A much better decision by the Chron was to endorse Sallie Alcorn in At Large #5.
Sallie Alcorn
Alcorn, who is running for At-Large Position 5, has spent the past 10 years at City Hall — serving as chief of staff for three council members and as senior staff analyst for the city’s flood recovery officer. She has also worked in the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
In that time, Alcorn was instrumental in getting the city’s Adopt-A-Drain program launched, helped develop a public-private partnership that brought a Pyburn’s grocery store into the Sunnyside neighborhood and managed a task force focused on redevelopment and flooding policies.
“I have learned what works what doesn’t, when local government can help and when it should stay out of the way,” Alcorn, 57, told the editorial board.
Alcorn’s familiarity with the inner workings of city government and the needs of constituents showed when she listed the issues facing the next city council. She ticked off the big ones — flood mitigation, infrastructure, transportation, making the city more green and walkable, shoring up city finances — but also noted the kinds of services that most impact residents’ lives: reliable and effective public safety, trash and recycling, quality librariesand a faster permitting process.
“I know who to call to get things done, if your trash needs picked up, if you’ve got a pothole problem, if you’ve got a permitting issue,” Alcorn said. “That’s the meat of City Council, and there’s nothing more satisfying than helping a constituent make their way to resolve an issue in the community.”
Experience is a fine thing if it’s used well. My interview with Sallie Alcorn is here, my interview with Ashton Woods, who did not screen with the Chron, is here, and the relevant July finance reports are here.
Back to district races, and the Chron endorses Tarsha Jackson for B.
Tarsha Jackson
It’s a sign of the character of City Council District B that voters will have a number of good candidates to choose from to succeed Jerry Davis, who after seven years representing the north Houston district that includes the Fifth Ward, Acres Homes, Greenspoint, Leland Woods and George Bush Intercontinental Airport is ineligible to run for another term.
The notable competitors to replace Davis include medical spa owner Renee Jefferson Smith, who worked so hard to help Hurricane Harvey victims that the city named a day in her honor; community activist Huey German-Wilson, who first became active politically 15 years ago in the fight to keep Kashmere High School open; Alvin D. Byrd, a former sanitation worker who climbed the ladder to later become chief of staff to two Council members, Jarvis Johnson and Richard Nguyen; and Broderick F. Butler, a public policy analyst who at different times was chief of staff for both Rodney Ellis and Sylvester Turner when they served in the Legislature.
The candidate whose background seems best suited to make an immediate impact, however, is Tarsha Jackson. She’s not a City Hall insider, but as the Harris County director for the Texas Organizing Project, she knows how the legislative process works and can use skills she learned as a lobbyist on behalf of District B residents.
Jackson, 48, who grew up in Acres Homes, told the editorial board that economic development would be a priority if she is elected. “The lack of businesses bothers me the most,” she said. “Greenspoint Mall has only a few open stores. It’s important that we create opportunities for people to make livable wages. I want to fight for the changes my district deserves.”
[…]
Jackson became an activist 18 years ago after her 10-year old son, Marquieth, was taken from school in handcuffs by police for kicking a teacher. She helped form Texas Families of Incarcerated Youth, which was instrumental in getting the Legislature to pass a juvenile justice reform bill in 2007 that stipulates youths won’t be sent to jail for committing a misdemeanor.
Now, she wants to address crime as a Council member. “When you have police taking people downtown for a traffic ticket, fees and fines they are not in our neighborhoods responding to grandma’s call about someone busting her window open,” said Jackson. “It would strengthen the police’s relationship with the community if they’re not over-policing them on traffic tickets, fees and fines.”
I have not done interviews in District B but intend to return to it in the runoffs. Relevant July finance reports are here.