Michael Berry, This Is Your Life
Running Mates (via Kuff)
Just for the record, I am not making up Michael Berry's sleazy past. Tim Fleck hits the high points in the Houston Press. What's scary is that he also gives a thorough treatment to Berry's run for president of the University of Houston Student Association in 1991. Scary, because I was on campus a year later and recall (vaguely) the name credited as slamming Berry from those days: Andrew Monzon.
That aside, Berry's real estate dealings are the most troubling items to read through. If you thought I was far from the mark on pointing out the parallels between Berry's speaking style and a No Money Down Real Estate huckster before, the similarities might ring a bit truer after reading the article. I recall getting a whiff of those tales when he ran for City Council and that was all I needed to start getting in touch with the Claudia Williamson campaign to see if volunteers were needed. They were, but it didn't seem to me as if the campaign had much money left to do anything with in the runoff. So our schedules never coincided. Berry went on to win with the aid and assistance of the likes of Sylvester Turner (another demerit in my eyes for Sly).
The Nancy Sims story is likewise hilarious ... hilarious as long as I'm not pulling for a Berry win in 2003, that is. It fits the ?too soon, too fast? model of Michael Berry in that he would drop names of whoever he needed to drop in order to give a fake impression with. The Eric Andell story also paints a similar picture. Go back to that Mayoral Forum from last week ... Berry's comment that mayors just magically make things happen on City Council. Square that with Berry's track record of success at City Hall to date. Would not a councilperson be able to be a little more effective than 4-for-90 if they exhibited the brand of leadership that Berry speaks of? I'm pretty sure a batting average like that gets you sent down to Single-A ball, if not job hunting in the independent leagues.
I dunno, it's hard to quantify absolutely that which bugs me the most about Berry, but I think it just comes down to the fact that I just don't want a pint-sized Tony Robbins controlling city pursestrings.