Alvarado: I'm as powerful as ever!
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that temporarily-former Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Alvarado may have lost her title following her ineptitude in overseeing the office's finances, but she still enjoys considerable political clout with Mayor White:
A payroll-padding scandal six months ago cost Carol Alvarado her job as mayor pro tem, but she kept a coveted piece of real estate along the horseshoe-shaped City Council dais.
It's a green, high-back chair just off center — the spot right next to Mayor Bill White.
The seating arrangement is just one example of how Alvarado has retained her City Hall clout six months after a scandal seemed destined to imperil it."Nothing's changed," the third-term councilwoman said in a recent interview. "I just don't have that title. Everything else remains the same."
Despite a cloud of uncertainty about an ongoing investigation by local prosecutors and the negative news about her employees taking unauthorized bonuses, Alvarado still has more access to White than her council colleagues.
She's the only member with an open invitation to attend his thrice-weekly senior staff meetings, and Alvarado remains a regular on the mayor's weekend bicycle rides through city neighborhoods.
He also lets her spearhead complicated issues, such as studying a tougher ban on workplace smoking, responding to a grass-roots effort to change a police immigration policy or modernizing the city's campaign-finance disclosure system.
And she's still performing many of the historical duties assigned to the mayor pro tem. She advises the mayor, helping advance his agenda. She also works with his staff to gauge the moods of council members on emerging issues.
It's not unusual for Houston mayors to designate one member of Council as their "go-to" member, and certainly Alvarado continues to serve in that role for Mayor White, who nevertheless does seem more inclusive of all councilmembers than his predecessor.
Ultimately, though, one has to wonder about Mayor White's political judgment with regard to his close allies. Alvarado's lack of oversight in the Pro-Tem's office combined with her occasional lack of decorum really seem to contrast with Mayor White's efforts to portray himself as a financially-oriented mayor who likes to lead by building consensus, and Mayor White's handpicked police chief (who reportedly spends lots of his weekends in Phoenix) isn't exactly establishing White as a mayor who's serious about crime. The mayor's judgment in these matters will surely interest opposition researchers if, as expected, Mayor White eventually does run for higher elected office.
UPDATE: Of course, this and another recent story do illustrate that it's very helpful to have Rusty Hardin on your side!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/27/06 05:57 PM | Print |
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.