My number one priority as your mayor is fiscal responsibility.  Achieving this during a tight economy requires a willingness to make tough decisions.

When I arrived in the mayor’s office, the city was facing a $205 million gap between anticipated spending and available revenues.  The economy had pushed down our revenue pool while expenditures were rising due to contractual obligations for health insurance, pensions and employee pay agreed to prior to my arrival.  Through a combination of operational consolidations, expenditure reductions, personnel cutbacks, sales of surplus land, cost of service increases and employee furloughs, we have been able to close that gap.

This webpage will provide a detailed look at the tough decisions we’ve been making, and will continue to make, as we work to institutionalize this new approach to financial management.

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To access the City of Houston Newsroom, go to http://www.houstongovnewsroom.org. The full list of press releases and Mayor Parker’s media contacts are available at http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/index.html.

• Boards and Commissions • CitizensNet • Crime Victims Assistance • Cultural Affairs • Economic Development • Green Houston (Office of Sustainability) • HTV (Municipal Channel) • Intergovernmental Relations • International Trade and Development • Public Safety and Homeland Security • Special Events • Veterans Affairs •

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MAYOR PARKER LAUNCHES URBAN GROWS INITIATIVE

Mayor Annise Parker today announced, with Urban Harvest, the launch of Urban Grows, the first vegetable allotment garden program utilizing City of Houston property. Urban Grows, part of the City of Houston’s Healthy Houston initiative, aims to help communities build vegetable gardens, farms and orchards on vacant land in areas with poor access to healthy fresh foods, often referred to as food deserts.

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In addition to services including law enforcement, sanitation, and environmental protection, the City provides an important safety net for senior citizens and other vulnerable populations. Utility payment assistance and free or low cost pet adoption and spay/neuter programs are just a few examples of City programs that wouldn’t be possible without voluntary donations from customers, charities, and businesses.

Houston Gives is a guide to those entities that can accept donations on behalf of the city or collect funds, including nonprofit 501(c)(3) arms, entities that can accept non tax-deductible goods or services, and quasi-governmental entities including TIRZ and management districts that contribute financially to infrastructure improvements in a limited geographic area of the City.

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