Council candidates follow the lead of Harold "Arizona" Hurtt
The Chronicle runs an op-ed by Roy Reynolds that takes aim at two candidates for City Council for being residents of Houston in name only. Here is an excerpt:
It didn't take long past the filing deadline for November's election to discover that Jack Christie and Zafar Tahir, both running for the vacant at-large Position 5 council seat, had only tenuous connections to Houston citizenship. Both candidates rented property in the past year they now claim as their homes, though both own much nicer houses outside the city limits.
Neither candidate is breaking the law, even if their rented homes appear to be as empty as a campaign promise.
On the other hand, strict adherence to the letter — if not spirit — of the law is hardly a compelling reason to support a candidate.
Indeed, such transparent political avarice insults the intelligence of voters even as it also threatens to become a Houston tradition, with Piney Point Village resident M.J. Khan running unopposed for his third term as a council member this fall.
Tahir, with little experience in elected office past leading the Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston, will likely have less impact on the November ballot than Christie, who threatens to take votes away from Tom Nixon. Nixon is a more conservative candidate who might at least object to the increasingly intrusive directives of city government. He also actually lives in Houston.
Therefore, it is Christie, of Bunker Hill Village, who has caught the worst flak for his subterfuge. At one point, he said he would drop out of the race after being cited for a stagnant swimming pool that attracted both mosquitoes and knowing glances from neighbors sure the house was unoccupied.
Like Reynolds, I have no use for either of these carpetbagger candidates for Houston city council, but your mileage may vary. Let us know what you think in the forum.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/07/07 04:30 PM | Print |
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