During Annise Parker's first term, Houston was stuck in a drought. The global economy was in an economic downturn. And City Hall had to prune a budget suffering from wilting revenues. At the end of her second term, the grass is green again. Houston's supercharged energy economy has us growing to new heights. Risk-averse, competent and scandal-free, Parker is using the good times to transform Houston from a city where people want to work into a place where people want to live. Voters should give her a third and final term as mayor to conclude her 16-year marathon run of public service.

A community activist back when Montrose was known more for drug dens than world-famous restaurants, Parker worked her way from shoe-leather advocacy up to the highest seat in city government. And Houston has risen along with her.

But as Parker said in her 2013 State of the City address, "The best can get better." This is true for the city, and Parker's leadership.

Houston's term limits make it far too easy for elected officials to prioritize political expediency over long-term goals. To her credit, Parker has tried to crack this mold, even when it hasn't been the best thing for her approval ratings. "Rebuild Houston" is a multi-decade investment in our city's streets and drainage infrastructure. That dedicated fund will pay down past debts and allow Houston to switch over to pay-as-you-go on drainage. New taxes are rarely popular (even when approved by voters) but this will save taxpayers' money in the long run. It took political leadership to do what is right for our future, but people don't understand why their roads still have so many potholes - and that's a problem for Parker. Too often, our mayor acts more like a policy wonk than a well-practiced politician. This may work for getting plans in place, but Parker needs to connect with the homeowners who actually foot the bill. Better communication will have to be key for a successful third term. Particularly on pensions.

Even though she supported the current pension system when she was on City Council, you'd be hard-pressed to find an elected City of Houston official who has argued louder for bringing pensions in line. While other politicians try to argue around their faults, Parker admits hers directly.

"I wish I could say every decision I have made in 16 years as a public official is a perfect decision," Parker told the Houston Chronicle editorial board Friday. "However, I will absolutely say that I've done everything within my power as the mayor of Houston to make a difference in pensions and to improve our underfunding situation."

Parker says she's doing her best. It can get better. The firefighters' pension is still controlled by Austin, and overall obligations pose a serious threat for the next 30 years. State senators have told us that the mayor can't just go to the Capitol and expect them to hand her the keys without having a road map.

People love their first responders, and it is Parker's job not only to point out the problems, but to unite Houstonians behind a plan that will get our fiscal house in order.

Parker sometimes says these issues are out of her hands, but she's the only one who can be a catalyst for change. With union negotiations coming up, maybe it is time to speak softly and carry a big stick. Our mayor can't claim to leave a lasting legacy for the city if she leaves pensions untouched. As then-Controller Annise Parker told the Chronicle back in 2004, "The Brown administration just kind of said we would leave it to the next mayor to figure out." Bill White was that next mayor, and he made some important improvements in the municipal workers' and police officers' pensions. Now Parker will have to collaborate with the firefighters, as we know she can do.

The once-hostile relationship between Houston and Harris County has turned into, as one City Council member put it, "a rapid group hug." And her successful public-private partnerships set a model for unifying Houstonians behind a worthy cause. B-Cycle stations have sprouted up across the Inner Loop. The bayous are being transformed into a citywide system of parks and paths, funded with matching private dollars. Her newly announced Complete Streets plan will help ensure that roads aren't just for cars, but pedestrians, bikes and businesses.

This is an admirable agenda - we've supported it. And yet it lacks a sense of cohesion. If you step back and squint, these individual policies can come together like pixels on a screen. Despite her efforts, there is still too much white space between the policy dots. Our most vulnerable residents are falling through those gaps.

Affordable housing inside city limits is increasingly scarce, and changes that allow denser housing construction only seem to encourage expensive townhouses. Our burglary rate isn't the worst, but it merits a higher ranking on Parker's priorities. Human trafficking runs rampant in several parts of the city. It isn't just massage parlors. Kitchens, fields and factories are essentially filled with modern-day serfs. The same trade that has brought our city untold wealth has also made us the crossroads for trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. Parker's Human Trafficking Task Force is a step in the right direction, but it may not be enough to combat such a pervasive evil.

Memories of Hurricane Ike, which barely missed Houston Ship Channel, should have led our county and coastal cities to implement a storm protection plan years ago. They've dallied for too long, and it will fall on the mayor of Houston to set the agenda if no one else will. Too much of our national energy economy relies on Texas' refineries for another hurricane season to pass by without a plan in place.

Parker has tried to set a comprehensive agenda, and she can secure this ambitious goal for future mayors by overseeing city charter reform that will extend term limits.

Houston is in full bloom. We're diverse, cool (so they tell us) and an economic powerhouse - the Energy Capital, in more ways than one. We've survived the booms and busts, though these days it feels like our city truly follows the ethos engraved at Main Street Square: As we build our city, let us think that we are building forever. Mayor Annise Parker deserves a final term in office.