My name is Christopher Busby, I am a Harris County Republican precinct chair, member of the Harris County Republican Party Local Governance Committee and am president of the Houston Young Republicans*. I’m writing today to urge your consideration of my friend and Houston City Council member Steve Costello in his bid to become the next mayor of Houston.
Steve is an engineer who has set forth a plan to fix our roads, prioritize public safety and protect our taxpayer dollars by getting our city finances in order. His experience as a small business owner and City Council member grants him a unique perspective on how to change our city for the better. As a professional engineer, he is the most qualified of any candidate in the race to fix our streets and cut down on traffic. His detailed plan on pension reform, located at costelloformayor.com, provides local control and puts the power back in the hands of Houstonians instead of politicians in Austin.
Steve Costello’s fiscally conservative philosophy has benefited our great city and Houston will continue to prosper when he’s elected mayor. You have the opportunity to pick someone who will not only fix our city’s problems but develop our city in a way which will grow the economy and provide a future for generations to come. Not only as a city of Houston resident but also as a Republican leader I can think of no other candidate running who has the credentials and the political fortitude to do what’s necessary for a better tomorrow.
Now many conservatives have made some claims about Steve that I would like to address, especially in regards to Rebuild Houston. Rebuild Houston(also called the Rain Tax by opponents) is a voter approved conservatively structured finance program for city infrastructure. Rebuild Houston has been hotly debated by opponents and proponents alike. The program is a pay as you go program which will in time eliminate the city’s debt related to infrastructure and drainage. Most conservatives can agree that eliminating debt and instituting pay-as-you-go financing is not only the most conservative way to finance city’s operations but also the economically smart way. By eliminating debt we save the city millions of dollars in interest payments and prevent future generations of carrying the burden for today’s services. A false accusation has floated around for years that somehow Steve has benefitted from this program, but any level of fact checking with city records will show that Costello Inc has not accepted a city contract during his entire tenure on council.
I know many conservative and Republican voters are weighing heavily which candidate to support. I would urge them to keep in mind that Steve is the only self-identified Republican who is running for mayor and the only one who has actually served on the Houston city council. Former Kemah mayor, Houston Chronicle writer, and author of the book Unapologetically Moderate is also vying for conservative votes. Having met with Mr. King on more one occasion I find some concerns about his vision for Houston including his preference for municipal bonds (more debt) for city infrastructure over the pay-as-you-go system under Rebuild Houston. His vision on pension reform is muddled as he has both claimed opposition to and support of local control of our pension systems.
Steve Costello is a family man, a businessman, and a true example of someone who has built his success on hard work and community. You the voter have a huge decision to make in deciding who will lead our city as the next mayor. In the next few years we have many obstacles to face including a looming multi-million dollar budget deficit, soaring pension obligations, and an infrastructure in need of renewal. I have taken the opportunity to personally meet with each of the major candidates for mayor and discuss their visions for the city of Houston. While many of them are good people and have dedication, it is clear that Steve Costello is the one with the highest qualifications and a vision to move our city forward.
Christopher Busby
*Note. This does not constitute an endorsement of either the Houston Young Republicans nor an endorsement of the Harris County Republican Party Local Governance Committee.
No way in hell would I vote for this guy.
Ditto Chris to everything you stated about such a great leader, Steve Costello. As a life long Houstonian, I am thrilled that we have a man who has devoted his life to his family, built an engineering business in the Great City of Houston, and now after giving close to six years of his time to the city council, is running to be our Mayor. I have been fortunate to work with Steve for the years he has been on city council, and he is the most positive, solution oriented elected official, Ii trust him to run our city through some difficult times we will probably have in the coming years. Steve and Debbie will represent Houston in bringing in new businesses to create new jobs, and to continue to rebuild Houston to become a respected international city. Steve understands and has built the partnerships with organizations in Houston to gain local control and implement reforms to halt a financial breakdown of the city. Steve never waivers to put Houston First. And Steve is the only proven fiscal conservative running. Some that are running are all of a sudden stating they are fiscally conservative, but ALL the rest who are running have a history of liberal ideas. We need Steve Costello to lead Houston forward. I urge you to vote for Steve Costello as our next Mayor.
