Become an elected official, save on airport parking

The Chronicle's Matt Stiles and KTRK's Miya Shay reported earlier this week on the "courtesy" program that allows certain local elected officials to park free at Houston's airports, noting that more than 100 city officials, state legislators and members of Congress have racked up around $100,000 in free parking under the perk. Officials have been offered the free parking since the 1980s; it's intended for use during official business, but some of the instances were officials parked free made us wonder — for example, once when state Rep. Garnet Coleman apparently used a Hobby Airport garage as storage for his Mustang for more than a month while the car's convertible top was broken. That would have cost us about $1,000, but it didn't cost Coleman a cent. "The ideal use of this benefit is for when they are fighting for Houston or whatever," said Richard Fernandez, a spokesman for the city's Aviation Department. "However, when we issue these [parking] cards, we have no regulatory power of when they use card."

In today's Chronicle, Mayor Bill White defended the free-parking perk for city officials, but agreed that it does raise "fair questions." White has never taken advantage of the free parking, and though some City Council members have, their official travel is rather limited, so they haven't amassed huge bills. "We're limited, trips come up very fast," City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence, who has gotten $134 in free parking, said. "I think that's the intent — not to abuse the system." City Councilman Jarvis Johnson took advantage of the free parking more than any of his colleagues, but his $300 in parking privileges pales in comparison with U.S. Rep. John Culberson's $7,000. Not a big deal, Culberson said, because it's the taxpayers who are footing the bill: "On any business trip, the business always pays for parking, whether it is at the airport, or a parking garage downtown," he said. "My employers are the taxpayers, and my employers are paying for my parking when I'm on official business." (According to the Chronicle, U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady and Ron Paul have also gotten about $7,000 in free airport parking each.)