African-American News&Issues Endorses Five in City Elections
- By Staff Writer
- Published 10/28/2009
- Political
-
Rating:
HOUSTON- African-American News&Issues is proud to endorse the following candidates: Mayor, Controller Annise Parker; At Large 5, City Council Member Jolanda “Jo” Jones; At Large 2, Rev. Andrew C. Burks; for At Large 4, Clarence “Brad” Bradford; and for District D, President of the Black Fire Fighters, Otis Jordan. Now that Barack Obama is president, we can no longer accept people who get in to fit in, or who go along to get along. The bottom line is not who looks like us. The bottom line is who is for us and who will fight for us?
Now don’t get me wrong, we ain’t asking for no one to just fight for Black folks. We just want the same for Black folks as they give to other folks. We’re all created equal.
So rather than just put folks in office who won’t show backbone for our issues, then get elected and have the power of incumbency and we can never get rid of them, AAN&I has chosen to only endorse the five people we believe will be fair to all folks, including Blacks and stand up for us if necessary.
Controller Annise Parker
for Mayor
Controller Parker has always been fair to Black folks. Prior to her being on City Council, she worked alongside Ada Edwards to demand a full investigation into the death of Ida Lee Delaney. If you don’t remember, Delaney was a Black woman who was gunned down by an off-duty Houston Police Department (HPD) officer. As Councilmember, Parker complained about a lack of diversity in the Houston Fire Department, including Blacks.
She also raised the issue of untested rape kits, which was a part of the ultimate investigation into the shady HPD crime lab. She was not afraid to work with community leaders Vivian Harris and Ruby Mosley to author and pass the Hot Sheet Motel ordinance. For those of you who don’t know, during that time Acres Homes and Hiram Clark were having a hard time with those types of hotels which we all know cater to all kinds of criminal activity, including drugs and prostitution.
Parker worked with Cora Johnson and members of the community to create Carverdale Park, now called the R.L. and Cora Johnson Park, and build a community center that is home to after-school programs for local youth. As Controller, she has continued to advocate for everyone. She audited the City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department and found HCDD was not following the Housing and Urban Development regulations that might cause the City to lose millions of dollars of federal funding.
HCDD Director Richard Celli, who Parker has said she will replace, made it one of his first official acts to fire most of the department’s Black employees. Parker’s audit of HCDD was important. The last time HCDD violated HUD regulations, the City of Houston had to send approximately $15.5 million dollars back to the federal government which meant programs like the Senior Housing Repair Program had to be shut down.
When money goes back, Blacks and the poor suffer.
She also audited the Houston Fire Department numerous times. Parker has spoken out on the lack of diversity in the Fire Department, where of the 4,200 fire fighters, only 700 are Black and only 101 are women. Parker also audited the Houston Police Department’s use of tasers and released her taser findings to Blacks at a forum at SHAPE Community Center.
Parker testified at a trial for a Black man who was charged with a crime that was supported by evidence tested at the HPD crime lab. His court-appointed attorney, Jolanda Jones, believed the test results were faulty and asked Parker to testify concerning the problems with the HPD Crime Lab.
She agreed even though the City didn’t want her to. Parker has continually stood up for all folks, when it wasn’t the easiest or most popular thing to do. She’s already said she’s going to get rid of Police Chief Harold Hurtt who hasn’t found a police shooting that wasn’t justified, even when HPD kills 14-year-old children in cold blood.
She’s also said she’s going to get rid of METRO Board Chairman David Wolff, who continues to cannibalize the bus system for rail lines and has increased rates for the vulnerable METRO riders, who are mostly the poor and Blacks. No disrespect to Gene Locke who I don’t have anything bad to say about, but he has made a lot of money from METRO, has accepted campaign contributions from Hurtt and his wife and has been unwilling to say if he will keep Hurtt, Celli or Wolff.
Councilmember
Jolanda “Jo” Jones for
Re-Election to Large Position 5
We proudly endorse Council Member Jones for re-election to her council seat. Just as Jones ran to that burning car, which had fallen 100 feet from the Westpark Toll Road and freed that young lady seconds before it exploded, is just how she has run into heated issues which affect folks that the City normally ignores. The first time I met her in the political arena, it was Tuesday, September 22, 2003 at 8:30 a.m.
