Alvarado: The History
The Chronicle does a nice bit of reporting on council member Carol Alvarado, detailing her beginning in politics, her longtime political alliances, and her history of misteps. I’m not certain how to characterize this article. It’s either fairly balanced, or somewhat negative towards Ms. Alvarado. It could be that after so much of Ms. White’s whitewashing its favorite people, we just can’t recongize balanced reporting about them. To figure out which it was, I compared it to articles written about Tom DeLay or Dan Patrick.
Ok, it’s balanced. Doesn’t hold a candle to Chronically Biased coverage of either of those guys.
While it discusses her early achievements as a UH student, and words of praise from Gene Green, it doesn’t hesitate to include an opposing viewpoint from fellow Hispanic Gabriel Vasquez:
But former Councilman Gabriel Vasquez, who represented the adjoining District H, believes Alvarado is not up to higher and more demanding public office.
“She’s good at relationships and constituent services,” Vasquez says. “But in terms of the functional responsibility of managing the budget, preparing the budget and understanding the whole function of being a mayor-in-training, she’s not so good.”
While on council, Vasquez sparred publicly and privately with Alvarado, one of a group of politicians born of Houston’s historical Hispanic leadership. Vasquez calls their style of politics the “Chicago ward-boss model.”
“It’s about power, authority and control,” he says.
(Emphasis added.)
We know about politicians and their penchant for control around here, don’t we? But the finishing touch for me was this:
Alvarado has taken well to the more rewarding side of public service. Beyond her $50,000-plus annual council salary, she supplements her income with consulting fees primarily for advising out-of-town Hispanic-owned businesses on the how-tos of seeking public contracts.
She lives in a chic apartment in Post Rice Lofts downtown, and is often spotted dining at see-and-be-seen La Griglia and other stylish eateries.
Consulting fees, eh? A girl’s got to have her priorities, after all.
Edit: I think I need to make that clearer: She’s accepting fees for advising businesses on the how-tos of seeking public contracts in Houston. Contracts on which she will later be voting. Nice business…. if you can get elected to it.
March 29th, 2006 at 7:39 am
I really am in the wrong line of work…
March 29th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
So that’s a fact, that Alvarado is “consulting” with firms seeking city of Houston business? If so, that would seem to be something that might have caught the eye of the DA. Tell us more, please! Is it like an incoporated business with a fixed address, or have name, or listed on her personal financial disclosure, which it appears the city doesn’t put online. Has a rather bad reek about it.
March 29th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
The quote “she supplements her income with consulting fees primarily for advising out-of-town Hispanic-owned businesses on the how-tos of seeking public contracts,” is from the Chronicle, which I assume must have the actual info on what her consulting business is named. I base my comments on the obvious conclusion that she is not going to be advising out-of-town companies on how to get business with New York City, Philidelphia, St. Loius, or even Dallas. She’s going to be advising them about how to get business with the City of Houston, the one she knows and has worked for. Or maybe she does somehow know lots and lots about those cities’ bid procedures, and that explains all the out of town contributions? (Not holding my breath on that one panning out.)
You might recall a certain stink of corruption involving minority contracting under the Brown administration….?
Well, any company that is getting a contract with the city has to have the requisite amount of subcontracting going to minority companies…. And there are ways to hold up any contract that doesn’t employ the “right” subcontractors. And the right subcontractors are undoubtedly the ones with the right advisors.
Edit: of course that just goes to show what a valuable and talented consultant she is, if her clients are always successful. . .
April 14th, 2006 at 10:16 am
[...] I wonder how many of those subcontractors were advised on how to get City/Metro business by Ms. Alvarado? [...]
May 25th, 2006 at 9:24 am
[...] I’ve got mucho work-o today, so no time to do a real post. Lots of news today: East End Polecat had City Employee running errands for her private consulting busineess (yes, the very same business I’ve pointed out as being highly questionable in the first place). [...]
June 30th, 2006 at 6:53 am
[...] Let me just point out that the Chronicle’s reasoning is backwards: when you’ve got three terms to make your mark and prepare for higher office, and you have to pay for three campaigns in those six years, the influence of lobbyists is tremendously enhanced. Council members know they can’t build a political base in city politics, so they have to play ball and make as many, “friends” and “business contacts” as they can. Individual voters be damned, the city be damned, the future be damned. I’ve watched this game ever since Clayton Wright persuaded enough people to vote for his delusional solution, and the city is much the worse for “hiring short-timers” to run it. [...]
July 7th, 2006 at 10:22 am
[...] Compos, a Hispanic political advisor, said the convictions of Reyes and former port commissioner, Betty Maldonado, hurt Hispanics, but taught lessons. “It taught folks a lesson, you know, as how to conduct yourself in public office,� said Campos. [...]