State of the City, Chron.com
Mayor Parker's State of the City addresses have been warnings, campaign stumps and celebrations. This one will be valedictory, a capstone speech by an outgoing mayor. It is her victory lap, and after her time as a council member, controller and mayor, we're content to let her take it.
Amazingly, before making this statement Mrs. White admitted in the editorial that Mayor Parker had made mistakes and accomplished little on the following:
1. Public works - The editorial board admitted that Mayor Parker waited too long to address infrastructure repairs, and that she seemed disinterested in addressing existing problems now, in lieu of focusing on future items that may, or may not, come to fruition.
2. Pensions - Not only did the editorial board admit that Mayor Parker has made little progress on this, but they also admitted that the much ballyhooed "deal" that Parker made with the Firefighter's union failed to change the financial projections.
3. Public Safety - The Chronicle all but admitted that the HPD clearance rate is unacceptable and that Mayor Parker had little clue of how, or any inclination to, fix the problem.
Forgive me for thinking that this is not the resume of a Mayor that deserves to take a victory lap. Nor should a supposedly watchdog media be "content" to allow her to do so. This is not to say that Mayor Parker's career in city politics has been without success. As a member of City Council she was viewed as a very effective representative for her district. During her time on Council she earned a reputation as a fiscally conscious progressive who paid attention to her constituents needs. She should be applauded for that.
As City Controller however there is no doubt that Ms. Parker was not an effective fiscal watchdog for the City, serving often as a rubber stamp for then Mayor White's many efforts to shuffle the deck of assets and liabilities to cover debt. (To be fair, her successor is even worse) And, as Mayor, Parker's signature issue (The Great Urinal Compromise of 2014) is still languishing in the courts as opponents try and overturn it.
It is ruinous and petty to suggest that Mayor Parker does not deserve the chance to say goodbye on her terms. She won every election in which she ran once being elected to City Council and her departure from City Hall is certainly a personal milestone for her. But to sugarcoat the rough edges of her administration, and to allow her to walk away without a serious review of her record is proof of case that the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board currently serves no practical purpose in the Houston marketplace of ideas.
Repeating: Shutter the Ed Board, redeploy the assets to the local desk. There are plenty of Houstonians who can, and are, doing a better job commenting on local political issues.
