Houston mayor Annise Parker announced that she filed re-election papers last Thursday afternoon at her campaign headquarters located off Allen Pkwy.
“It’s an honor to serve the citizens of Houston; I am still excited to go to work everyday and I love the city even more with the experiences I’ve had,” said Parker who admitted that she still gets nervous when filing election paperwork though she has done the process eight times.
This comes as Parker made history as the first openly LGBT person elected mayor of a major American city alongside dealing with a first term that saw $100 million in budget cuts along with losing 747 jobs loses for Houstonians yet sees herself improving on her second-term if elected again.
“I’m going to be a better mayor in the second term because of what I’ve learned in the first term but I’m going to have that same passion and enthusiasm that I brought into office,” said Parker who compared her work and time in changing city bureaucracy to turning the direction of an ocean liner.
Former staffer for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and current night supervisor at the University of Houston Recreation and Wellness Center, Kevin Simms along with Amanda Ulman, of the Socialist Party are the only candidates to have filed papers to run against Parker.
Parker also took time to speak to the new class of her Parker Fellowship Program. The program has interns (better known as Fellows) do all the usual work interns during a campaign but participants are involved in intensive training on the operation of modern political campaign through activities such as fundraising, grassroots organizing and overall strategy.
“Instead of working for free, they’re going to go away learning about a campaign,” said communications director for Parker’s re-election campaign Sue Davis. “I’ve never seen a campaign do this.
According to field director for Parker’s campaign Maggie Nelson, ever single aspect of a campaign from finance to communications will be covered.
“A lot of kids including myself started interning as apart of a campaign so it gets them involved and an overall feel in what it is,” said Parker’s campaign re-election field director Maggie Nelson who interned for Hillary Clinton.
Parker herself hopes that the Fellows who participate in the programs will use what they learn to make a huge difference in the community.
“I’m really hoping that they take their skill sets and use them in the community and if they can get me connected to areas of the city that need help; that need works or where I as mayor can make improvements then we both can benefit,” said Parker.
University of Houston graduate student Kimberly Willis said that she joined the internship basically to have knowledge of what it is like to have a successful campaign.
“I just want to understand government at a city level along with the system of how a campaign is run,” said Willis.