Annise Parker, touting herself as ‘the most experienced’ among Houston’s mayoral candidates, began her public service as an active citizen in the community.
She’ has held several public offices and continues on that path by running for mayor of Houston.
Parker is currently the city controller and previously served as a city council member. Her community involvement includes a push to restore historical sites in Houston and neighborhood service as the president of the Neartown Association.
‘I come from a family of volunteers,’ Parker said. ‘My grandparents were very active in their church and their community, and I was expected to do the same thing.’
If elected, Parker would be the first openly gay mayor of Houston --‘ an unjustified red flag’ for some voters.
‘It is something that will cause some to vote for me, some to vote against me, or some not at all; however, it has nothing to do with one’s ability to be the mayor of Houston,’ Parker said.
Parker is focusing her campaign on her history of public service to prove her qualifications for mayor. As controller, she is attune to the inner financial workings of the Houston.
‘The city of Houston is in better shape financially than any other large city, especially in comparison to other places like the state of California, which is handing out IOUs instead of paychecks,’ Parker said. ‘However, there are some serious red flags, and our revenues are falling. One of the big long-term concerns is we have underfunded pension plans for our employees.’
Parker also led the effort in the creation of the city’s rainy day fund. Primarily financed by excess oil and gas revenue, the city tapped into the fund for the cleanups after Hurricanes Rita and Ike.
Parker also said Houston needs to clean up the city jail system and its crime lab.
‘I served on a committee that investigated the problems in our crime lab, its backlog of DNA and rape kits,’ Parker said.
Parker acknowledged that there are still problematic cases, which became an embarrassment to the city when Josiah Sutton and George Rodriguez were exonerated due to faulty forensic work by the city’s crime lab.
‘The (chief of police) said at that time he didn’t consider them crime lab functions, so they didn’t have enough funds or supervision,’ said Parker.
Parker also wants Houston to become a center for alternative energy.
‘With 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, I know that Houston’s future depends on a strong energy economy,’ Parker said on her campaign Web site. ‘That’s why we need to make sure that Houston not only remains the energy capital of America ‘- but also becomes the headquarters for clean, green energy development like wind, solar and biofuels.’
