If you don’t know who Bill King is, you can read all about him here and here, but to summarize, he’s one of those civic leaders that we hear much about because he has the ability to understand numbers and give simple explanations of what they mean to you and me, average Joe’s that we are. His mission Tuesday was to breakdown the pitiful finances of Houston, tell us how we got there and hopefully what to do about it. On the first two counts, well done, the last, well, I guess I missed that part.
First off, the finances are pitiful, as we all know by now. Although Mr. King did give Bill White kudos for trying to address the pension fund problem, the uncontested fact is that Bill White left the city in a financial pickle, continuing the poor financial practices of Lee P. Brown, and adding to them by using a new 2003 law that allows city’s to borrow pension fund money and use it for general revenue. Fortunately, I don’t have to give you all the detail because Mr. King has posted his entire presentation as a pdf file: click here to download City of Houston: The Coming Financial Crisis.
A few things I highlighted from his talk:
- Bill White tried to address the growing pension by upping the years of service requirement from 20 to 25.
- Annise Parker has made significant cuts to the budget in her short time as Mayor.
- The general revenue budget doubled from $900 million under Kathy Whitmire to $1.8 billion under Bill White.
- All large urban cities have the same financial problems because of fire, police, and municipal employee unions.
- Per capita liability by the city is between $2,521 and $3,825.
- The total liabilities today are between 7.2 and 11.2 times the amount of annual revenue.
There was plenty more and I hope you take the time to read his report.
One thing that was plenty weird for a Republican meeting was the lack of love for police officers shown. Mr. King and several others observed that police can retire after 25 years, get a pension, and then get a job with another law enforcement agency. I agree that can be a problem but it can be addressed by the legislature if they desire. What struck me as odd was the tone of the discussion. Might have been just my ears but when Dale Huls attempted to defend the police by saying that they don’t work ordinary desk jobs, he was pretty much attacked for that position. Odd. For a Republican meeting, that is. Again, maybe it was just me.
Daniel McCool gave an update on the big shindig. If you haven’t purchased your tickets, you need to hop on it! Click here to reserve your seats – all county wide candidates should attend. Click here to view a flyer for the event. And if you haven’t been listening to Michael Berry lately, you need to, the dude is on fire! Check out this video that Daniel McCool made of his rant last week (this is an updated version).
And last, we have an exciting announcement from the Bay Area Republican Women and the San Jacinto Republican Women:
The San Jacinto Republican Women and Bay Area Republican Women, are pleased to announce the Grand Opening of our Harris County Republican Headquarters in Clear Lake onTuesday – August 24th from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. (See attached flyer), at 1849 El Dorado Blvd., Houston, TX 77062. (Corner of El Dorado and Space Center Blvd.)Please note that every Thursday night, starting Thursday, August 26th, will be candidates night where we will be hi-lighting certain candidates, but encourage ALL CANDIDATES to come and Meet and Greet.
That is way cool. They will have regular office hours from 10am – 6pm Mon, Tue, Wed, and Friday. On Thursdays, the hours are extended to 8pm for the candidate nights. Although I will be out of town next week, I hope they have a huge turnout for their grand opening Tuesday afternoon.
A few pictures:
