7/22/09 Jail or No Jail?
The four Mayoral candidates met for one of their daily forums before the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning. They spoke to an audience of approximately 300 interested and engaged Latinos/Latinas.
For the most part, the questions and answers were standard. However, a point of contention arose among Brown, Parker and Locke. Several questions focused on city finances and how each candidate would face financial challenges. Gene Locke stated that he would close the city jail and contract with Harris County to process Houston prisoners. Annise Parker also indicated that she supported closing the jail. Peter Brown indicated that he believes the city jail should remain open.
If you are new to the city jail debate, it is important to note that most people arrested by HPD may be processed at the city jail and then transferred to the county. Anything more than a Class C Misdemeanor offense goes straight to the county. The topic has been discussed for years.
It was interesting to see some disagreement among this group, even if it was just over the city jail.
Each candidate also seemed to be more focused. Their messages are tightening and I anticipate we will begin to see more differentiation among them in the next few weeks.
Other topics discussed at this forum included ways to increase business opportunities in Houston, health care and how the city can help business deal with the crisis, crime and safe neighborhoods, immigration and police, transit and the Houston Fire Department. The panel questions were mostly about business but the audience tackled the tougher topics.
On Thursday, I’ll be moderating the BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Mayoral Forum.
[...] Nancy Sims, I was at the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce candidate forum yesterday morning. And like [...]