On Thursday night, the top four candidates for Mayor of Houston participated in the Forum on Quality of Life Issues, which was held at the Houston Garden Center in Hermann Park.
Peter Brown, Gene Locke, Annise Parker and Roy Morales answered questions about water quality, visual blight , trees, landscaping, flooding and city parks.
It wasn’t a fiery debate, but more of a discussion about how the candidates would prioritize and fund these projects if elected the city’s next mayor.
Moderated by Nancy Sims of Pierpont Communications, the forum was sponsored by the Bayou Preservation Association, Houston Parks Board, Quality of Life Coalition, Scenic Houston, and Trees For Houston.
Perhaps, more importantly than the topics discussed, the event could be one of the few remaining opportunities that voters will have to see all of the candidates on one stage , leading up to election day.
As 2 On The Beat reported earlier, the candidates have decided to cut back on the number of joint appearances.
Locke, Parker and Brown, have already held more than forty joint appearances, and not all of the events have attracted big crowds.
The candidates say they’re tired of talking to each other, and they want to spend more time campaigning directly to people in the community and raising money.
Are the candidates short-changing voters by limiting the number of debates and forums?
We’ll have to wait and see, but if you are really interested in learning about the candidates you can always visit their websites, instead of waiting for them to show up at a forum in your neighborhood!
Mary Benton Media 