Working for the mayor...

As you all know, I got the opportunity to work with the arena campaign last year due to my involvement in Save Our Rockets. About a month ago, I got a call from one of the people that worked on the campaign and he asked me to come work for the mayor's re-election campaign as a consultant.

That ultimately evolved into what I'm doing now. I designed the web site (along with expert database help from Clutch!!!) and I will be maintaining it along with working with volunteers. The site address is http://www.brownformayor.com/ . There are still a few changes that have to be made which is why the front page is just a "coming soon" page, but it is coming along.

I know that there are many different political affiliations represented here and I'm not personally a HUGE supporter of Mayor Brown. He's a nice man and I like the way the city is going so I would vote for him, but this opportunity came up and I was glad to get working.

Just thought you guys would be interested to hear about it. Should be fun. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and if anyone is interested in volunteering or helping out, let me know. The mayor was a big part of getting the arena passed.

 

In this campaign, like SOR, there is regular volunteering (block walking, putting up signs, etc) and there is virtual volunteering. We did a lot of that last year with sending emails, writing letters to the editor and that type of thing. That will be applicable this year as well.

 

Mayor Lee Brown is the African American incumbent. Basically, a moderate Democrat with strong ties to the minority community and labor unions.

Orlando Sanchez is a city councilman running for the first time. Essentially, a fairly far right leaning Hispanic Republican.

Chris Bell is a short-term Anglo councilman running for the first time. He is a moderate Democrat with some Republican support.

Honestly, party politics don't play much part in local politics so you can toss those out for the moment. The key differences here are mostly in ideology and the approach to city government.

Brown is pretty much hated in the suburbs and loved in the inner city, especially among minorities including Hispanics and Asians. He has been pretty liberal in his social agenda (non-discrimination towards gays, lots of after school programs, pro affirmative action) as you would expect a card carrying member of the NAACP to be. However, his fiscal agenda has been fairly conservative with a heavy emphasis on improving infrastructure, encouraging business development (particularly in downtown) and improving crime prevention.

IMO, his biggest accomplishments have come in the way he has implemented the community based government through the Super Neighborhood concept and his emphasis on improving downtown. His biggest problems have been with balancing the budget and dealing with city council. His biggest battles have surrounded his attempt to prevent a .01 cent property tax hike (it passed by an 8-7 vote) and getting the downtown rail line up and running.

Sanchez is not well liked in the Hispanic community. It is doubtful that he will receive the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce endorsement which is tough if you are Hispanic. He is loved out in the suburbs where his far right agenda plays really well. He has been a relative kermudgin on council voting against nearly everything from the arena to rail to budget issues. His big platform is tax reform and street maintenance.

Sanchez has not been very effective as a councilman mainly because he has the tendency to be immovable on issues. There have been numerous times where he has stood as the lone person to vote against an issue. Along with Rob Todd, he is the most conservative on council. To be fair, he makes very good points about the need to fix infrastructure in decaying neighborhoods even if the Hispanics in those neighborhoods don't trust him and would prefer it if John Castillo spoke for them.

Chris Bell is a relative newcomer to the political scene in Houston. He paints himself as a new Democrat, but kinda is all over the place. His big platforms have been the property tax issue and removing lobbyists from city council (his baby). What is interesting is that he hired one of those lobbyists as his campaign manager. Interesting.

Bell has decent ideas that are not too far removed from Brown's. He supports most of the basic fundamental government ideas that are in place. He, like Brown, wants a community-driven government. He is business-focused so the business community will like him. The problem I have with Bell is that he was virtually non-existent during his term in office. You never heard ANYTHING from the guy. Then, all of a sudden, he announces his candidacy and every day in council he is giving speeches. I just found that to be pretty disengenuous. His ideas aren't bad but his execution has been awful.

So far, Brown has a pretty good lead. The prediction is that it will ultimately be a Brown/Sanchez runoff with Brown probably ultimately winning. The bottom line is that Brown has most of the big business people on his side financially if not vocally. The city is in good shape and he has virtually every minority vote locked up.

Personally, I can't stand Sanchez. Not only are the guy's ideologies the opposite end of the spectrum from me, but I just don't see him as an effective mayor. Most of the votes he will get will be anti-Brown votes. The suburban voters don't really like him but they HATE Brown. I'm always wary of someone whose community doesn't really accept and Sanchez is that way.

Bell seems like a smart guy but he's a smart ass who is too involved. He is a micro manager, something the city needs less of. His concepts are not bad but his execution in council and in his campaign has been awful. I would be surprised if he made it to a runoff and it is looking worse for him every day.

Lee Brown is a good guy. No, he hasn't been perfect, but the city is doing well and he's been a big part of that. For someone as opposite to Bob Lanier as Brown is, he has carried on in much the same way Lanier did for his 3 terms. They are fairly similar in the way they handle policy issues if their style may differ. I would vote for him even if I wasn't working for him.