Regarding "Mayor: Repeal revenue cap to aid HPD" (Saturday Front Page), Mayor Annise Parker speaks bluntly and even a little harshly about the sorry state of law enforcement in Houston when she says that "the only way we can have more police officers is to have more tax revenue to pay for them.” It seems she's displeased with the cap on tax rates imposed by voters ten years ago, and has presented us a fait accompli: take the limits off her credit card, or take your chances on the newly mean streets of Houston.
What is interesting is what Mayor Parker does not tell us about this matter: First, that income tax revenues have skyrocketed in the past decade thanks to Houston's booming economy, which should have made increasing the rate of taxation unnecessary. Second, during that period, more than any other Houston politician Parker has presided over the shower of pension perks, health care perks, pay raises and "alternate" forms of pay across the entire spectrum of public employment that brought Houston to its current sorry state. Ironically, her fiscal irresponsibility was never more boldly on display than last week, when she conceded to giving a mid-contract pay raise to firefighters just to get them to agree to show up for work.
Sad to say, Mayor Parker has never been the person to bring berserk government spending under control. Sadder to say, there is nobody likely to replace her that will either, at least not until such time as voters again show the backbone they did ten years ago when they took away the blank check.
Pete Smith
Houston, TX
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