Houston is my home, and Houstonians are my family. I have spent 12 years at City Hall working with together with people in every community in our great city. You know me—I worked with Cora Johnson on Carverdale Park, Ruby Mosley on the hot sheet motel ordinance, I stopped the use of harmful pesticides in our parks, I created the Rainy Day Fund to help us recover from Hurricane Ike.

HOUSTON- Houston prides itself on being the business center of the country. One of the qualities that makes Houston so great is its entrepreneurial spirit.  We think we can do anything if we get our hearts, minds and feet moving in the right direction. 

City Council budget workshops often turn into early  skirmishes over budget cuts.  If anyone doubted that the recession has finally hit Houston city government, I invite them to watch the public series of departmental budget workshops in City Council chambers. The mayor’s budget is normally approved by July 1 when the budget year begins. 

How often  have you heard someone say  they work for the city then thought “Houston’s so big, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with city government.”
Then you get a $400 water bill that’s obviously wrong.  The bad day escalates when you get a speeding ticket. 
Where’s that phone book? Better yet, what’s that web address? A short Google later and you’re on the city of Houston website, www.houstontx.gov  .
Water department phone number _ that’s an easy one. After pleading your case to the polite water customer service person, she offers to send out someone to check the water meter.

With all the recent flooding, Houston is certainly polishing its emergency preparedness skills. If a big hurricane hits again this summer, the city should be ready. Long before Ike plunged Houston into eerie darkness on September 13, 2008, the city was ready.

For years you’ve been hearing that the city recycling program is losing money. Well, I’m happy to report it’s now making a profit. Even if you don’t recycle, this is great news.
Not only is the city helping the environment and saving money by reducing the amount of waste we pay to send to landfills, the fact that the program now makes money means the city budget has more money to expand the program or to pay for other city services, such as police, fire, health, parks and libraries.  What could be better news in a recession?

Mayor Bill White needs to make the Houston Police Department crime lab an independent department in his new budget expected in mid-May.  The mayor took a major step forward last year (when I made the same suggestion) by requiring HPD to present the crime lab budget as a stand-alone segment of its $450 million budget. I believe that separation entirely from the police department is the only way to achieve the layer of independence the crime lab needs to truly function effectively and efficiently.

The city employee who emailed me asking me to use my influence to prevent the automatic water rate increase set by ordinance doesn’t consider himself a lobbyist. That’s a dirty word to some people.  Tobacco lobbyist, drug industry lobbyist, soft money, major campaign contributor—guilt by association has tainted a perfectly good word.
 Lobby  originally meant  public room next to the legislative chamber, hence, the modern definition of lobbyist: someone who tries to influence legislation. If you’ve  ever voiced your opinion to a public official, you’re a lobbyist—albeit an unpaid one.

Jeff Caynon is president of the Houston Professional Firefighters Association.

While the police department has aggressively diversified for more than a decade and taught diversity at the police academy much longer,  the Houston Fire Department’s progress has been painfully  slow. A recent Houston Chronicle  story highlights the problems.