HOUSTON- African-American News&Issues proudly endorses Controller Parker for the December 12 run-off election.  This run-off is so important that we decided to remind you of who we endorsed in both the general and run-off election for mayor of the City of Houston.  As things have played out in this mayor’s race, who you vote for has become more important than ever. 
You might ask why? Well, some things have been revealed concerning the mayoral candidates and how this will affect us.  For those of you who don’t know Steven Hotze, he is a right-wing hate-monger who has called African-Americans, monkeys. He hates Democrats and is a conservative Republican. 
He adamantly worked against Mayor Lee P. Brown.  He led the charge to fight against affirmative action.  He hates President Barack Obama and has been linked to racist campaign literature with a caption of Obama and other Black state and federal elected officials depicted as crows, which happen to be black, perched on a dead tree saying “birds of a feather …flock together.” 
He vehemently opposes health care reform and refers to what President Obama seeks to do as socialism.  For some unknown reason, he refers to Obama’s attempts to equalize the playing field and provide health care for all Americans as economic and moral starvation.  And lest you are unaware, he is also anti-woman. 
He believes a woman may only work outside the home with her husband’s consent.  You may be wondering why this information is relevant to the Mayor’s race.  Well it’s relevant because Gene Locke, by his own admission, sought out Hotze’s endorsement. 
How ironic that Locke says he help set up the City’s affirmative action program yet is playing footsies with Hotze?  Is it possible to serve such divergent masters? In addition to Hotze, Locke courted Allen Blakemore and took campaign contributions from David Wilson, both who are right wing Republicans, who don’t care for African-Americans at all. 
Some have called Blakemore the Carl Rove of Texas.  Locke accepted a $2,000 campaign contribution from Wilson, who has sent out anti-gay mailers concerning Parker.  These three men have worked to divide this city by race, sex, religion, and any other difference you can think of, yet what we need in Houston is for us to find our commonalities like Obama did in winning the presidency. 
By way of contrast, Controller Parker did not court any of those Anti-African-American right wing Republicans because Parker has worked for the last 12 years as an elected official, to treat all citizens of Houston equally and unite us around common interests and concerns. To reiterate our general election endorsement, Parker has always been fair to African- Americans.  Prior to Controller Parker being on City Council, she worked alongside Ada Edwards to demand a full investigation into the death of Ida Lee Delaney.
Delaney was a Black woman who was gunned down by an off-duty HPD officer. As council member, She complained about a lack of diversity in the Houston Fire Department, including Blacks. She also raised the issue of untested rape kits, which was also 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. During the time Acres Homes and Hiram Clark were having a hard time with those types of hotels which we all know cater to criminal activity, drug addicts and prostitutes. She worked with Cora Johnson and members of the community to revitalize Carverdale Park, now called Cora Johnson Park, and build a community center.
As controller, Parker 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. She also found that HCDD didn’t know the HUD regulations. HCDD under its current leader, Director Richard Celli, made one of its first official acts to fire most of its Black employees.
The last time HCDD violated HUD regulations, HCDD had to send approximately $15.5 million dollars back to the federal government which meant programs like the City’s Senior Housing Repair Program had to be shut down. She also audited the Houston Fire Department and found that of the 4,200 fire fighters only 700 where Black and only 101 were women.
She also audited the Houston Police Department’s use of tasers and based on a request from Council Member Jolanda Jones, released her taser findings to Blacks at a forum at SHAPE Community Center. In the private sector realm, she 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. 
As mayor, Parker will work to get an independent crime lab and a public safety plan emphasizing protecting the police budget and getting more police on the streets through coordinated efforts and fast-tracking cadet classes.  She is a champion for public safety and will work to make us more safe.
She has continually stood up for all folks, including us, when it wasn’t the easiest or most popular thing to do. That’s what’s most important. 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 been critical of Director Richard Celli, who continues to buck HUD and puts millions of federal dollars in jeopardy. When HCDD has to send money back, it’s poor folks and African-Americans who suffer. She’s also said she’s going to get rid of METRO Board Chairman, Frank Wilson, who continues to bastardize the bus system for rail lines and has increased rates for the vulnerable METRO riders.
Locke incidentally, has made a lot of money from METRO; has accepted campaign contributions from both Harold Hurtt and his wife; and has been unwilling to tell us if he will keep Hurtt, Celli or Wilson.  And since our general election endorsement of Parker, the Houston Chronicle has finally learned what we already knew, that she is best and most qualified and experienced person for the job of Mayor of the City of Houston. 
For these reasons, we stand by our decision to endorse the mayoral candidate who will stand up for everyone, Annise Parker.  Color should not matter.  To paraphrase Rev. Martin Luther King, it should be the content of your character, not the color of your skin!
Once again, the run off election is Saturday, December 12, 2009. Please do not stay at home, the fate of our city is at stake.