Jones “took advantage” of that opportunity and made the most of it and we consequently endorsed her in the 2003 and 2007 elections. The same can be said of her first term on city council. She’s definitely made the most of it.
For once both the Houston Chronicle and AAN&I agree that Jones “speaks out for those too often excluded from the discussion at City Hall.” Most Black folks get elected in dashikis then get happy, complacent and integrated to be with White folks and become suit- wearing sell outs. Not Jones.
She has stayed true to her roots. She’s a champion for all of us. If you don’t know, she grew up poor and had to overcome growing up in a single-parent household which at times went without food, water, electricity and furniture.
She also had to deal with problems like suicide, murder, evictions and the like. That didn’t stop her. She graduated from high school and college as a multiple award-winning scholar athlete and a United States Track & Field member, winning four national championships.
She went on to law school and began practicing law. Her law practice has seen many high profile successes ranging from helping shut down the Houston Police Department DNA Crime Lab which was locking up Black folks left and right, to re-uniting a Ugandan woman with her child after a White State Representative Talmadge Heflin and his wife and sister-in-law tried to take away her parental rights to save the African child from his African heritage and Black culture. The African woman’s saga touched Jones because she too, is a single mother.
Even before she got elected, she fought for people who normally get stepped on. When she got elected, that didn’t change. She led the fight to keep METRO from running rough shod over Third Ward by having the rail go down Wheeler Ave., past Hutchins and up to Texas Southern University.
She managed to get Kelly Village Apartments brand new handicap accessible side walks after over 50 years of neglect. Jones has cleaned up illegal dumping on the north side; helped disabled seniors on the southwest side retrieve their belongings from the oppressive Houston Housing Authority; helped fight against development which doesn’t fit into neighborhoods like the Ashby High Rise; fought to close down CES which plopped right down in the middle of a residential neighborhood and began emitting pollution into the air and killed three of its workers; spoke for residents in Westbury to keep a cell phone tower form being put up in a neighborhood that didn’t want it; went door to door, passing out flyers, trying to help find the serial killer who was dumping bodies in Acres Homes; covered a man hole in Pleasantville which was dangerous to school-aged children; submitted a budget amendment that is now re-paving streets across the city, including streets in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods; submitted budget amendments to get the City to get out of the city jail business and to get HPD out of the crime lab business; filed objections with HUD based on requests from affected constituents of Palm Center which ultimately forced HCDD to re-post its notice and give constituents the chance to voice their concerns; drafted an ordinance which gives neighborhoods both notice and a hearing to organize against developers who try and come in and change their neighborhood, just like they did with Fourth Ward along Allen Parkway; constantly negotiates with the Houston Housing Authority to treat poor folks right; found money in the budget to give non-profits to help with computers and skills training for at-risk young adults; and so on.
Not that we need to say more but Jones has won police, sheriff and fire fighter endorsements, as well as almost all other endorsements, including from elected officials like State Sen. John Whitmire, Reps. Senfronia Thompson and Garnett Coleman, trade associations, unions and community associations.
As she wrote in this newspaper, not too long ago, she is always on the People’s team. She’s on the Establishment’s team when they are with The People.
Jones has been everyone’s voice, either behind the scenes or vocally when absolutely necessary. She doesn’t just fight for Black folks, she fights for all, but she will stand up for us when we need her most. She’s fearless when it comes to equality for all and that’s why she’s earned the moniker of “The Conscience of Council.”
Rev. Andrew C. Burks, Jr.
for At Large Position 2
Rev. Andrew C. Burks, Jr., a self-employed business man, has run for office many times and come extremely close. This election should put him over the hump. We endorse Burks because we’ve endorsed him in the past for his commitment to working for all people of the City.
He’s fought against Southern Crushed Concrete which is polluting the residential neighborhood in which it sits. He’s promised to fight for police patrols and for fire fighters. He also vows to work on a comprehensive flood control plan.
Burks will work to keep the City transparent and to help seniors, disabled and veterans with tax breaks. And on a serious tip, we need someone who will replace Council Member Sue Lovell for all the reasons mentioned in AAN&I last week.
Clarence “Brad” Bradford
for At Large 4
Former Houston Police Chief Bradford has a new understanding of his community especially after he was attacked and prosecuted by the system for what some would argue, was a race thing. Since that time, he has been more willing to look at the inherent flaws of the system.
