In the context of the debate over exempting churches, schools and non profits from payment of drainage fees after passage of Prop 1, Mayor Parker decried Texas Senator Dan Patrick’s Senate Bill 714 as “targeting” Houston. In this Houston Chronicle blog, Mayor Parker said “he’s (Patrick) putting special rules on a drainage fee that only apply to Houston. Well, that’s just not fair.”
Oh really?
Mayor Parker has forgotten another “special rule” that only applied to Houston.
During the 79th Regular Session, Senator John Whitmire sponsored HB 2866 authorizing any municipality with a population of over 1.5 million to meet and confer with its employees over wages, policies and other benefits. According to the House Research Organization, the bill, at that time, applied only to the City of Houston. (emphasis mine).
The bill was signed into law by Governor Perry on June 18th, 2005. In 2008 under Mayor Bill White and then City Controller Annise Parker, the meet and confer agreement between the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) and the City of Houston was signed.
The agreement is up for renewal June 30, 2011.
HOPE helped Jolanda Jones, Wanda Adams, Melissa Noriega, Sue Lovell, Ed Gonzalez and, of course Mayor Parker get elected.
How does Mayor Parker feel about THAT rule?
Go ahead, read the entire agreement. I did. Surely you can too, right?
This post reminded me….
I don’t have a link handy, but just a few weeks ago Madam Mayor was lamenting that she couldn’t find any state legislator to carry legislation for her that would help her really get aggressive in dealing with Houston pension plans.
Her lament struck me as unrealistic at the time, since the legislature historically has just been a rubber stamp on these meet and confer agreements and no state legislator is going to take the heat instead of the mayor of Houston for making tough pension decisions. Now that she’s complaining about Austin meddling, it strikes me as kind of funny.
Kevin, I've got a copy of that late entry bill Ms. Parker and Mr. Feldman carried to Austin. The party line is that she 'couldn't find a single rep to carry the bill'. My rep has no recollection of her visit…she probably meant neither Mario Gallegos nor Carol Alvarado would step on hfd's toes as the offered bill was directed specifically to hfd.