And the Mayoral campaign just got a little more interesting.
Mayoral candidate Annise Parker has plans get rid of Police Chief Harold Hurtt if she’s elected.
“I will replace the police chief. I think he’s ineffective,” Parker told the Houston Property Rights Association at a luncheon on Friday. “He doesn’t…” Parker was interrupted by someone in the crowd before she could elaborate. (Hair Balls wasn’t at the luncheon, but we listened to a recording of it.)
That’s all Parker said about Hurtt, but it seems she feels strongly about finding a new chief because her comment was almost unsolicited.
I suppose that’s not too surprising. It is fairly standard for a new Mayor to install his or her own people in the appointed positions like HPD Chief. Hurtt clearly sees the writing on the wall, as he’s publicly spoken about his future, including his job prospects. Still, it’s interesting to see a candidate step out on a limb like that, and it’s even more so when it includes an implied criticism of Mayor White, who’s kind of the 800-pound gorilla in this race. Isiah Carey has more.
Didn’t Hurtt already say he was leaving? Perhaps what he meant to say is he would leave if Annise Parker was elected. The point is what’s the point of saying you won’t keep someone who isn’t staying?
Sounds like bad blood somewere. More bad blood no doubt to follow.
Definitely an odd statement to make in the middle of the campaign, particularly because it doesn’t really speak to any kind of platform issue. Is there a poll somewhere that shows Houston voters want the incoming mayor to can Hurtt?
No doubt after all the dust is settled and we have a new mayor quite a few Houstonians will wonder if perhaps we should elect a police chief and have the police chief appoint the mayor.
This is really a moot point, again, since Hurtt has already stated he intends to leave. Of course maybe he is testing the waters to see if any of the mayoral candidates would like him to stay. Who knows, who cares. It would be interesting to see what a poll or two would indicate in terms of the approval ratings for Hurtt.
As for the mayoral race, they are all the worst of the possible lots and I really think we would do better to write-in “Mickey Mouse” and take our chances with whoever Disney sent to play Mickey.
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