2. Mary Ellen Carroll Intro

Houstons mayoral candidates participated in NOZONE: Houstons Mayoral Forum on Land Use on July 9, 2009, 7-9pm, at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX. The evening was moderated by conceptual artist and professor Mary Ellen Carroll, who also conceived and organized the event in conjunction with the museums exhibition No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston.




Carroll thanked the participants and audience for attending, and described the evenings format. A question was posed to the mayoral candidates and each responded in the following order (except for the final question), determined through a random process:

1. Peter Brown, Houston City Councilman

2. Roy Morales, trustee Harris County Department of Education

3. Annise Parker, Houston City Controller

4. Gene Locke, partner, Andrews Kurth, LLP

5. TJ Huntley, businessman

Then, the respondent(s) began a short dialogue for that respective question with the candidates. The evenings schedule was as follows:


Question 1: Land Use Policy

Question proposed by Hugh Rice Kelly, attorney

Respondents: Asmara Tekle-Johnson, Assistant Professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law; Hugh Rice Kelly, attorney


Question 2: Transportation

Two-part question proposed by the Citizens Transportation Coalition

Respondent: Robin Holzer, Chair, Citizens Transportation Coalition


Question 3: Education

Question proposed by Gerald Frug, the Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of the CITY BOUND, How States Stifle Urban Innovation and City Making: Building Communities without Building Walls

Respondent: Janet Kohlhase, Professor of Urban Economics, University of Houston


Question 4: Growth and Incentives

Question proposed by Samuel Jacobson, undergraduate, School of Architecture, Rice University

Respondents: Jenny Hyun, attorney; Reid Wilson, Chair, Urban Land Institute


Question 5: The Future

Question proposed by members of the Sharpstown Civic Association

Respondents: Reid Wilson, Chair, Urban Land Institute Jordan Fruge, SVP, Business Development, Standard Renewable Energy


Q&A with the audience

Questions were written and read aloud to the candidates.


No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston was organized by CAMHs Senior Curator Toby Kamps and Curatorial Associate Meredith Goldsmith. The discussion was held at Carrolls prototype180:table, which was designed specifically for negotiation and for staging these types of public forums and presentations.


About No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston:

Free from the land-use and zoning ordinances that shape other large American cities by separating residential, commercial, and industrial areas, Houston allows a mixed-use approach where disparate architectures and functions blend. In this often chaotic, jarring urban topography, many Houston artists have been able to carve out spaces and opportunities for themselves, their work, and their communities. No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston is the first museum exhibition to consider the current and past efforts of regional artists working in the urban environment, and includes work by 21 artists. On view at CAMH, May 9 October 4, 2009.


Video credits-

Video work: Andriano Balajadia

Special thanks to: Mary Ellen Carroll, Peter Brown, TJ Huntley, Gene Locke, Roy Morales, Annise Parker, Jordan Fruge, Robin Holzer, Jenny Hyun, Hugh Rice Kelly, Janet Kohlhase, Asmara Tekle-Johnson, Reid Wilson, Innovation Territories, Houston. Its Worth It., and The Rice University Building Institute.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Houston
• CAMH
• NOZONE
• No Zoning
• Mayor
• Contemporary
• Arts
• Museum