Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Houston Controller race: Ronald Green in trouble

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Old promo picture of City of Houston skyline

From the outset of the municipal elections in Houston, it was clear that besides Mayor Annise Parker, City Controller Ronald Green was vulnerable. Not because of his various ethics problems but because he simply wasn’t doing the job of pointing out to the mayor, council, and citizens the deep, structural financial issues that the City of Houston faces. So now, in the eleventh hour, he decides to “take a stand” and the inept Mayor of Houston tries to help him. This story by Greg Groogan of MyFoxHouston (Fox 26) is the most contrived, desperate, last gasp attempt to sway voters that I’ve seen in a long time.

When it comes to the health coverage taxpayers provide the public employees who fight our fires, police our streets and generally keep our city running – there’s apparently new reason for buyers remorse.

“My blood pressure medicine went from $30 to $160 dollars per month. I work with people whose whole entire paycheck goes toward paying medical deductions for necessary treatment,” said Isiah Monroe, a longtime City of Houston employee.

…

To operate this so called “self-insurance plan” Mayor Annise Parker and City Council hired Cigna.

“I think we really need to take a deep dive and examine whether this really a good thing for us,” said City Controller Ron Green.

…

Mayor Parker, in a written statement, strongly disputed Green’s findings.

“The Controller’s audit appears to be Monday morning quarterbacking based on a lack of understanding of the true workings of the contract,” said Parker.

Forget the fact that not a single employee of the City of Houston has their entire paycheck going towards their medical deductions because the city self-insures – that’s something Groogan shouldn’t have included unless he had proof, which he doesn’t and can’t get because it isn’t happening.

Ronald Green is behind in the polls, so he finds something, anything, that he can bring up to “prove” that he’s been doing his job. Only he hasn’t and the voters know that by now. He wants to “deep dive”, does he? The time for that was when the contract was negotiated. He was absent, as usual. I really can’t blame him – he isn’t and never was qualified to do the job that he has. Unfortunately, the position of City Controller has been used as a stepping stone to the mayor’s office lately – heck, Annise Parker did the same thing herself. Ignore the problems of the city, refuse to use your platform to inform voters, get elected as Mayor. Hey, it worked for her, right?

The most interesting thing here to me is Parker’s “attack” on Green. Talk about contrived. Are you kidding me? She really does think that the City of Houston voters are idiots.

Here’s the deal: the last thing that Parker wants to see, assuming she wins another term, which is far from a safe assumption, is someone in that office that is competent to do the job and is willing to shoot straight with the voters of Houston.

Someone like Bill Frazer.

He’s ahead in the polls and that scares the living daylights out of Annise Parker. Why, someone like that might just remove the scales from peoples eyes about her record – so much for that legacy she was after!

Controller candidate Bill Frazer at HPRA

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Bill Frazer with Ed Vidal at the Houston Property Rights Assn luncheon
Bill Frazer with Ed Vidal at the Houston Property Rights Assn luncheon

It had been awhile since I talked to Houston City Controller candidate Bill Frazer, so I made my way to the weekly meeting of the Houston Property Rights Association last Friday to hear him speak. He hasn’t changed since I first met him in March – he is still the same professional accountant trying to get people to pay attention to the burgeoning debt that the City of Houston is incurring daily. He hasn’t made that magic transition to “politician” that most candidates make in order to win. In some ways he reminds me of that mythical creature that we hear about but never see – the ordinary citizen entering politics to make a difference, refusing to play by the rules of traditional politicians. We’ll have to wait until election day to see if voters are willing to vote for an ordinary professional.

He brought three charts with him to show the problem Houston has with debt. I scanned them in but they may be hard for you to read with the various shades of colors used. Click the image to enlarge.

City of Houston Change in Net Assets

City of Houston Change in Unrestricted Assets

City of Houston Key Metrics

You need to make your way to one of his presentations to fully understand those charts. He needs to do a YouTube video for each of them (you listening Phil?). But you don’t need to fully understand them – all you really need to know is that Houston is on the negative side and the other cities with Houston are Chicago, Philadelphia, and you guessed it, Detroit. As Frazer says, we aren’t Detroit, but we could be.

In the last ten years, Houston has had budget deficits of $2.5 billion. All future tax revenues are spoken for (unless there is a rate hike). And Houston’s population has been relatively flat while the surrounding region is booming with growth. Each of these factors contribute to major problems down the road.

But here is where Bill’s professionalism comes into play. He isn’t running around claiming that the sky is falling and there is no hope. He is bullish on Houston and would recommend buying the city’s bonds. How can that be?

