Today’s Houston Chronicle has a story on Mayor Parker and her handling of two propositions during her first term in office. This blogger is quoted in the story. Click here to read the story.

Some will disagree with my opinion that Parker is honest but what was said is much more than what appears in the paper.

The question is whether Parker is bobbling too many issues and will this result in her gaining an opponent in November. The bigger question may be how if affects her interaction with Council Members and her ability to accomplish the bigger goals she has yet to achieve.

When I referred to Parker in the story as honest, it was a reference to her airing out of ideas in public. When Parker makes a mistake, she discusses it openly. She thinks through her ideas publicly. This occasionally makes her appear as if she “changes her mind” a bit.

On the drainage fee, I watched her state the projection mistakes in front of Council and at a news conference. She just stared at the news media and said, “we made a mistake.”

Do you know how unusual this is for a politician or elected official? Very. Most will two-step, back track, indicate they were misunderstood in the first place, etc.

It’s for this reason that I called Parker honest.

This Mayor likes to discuss her policies in public. Frankly, I joke with my colleagues that if they name one more stakeholder committee that involves my clients, I think I’ll run away. She appoints committees to discuss issues. Some committees I have been involved with have spanned nearly her entire term in office.

It starts with small groups, then grows and sometimes even goes to the level of community meetings. One cannot accuse this Mayor of maintaining too much of a “City Hall insider” perspective. If anything, she may maintain too much of an input model as the vast amount of meetings and diverse opinions destabilize results.

Meanwhile, she is having trouble with Council Members. They tend to feel left out of some of the stakeholder discussions, major policy debates and are sometimes not notified of changes that might affect their districts.

Policymaking is a complex process. Parker followed a Mayor (Bill White), who operated with absolute control. He knew what was best and drove the city forward with hardly any input. Parker is his polar opposite and strives to be seen as such.

Meanwhile, I better run to my next “stakeholder” committee meeting……….