Houston, We Have a Mayor!

It is official … Houston has a new Mayor! Per City Charter requirements, Annise Parker was sworn in as Mayor of Houston, with her left hand on her grandparent’s Bible in a private ceremony at City Hall this morning.

The Honorable Hilary Green, Harris County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 7, Place 1, administered the oath to her husband, City Controller Ronald C. Green.

Annise Parker chose a small private ceremony due to financial constraints and to “avoid the overtime costs the city would have incurred from having to call in police and other city employees for a weekend inauguration.”

Parker stated, “At a time when the city is facing budget shortfalls, we will be continually looking for ways to cut expenses.”

The party starts on Monday of course … when the official public inauguration of the Houston City Council will take place at 9:30 AM at the Wortham Theater Center. The public inauguration is open to the public and is first come first seated.

The celebration will continue in the evening with a free concert for Houstonians between 6-9 PM at Discovery Green.