Parker wants transit, drainage to be part of legacy

Shares thoughts in interview

Steve Hawley, Mar 31, 10.

Two of Mayor Annise Parker’s top priorities are a first-class bus and rail system and better flooding infrastructure, according to a video interview conducted by the Texas Tribune. Her other top goals include protecting NASA jobs and carefully managing the city’s finances.

Mayor Parker has previously criticized METRO and recently appointed five new board members to revamp the organization. Below are excerpts from the interview, along with the approximate time markers. The full interview lasts just over half an hour.

On transit:

(5:58) “We lag virtually every other big city in mass transit. We have been blocked from federal funding for a long time. We are trying to get our first federally-funded segment of light rail off the ground, and I have a lot of challenges with that. And I want that to be part of my legacy, that we actually revamp our mass transit system [and] have a first-class bus system and a good light rail system.”

(21:02) “For a long time, we had very powerful congressmen from the Greater Houston area who actively blocked mass transit funding for Houston, and it put us behind the curve for a lot of other cities. And then once we locally funded and built our first segment of light rail, it took us awhile to get back in line for federal transit funding.
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“It wasn’t that we didn’t do a good job of lobbying for it or putting proposals that would have been received favorably by the [Federal Transit Administration], it was that we were actively blocked by Congressman [Tom] DeLay and others. ... Congressman [John] Culberson does not always agree with me on mass transit funding, but I will say again, he and I have had very cordial and productive dialogue, and when I put together my transition team to look at METRO, I invited him to put one of his people on the transition team so he could be part of the openness and transparency I’m trying to bring to government.”

On flooding and drainage:

(11:33) “Overall, I think [former mayor Bill White] did an excellent job running the city. ... The issue of flooding and drainage, that’s just one he chose not to focus on, and that’s just been a personal passion of mine for a long time. And I absolutely believe if the city is going to grow into the future, we have to be a city where we can assure people we’re going to keep water out of their homes and businesses.”

On the economy:

(7:13) “Houston is actually better off financially than probably any other big city in America. [The] Texas economy has been stronger than most other states. The Greater Houston area ... was bolstered by $4 gasoline and $100 oil. So we stayed stronger longer. We didn’t have the housing bubble so we didn’t have the collapse. But we’re not immune to what goes on nationally and internationally.”

(10:48) I don’t think I’ll have the luxury of being in the tax-cutting camp [like White]. I have said that I would not present a budget that required a tax increase this fiscal year. I’m working on that budget now - our fiscal year starts in July. But I have a $100 million gap between fixed costs and expected income right now, so it is going to be a very difficult budget to do.”

On education:

(23:25) “I’m not satisfied with the quality of public education in Houston. My youngest child ... goes to a public high school. Unlike a lot of other cities and states, I have no authority over the school system, although I feel like I have a lot of responsibility just as a citizen.
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“We have a brand new superintendent [of the Houston Independent School District], Terry Grier, who’s been there just a few months longer than I’ve been in office. If he does not do a good job, I will not be successful as mayor.”