Because he believes in the can-do attitude of the people of Houston and thinks that at some point, leaders will step forward and fix the problems. That is his primary purpose in running: to use the bully pulpit of the controller’s office to force leaders to sit down at the table and provide real solutions for the future. He acknowledged that pensions are the biggest challenge and that it is going to be very difficult to get the legislature to change the law but if the city’s leaders do a “full court press” and present a unified solution to the legislature, it can be done.

Frazer also told the truth, which is very unusual for a political candidate. He said that in order to fix this problem, everyone is going to have to make some sacrifices. Employees are going to have to be flexible in their pension plans. The city planners are going to have to cut expenditures. And the taxpayers are going to have to pay a little more. How’s that for truth from a political candidate? Pretty far removed from Frazer’s opponent’s characterization of him as some sort of far-right tea party person no? What would happen if a mayoral candidate decided to tell the truth?

But to make this happen, to fix the problem, Frazer says that all three entities are going to have to answer these questions in the affirmative relating to Houston’s debt:

  • Do you believe it?
  • Is the source of the information credible?

Frazer believes that he can use the office of controller to get all groups to answer those questions affirmatively. And when that happens, a solution will be forthcoming.

I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing I think it is to have a supremely qualified candidate for a position who is willing to tell voters the hard truth. I just hope the voters accept it.

So that is why Frazer is running. Can a professional accountant beat a professional politician? That remains to be seen. During the question/answer period, Frazer refused to criticize the incumbent, saying that he was focusing on his campaign and doing the right thing. I hope that strategy works for him because Houston desperately needs Frazer’s ability. And I really like this tagline on Frazer’s website:

Voters in the City of Houston: Please place more emphasis on qualifications and true transparency than on incumbency or ideology. Join our growing list of supporters, sign up for email updates and join on Facebook.

 

Houston GLBT Political Caucus Endorsement Meeting

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As I mentioned here, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus held its endorsement meeting Saturday, August 10th. They also provided space for judicial candidates to gather signatures for their ballot petitions, which is the primary reason I went.

Have no fear, Harris County Republican Party members – not a single Republican judicial candidate dared to show up at the meeting to gather signatures. Your party is safe.

I’m not sure that it would have paid off had a candidate bucked the HCRP system and tried to get signatures but I do think it would have been interesting if someone had tried. Most Republican candidates are probably waiting for the big signing event that the HCRP is hosting on September 5th – the problem with that is that if you are challenging an incumbent, it is going to be difficult for you to get your signatures there. And yes, there will be challengers to several incumbent Republicans this year – we have a few incumbents that need to be replaced.

There were several Democratic judges and judicial candidates that were there getting signatures. I’ll mention the ones that asked me to sign their petitions. First, Judge Randy Roll (careful when you click on that website – you’ll be greeted with a tune that would make “Vote Twice for Shelley” fans happy). I didn’t catch which bench he is running for this year. You might recall that he’s the judge that gave a drunk driver probation instead of prison for killing a young father of two. Fortunately, Kristin Guiney now presides over the 179th. No, I didn’t sign his petition but he received a lot of applause when he was introduced to the crowd.

The other candidates that asked me to sign their petitions were Jim Peacock and I forget the other guys name. Peacock made me feel small! But I didn’t sign his petition. That’s saying something. The other guy is challenging Judge Susan “Runaway Grand Jury” Brown for the 185th. I thought that he said his name was Jim Innis (see update below) but I can’t find any information on him. He told me that he was going after Brown because she was the judge that put a woman in jail for saying “Thank you Jesus“. I think there were other circumstances that led to that but hopefully we’ll have someone in the primary that takes her out and won’t have to worry about that one in November.

As for the endorsement meeting, there was a good size crowd on hand. I tried to do a rough count and pegged it at 120, but it could have been a few more or less than that. One thing is for certain, you can forget the stereotype of gays being polite and quiet – I bet that Noel Freeman had a sore arm after banging that gavel so many times trying to get people to stop carrying on conversations while candidates were introducing themselves. I was somewhat disappointed that controller candidate Bill Frazer and At-large 3 candidate Michael Kubosh didn’t show up but I suppose they didn’t want to upset the Republican base. Former Republicans Steven Costello and Jack Christie didn’t bother either but still received the endorsement.

