This is kind of a fluff story about the new Council – apparently, having two more seats at the table could cause some problems – but I couldn’t pass this up:
“This infusion, effectively of new blood – of a whole bunch of people at one time – is going to change the dynamics,” said Paul Bettencourt, the former county tax assessor who, along with other conservatives, had endorsed newly elected council members Helena Brown, Andrew Burks Jr, and Jack Christie. “Because it won’t just be Jolanda Jones saying ‘no’ anymore by herself.”
Before SCOTUS threw the 2012 election calendar in the air, there had been some talk that Bettencourt might run for the new CD34, which snakes up into northwest Harris County and thus ought to be amenable to someone like him. I wasn’t so sure about that, however. How could he possibly fit a Congressional campaign into his busy schedule of pontificating on city politics and not running for Mayor? There’s only so many hours in the day, people.
As for the “not just Jolanda Jones saying no” comment, I have this mental image of Mike Sullivan off in a corner by himself, pouting and muttering “What am I, chopped liver?” under his breath. Snark aside, it remains to be seen how much “no” saying there will be. Let’s not forget that the November election added a couple of people who are likely to be reasonably close to the Mayor. I don’t think she’s going to need to whip votes as a matter of routine just yet. Let’s figure out where everyone’s going to sit first, and we’ll go from there.
How should a district council member behave if his or her district rejected Parker in the election? 6 districts gave her below 50%. She only won 5, and 3 of those were with something like a 0.2-0.5 margin. She can only be called “popular” in the newly gerrymandered white liberal C. Maybe in the new K. But that’s it. The voters have not told anyone other than Cohen and Green to be “reasonably close” to Parker.
I think they should behave the way they should always behave, which is to do what they believe is best for their constituents and for the city. What else is there?
i keep having to rehash this over and over-so here goes again-if your a district council member-you do as you area sked by your district or you will be voted out on your bum just like brenda from district a-the voters of a told her specifically”vote against the mayors rate increase on the water”she refused,she was voted out-plain and simple.
if my memory serves me correctlly attorney jolanda jones wasnt a big no vote against the mayor as often as she was a yes vote-i dont think the mayor ever had anything to do with jolanda jones being voted out-i think attorney jolanda jones did it to her self-i speak first hand when i say she forgot who really helped her get elected from the beginning,as i stated all along, she was going to pack and she did.sa lae vee……………………
council member sullivan simply represents his base-the voters that put him in office,i think alot of council members have taking notice on the district a upset as well as at large 5.
theres a new direction in houston politcs,a” less goverment more freedom “going on, and i like it-for now………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
respectfully submitted
joshua “ben” bullard
ps-just for the record-i cant wait to see council elect andrew c burks-helena brown-jack christie around the table….the calm after the storm…………………………………………………………………