Reyes is perfect for At-Large Position 1
For eight years, Houston City Councilmember Mike Knox has been a reliably conservative voice in city politics and one of the few elected officials unafraid to challenge Mayor Sylvester Turner on any number of issues, from pension reform to controversial city contracts to the city budget.
With six open City Council seats due to term limits, including Knox’s, we would like to see more independent-minded members willing to get the city’s fiscal house in order, think creatively and collaboratively to get ordinances passed and, yes, act as a check on the mayor from time to time.
Many of the candidates vying to replace Knox as an at-large member fit the bill. While some align with Knox ideologically, what makes this field compelling for voters is that they all would add to the range of life and professional experiences represented at City Hall. If this race were a restaurant, it’d be one of those greasy spoon diners with a 10-page menu — there’s a little bit of something for everyone.
Julian Ramirez, 60, is a prototypical law-andorder candidate, a former Harris County prosecutor who narrowly lost a judicial race last year and carries endorsements from Knox and Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey. Kendall Baker, 58, has some institutional knowledge of city government, having previously led Houston’s 311 department. Baker was elected to the Houston ISD school board last year before he was ousted from power as a result of the recent state takeover. Melanie Miles, 57, is a family law attorney with strong community ties and law enforcement support. She helped a Riverside Terrace civic association beat back a city proposal to create a historic district in their Third Ward neighborhood and has the backing of the Houston police union. And for those drawn to policy wonks, Leah Wolfthal, 35, has an impressive knowledge of city housing policy and extensive experience working in the nonprofit sector. She is the former executive director of the Center for Urban Transformation in Houston which provides services and programs for residents of the Fifth Ward, a chronically underserved neighborhood.
Then there’s Conchita Shelly Reyes, 49, a candidate who doesn’t fit neatly in any category. Reyes is a native Houstonian — her family has roots in the city dating back to 1926 — and a small business owner. She’s got some political experience, having worked for the city controller’s office to pay her way through college. She has familial ties to the City Council — her aunt, Gracie Saenz, was the first Latina to serve in an at-large position during the 1990s. She also boasts significant political support, having been endorsed by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, County Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones and former Mayor Annise Parker, among others.
What really made Reyes stand out is her facility with numbers, a quality that could prove valuable in the coming years, when the city will have to make some difficult financial decisions to balance the budget.
An accountant by trade, Reyes’ eye for detail was on display during our screening with candidates for this race. While many political candidates offer banal bromides about valuing “fiscal responsibility” and holding government agencies accountable for wasteful spending, few actually spend time watching City Council budget hearings, hoping to pinpoint areas to find efficiencies or save money.
Reyes offered one such example: She was watching one of the City Council’s recent hearings when the Houston Police Department was presenting their budget. Reyes’ ears perked up when HPD’s chief financial officer mentioned that the department doesn’t invoice all the events they patrol, such as certain Astros and Rockets games. Reyes said she called the city controller’s office and asked if the city could still draw up invoices for those games and bill the two sports franchises for the security HPD provided.
“If we are being good neighbors for two for-profit companies and we’re providing this free service with taxpayers’ money, then we have an issue,” Reyes told the editorial board.
Still, Reyes understands the reality that poring over the city’s finances to find waste is only a small part of a bigger structural problem: the city’s largest source of revenue, property taxes, is capped at an annual rate of 4.5%, limiting Houston’s ability to address basic maintenance and deliver core services. Reyes is open to supporting a ballot referendum that would allow the city to bust the revenue cap, but only for public safety agencies, particularly the fire department. She noted that some Houston neighborhoods, even in more affluent areas such as Kingwood, have fire stations covered with mold and holes in the ground patched up with plywood. True to form, she rattled off the exorbitant costs of ambulances and fire engines, adding that firefighter cadets make subpar salaries for a city that is becoming less affordable to live.
Reyes would also hold the distinction of being one of the only Latina citywide representatives in a city that is nearly 45% Hispanic. She hopes to add to her family’s legacy of public service by opening the door for more economic development in Hispanic communities.
“When we had council members like my aunt, Gracie Saenz, we had more representation, more voice and more business opportunities,” Reyes said. The symbolic importance of her candidacy is but one of Reyes’ many qualifications. She has the smarts and the passion to help the city navigate the myriad challenges that lie ahead. We urge voters to back her for City Council.
She will be able to handle Houston’s fiscal challenges.