To sum up, Parker has been worse than the Mayor I thought she could be but was still probably the best choice in the 2009 race. A 2013 re-match with former Houston City Attorney Gene Locke proved him to be bereft of ideas, Roy Morales has proven himself to not be an overly serious candidate for anything and as for Peter Brown?
This is behind the Chron's paywall so I'm going to quote sparingly, please go read the entire thing (if you can) for the full story.
Peter Brown, director of Better Houston, a nonprofit urban planning group, sent a letter to the court also. In the letter, Brown, who was on City Council from 2006 to 2010, also sided with the residents."A ruling in favor of the developers in this case would perpetuate the unplanned, hap-hazard, inefficient development patterns which negatively impact city life," Brown wrote in part. "A ruling in favor of the developers would unnecessarily limit the authority of the City to enact reasonable rules, standards and incentives to promote important initiatives now underway."He recommended downsizing the tower to seven stories or 90 feet and to require a public space. He also suggested the judge mandate a basic overhaul of city development regulations to ensure more security for developers for future projects.
The emphasis is mine.
To me, that bold sentence is fairly shocking. In it we have a former public official rejected as Mayor by 78% of voters FWIW (Brown received 22% of the vote, missing the run-off) openly advocating for the courts to mandate a revision of city ordinances to include things voters have clearly stated they don't want. What is that you ask? It's very simple, it's zoning. Something for which Brown has openly advocated in the past and, again, Houston voters have soundly rejected.
It is often stated that one's definition of "legislating from the bench" is strictly limited to judicial decisions to which one is opposed. While there is some truth to this it's unbelievable that a former elected official and part time Houstonian (Brown spends much time in Europe) would so brazenly call for judicial legislation of one of his priorities that has little public support. In short, he can't convince people to do what he wants so he wants to force them to do it.
Viewed from that perspective, Parker was indeed the best selection. Hopefully the judge will take a look at his suggestion and laugh. I have no issue with Brown having a certain vision for Houston and the region, but I take exception to his attempts to try and require us to live under that vision whether we choose to or not.
*Note: While I lean pro-gay marriage the timing and circumstance around Parker's push for equality sure seemed to be of financial benefit to her.
