Since Houston adopted Term Limits for our Mayor and City Council, we have elected Mayors without City Hall experience. That is not to say that these leaders were not powerful and/or knowledgeable but they didn’t necessarily know their way around City Hall.
Let’s examine this more closely:
Mayor Bob Lanier was the first Mayor elected under the new Term Limit ordinance. He was a seasoned civic leader with vast experience in working with government. He had served on the state Highway Commission and as Chair of the Metro Board. Yet, he had never served in city government at City Hall.
Mayor Lee Brown was a former Police Chief of the city and certainly had addressed Council many times in that capacity. He also had attended many meetings in the Mayor’s office and knew the police department intimately. However, he had always served as a “Chief”, in Houston and in other cities. Coming to the Council table and working with 14 diverse and outspoken individuals was a new experience for him.
Mayor Bill White was new to City Hall. He had deep experience in government and politics, however. He had served as Deputy Secretary of Energy during the Clinton years and also as Chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Through his experience as party chair, he clearly mastered the skills of collaboration. For everyone knows that trying to manage the Democratic Party requires intense collaborative skills. Yet, he still needed to learn how the Council agenda works and the basic processes at City Hall.
All of these leaders mastered the process.
Now, however, we have a true City Hall veteran in charge. Mayor-elect Annise Parker spent six years at the Council table. She spent six years immersed in city finances and conducting audits of city departments. As the ole’ political saying goes, “she knows where the bodies are buried” or more aptly, “she can quickly find the ladies room”. This thought settled on me the other evening during cocktail conversation at Cindy Clifford’s party. We have someone with Institutional Knowledge in charge! Someone who can recite twelve years of city policy making off the top of her head! This is truly unique since we adopted term limits.
The more I have pondered it, the more I have realized that we are blessed to have a leader with this depth of experience during challenging times.
Term limits is a subject for another day but suffice it to say that approximately 1/3 of Council turns over each year and Mayor’s every 6 years. Parker will sit down to a table that includes 5 new Council Members that have the opportunity to serve simultaneously with her for the entire 6 years. It is absolutely guaranteed that she will have 9 new Council Members to work with during her tenure.
All of this has made City Hall a bit challenging since the implementation of term limits.
Now, we’ll have a Mayor that has shown that institutional knowledge may be valued by the voters!
Mayor White will announce his appointment of a commission to study Term Limits as one of his last acts today. It may be time to evaluate the cycle of electing our leaders.
NOT 1/3 of council leaves–the whole council and Mayor, in theory, could be replaced every two years!