KHOU-11’s Doug Miller reports that Mayor White is contemplating the creation of another unnaccountable government “authority”:
Now, just as Houston has a Metropolitan Transit Authority and a Houston Port Authority, the mayor’s thinking about setting up a Houston parking authority.
“You really need an element, an entity, an authority that focuses strictly on parking, on enforcement, on the meters, making sure that they’re all working, responsible for valet zones, cab zones, and enforcements of those ordinances,” said Carol Alvarado, Houston Mayor Pro Tem.
A parking authority could take over much of the job now done by the city’s municipal courts division, the people who write parking tickets.
And in the shadow of downtown high rises, city officials suggest this authority could build another government-owned parking garage.
The city already runs some garages, like the spaces beneath Tranquility Park.
“It’s not clear what the mayor is talking about here, but parking authorities are a widespread function. In fact, I actually looked at the number. Of cities over 100,000, about a third have some type of parking authority,” said Bob Stein, KHOU political expert.
This idea is still just that — an idea, very much in its formative stages. And there are still plenty of unanswered questions, like, ‘Who would run this authority?’ ‘What exactly would it do?’ and perhaps most importantly, ‘Would it really be an improvement?’
Here are a couple more questions: how much will this new authority cost, and how much of a “new revenue stream” is the mayor hoping to create with it?
As for Professor Stein, KHOU might have also mentioned that he has advised the mayor on at least one traffic issue (SAFEclear) and that his wife serves as a fulltime mayoral aide. Indeed, perhaps KHOU should find a political expert less connected to the policies he is evaluating.
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