Ronald Green. Many people in the political circles had expected Green to make a bigger splash, but he hasn’t. A lawyer by trade, he’s raised a surprisingly small amount of money. There is no budget for TV ads, and the campaigning activity has been fairly light, comparatively speaking. This is a fairly big surprise. Green had served for two years as the Chair of the Fiscal Affairs Committee on City Council. That experience is considered an ideal spring board for a Controller seat. After all, he did almost nothing but budgets for two years. However, he has failed to make much hay out of his experience.

Who should you trust to count your city dollars? The real answer is, nobody knows. There is no clear front runner. Green, who many people considered would be far ahead at this point, has made a fairly small dent in the campaign for controller. Meanwhile, Khan and Holm will have to prove that they have the financial knowledge to make things happen. A war chest is nice, the ability to read a spread sheet would be better. Maybe we should give these candidates a math test?

The Debate's Winners and Losers

2009-10-09T17:57:35-05:00

The most contentious moment of the debate was over the city's budget deficit. Melanie Lawson asked, "As city controller for the past five years, why didn't you sound the alarm sooner about such a huge deficit?"

Candidate Annise Parker responded, "Actually the mayor and I are very close on our number. I've said that the operating deficit is $102 million. The mayor has said $91 million."

But candidate Gene Locke used that budget question to criticize both Controller Annise Parker and Council Member Peter Brown in one swoop.

"The reality is we've got a problem. The reality is that Peter Brown and Annise Parker have been down there, and they've not sounded the alarm on the problem," Locke said. "Quiet as a church mouse."

Were the candidates on the mark? Mayor Bill White, who isn't backing anyone in the race to replace him, says the actual budget deficit is much smaller and going down daily as the city is making cuts. "I want to say three or four weeks ago it was about $20 to 22 million left," White explained. "I think at a meeting early this week it was down to zero to five million dollars."

So were there any real winners? Council Member Peter Brown already issued a press release claiming he won the debate, but our political consultant says he was the one obvious loser.

"I thought Peter Brown probably has the least sort of style suited to television, choppy hand motions and other things," said KTRK Political Consultant Dr. Richard Murray.

Dr. Murray says since the candidates have very few policy differences, the biggest impact was how they appeared to a TV audience, and whether any of the four candidates actually looked like they could be mayor. "I thought Annise Parker looked like in control, competent," Dr. Murray said. "Gene Locke seemed to be a serious guy and showed at times some passion in discussing issues."

Dr. Murray says Roy Morales, the fourth candidate, has raised just a few thousand dollars, compared to the hundreds of thousands by other candidates and therefore he says Morales won't be a major factor in this election.

The current Mayor gets an award

2009-10-08T13:02:17-05:00

While people are still trying to figure out who is gaining steam in the Mayoral race, the current Mayor, Bill White, is continuing to rack some awards. Today, he received an award during Central Houston's luncheon.

In case you are wondering, the current Mayor isn't endorsing anyone.

The Debate, live blog

2009-10-07T19:04:10-05:00

8:00 The debate ends. Share your thoughts with me. Look for a complete wrap up on Eyewitness News at Ten.

7:48 All three male Mayoral candidates are wearing red dominated ties. Roy Morales just invited Disney to build a theme park in Houston.

7:39 Locke says Brown and Parker have refused to sound the alarm about the City budget: "quiet as a church mouse." Parker says she can't help if if her opponents are "confused" about the budget.

7:30 The City Budget: Morales says he will give himself, and everyone department head a pay cut. Brown says there will be no new taxes, be a more efficient goverment. Parker says no new taxes. Locke says it's not appropriate to raise taxes in tough times.

7:15 question on public safety: Locke points out he was endorsed by police union, Morales says former Mayor Lee Brown cut police cadet classes, Brown wants to get officers from behind desks to streets, Parker says safety is a main concern.

