M.J. KHAN ENTERS CITY CONTROLLER RACE

Houston City Councilman M.J. Khan has officially announced his candidacy to become the next Houston City Controller.

“In our challenging economic times, it is important to have a taxpayer's advocate and a dedicated civil servant who has the knowledge and experience to serve as City Controller,” stated Khan.  “I understand the intricacies of city spending, and know how to run government like a business.  Most importantly, I am dedicated to ensuring your tax dollars are spent wisely.”

M.J. Khan is currently serving his third term as the Council Member representing District F.  During his tenure on Council, Khan has worked to streamline city spending and has championed for fiscal responsibility. He has served on the Fiscal Affairs Committee, and he is the Chair of the International Liaison and Protocol Committee.  In 2007, Khan was the recipient of the Outstanding American by Choice Award presented by the USCIS and the U.S. Department of State.  Khan’s professional background complements his work on the City Council; he holds an MBA from Rice University and has successfully run his own real-estate company.

“It truly has been an honor to serve as a City Councilman. For almost 30 years, I have been an active member of the Houston community, and I would like to continue serving the citizens of Houston as their City Controller.  I believe that my professional background, accomplishments in the City Council, history of fiscal responsibility and proven record of fiscal management make me the ideal person to be the next City Controller,” said Khan.

While serving on City Council, Khan has advocated for fiscal responsibility.  He proposed the requirement that all city departments must submit a zero-based budget, fought for reductions in the property tax rate, sought an incremental increase in Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) from a 5 year rolling cycle to a 7 -10 year rolling cycle, requested each city department to establish a balanced scorecard system to align its business activities and to measure its performance against strategic goals, and requested each city department to establish a 5 year operational planning process and a 2  year budget.  Khan has also proposed that each city department should establish a base budget that can be adjusted up or down by 2.5% depending on the state of the economy.  In addition, he sought the requirement that unfunded retirees’ health benefit liabilities should be reported, which is a $3.5 billion liability otherwise.

For more information on MJ Khan’s campaign for City Controller, please visit www.mjkhan.com.