He had some good ideas for reformation of the District Attorney’s office but didn’t quite get there.
This attorney will use his law enforcement background to help shape up the Houston Police Department. He too wants to close the city jail and wants to work with Harris County in the public safety arena. As you know, law enforcement has a big impact on Black, Brown and poor folks and since public safety uses up over 65 percent of the city budget, someone who intimately knows how HPD works and knows where the waste is, should be someone we need to support.
Finally, Bradford’s opponent was a Republican and only switched to the Democrats after the Republicans didn’t support him.
Otis Jordan for District D
AAN&I endorses Otis Jordan, the president of the Houston Black Fire Fighters Association and who has a life time connection to District D. He served 30 years as a Houston Fire Fighter, 15 of those as a Captain; raised two children, both of whom graduated from Willowridge High School; has a wife who is a 30-year school teacher at Ridgegate Elementary; and attends Windsor Village United Methodist Church, all of which are in District D. He’s shown a willingness to fight for everyone.
When a fire fighter found a noose in a captain’s locker, Jordan led the charge against racism in the Houston Fire Department. When someone at Fire Station 54 wrote racist graffiti, he was the one who spoke up for those women fire fighters.
It didn’t matter that one of the fire fighters was White, he spoke up for her too, even when the other union tried to blame everything on her. He has been one of the only voices for Blacks, Browns and the mistreated in the fire department.
He’s fought behind the scenes and out loud if he had to. He has vowed that he will listen to the needs of the residents and fight to get District D it’s fair share of Capitol Improvement Project dollars and a better quality of life. He also vows to get more efficient policing and he’s committed to finding more assistance for the elderly and our youth and will not be in the pocket of METRO and other city insiders to the detriment of his district.
We’re asking all readers of AAN&I to vote for Controller Annise Parker for Mayor, Councilmember Jolanda “Jo” Jones for At Large 5, Clarence “Brad” Bradford for At Large 4, Rev. Andrew Burks, Jr., for At Large 2, and Otis Jordan for District D. AAN&I believes all of these people will fight for equality for everyone but if need be, they will stand up for us Black folks.
Now don’t get me wrong, we ain’t asking for no one to just fight for Black folks. We just want the same for Black folks as they give to other folks. We’re all created equal.
So rather than just put folks in office who won’t show backbone for our issues, then get elected and have the power of incumbency and we can never get rid of them, AAN&I has chosen to only endorse the five people we believe will be fair to all folks, including Blacks and stand up for us if necessary.
Controller Annise Parker
for Mayor
Controller Parker has always been fair to Black folks. Prior to her being on City Council, she worked alongside Ada Edwards to demand a full investigation into the death of Ida Lee Delaney. If you don’t remember, Delaney was a Black woman who was gunned down by an off-duty Houston Police Department (HPD) officer. As Councilmember, Parker complained about a lack of diversity in the Houston Fire Department, including Blacks.
She also raised the issue of untested rape kits, which was a part of the ultimate investigation into the shady HPD crime lab. She was not afraid to work with community leaders Vivian Harris and Ruby Mosley to author and pass the Hot Sheet Motel ordinance. For those of you who don’t know, during that time Acres Homes and Hiram Clark were having a hard time with those types of hotels which we all know cater to all kinds of criminal activity, including drugs and prostitution.
Parker worked with Cora Johnson and members of the community to create Carverdale Park, now called the R.L. and Cora Johnson Park, and build a community center that is home to after-school programs for local youth. As Controller, she has continued to advocate for everyone. She audited the City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department and found HCDD was not following the Housing and Urban Development regulations that might cause the City to lose millions of dollars of federal funding.
HCDD Director Richard Celli, who Parker has said she will replace, made it one of his first official acts to fire most of the department’s Black employees. Parker’s audit of HCDD was important. The last time HCDD violated HUD regulations, the City of Houston had to send approximately $15.5 million dollars back to the federal government which meant programs like the Senior Housing Repair Program had to be shut down.
When money goes back, Blacks and the poor suffer.
She also audited the Houston Fire Department numerous times. Parker has spoken out on the lack of diversity in the Fire Department, where of the 4,200 fire fighters, only 700 are Black and only 101 are women. Parker also audited the Houston Police Department’s use of tasers and released her taser findings to Blacks at a forum at SHAPE Community Center.
