(Reported by Matt Stiles of the Chron)
Short of layoffs, the city won't meet its full obligation to the municipal pension fund in the next fiscal year, Mayor Bill White says, citing rising public safety and health care costs that are expected to strain resources.
In the next budget, expected to be unveiled Wednesday, White's administration will propose paying only two-thirds of the statutorily required pension contribution — an arrangement that still would need approval from a skeptical pension fund board.
The employee retirement plan continues to be a challenge for White, who inherited a $1.9 billion unfunded liability in the pension fund when he took office in 2004.
Then you have Mrs. White's puff piece today backing the City spending $37,000 on a new "kiosk" at City Hall:
Thirty-seven thousand dollars is a lot of money, so it's legitimate to ask what that bought in the way of a reception desk in City Hall. It's worth visiting the seat of Houston government to view the answer.
The custom-crafted, Art Deco, state-of-the-art security desk is more than just furniture. It makes a statement about Houston's values: commitment to future residents, appreciation for the citizens who employ government and respect for institutions.
The private firm that designed the desk for free carefully harmonized its features with City Hall's vintage surroundings. Bidding fixed the price. When private donor William Hill offered to pay half the costs, City Council rightly authorized $19,000 to build the desk.
Add all that up and you get an idea as to what the "values" are of a certain group of movers and shakers in the Houston political landscape. Form over function if you will.
Not that $19,000 would make much of a dent in the massive pension funding short-fall that the City is currently facing, but you have to wonder what type of Government officials glibly sign off on such waste when there are more pressing issues on the table? Here's a City that's just signed a deal to create a $6 Million revenue stream from charities serving the mentally retarded and is probably going to do the same to some other charities who have the same type of deal as did the Center serving Persons with Mental Retardation.
The irony of all this is that Mayor White's supporters have spent a lot of time recently lecturing us on the morality of budgets yet when faced with their partisan interests backing a decidedly immoral spending policy, they punt.
Basic infrastructure in Houston is falling down around our feet as $37,000 reception desks are being constructed in the name of "image". We have a multi-billion dollar curiosity posing as a weak attempt at public transportation while many of us can't even utilitze the pathetic bus service Metro offers to ride from home to work because our travel patterns don't match the interests of the major developers.
So budgets are a moral document. And Houston's morals are found lacking as projects such as municipal wi-fi, socialized towing, downtown cameras, a downtown soccer stadium that ignors the local youth soccer programs, and a glizty art-deco reception desk take priority over the safety of citizens and the retirement care of City Employees.
Other eyes:
BlogHouston.
