ULI Mayoral Candidate Forum

[burlesona]

Hey all, I thought this was something you might enjoy:

Today I had the chance to attend the ULI-Houston Mayoral Candidate Forum. Since this was a members-only event for ULI, most of Houston didn't get to be there (which is a shame, really, because it was a great event!). So, knowing my readers would probably have appreciated knowing what was discussed, I took the best notes I could. Present at the forum were the four 'leading' mayoral candidates for 2009. I've listed them below, in alphabetical order, with brief bios condensed from the ULI report.

Peter Brown: Currently an at-large councilman, Peter Brown is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a US Army Veteran, and has been an advocate for proactive planning and Smart Growth. He is on the board of Trees for Houston, the Main Street Coalition, and Blueprint Houston among others.

Gene Locke: Gene Locke is a Texas Super Lawyer, practicing with Andrews Kurth LLP in Houston. He was a key figure in the development of Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium, and the Toyota Center, and is also a special council to METRO and the Port of Houston. Locke served as city attorney for Bob Lanier.

Roy Morales: Lt. Colonel Roy Morales, US Air Force Retired, is a 23 year veteran. He worked with NASA as director of operations for the space shuttle operations division in California. Morales is a Harris County School Trustee, responsible for setting school tax rates.

Annise Parker: Anise Parker has been the City Controller for the last 5 years, and was on the City Council before that. She was born and raised in Houston, attended Rice University, and worked in the oil and gas industry for 20 years.

The forum was moderated by Rod Rice from KUHF, and was divided into these six segments:

• Opening Statements
  
• Question 1, regarding light-rail and TOD
  
• Question 2, regarding economic development incentives
  
• Question 3, regarding housing, sustainability, and infrastructure
  
• Question 4, regarding development regulation
  
• Closing Statements
  

I've written a summary of what each candidate had to say. For the sake of comparing their ideas I've listed them in alphabetical order throughout, though in the forum they cycled through the candidates in a different order for each question.

The rest is too much to fit in the window here, but you can read it all on my blog at: http://neohouston.wordpress.com/2009/02/19...andidate-forum/.

I hope this is helpful for those interested in the mayoral race!