7:07 1st question: how to keep jobs in Houston. Brown answers: I want to creat an office of economic development. Parker describes Houston as a $4 billion dollar corporation. Locke points to his business plan on his website. Morales touts his conservative leadership

7:03 Debate begins! Each candidate is giving a 45 second opening statement. Everyone is on point so far. It's obvious they've prepared. A lot.

The audience

2009-10-07T18:25:07-05:00

Our studio audience of 120 people have arrived. The candidates are also here, getting their makeup and hair done. It's going to be a fun night.

First candidate arrives for the debate

2009-10-07T17:33:22-05:00

Candidate Roy Morales arrives first for the debate. He got here at 5:30. The photo shows him going through security We have several Houston Police Officers for security.

The debate background

2009-10-07T13:38:01-05:00

Update: Each candidate will have their own green room. The first person to arrive is the makeup artist for Annise Parker. Our crews are working full force. I will start live blogging soon.

The stage is set for the Mayoral Debate on ABC 13. There are four podiums, three questioners, and of course, Dave Ward as our moderator! All the excitement starts at 7!

It's Debate Day!

2009-10-07T11:06:43-05:00

What will you be looking for in tonight's debate on ABC 13? Who do you think will win? The debate starts at 7p.m. But for political junkies, the fun starts early. I'll be providing coverage and updates throughout the day on ABC 13 and on this blog! Watch for it, and see you tonight!

Fundraising numbers are in, so now let's debate!

2009-10-06T12:39:15-05:00

Gene Locke, Annise Parker, and Peter Brown all have TV commercials up, and have turned in their latest campaign finance figures.

So, what does that mean? Must be debate time! Wednesday at 7pm, all four major Mayoral candidates will be at the ABC 13 studios for a live debate. We hear they've been very busy. I'll be there covering the event, so make sure you check up on my blog for all the latest behind the scenes photos and updates.

Let's take a quick look at how things stand. On Monday, the latest financial numbers were released, and they didn’t look that promising.

City Controller Annise Parker announced that she had $223,000 cash on hand, which trails her competitors by a wide margin. Although Parker’s campaign people said that she exceeded expectations.

Former City Attorney Gene Locke’s staffers were quick to tout his $1.1 million dollar war chest in a news release yesterday. They pointed out that he raised far more money than either one of his two main competitors.

The most interesting tally came from City Councilman Peter Brown, who reported a campaign fund balance of $1.9 million. However, it’s important to note that most of his funds, $1.7 million, came from his own pocket.

So, how do we read the campaign tea leaves? Very carefully. Even though Parker has less money than her two main opponents, she’s been in elected office longer than anyone else in the campaign. She has some city wide name ID, and she was the second person to buy television advertising. Those are all aspects of the campaign that works to her advantage. However, if she’s not able to sustain the TV ads during this final month, there are going to be problems.

Locke has raised more money than anyone. That’s the good news. However, political insiders have all said they expected him to raise even more money. After all, he has the blessing of former Mayor Bob Lanier, got endorsements from the Houston Professional Firefighters and Police Officers Unions. Locke’s also got a lot of the business community support. Therefore, while he hasn’t done badly on the money front, people had higher expectations.

That brings us to Peter Brown, the man with the plan, and his own money. It is a luxury to be able to self finance a campaign. Brown’s committing more than $2 million dollars of his own money toward his mayoral aspirations. He’s been spending a lot of money on TV. He was the first to go on the air with his commercials, and currently is running his third version. The challenge, however, is whether or not Brown can actually take his high dollar campaign and make an impact.

The wild card in all of this is Roy Morales. As the only Republican in this non-partisan race, Morales certainly stands out. He’s unsuccessfully run for city office before. In addition, his distant fourth place fundraising effort makes it difficult to see how he will get in the runoff. However, what will be interesting is to see if Morales will play the spoiler. With a Republican base and a Hispanic name, Morales may get more votes than his anemic fundraising will suggest. The question is which one of the other three candidates will benefit or hurt from his campaign.