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Mayor called `out the door ' / Brown's last term starts with barbs from friends, foes By RACHEL GRAVES Staff Four months into Mayor Lee Brown's final term, optimism among his supporters that his bruising near-defeat last year would spur him into being a better mayor has wilted. Instead, disappointed supporters and jaded critics say Brown, already known for lackluster political and communication skills, has even less sway now than in his first four years as mayor . The term-limited mayor has largely turned his attention to a heavy schedule of official travel and, some critics say, exacting revenge on those who have crossed him. He's out the door , said Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University and husband of Marty Stein, Brown's agenda director. After the hard work of the campaign, Stein added, he's now looking to rest. When Brown squeaked back into office in December after a nasty runoff against former City Councilman Orlando Sanchez, political observers said the mayor could hardly miss the message from voters. It was clear to many that Houstonians were fed up with streets-turned- construction zones, budget snafus and a mayor who ceded too much authority to his department heads. It was a very direct personal statement on his tenure in office, City Councilwoman Annise Parker, an ally of the mayor 's, said recently of the election results. To save his legacy, supporters said, Brown would have to roll up his sleeves and tackle city problems, especially in the beleaguered Public Works and Engineering Department. Brown, who beat Sanchez with 52 percent of the vote, saw the election as something else entirely - an attempt by the Republican Party to install a Hispanic conservative as mayor of Houston. He said in an interview last week that there was no backlash against the way he had governed the city for four years. My _style_ has been my _style_ forever, and I've had a pretty decent career, Brown said. My _style_ got me elected three times. I'll keep my _style_. The election behind him, Brown is visibly more relaxed as mayor , smiling and cracking frequent jokes. But more than half a dozen council members, political consultants and other City Hall observers said Brown is increasingly isolated, turning his attention to the parts of being mayor he enjoys, such as international trade missions and speaking to children, instead of taking on tough issues. The mayor believes he's done a great job and that 57 percent of the people voted wrong during the Nov. 6 general election that forced him into a runoff, said one political adviser to the mayor , who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A lot of the mayor 's strong supporters hoped that he would loosen up and reach out more after the election. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Brown said he plans to spend his final term finishing what he has already started: light rail, the convention center hotel, the downtown sports arena, the bid for the 2012 Olympics, a new water plant, downtown street construction, compliance with new clean air regulations and improving the Fire Department and Public Works Department. We have a lot on our plate right now, he said. I want to complete all the things we've started. With financing secured for many of those projects, the work that remains is largely swinging a hammer. Brown has appointed a new Public Works director, Jon C. Vanden Bosch, but he remains in a stalemate with the local firefighters' union over contract negotiations. Several council members praised Brown's decision to hire Vanden Bosch. That's a sign that he's serious about what he said about reorganizing Public Works and Engineering and taking care of our streets and infrastructure, Councilwoman Carol Alvarado said. The only new initiatives Brown has announced this year are seeking legislative or voter approval to extend the terms for city officials from two years to four and building a mayor 's residence, an idea he later withdrew, then said he might still pursue. One supporter, Mayor Pro Tem Gordon Quan, said he is ready to work hard for major accomplishments in Brown's final term but cannot get direction from the mayor . I think he has a plan, but it hasn't been well-communicated, Quan said. The mayor , who sets the council agenda, has lost several votes already this year, most notably a bloody battle over city participation in a controversial affordable-housing project. The mayor should never lose votes, Parker said. Observers both inside and outside City Hall say downtown business interests and other elected officials are largely disregarding the mayor , turning their attention to choosing his successor. When you're term-limited, no one really wants to deal with you unless they agree with you, Stein said. Stein and others said the mayor 's disinterest and busy travel schedule will make more room for the conservatives on the council to try to force through a tax cut during the upcoming budget process. Brown opposes cutting taxes. Councilman Carroll Robinson, who considered running against Brown last year but later endorsed him, said he expects council members to dominate the budget debate because they, rather than the mayor , are bringing the energy and ideas to the process. Brown has taken seven domestic trips and one trade mission to Trinidad and Tobago in the past four months. He has three more international trade missions planned this year to China, Europe and the Middle East. People around City Hall have resurrected Brown's old nickname, Out- of-Town Brown. Last year, Brown claimed the moniker had been replaced with Around Town Brown and admitted to curtailing his travel schedule in order to win re-election. I want to make sure that I'm here (in office) to travel next