Mayor: Former Shell president named Houston’s COVID-19 Recovery Leader; city employees face furloughs

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner had several major announcements Monday, including naming the city’s COVID-19 Recovery Leader and impending furloughs for city employees.

Houston’s new leader for coronavirus recovery efforts

Former Shell Oil president and Hurricane Harvey recovery leader, Marvin Odum, was named as the city’s economic recovery czar Monday. He will work directly with Armando Walle — the newly appointed Harris County czar — to help reopen the city. Odum said he and Walle will be working hand-in-hand.

There will be four areas of focus for Odum, according to Turner:

• Figure out how to restart the economy for Houston
• Strategies and adjustments if there are increases in positive cases
• Protecting the at-risk, vulnerable population
• Developing a plan that addresses how to prepare for the next pandemic

Odum stressed during the press conference that his goal was to keep people safe, get them back to work and restart the Houston economy after the coronavirus pandemic. Turner said he is giving Odum broad authority to do what he needs to do.

“If he speaks, he speaks for me,” Turner said.

Odum’s recovery plan

Odum said there are three guiding principles in his plan:

• Act as quickly as possible
• Have an inclusive approach
• Collaborate with organizations, government and other entities as needed so as to not duplicate work

Impact of the price of oil

The price of oil does not really affect the plan Odum has in mind, he said.

Turner said Houston is the energy capital of the world. Of course, when it comes to employment, the city will be hard hit, Turner said.

Furloughs and deferred payments

The city’s budget has badly impacted by rock-bottom oil prices and the coronavirus closures, according to Turner. Five cadet classes will be deferred, employees will be furloughed, even payments to the Houston Zoo could be deferred, according to Turner.

This is the worst budget the city has seen, Turner said. Houston is not immune and every facet of city governance will be impacted.

Reopening the city

Odum said there are certain characteristics of a successful reopening plan:

• More widespread and ubiquitous testing and tracking
• Ability to identify problems early and make adjustments
• Work with the federal and local support to spend allocated funds appropriately
• Answer the question on how to better prepare for a similar event

Officials aim to roll out the plan in phases, according to Odum. The city will need the cooperation of all Houstonians, Odum said, and he will provide more details as the city and plans to reopen move forward.

Turner said one of the biggest factors in deciding when to reopen the city is more widespread testing, but the public testing sites in the city are reaching capacity well before they are scheduled to close for the day.

According to Turner, Houston is seeing positive results but is not yet out of the storm. The virus is not currently under control. Social distancing and other preventive measures are working.

Turner wants people to understand that Houston has not yet reached its peak. We cannot reopen just because things seem to be slowing.

Importance of wearing face masks, following health guidelines

In order for society to get going again, it is important for people to continue following guidelines, Persse said. Otherwise, Houston is going to see a major spike. Perrse said that health officials are trying to avoid a spike that might overwhelm the healthcare system.

It is easy to make a mask out of nearly anything, it doesn’t have to be a medical mask, according to Persse.

Tuner said he hopes not to see people going out or gathering without masks. If he does not see compliance, Turner said officials would have to take a more authoritative course of action.

You can watch the full news conference below: