Coby at Bay Area Houston reminds us that some of the promises being tossed around by Mayoral candidates could make the budgetary chopping block before they even make it around the Council table for consideration.
With the impending gloom and doom of the $100 Million city budget deficit (that city council has known about and been working on for sometime now) and the talk of cutting city services by FoxTV blogger Isiah Carey, (which was not completely accurate) you have to wonder if the Hispanic Museum promised by Gene Locke to the Hispanic community is on the chopping block.
Museums are not exactly money making projects. They required significant investment by the city in land, structure, and operating costs. Operating costs alone for a small museum will be about $3Million a year. Initial start up costs range from $5-1$10M not including the significant contributions of the private sector.
As Coby says that I mentioned, there are some serious priorities that the City needs to take care of first. And the Parker campaign said as much last week after Locke attempted to talk down her projections by citing an op-ed in which Parker wrote about the previous budget.
Locke’s promises of new city departments, new museums and increased government spending to his insider friends would lead to tax increases or cuts in vital services, such as public safety. With crime on the rise and jobs disappearing, Houston cannot afford another politician who is stuck in the past and can’t understand when one fiscal year ends and a new one begins.
All confusion aside, let’s be truthful. All of the campaigns have made some lofty goals and promises, whether it is a museum, a “mayoral office in Kingwood,” or an education czar to work with the 17 area school districts. A candidate can make all sorts of promises, but the main question is how it is paid. Instead of talking about chopping blocks and dissing ideas, I would like to hear about how they intend to keep the promises they have already made, or simply own up to what some call budgetary realities (whether it comes in the form of a budgetary machete or a gutsy repeal of Mayor White’s small tax cuts which cost the city money, but didn’t affect individuals much).
