Politics of Houston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill White, mayor of Houston as of 2006

Founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1837, Houston is one of the fastest growing major cities in the United States and the largest without zoning laws. The city is the county seat of Harris County. A portion of southwest Houston extends into Fort Bend County and a small portion in the northeast extends into Montgomery County.

The city of Houston has a strong mayor-council government. The City's elected officials, serving concurrent two year terms, are: the mayor, the city controller and 14 members of the city council. Under the strong mayor-council government, the mayor serves as the executive officer of the city. As the city's chief administrator and official representative, the mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and for seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced.

Houston City Hall

As of 2008, the mayor of Houston is Bill White, who is serving his third term. As the result of a 1991 referendum in Houston, a mayor is elected for a two-year term, and can be elected to as many as three consecutive terms. City council members, who also have a three-term limit, are elected from nine districts in the city, along with five at-large council members, who represent the entire city.

The current city council lineup was based on a U.S. Justice Department mandate which took effect in 1979. Under the current city charter, if the population in the Houston City Limits goes past 2.1 million residents, the current nine-member city council districts will be expanded with the addition of two city council districts.^[1] Houston is a home rule city and all municipal elections in the state of Texas are nonpartisan.

Many local lawmakers have been impacted by the city's term limits. Several former city officials—Anthony Hall, Rodney Ellis, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Sylvia Garcia, Martha Wong, Chris Bell, Annise Parker, and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs—chose to run for other elected positions once their terms expired or shortly before they were due to expire.

City Council Member offices located at City Hall Annex

Former mayor Lee P. Brown denounced the term limits, saying they prevented incumbents from gaining enough experience in city government. A proposal to double the current two-year term of office has been debated—as of 2005, several candidates for the city council have brought up the issue of whether term limits should be amended or eliminated. Some elected officials from the Greater Houston area within the Texas Legislature—primarily Garnet Coleman and Sylvester Turner—have also spoken out against term limits.

Houston is considered to be a politically divided city whose balance of power often sways between Republicans and Democrats. The affluent western-central portions of Houston—such as River Oaks and the Memorial/Spring Branch area—consistently vote Republican, while many of the inner city neighborhoods are heavily Democratic. According to the 2005 Houston Area Survey, 68 percent of non-Hispanic whites in Harris County are declared or favor Republicans while 89 percent of non-Hispanic blacks in the area are declared or favor Democrats. About 62 percent Hispanics (of any race) in the area are declared or favor Democrats. ^[2]

The communities of Kingwood and Clear Lake City in the northeast and southeast portions of the city, respectively, are heavily Republican.

1 Houston City Council
2 Notes
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Houston City Council

	Name	Endorsed Party (council is nonpartisan)	First Elected	Areas Represented Council Districts Super Neighborhoods
Mayor	Bill White	Democratic	2003	Citywide
Controller	Annise Parker	Democratic	2003	Citywide
At Large Position 1	Peter Brown	Democratic	2005	Citywide
At Large Position 2	Sue Lovell (Vice Mayor Pro-Tem)	Democratic	2005	Citywide
At Large Position 3	Melissa Noriega	Democratic	2007	Citywide
At Large Position 4	Ronald Green	Democratic	2003	Citywide
At Large Position 5	Jolanda "Jo" Jones	Democratic	2007	Citywide
District A	Toni Lawrence	Republican	2003	Willowbrook, Carverdale, Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing, Greater Inwood (part), Acres Homes (part), Westbranch, Addicks/Park Ten (including the Addicks Reservoir), Spring Branch West, Langwood, Oak Forest/Garden Oaks, Lazy Brook/Timbergrove (part), Memorial (part), Washington Avenue/Memorial (part), Spring Shadows, Spring Branch Central, Spring Branch East (part)
District B	Jarvis Johnson	Democratic	2005	Greenspoint, Greater Inwood (part), Acres Homes (part), Hidden Valley, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Northside/Northline (part), Eastex/Jensen (part), East Little York/Homestead, Trinity/Houston Gardens, East Houston, Settegast, Kashmere Gardens (part), Fifth Ward (part), Denver Harbor/Port Houston (part), Pleasantville Area (part), Clinton Park/Tri-Community (part)
District C	Anne Clutterbuck	Republican	2005	Woodlake/Briarmeadow (part), Uptown/Post Oak (part), Sharpstown (part), Gulfton (part), University Place, Braeburn (part), Meyerland, Braeswood Place, Texas Medical Center (part), Fondren Southwest (part), Westbury, Willow Meadows/Willowbend, Fondren Gardens, Greenway Plaza/Upper Kirby
District D	Wanda Adams	Democratic	2007	Neartown/Montrose, Texas Medical Center (part), Reliant Park, South Main, Central Southwest, Fort Bend county portion, Midtown, Binz, Third Ward (part), OST/South Union, Sunnyside, South Park (part), South Acres/Crestmont Park (part), Minnetex (part), MacGregor
District E	Mike Sullivan	Republican	2007	Kingwood (including Montgomery County portion), Lake Houston, North Shore (part), South Park (part), Meadowbrook/Allendale (part), South Acres/Crestmont Park (part), Minnetex (part), Hobby Airport (part), Edgebrook, South Belt/Ellington Field, Clear Lake City, Johnson Space Center
District F	M.J. Khan	Republican	2003	Alief, Sharpstown (part), Gulfton (part), Westwood, Braeburn (part), Fondren Southwest (part)
District G	Pam Holm	Republican	2003	Memorial (part), Eldridge/West Oaks (including the Barker Reservoir), Briar Forest, Westchase, Woodlake/Briar Meadow (part), Uptown/Post Oak (part), Washington Ave./Memorial (part), Afton Oaks/River Oaks
District H	Adrian Garcia (Mayor Pro-Tem)	Democratic	2003	Independence Heights, Lazy Brook/Timbergrove (part), Houston Heights, Washington Avenue/Memorial (part), Northside/Northline (part), Eastex/Jensen (part), Northside Village, Kashmere Gardens (part), Fifth Ward (part), Downtown (part), Second Ward (part), Eastwood (part), Spring Branch East (part), Cottage Grove
District I	James Rodriguez	Democratic	2007	El Dorado/Oates Prairie, Hunterwood, Denver Harbor/Port Houston (part), Pleasantville Area (part), North Shore (part), Clinton Park/Tri-Community (part), Fourth Ward, Downtown (part), Second Ward (part), Eastwood (part), Harrisburg-Manchester/Magnolia Park, Third Ward (part), Gulfgate/Pine Valley, Pecan Park, Golfcrest, Park Place, Meadowbrook/Allendale (part), Hobby Airport (part), Magnolia Park, Lawndale/Wayside