Parker testified at a trial for a Black man who was charged with a crime that was supported by evidence tested at the HPD crime lab. His court-appointed attorney, Jolanda Jones, believed the test results were faulty and asked Parker to testify concerning the problems with the HPD Crime Lab.
She agreed even though the City didn’t want her to. Parker has continually stood up for all folks, when it wasn’t the easiest or most popular thing to do. She’s already said she’s going to get rid of Police Chief Harold Hurtt who hasn’t found a police shooting that wasn’t justified, even when HPD kills 14-year-old children in cold blood.
She’s also said she’s going to get rid of METRO Board Chairman David Wolff, who continues to cannibalize the bus system for rail lines and has increased rates for the vulnerable METRO riders, who are mostly the poor and Blacks. No disrespect to Gene Locke who I don’t have anything bad to say about, but he has made a lot of money from METRO, has accepted campaign contributions from Hurtt and his wife and has been unwilling to say if he will keep Hurtt, Celli or Wolff.
Councilmember
Jolanda “Jo” Jones for
Re-Election to Large Position 5
We proudly endorse Council Member Jones for re-election to her council seat. Just as Jones ran to that burning car, which had fallen 100 feet from the Westpark Toll Road and freed that young lady seconds before it exploded, is just how she has run into heated issues which affect folks that the City normally ignores. The first time I met her in the political arena, it was Tuesday, September 22, 2003 at 8:30 a.m.
Jones “took advantage” of that opportunity and made the most of it and we consequently endorsed her in the 2003 and 2007 elections. The same can be said of her first term on city council. She’s definitely made the most of it.
For once both the Houston Chronicle and AAN&I agree that Jones “speaks out for those too often excluded from the discussion at City Hall.” Most Black folks get elected in dashikis then get happy, complacent and integrated to be with White folks and become suit- wearing sell outs. Not Jones.
She has stayed true to her roots. She’s a champion for all of us. If you don’t know, she grew up poor and had to overcome growing up in a single-parent household which at times went without food, water, electricity and furniture.
She also had to deal with problems like suicide, murder, evictions and the like. That didn’t stop her. She graduated from high school and college as a multiple award-winning scholar athlete and a United States Track & Field member, winning four national championships.
She went on to law school and began practicing law. Her law practice has seen many high profile successes ranging from helping shut down the Houston Police Department DNA Crime Lab which was locking up Black folks left and right, to re-uniting a Ugandan woman with her child after a White State Representative Talmadge Heflin and his wife and sister-in-law tried to take away her parental rights to save the African child from his African heritage and Black culture. The African woman’s saga touched Jones because she too, is a single mother.
Even before she got elected, she fought for people who normally get stepped on. When she got elected, that didn’t change. She led the fight to keep METRO from running rough shod over Third Ward by having the rail go down Wheeler Ave., past Hutchins and up to Texas Southern University.
She managed to get Kelly Village Apartments brand new handicap accessible side walks after over 50 years of neglect. Jones has cleaned up illegal dumping on the north side; helped disabled seniors on the southwest side retrieve their belongings from the oppressive Houston Housing Authority; helped fight against development which doesn’t fit into neighborhoods like the Ashby High Rise; fought to close down CES which plopped right down in the middle of a residential neighborhood and began emitting pollution into the air and killed three of its workers; spoke for residents in Westbury to keep a cell phone tower form being put up in a neighborhood that didn’t want it; went door to door, passing out flyers, trying to help find the serial killer who was dumping bodies in Acres Homes; covered a man hole in Pleasantville which was dangerous to school-aged children; submitted a budget amendment that is now re-paving streets across the city, including streets in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods; submitted budget amendments to get the City to get out of the city jail business and to get HPD out of the crime lab business; filed objections with HUD based on requests from affected constituents of Palm Center which ultimately forced HCDD to re-post its notice and give constituents the chance to voice their concerns; drafted an ordinance which gives neighborhoods both notice and a hearing to organize against developers who try and come in and change their neighborhood, just like they did with Fourth Ward along Allen Parkway; constantly negotiates with the Houston Housing Authority to treat poor folks right; found money in the budget to give non-profits to help with computers and skills training for at-risk young adults; and so on.
