I am appalled by the local television coverage of our mayor’s lack of fiscal responsibility. Undoubtedly, no one individual holds greater responsibility for our financial recklessness and our outrageous debt than Mayor Annise Parker. Let me explain why this is true.
Sure, there is blame to go around but Parker has been in control for 18 years of continuous service: six as a councilman, six as City Controller, and six as Mayor. Certainly, for the last 12 years, Parker had direct control over the City of Houston’s finances. Directly prior to serving as Mayor, Annise Parker served as Controller, which is the person responsible for the city’s fiscal management and financial reporting. The purpose of this article is to point out the falsehoods in Annise Parker’s comments and the comments by ABC13 KTRK concerning Parker’s efforts to lobby the Texas Legislature for local pension control.
Yesterday, Parker blamed the City of Houston pension crisis on the Legislature and claimed that she was unsuccessful in her efforts to gain local control of our pensions – and, ABC13 KTRK backed up Parker’s false claim. In direct opposition of this claim, Annise Parker signed an agreement with the Houston Police Officer’s Union to not lobby the Legislature for local pension control. Now you have to really think about that. Our Mayor went on TV to perpetuate a lie for no other reason than to protect her legacy. This can only be done with duplicity by ABC13. Our local media bears responsibility for the financial condition of the City because of this type of reporting and total failure to investigate false claims by city leadership.
Houston local media has never held the Mayor responsible for our fiscal condition. Annise Parker is the most responsible for many reasons and her deal with union bosses to not support local control is just one example. Parker has blessed or agreed to one bad deal after another for 18 years in exchange for the police endorsement. This is exactly why the City of Houston is bankrupt as measured by any prudent standard.
More importantly, falsehoods spewed by the Mayor and perpetuated by local media is a huge part of the fiscal problem. The public deserve to know the truth. Annise Parker’s angry lesbian politics dominated her time in office (against her promises to Westside conservatives) and fiscal responsibility was never part of her tenure. Sure, Parker has made decisions that appear and could be spun to appear as fiscally responsible but this has never been the truth. Parker is desperately trying to make sure that blame does not land on her for the City’s financial condition, which will be her legacy. Parker and Controller Green put out a bogus and completely untrue statement concerning our City’s financial condition, which was covered by several media outlets. This was yet another attempt to deflect blame for Parker’s devastatingly poor mismanagement of Houston.
Please know the facts when you got to vote. Listen to the candidates and watch out for the spin. Many are just seeking power with no hope or plan to right the sinking ship. If the media tells you that Annise Parker attempted to lobby the Legislature for local pension control, please know that she signed an agreement to do exactly the opposite in exchange for political support. If you are watching ABC13 KTRK as a local news source, please quit!
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