Article by Joe Sioufi - She got into politics first by being an active community volunteer in Houston. She was a civic-association president, and she was dealing with development issues and constituent complaints. She saw an opportunity to do more good through the system and she became the Mayor of Houston. Presenting Mrs. Annise Parker.

Mrs. Parker comes from a family that believes in volunteering. She started volunteering as a candy striper when she was in high school with the encouragement of her parents. And few years later, after hard work and studies, she became Houston's #1 lady.  Parker is Houston's second female mayor, and the first elected openly gay mayor of a U.S. city with over a million residents.

A businesswoman and neighborhood leader, Annise has served the people of Houston for the last 11 years.
First on the City Council, and for the last five years as City Controller. She spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry before entering public service. Annise has worked closely with Mayor Bill White and many other leaders to keep our city moving forward, with sound economic policy, not divisive politics.

In 2009, Mrs. Parker announced her candidacy for the office of Mayor of Houston in a video posted online to her campaign website. She was endorsed by several organizations and campaigned on a platform of better city security and budget cuts.  She entered the run-off election with the most votes to face former Houston City Attorney Gene Locke who garnered the second most votes.

Mrs. Parker was elected mayor On December 12, 2009, and assumed office on January 2, 2010. Houston became the largest U.S. city to ever have an openly gay individual serve as mayor. After the election, Parker declared that the top priorities of her administration will be improving transportation, balancing the city's budget, and selecting a new police chief.

Mayor Parker thinks Municipal governance hasn't changed since we lived in caves. She is doing lots for a better Houston, more cultural events, better security for more public safety by hiring more police officers on the streets of the 4th largest city in USA. People from all over the world can be found living in Houston. Forty percent of Houstonians are foreign-born. There is a large Hispanic population but every language in the world is spoken here. That provides both opportunities and challenges in developing international business ties and promoting diversity.

Mayor Parker is very aware of the longer term effect of the city critical infrastructure. There's a plan, which really won't kick in until she leaves office. She wants to get the train moving so it can't get stopped.

Mrs. Parker have been consciously a role model for the gay and lesbian community since college, where she was a founding member of the gay alliance. She is very involved in organizations that promote women as well, such as EMILY's List and Annie's List. And she also try to be a mentor for young women, through interns and a leadership program at Rice University.

I met Mayor Parker @ the City Hall of Houston June 10, 2010 for the cocktail party of the Fifa event and I noticed her strong personality, her love for her work & the love of the public towards her. And how can you meet Mrs. Parker without noticing her beautiful smile!

Joe Sioufi
www.JoeSioufi.com
www.Paintingforyou.com