Steve Costello is our best chance of getting a republican and a fiscal conservative elected and get things done in a city that is 61% (D) – 39% (R). Crossover appeal is what wins runoffs
Chris,
You were not in the council chamber when Mayor Parker was raiding the Rebuild Houston Funds to pay people off on the 380 agreements. Costello voted not to do this and I could not help but think of all the times Costello said, “we have a lock box”. I, and others, told him he was completely full of it, still is. You probably also don’t remember all the times he tried to explain how this church or school was causing flooding and needed to pay the rain tax. I kept saying really, “are you sure the idiot engineer didn’t design it poorly, how much is he going to pay, hey that’s you right?” The rain tax is the largest tax increase in the City’s history, Costello’s brain child to line his own pocket, repugnant.
Costello, lied and lied about the amount of work his firm does as a subcontractor on City contracts. Stephen Costello voted for every crazy spending idea the Mayor ever wanted including the 2011 Police pension agreement which provided the City can not lobby the legislature for local control of our pensions until 2023. If you think Costello is fiscally conservative, who is liberal?
He is about to crushed, tell him I said hey!
Hey Don
So in response to your comments. My understanding is that 380 agreements are city partnerships with business for infrastructure in relation to business development.My understanding is that he also forced a change so the administration now has to disclose the funding source before a 380 project is voted on. That said as you mentioned Costello was pushing back against the mayor on that issue. 169,000 votes were cast for ReBuild, and the voters were well aware of the fee component. Voters are still free to gather signatures and repeal all or part of Rebuild Houston or specifically the drainage fee if they so choose.
The Inspector General, in the document linked above, looked into the subcontractor matter and issued the following ruling: “It has been concluded that CM Costello has not engaged and is not engaging in a conflict of interest.” Is there any evidence that Costello Inc has subcontracted work? My understanding is that city contractors also list their subcontractors.
Costello is the only candidate in this race who went to Austin during session to testify on behalf of Rep. Murphy’s local control bill. He began the very first candidate forum held w/a challenge to every other candidate to join him in advocating for local control.
I’m confident Steve will make the runoff but regardless I hope the best candidate for mayor wins.
Cheers
They should list minority sub-contractors there is no requirement for all subcontractors. It is too easy for a contractor to subcontract a soft job “Engineering” to a company without anyone being the wiser.
People vote because of the promises that are made, those promises were not kept in regards to the rain tax. I was not one of those 169,ooo. I was with the 163,000 that lost.
I for one am tired of supporting companies that can only survive because of government contracts. Engineers and others that have come to rely on government to survive are always in favor of new projects. If they can’t make it without government handouts they should cease to exist.
Costello is neither fiscal nor social conservative, so what kind of conservative is he?
In order to be a successful Mayor in a city such as Houston that is split politically right down the middle, w many swing voters, any candidate must be able to work with both sides. Steve Costello is the only conservative candidate that had presented real solutions that work to reduce the debt of previous administrations. He is the only life long conservative that has the support from the. voters, and respected by both sides of the isle.
As far as 380 agreements are concerned….they are absolutely instrumental in getting “bad neighbors” out and great new developments in. Love them! New construction good. Slums bad. Everyone wins.
Lauren do you have any idea what a 380 agreement is? Government, the city, provides grants or very low cost loans for developers to build.
Let me give you and example as to what the developers may have at risk? Zero dollars. That has happened in the past and continues to occur. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the potential to make millions without have a single dollar at risk?
Steve Costello is no conservative. I don’t think so he is as much a liberal as Chris Bell.
Chris,
I do not have to gather one signature because the Texas Supreme Court thought that he was a deceitful POS too.. He gets his legal advice from the same person as the Mayor.
Regards
From: Jim McGrath [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 9:21 AM
Subject: Mayor Parker’s Top Five
In case you missed it, Mayor Parker last night tweeted the five candidates with whom she is most closely aligned on financial and social issues to succeed her as mayor: “Bell, Costello, Garcia, McVey or Turner”
Annise Parker @AnniseParker 39s40 seconds ago
Annise Parker retweeted BOFA DEEZ
I’m not endorsing. 13 candidates but only 5 choices: Bell, Costello, Garcia, McVey or Turner.-A https://twitter.com/duhkluhat/status/643496194803679232 …
Annise Parker added,
BOFA DEEZ @DuhkLuhAT
@AnniseParker who should we elect next for mayor?
