For Tax Assessor-Collector. HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)
"If you want an administrator, Sullivan is your man," Sumners told the Houston Chronicle editorial board.
That's exactly what we want. An administrator can ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively, and focus on the duties of office.
That's great. It should be noted that Sullivan's opponent, Don Sumners, is promising to be a "taxpayer advocate" in the position, a watchdog in the supposed mold of former Assessor-Collector Paul "Quit" Bettencourt.
So, the Chronicle wants an administrator, unless the 'taxpayer advocate' is an advocate of people paying MORE taxes that is.....
Brandon Dudley, however, listed the solutions. Dudley currently serves as chief of staff and general counsel for state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and that experience in the state Legislature is apparent. A graduate of the University of Houston Law Center with a background in social work, Dudley is a regular policy wonk. He is quick to point out the ways that wealthy commercial landowners can exploit loopholes in the property appraisal system, which shifts the tax burden onto average homeowners. Dudley, 42, has even reached out to other tax assessor-collectors across the state in search of innovative ideas and best practices for the office.
But for the Democrat, and a member of Sheila Jackson-Lee's rapidly expanding local political machine it should be noted, the exact same people are OK with a healthy dollop of advocacy.
The problem for the Editorial Board is this: They only want their advocates to advocate for one thing: Increased tax takings from local residents and businesses. Should they occasionally branch into the realm of advocating against certain politicians the Ed Board doesn't like? That's even better.
This would be OK if it was limited to the inane, lightly read, scribbling of the Ed Board, but it seeps into their hard news coverage all too often. The idea and viewpoint that Houston's problems can be solved by dusting off the catapult and hurling large sums of (other people's and companies') money at the problem.
A more intellectually honest endorsement would be to call for the selection of Don Sumners vs. Brandon Dudley, or Mike Sullivan vs. Ann Harris Bennett. At least then you are carrying with you some ideological consistency that isn't as blatantly, obviously, Statist.
While it is not the position of this blog to make endorsements I would urge voters to consider adding this to the long list of races that you choose to under vote. It's the same thing with the DA's race where no matter who wins, it's starting to look like we'll all wind up losers in the long-run.
Meanwhile, let's ignore these silly little exercises in mid-20th Century vanity that the Chronicle thinks are still viable in today's Internet age. The funny thing is, while the leadership pays lip service to so-called "accountability" journalism their editorial decisions do more and more to downplay it every day. Never mind the fact that they have lost track of whom it is they are supposed to keep accountable.
Repeating: Shutter the Ed Board. Fire the members and redeploy the resources to the news desk to cover the many local governmental and quasi-governmental entities that blow through tremendous taxpayer dollars every day, and to which the Chronicle pays little attention.
