Tag Archives: Houston Mayor Annise Parker

Houston Airport System, Community Colleges Announce Major Job Training Partnership

Even as oil prices continue in an unpredictable turn, city leaders in Houston are soldiering on with bold new initiatives aimed for the future of Southeast Texas. In particular with the Houston Airport System, they are aiming high.

On what Mayor Annise Parker called “a great day for the City of Houston”, a new partnership was announced that plans to not only improve air and space travel, but also create a pathway to job training skills for area workers.  Spearheaded by Council Member Jerry Davis, the project’s initial goal will be training workers to build the new Terminal at IAH.  Here is more information via City of Houston press release…

HOUSTON – The Houston Airport System (HAS) is taking a major step forward in enhancing the levels of both safety and efficiency surrounding the various construction projects taking place at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) and Ellington Airport (EFD).  A new training center is set to be built at an existing IAH warehouse, designed to enhance the skillset of various employees working on HAS-designated construction projects.

“Continuing education and training are important in just about every professional field but it’s especially vital in the area of construction,” says Houston Mayor Annise Parker.  “This new training center will help to ensure that our vital airport facilities are growing in a manner that’s both safe and efficient.”

Under the plan approved by Houston City council members on January 28, 2015, the Houston Area Construction Education Collaborative (HACEC) creates a mutually beneficial partnership between the Houston Airport System and the following institutions of higher learning: Houston Community College (HCC), San Jacinto College and the Lone Star College System.

After constructing the education training center, to be located along Lee Road at IAH, all employees working on  HAS-designated construction projects will be required to attend a mandatory training class where OSHA and Houston Airport System safety and security guidelines and requirements are laid out in a detailed fashion.  Contractor employees will be given a sense of what it’s like to work in a dynamic airport environment.  The center will also be available to those same employees as they look to upgrade their craft skills by receiving training in various construction-related fields.

“It is in the best interest of the Houston Airport System to have a well-educated, highly qualified workforce spearheading our various construction projects,” says Houston Aviation Director Mario C. Diaz.  “Whether that person is employed by HAS or a private sector company, they need to have a solid grasp on the skills that are needed to perform their job and that skillset needs to be constantly evolving.”

With a 200,000 student population among the three community colleges, the specialty workforce training center is likely to have an expert pool of talent to choose from.  But as was hinted in the press conference, the facility’s usefulness could go much further than a couple of major airport projects.  With rapid growth throughout Southeast Texas, this center has the potential to train many new construction workers that would start and the airport system, and take their skills and expertise to other area projects.

“Across the community, we have been discussing the fact the Houston has a booming economy even with lower oil prices.”  said Mayor Parker.  “There’s a lot of new construction going on, yet we have a gap in the workforce.  Contractors are literally cannibalizing each other to get their projects done.  At the same time, we have lots of folks across the community who are under-employed or unemployed, and would be perfect to fill in the gap.”

Long a voice for some of Houston’s most under-served communities, Council Member Davis seemed to sum it up best… “We talk about economic development. This is people development.” Programs like this one will hopefully serve to build a bridge for the abundance of young, under-employed workers out there looking for opportunities.  If you have an interest in construction work, go and sign up at Houston Community College, San Jacinto College or Lone Star College.  The city of Houston is ready to do some ‘people development’.

Per the Mayor, the center is expected to come online this year.

Check out the Mayor’s comments below…

 

Annise Parker, Partner Wed in California!!

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has already had a big start to 2014. She was newly inaugurated to her third and final term on January 2nd, and has hit the ground running with a new City Council in place. The local economy is in full swing, and everyone around the nation now has Houston on their list of “best cities” for one reason or another. And the Parker Administration has surprised quite a few with it’s quick “progressive shift”… passing a landmark ordinance to combat wage theft, tackling predatory lending practices, and announcing that city benefits will now be offered to same-sex spouses. Despite several attempts by the Harris County Republican Party to block the action, the new benefits coverage remains in effect.

But there’s at least one person that is still not eligible for those benefits… Houston’s First Lady Kathy Hubbard. Though she and Mayor Parker have been together 23 years, the state of Texas does not allow them to marry simply because they are gay. At one point, the Mayor stated that she wanted to be married in her home state of Texas, and was willing to wait around for the state-level ban to be struck down. But now, those plans have changed. Clifford Pugh of Culturemap Houston reported in late December that the Mayor was making plans to wed in Mid-January. This would be the assumed time as well because January 16th is the couple’s 23rd anniversary.  Sources confirmed to Texas Leftist that close friends of the couple were in route to Palm Springs, California. The Mayor and Hubbard were wed in a private ceremony.  