Not that we need to say more but Jones has won police, sheriff and fire fighter endorsements, as well as almost all other endorsements, including from elected officials like State Sen. John Whitmire, Reps. Senfronia Thompson and Garnett Coleman, trade associations, unions and community associations.
As she wrote in this newspaper, not too long ago, she is always on the People’s team. She’s on the Establishment’s team when they are with The People.
Jones has been everyone’s voice, either behind the scenes or vocally when absolutely necessary. She doesn’t just fight for Black folks, she fights for all, but she will stand up for us when we need her most. She’s fearless when it comes to equality for all and that’s why she’s earned the moniker of “The Conscience of Council.”
Rev. Andrew C. Burks, Jr.
for At Large Position 2
Rev. Andrew C. Burks, Jr., a self-employed business man, has run for office many times and come extremely close. This election should put him over the hump. We endorse Burks because we’ve endorsed him in the past for his commitment to working for all people of the City.
He’s fought against Southern Crushed Concrete which is polluting the residential neighborhood in which it sits. He’s promised to fight for police patrols and for fire fighters. He also vows to work on a comprehensive flood control plan.
Burks will work to keep the City transparent and to help seniors, disabled and veterans with tax breaks. And on a serious tip, we need someone who will replace Council Member Sue Lovell for all the reasons mentioned in AAN&I last week.
Clarence “Brad” Bradford
for At Large 4
Former Houston Police Chief Bradford has a new understanding of his community especially after he was attacked and prosecuted by the system for what some would argue, was a race thing. Since that time, he has been more willing to look at the inherent flaws of the system.
He had some good ideas for reformation of the District Attorney’s office but didn’t quite get there.
This attorney will use his law enforcement background to help shape up the Houston Police Department. He too wants to close the city jail and wants to work with Harris County in the public safety arena. As you know, law enforcement has a big impact on Black, Brown and poor folks and since public safety uses up over 65 percent of the city budget, someone who intimately knows how HPD works and knows where the waste is, should be someone we need to support.
Finally, Bradford’s opponent was a Republican and only switched to the Democrats after the Republicans didn’t support him.
Otis Jordan for District D
AAN&I endorses Otis Jordan, the president of the Houston Black Fire Fighters Association and who has a life time connection to District D. He served 30 years as a Houston Fire Fighter, 15 of those as a Captain; raised two children, both of whom graduated from Willowridge High School; has a wife who is a 30-year school teacher at Ridgegate Elementary; and attends Windsor Village United Methodist Church, all of which are in District D. He’s shown a willingness to fight for everyone.
When a fire fighter found a noose in a captain’s locker, Jordan led the charge against racism in the Houston Fire Department. When someone at Fire Station 54 wrote racist graffiti, he was the one who spoke up for those women fire fighters.
It didn’t matter that one of the fire fighters was White, he spoke up for her too, even when the other union tried to blame everything on her. He has been one of the only voices for Blacks, Browns and the mistreated in the fire department.
He’s fought behind the scenes and out loud if he had to. He has vowed that he will listen to the needs of the residents and fight to get District D it’s fair share of Capitol Improvement Project dollars and a better quality of life. He also vows to get more efficient policing and he’s committed to finding more assistance for the elderly and our youth and will not be in the pocket of METRO and other city insiders to the detriment of his district.
We’re asking all readers of AAN&I to vote for Controller Annise Parker for Mayor, Councilmember Jolanda “Jo” Jones for At Large 5, Clarence “Brad” Bradford for At Large 4, Rev. Andrew Burks, Jr., for At Large 2, and Otis Jordan for District D. AAN&I believes all of these people will fight for equality for everyone but if need be, they will stand up for us Black folks.
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1 Response to "African-American News&Issues Endorses Five in City Elections" 
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said this on 03 Nov 2009 4:45:59 AM MST
Thanks for the information, but why do we have to use the word "folks" so often? It was cute in the first sentence or two, but to use it so often becomes a distraction from the important data that is listed here and takes away credibility. Just like if someone sends in an important essay and and it has grammatical errors, you dont even get to the message, you spend time wondering, "Who wrote this?" Despite that, good job on listing the justifications behind the endorsement, and it will definitely weogh in on my decision today.
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