Jordan best pick for council’s District D
Ex-rapper active in the community for years
Twenty-five years ago, when Brad Jordan was making hits as a rapper called “Scarface,” it’s unlikely that he ever thought about being in a runoff election for Houston City Council. Celebrity alone didn’t bring Jordan this far. The longtime community activist has proved his concern for the District D neighborhoods where he grew up is genuine.
The editorial board didn’t recommend Jordan, 48, in the general election. Our choice was Rashad Cave, whose experience as the city Department of Neighborhood’s liaison to City Council was an asset. Jordan, though, has his own intangibles. He hasn’t just lived in District D, which stretches south from Midtown to Beltway 8; he has sincerely tried to improve it.
Last year, Mayor Sylvester Turner declared a Brad “Scarface” Jordan Day, citing Jordan’s work as a founder of the Positive Purpose Movement, a nonprofit that has held fundraising drives to buy backpacks for kids and developed a secondchance program for former offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Jordan’s website includes a number of familiar issues he wants to tackle as a Council member — from better flood prevention measures to a crackdown on illegal dumping to more after-school programs. But he told the editorial board his agenda would be what District D residents tell him are their priorities. “It’s not about what I want, it’s what the community wants,” he said.
Also making the runoff to replace current Councilman Dwight Boykins is Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, chairwoman of the Houston Community College Board of Trustees. Boykins ran unsuccessfully for mayor instead of seeking reelection.
Evans-Shabazz’s work on the trustee board could be helpful on another deliberative body like City Council. Jordan’s grassroots work in District D, however, suggests he would speak louder for voices that too often get lost when competing in a district that also includes tony neighborhoods, the Texas Medical Center, the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
Also, while Jordan says he no longer plays the role of Scarface, the celebrity he gained as a member of the Geto Boys could be useful in the political arena, which has its own theatrics. The Chronicle recommends Jordan in the District D runoff election.