On September 11, ABODE sat down for a conversation with HAA Vice President of Public Affairs Andy Teas and HAABGF-endorsed candidate Gene Locke. To read the entire interview, download the October issue of ABODE, now available to members in the ABODE archives at http://www.haaonline.org/web/2007/08/abode_magazine.aspx.
Andy Teas: I think one of the reasons that we have such a diverse city and a city that works so well is we have historically let the market play a much larger role in planning the city than we have political leaders, and one of the issues in this race is, both of your principle opponents would like to see the city play a much stronger role in planning. And certainly, cities need planning, but how do you see your role as mayor of keeping that balance between the city planning for growth in an effective way and letting the market to do what it’s always done in Houston to make the city successful?
Gene Locke: I think it starts with having faith in the free-market system, having an understanding that housing opportunities – a low cost of living, a low cost of housing – is one of the things that makes Houston as economically competitive as it is. If you move away from that you lose your competitive edge, and so as a matter of principle, running the city you should play to your strengths, and free-market competition is one of our strengths in Houston. I think there is a role for government in protecting the health and safety of people. I think that the further we get away from protecting health and safety, the less government has a legitimate role in controlling the lives, theconduct and the property rights of people.
So, for me: A. I’m opposed to zoning;
B. I’m reluctant to engage the city in wholesale unfettered planning based on our desires. That certainly does not suggest we don’t need planning on transportation, because we do. Certainly we need planning on infrastructure, we do. Certainly we need planning around our schools and building neighborhoods, we do. But there is a limit to which government can effectively plan without inpinging on the success of a free-market system.
So you have to have a healthy balance between the two, and that healthy balance has to always recognize that there can be economic consequences to the rules and regulations imposed by government and you have to ask the question, “How important is this rule and regulation, and what is the impact on the free-market system.” before you implement the rule.
Teas: Houston is in much better shape financially than a lot of other cities and we have our free-market economy to thank for that. I think as a city we have managed our finances relatively well; however there’s certainly going to be some challenges during your administration and I think the city’s pension system is going to be one of those challenges. Given the state of the economy that we are in, the tax structure that we have, how do you plan to attack that?
Locke: One of the first things we have to do is to make sure city spending is in line with city revenue, because as with any business, you have to take a bottom line approach and you necessarily have to adjust your spending in relationship to your revenue. If we project that ad valorem tax collection and sales tax collection – the two primary sources of city revenue – if we project that they are going to be lower or flat, we need to make the appropriate adjustments.
Having said that, we want to protect the pensions of the men and women who’ve worked for the City of Houston but we need to do it in a way that doesn’t take continuing city services. One of the first things I will do as mayor is convene a blue-ribbon commission of top-flight Houston citizens to study the issue of pension solvency to try to make some concrete recommendations on where we can go. That blue-ribbon committee will be well-represented by all of the appropriate stakeholders, so we can look at this problem in a holistic manner. But I need to have some people who are advising me who have thought through and studied the issue and can make sound, concrete recommendations.
It’s one of the tough problems we are going to have to face going forward, and I have no illusions that it can be solved in the first six months or even the first year, but it’s the kind of thing that I have to have the courage as mayor to take on because it will impact the long-term health and wealth of the city.
For more see the October ABODE.
