Mayor White has been very busy lately, bettering the lives of Houstonians, so we thought it would be fun to work up a laundry list of some of the mayor’s proposals and programs that have caught our attention:
Proposition 1 — because the mayor had to come up with something to counter Proposition 2.
African-American history museum
Zero tolerance for residents who put heavy trash out early
Adding more downtown parking meters, extending parking meter hours to include Saturdays, AND increasing the rates at parking meters
Commercial vehicle parking ordinance
Get Moving, Houston and 21 Days of Fitness
Summit on Flexible Work Schedules
Clean Air Accountability Network
That’s a pretty ambitious list. And we can probably agree that some of those are good ideas and some of those are head-scratchers. The less-government part of me isn’t thrilled with all that nanny-statism, but Mayor White is a Democrat and I suppose he thinks if there’s a problem, government must have a solution. It’s also interesting to note how many of those programs involve what we might call stealth taxes.
Please use the forum to let me know if I’ve missed a mayoral idea you feel is worth mentioning and to talk about your favorites — good and bad!
UPDATE: In the forum, Kevin asks, “Wasn’t there a proposal to require off duty cops to obtain a permit in order to direct traffic for private businesses during times of congestion?” Sure enough there was. Here’s a Chronicle story, now in archives, but I’ll excerpt a small portion and hope they’ll forgive us this once. The story is dated 11-02-2004, the permits cost $100 each, and violators face fines up to $500:
A new city ordinance took effect last month requiring all businesses wishing to continue hiring off -duty officers for traffic control during weekday peak hours to obtain a permit from the Houston Police Department. The application process is now under way, with enforcement beginning in phases.
[snip]
White has been frustrated that off -duty officers paid by private entities sometimes disrupt the flow of traffic, especially in light of his ongoing project to synchronize traffic signals and reduce gridlock.