year, he said last year. This year, Brown says the trips are imperative to keeping Houston competitive in the global marketplace. If I wanted to go someplace, I would go on a vacation and enjoy myself, he said. A trade mission is a lot of work. Jordy Tollett, president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, also defended the trips. There's nothing wrong with your No. 1 salesperson going out and beating the drum for your city, he said. But others said the frequent travel detracts from Brown's ability to govern. If the mayor wanted to take control and truly correct a legacy . . . you don't accomplish that by taking five trips and planning four other international trips in the first 100 days, said Councilman Bruce Tatro, one of the mayor 's leading critics. Another critic, though, sees the silver lining of the mayor 's busy travel schedule. I kind of like him leaving me alone, Councilman Mark Ellis said. Brown has also been accused of being vindictive in his final term. After the firefighters' union vocally worked against him during the election, Brown withheld a raise firefighters thought they had been promised. Earlier this month, union President Steve Williams was suspended without pay for eight days for a comment he made six months ago during the election. Council members also squawked at what they thought was retaliation against two investment bankers who disagreed with the mayor . Art Morales, former head of the Houston Housing Finance Corp., lost his post after opposing the mayor on the Pleasant Hill affordable- housing project. Brown later sought to take business away from Morgan Stanley, where Morales worked until recently, but he was opposed by City Council. Another banker, Barry Smitherman, was fired from his high-level post at Banc One after co-authoring an opinion piece in the Houston Chronicle with suggestions about city finances. People in public life have to be careful not to define themselves by their enemies and to waste their time punishing their enemies, said Councilman Michael Berry, one of three council members who accused Brown of urging Banc One to fire Smitherman. I think the city deserves better. The mayor denies retaliating against the firefighters or the bankers. Some observers said Brown, a former police officer, is passively vindictive, alienating people rather than seeking revenge. His world is divided into good guys and bad guys, said the political adviser. He's also an academic who believes that he's done his homework more than anyone else. Those two things have made him believe that he's right and an increasing number of people are wrong. Despite the criticism, Brown believes when the downtown street construction and his other projects are completed, he will be remembered as a good mayor . When it's all said and done, history will judge what I do, he said, and I think history will smile very favorably on Lee Brown's administration. Copyright notice:  All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers ****Brown is a fucking idiot****

Mayor called `out the door ' / Brown's last term starts with barbs from friends, foes By RACHEL GRAVES Staff Four months into Mayor Lee Brown's final term, optimism among his supporters that his bruising near-defeat last year would spur him into being a better mayor has wilted. Instead, disappointed supporters and jaded critics say Brown, already known for lackluster political and communication skills, has even less sway now than in his first four years as mayor . The term-limited mayor has largely turned his attention to a heavy schedule of official travel and, some critics say, exacting revenge on those who have crossed him. He's out the door , said Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University and husband of Marty Stein, Brown's agenda director. After the hard work of the campaign, Stein added, he's now looking to rest. When Brown squeaked back into office in December after a nasty runoff against former City Councilman Orlando Sanchez, political observers said the mayor could hardly miss the message from voters. It was clear to many that Houstonians were fed up with streets-turned- construction zones, budget snafus and a mayor who ceded too much authority to his department heads. It was a very direct personal statement on his tenure in office, City Councilwoman Annise Parker, an ally of the mayor 's, said recently of the election results. To save his legacy, supporters said, Brown would have to roll up his sleeves and tackle city problems, especially in the beleaguered Public Works and Engineering Department. Brown, who beat Sanchez with 52 percent of the vote, saw the election as something else entirely - an attempt by the Republican Party to install a Hispanic conservative as mayor of Houston. He said in an interview last week that there was no backlash against the way he had governed the city for four years. My _style_ has been my _style_ forever, and I've had a pretty decent career, Brown said. My _style_ got me elected three times. I'll keep my _style_. The election behind him, Brown is visibly more relaxed as mayor , smiling and cracking frequent jokes. But more than half a dozen council members, political consultants and other City Hall observers said Brown is increasingly isolated, turning his attention to the parts of being mayor he enjoys, such as international trade missions and speaking to children, instead of taking on tough issues. The mayor believes he's done a great job and that 57 percent of the people voted wrong during the Nov. 6 general election that forced him into a runoff, said one political adviser to the mayor , who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A lot of the mayor 's strong supporters hoped that he would loosen up and reach out more after the election. