From the inbox:
Jack Christie
Jack Christie announced this morning that he will run for a third term as the At-Large Five Member of Houston City Council.
Christie stated, “Numerous people asked me to run for Mayor, which was incredibly flattering, but after careful consideration, I have decided to run for re-election. There are several great people in the mayoral race. I encourage voters to choose a candidate who will do whatever is necessary to actually fix the many serious financial problems our city is facing. I want to be there to help the next Mayor take bold and decisive action to rescue Houston from a financial disaster”
”If the voters give me the honor of a final term, I will continue to be a fiscally responsible voice at the council table. We must cut spending. We must balance the budget. We must do more to fix the pension issue beyond a few years. Our crumbling roads are a symptom of the financial crisis we are straining under. I will work tirelessly to find real solutions for Houston.”
Jack Christie is the former Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education and is running for his third and final term on Houston City Council.
The buzz of late had been that CM Christie was going to stay put, so this does not come as a surprise. I presume at least some people were still talking about the possibility of his jumping into the Mayoral race; this announcement should end that. As of today, Christie does not have an opponent for re-election. It’s still early days, so that may change, but barring anything dramatic he’s a strong favorite to win that third term.
That’s a shame. He would have been fun.
With Helena Brown gone from City Council, council member Christie now gives the biggest head-scratchers of anyone on the Council.
A few weeks back, I was over at City Hall as they were approving some locally-administered federal HIV/AIDS contracts, and Christie said this: “What we do for these people is so loving. There’s no judgment. I saw a movie about these people in the Eighties. It might have been the Nineties. I wish you all could see it.”
I don’t think this guy is a real “bad” guy, but I think he is goofy as hell, way out in whatever fireld fits him at the moment and just out of touch with reality. And if he thinks he is running unopposed, that’s fine and dancy because the surprise will be on him.
We do the city and the electorate no good to prognosticate this far ot that someone like this is a strong favorite to win his third term. Remember he lost his first race, beat a scarred Jolanda Jones, fluked into the second term and if it happens again, he will be one of the lckiest individuals I have seen. I don’t think his luck holds this time and it will be interesting to see how he camapigns against real, timely opposition. Then we can take a measure of what the Hoston electorate really wants.