I did have to laugh when incumbent controller Ronald Green told the crowd that he needed their help because his opponent was a far-right tea party guy. Talk about not knowing your opponent. I think Frazer missed a good opportunity here – not to get the endorsement, that wasn’t going to happen, but he could have picked up a few votes. And the election for controller might be, fingers crossed, close enough that a few votes will matter.

Mayor Annise Parker was the star of the show. And frankly, I liked the way she handled her speech to the caucus. She arrived late but talked about where she had been all morning – a school supplies drive on the south end, a prayer breakfast in the north west, and a barbecue judging contest. She said that Houston is a big city and as mayor she represents all kinds of people and she enjoys interacting with them all. But she wanted the caucus to know that no matter where she is or what group she is in front of, she is always representing the GLBT community and their views.

I like that because I want conservative politicians to be that way. Unfortunately, we have too many that are only that way in front of conservatives. There is no reason that a conservative politician couldn’t stand before the GLBT caucus and present a conservative vision for the city. No, you won’t get the endorsement of the caucus. But you will pick up a few votes – and that is what it is all about.

I ran into Marc Campos, the Commentary dude. He had a couple of candidates there and both received the endorsement of the Houston GLBT. He also wrote about the event and has a list of the candidates that were endorsed.

UPDATE 8-13-13 9:00 am: The candidates name is Garland “Mack” McInnis. He is a two-time losing candidate, having lost to Judge Belinda Hill in the race for the 230th District Court in 2010, and losing to Judge Mark Kent Ellis in the race for the 351st District Court in 2012. Thanks to alert reader RH for the information.

Here are a few pictures from the event:

[scrollGallery id=23]

 

 

Houston Controller Candidate Frazer gets C-Club, Police endorsements

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This is welcome news for City of Houston residents:


Bill Frazer for Houston City Controller
E-MAIL   WEBSITE   FACEBOOK

BILL FRAZER endorsed by the “C Club”
and the Houston Metro Fraternal Order of Police

I’m excited to report that I have recently earned the endorsement of two prominent political organizations in town:

 – In June, I was honored to learn that the Houston Metro Fraternal Order of Police, a group comprised of certified law enforcement personnel, has endorsed my candidacy for City Controller.

 – Just last week, I received word of my endorsement by the “C Club,” a group of 100 fiscally conservative business and professional members.

Both groups have endorsed my candidacy because they recognize and appreciate the importance of having a qualified CPA as our city’s financial manager.

Here’s what YOU can do to help:

 – Click here to contribute on-line.  If you haven’t done so already, please contribute whatever amount you can to help my efforts.  If you’d rather send a check, make it payable to Bill Frazer Campaign and mail it to 5090 Richmond Avenue, #719, Houston, TX 77056-7402.

 – Click here to endorse Bill Frazer for Houston City Controller. Endorse my campaign and allow me to tell others in printed materials and other promotions.

 – Click here to join our group of volunteers who share my vision for a better Houston. Fill out the comment section and tell us you would like to help with various volunteer assignments, such as block walking, sign assembly, stuffing envelopes, etc.

 – Click here to get email notices. Please subscribe to get future emails from my campaign.

 – Follow my campaign on Facebook. “Like” my Campaign page!

The Houston area continues to experience tremendous growth. Unfortunately, the City itself has incurred annual losses totaling over $2.5 billion since 2002.  Much of Houston’s financial problems result from unsustainable and unaffordable pension plan obligations.  We must do something now to address these and other issues.

I believe the Houston City Controller has an obligation to actively address these challenges and keep the public informed.

To read more about the City of Houston’s financial challenges and what I would do to address them, please read the following:

 – Accounting for the Drainage Fee

 – Detroit Falls Victim to Super Massive Blue Hole

You may be shocked to learn of some of the similarities between Houston and Detroit’s financial conditions. Fortunately, Houston still has the resources and the opportunity to right our financial ship.

I hope you will join me in a campaign to bring clarity, communication, and transparency to Houston’s finances today by getting involved in my campaign.

I am working hard to earn your support.

Bill Frazer,CPA

Finally a serious opponent for incumbent controller Ronald Green. Green is a nice enough fella but he doesn’t have a clue about finance, which is what the job is actually about.

If people actually look at the qualifications of the two men, Frazer will win this election going away. Obviously, people don’t necessarily do that.

What can you do to help? Just tell them about Frazer. Don’t go negative and talk about Green’s shortcomings, they are well known and he still got elected. Just tell them about Frazer’s qualifications and the problems that the City of Houston faces. Then ask them: who do you want to be in the office to help fix the problems?

That should be enough.