Now to be clear, the Mayor has said that the couple’s decision to get married is personal (as it should be), and has nothing to do with the city’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex spouses. That was made because of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. But even if the Mayor and First Lady stay out of the legal toggle, their marriage is sure to be news in the LGBT community.

This week Houston’s First Couple made it official. Stay tuned for updates. Congratulations to our Mayor and First Lady!!! 

(Please note: This post from Wednesday January 15th was updated to reflect confirmation on January 16th.) 

Houston to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

From the Mayor’s Office:

Mayor Parker Announces Citywide Observance of 50th Anniversary of March on Washington and MLK Dream Speech

August 7, 2013 — Mayor Annise Parker is calling on places of worship, schools and other Houston places where bells are available to join her in a local bell-ringing ceremony to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Houston’s official bell-ringing ceremony will occur at 2 p.m. on August 28 outside Houston City Hall by the reflecting pool. The date and time is a half century to the minute after Dr. King delivered his historic address and it coincides with a “Commemoration and Call to Action” to be held on the National Mall in Washington D.C. the same day.

“I am calling on all Houstonians to join me as we pause to mark the 50th anniversary of this historic moment,” said Mayor Parker. “As the most diverse city in this country, we are positioned through our local bell-ringing observance to send a strong message of inclusion, and acceptance of people of all races, religion or national origin. I especially hope that our young people will get involved.”

Mayor Parker is asking all local organizations with access to bells to join in the bell-ringing at precisely 2 p.m. August 28 to achieve a citywide ringing of the bells. Any bell may be used for the commemorations. However, the bell tone should be deep to lend solemnity to the commemoration. The bells should not ring for more than 15 seconds. Organizations without access to a large bell may play a recording of bells ringing. Any speeches given during your program should be short and polarizing debates should be avoided. The local observance is being planned to allow participation by those who cannot make the trip to Washington.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. King ended his speech with a call to “let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire … from the mighty mountains of New York…from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania … from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado … from the curvaceous slopes of California … from Stone Mountain in Georgia…from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee … and from every hill and molehill in Mississippi.

Hacking Our Way to Better Government: Houston Hackathon

Now here’s a very cool idea coming from the Mayor’s office

Houston Mayor Annise Parker today announced the City of Houston will host a 24-hour “Open Innovation Hackathon” on May 17-18 at the Houston Technology Center and at Start Houston. A hackathon is a day-long event in which software developers, designers, and data analysts collaborate intensively on data and software projects. Over 24 hours, Houston’s “civic hackers” will pitch ideas, form teams and develop innovative new websites, mobile apps, and insightful data visualizations to address community and city problems.

“Houston leads the nation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) job growth, and we want to leverage local talent to produce outcomes,” Mayor Parker said. “Everyone involved has worked very hard to define high-impact projects that solve our problems and that can be completed in 24 hours. We want to use the applications and insights that are created at the Hackathon as soon as possible.”

Mayor Parker also announced the launch of the City’s Open Data Initiative, a program that puts public city data in the hands of citizens. The open data originating from dozens of city systems will be critical for the civic hackers in using technology to build tech solutions that solve city problems.

“We’re really excited that Houston is taking this historic step toward liberating data,” said City Council Member and Hackathon Co-Chair Ed Gonzalez. “Hackathons are a great way to engage citizens and start a dialogue between City officials and our talented analytical and software developer communities.”

Preparation for this initiative and the Hackathon involves publishing data on a publicly accessible website. Over the last three months, the City has identified more than 25 “weekend projects” that a team of software developers, designers, analysts and others could reasonably complete, ranging from a Houston bike app that displays all bike lanes, trails, B-Cycle kiosks, and bike shops to dashboards that show citizens how the city is performing and where it can do better.

While Houston’s Open Data Initiative is modeled after programs in New York, San Francisco, Austin, and Palo Alto, Houston will also include a STEM outreach component designed to teach children across the city about career options. “Sometimes, just talking to a successful software developer can inspire a child to pursue a career in technology,” Council Member Gonzalez said.

The city is expecting strong turnout from citizens, corporate participants, and members of Houston’s startup communities.

Glad to see that Houston is deepening the commitment to bring city government into the 21st century. But a Hackathon is more than just a fun event to engage good citizenry. It’s a way to reach out to the Tech industry as a whole, and let them know that Houston is ready for more Tech jobs. Given that the city of Houston is one of the world’s leading cities for both energy and medical research, it seems pretty natural that we should have a growing Tech industry… one that can forge its own path independent of Silicon Valley or Austin. According to CyberCoders, Houston was the Top City for Tech in 2012 with rapid increases in hiring for the sector. So Hackathons and other Tech-friendly events are definitely the way to go for us to continue that growth. And if we solve some city issues along the way, hey everyone wins. Kudos to District H Council Member Ed Gonzalez and Mayor Parker on this.