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Brown said he plans to spend his final term finishing what he has already started: light rail, the convention center hotel, the downtown sports arena, the bid for the 2012 Olympics, a new water plant, downtown street construction, compliance with new clean air regulations and improving the Fire Department and Public Works Department. We have a lot on our plate right now, he said. I want to complete all the things we've started. With financing secured for many of those projects, the work that remains is largely swinging a hammer. Brown has appointed a new Public Works director, Jon C. Vanden Bosch, but he remains in a stalemate with the local firefighters' union over contract negotiations. Several council members praised Brown's decision to hire Vanden Bosch. That's a sign that he's serious about what he said about reorganizing Public Works and Engineering and taking care of our streets and infrastructure, Councilwoman Carol Alvarado said. The only new initiatives Brown has announced this year are seeking legislative or voter approval to extend the terms for city officials from two years to four and building a mayor 's residence, an idea he later withdrew, then said he might still pursue. One supporter, Mayor Pro Tem Gordon Quan, said he is ready to work hard for major accomplishments in Brown's final term but cannot get direction from the mayor . I think he has a plan, but it hasn't been well-communicated, Quan said. The mayor , who sets the council agenda, has lost several votes already this year, most notably a bloody battle over city participation in a controversial affordable-housing project. The mayor should never lose votes, Parker said. Observers both inside and outside City Hall say downtown business interests and other elected officials are largely disregarding the mayor , turning their attention to choosing his successor. When you're term-limited, no one really wants to deal with you unless they agree with you, Stein said. Stein and others said the mayor 's disinterest and busy travel schedule will make more room for the conservatives on the council to try to force through a tax cut during the upcoming budget process. Brown opposes cutting taxes. Councilman Carroll Robinson, who considered running against Brown last year but later endorsed him, said he expects council members to dominate the budget debate because they, rather than the mayor , are bringing the energy and ideas to the process. Brown has taken seven domestic trips and one trade mission to Trinidad and Tobago in the past four months. He has three more international trade missions planned this year to China, Europe and the Middle East. People around City Hall have resurrected Brown's old nickname, Out- of-Town Brown. Last year, Brown claimed the moniker had been replaced with Around Town Brown and admitted to curtailing his travel schedule in order to win re-election. I want to make sure that I'm here (in office) to travel next year, he said last year. This year, Brown says the trips are imperative to keeping Houston competitive in the global marketplace. If I wanted to go someplace, I would go on a vacation and enjoy myself, he said. A trade mission is a lot of work. Jordy Tollett, president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, also defended the trips. There's nothing wrong with your No. 1 salesperson going out and beating the drum for your city, he said. But others said the frequent travel detracts from Brown's ability to govern. If the mayor wanted to take control and truly correct a legacy . . . you don't accomplish that by taking five trips and planning four other international trips in the first 100 days, said Councilman Bruce Tatro, one of the mayor 's leading critics. Another critic, though, sees the silver lining of the mayor 's busy travel schedule. I kind of like him leaving me alone, Councilman Mark Ellis said. Brown has also been accused of being vindictive in his final term. After the firefighters' union vocally worked against him during the election, Brown withheld a raise firefighters thought they had been promised. Earlier this month, union President Steve Williams was suspended without pay for eight days for a comment he made six months ago during the election. Council members also squawked at what they thought was retaliation against two investment bankers who disagreed with the mayor . Art Morales, former head of the Houston Housing Finance Corp., lost his post after opposing the mayor on the Pleasant Hill affordable- housing project. Brown later sought to take business away from Morgan Stanley, where Morales worked until recently, but he was opposed by City Council. Another banker, Barry Smitherman, was fired from his high-level post at Banc One after co-authoring an opinion piece in the Houston Chronicle with suggestions about city finances. People in public life have to be careful not to define themselves by their enemies and to waste their time punishing their enemies, said Councilman Michael Berry, one of three council members who accused Brown of urging Banc One to fire Smitherman. I think the city deserves better. The mayor denies retaliating against the firefighters or the bankers. Some observers said Brown, a former police officer, is passively vindictive, alienating people rather than seeking revenge. His world is divided into good guys and bad guys, said the political adviser. He's also an academic who believes that he's done his homework more than anyone else. Those two things have made him believe that he's right and an increasing number of people are wrong. Despite the criticism, Brown believes when the downtown street construction and his other projects are completed, he will be remembered as a good mayor .
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