Don’t ask me, ask Annise who she sees as conservative.
I also support Costello, and believe he is the most conservative candidate electable given the mix of voters who make up the City of Houston. At some point conservatives are going to have to decide whether they want to have someone in elected office to govern, even if not perfectly aligned with their issues, or whether they just want to blog and talk about politics and complain from the outside of government.
“At some point conservatives are going to have to decide whether they want to have someone in elected office to govern, even if not perfectly aligned with their issues”
Yeah, I used to say the exact same thing. But at some point you have to realize that electing so called “moderate Republicans” yields the same results as electing Democrats. It’s true on the national level, and it’s true locally.
If Mr. Costello is so conservative then why is he Mayor Parker’s choice?
At some point we have to stop only asking the questions of ideological spectrum but ask the more important questions.
Is the candidate ethical? Do their values reflect the values of their constituents? What qualifications does the person bring to the table? What experience do they bring to the table? Are they a hard worker? Does the candidate have a vision for the office? Would the candidate do well in the office? Those are the questions I ask before looking at ideology.
Still the contention that moderate Republicans are no different than democrats is strange. I can’t imagine a president Romney(moderate) would have been all that similar to a president Obama.
Mainstream, you supported Annise Parker am I correct?
Mainstream, you supported Bill White over Orlando Sanchez, am I correct?
Mainstream, you supported Lee P. Brown over Orlando Sanchez, am I correct?
Just curious, since when have you been interested in Houston having a conservative government?
No,I am a longtime and loyal supporter of Orlando Sanchez, even supporting him when he ran against Scott Hochberg for state house in the 1990s. I was a pollwatcher for Orlando in Third Ward when he ran against Lee Brown, and had my vehicle scratched in retaliation.
Good for you (mainstream), I probably know you then, I hear he may be considering running for County Judge.
I appreciate Chris Busby. However it has been very clear to me that Costello = Parker. Over the years that hand up the back of his shirt has been Mayor Parker moving his mouth.
Gentleman,
I thought the Texas Supreme Court decided the ethical question when it came to Costello.
The GLBT candidate is Slyvester and he bought the endorsement fair and square. Supporting Costello and claiming he is conservative dilutes the GLBT vote. Cindy Clifford is going to be upset so don’t make me send her to your homes and gather up your GLBT cards and start your indoctrination classes again.
Just another Corporatist
TWO SIDES TO PRO-BOND PAC DONOR COSTELLO
http://countycitizen.com/blog/2015/05/12/two-sides-to-major-pro-bond-pac-donor/
First, if you look up the definition of “crony capitalism” in the dictionary, it has Steve Costello’s picture next to it.
Second, the whole idea for the “rain tax” was to come up with a new way to squeeze money out of property owners in the city without calling it a tax. But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck. . .
Third, the rain tax was sold to the voters through lies about the cost and the uses it would be put to.
Fourth, the statement that none of the other candidates for mayor has served on city council overlooks the two-plus terms that Chris Bell served before leaving to run against Lee Brown. It is certainly no requirement that a mayor serve on council first, or even have held public office first. Fred Hofheinz, Bob Lanier, Lee Brown, and Bill White all entered politics by running and being elected mayor of Houston. Kathy Whitmire was Controller before running for mayor, but never served on council.
Fifth, I applaud Costello for identifying as a Republican. I would prefer that David Dewhurst, Mike Sullivan, Orlando Sanchez, Oliver Pennington or Michael Kubosh would have run instead, but we are stuck with the limited thirteen choices that we have. Of those, I have my disagreements with Bill King, but have endorsed him as the best in the field.
I’m Tom Zakes and I approve this message.
As a clarification I actually meant only person to have served as a council member among the right leaning choices Hall and King included. I am familiar with Adrian Garcia and Chris Bell’s service on council.