IN THIS EPISODE:
- Host Khambrel Marshall sits down with Texas State Sen. John Whitmire, who is preparing his run for Houston Mayor.
- Dr. Carla Wyatt, elected as the first African-American treasurer for Harris County looks ahead at her term.
State Senate and race for Mayor? No problem!
John Whitmire is known as the “Dean of the Senate” as a result of his 39 years serving as a Texas State Senator for District 15.
But now he’s preparing to leave the Senate for what he says is an even more important role as Mayor of the City of Houston.
“I’m a public servant,” he said. “I go where problems are and quite frankly I think I can use my experience better and more effectively in Houston today than in Austin. I’ve been fighting Houston’s issues in Austin for 50 years.”
Senator Whitmire is a guest on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and says he will work in the Senate session first and then focus full-time on his run for Mayor.
On this week’s program, he talks about the Houston challenges he wants to solve and the future of Houston Police Chief Troy Finner if he is elected Mayor.
See even more on this week’s NEWSMAKERS EXTRA WITH SENATOR JOHN WHITMIRE.
Dr. Carla Wyatt, the first African American elected as Harris County Treasurer
Carla Wyatt was born and raised in Houston.
Her first employment with Harris County was as an intern in the engineering department.
Now Dr. Carla Wyatt is preparing to step into her new role as Harris County Treasurer. She says her job is to make the operation as transparent as possible with no politics getting in the way.
“In working with Commissioners Court, it doesn’t matter to me whether you’re red or you’re blue. This is about your green and we have a responsibility to the constituents of Harris County,” she said.
Her Doctorate, by the way, is in Environmental Toxicology, which she admits will have no direct impact on her new job.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with being the Harris County Treasurer,” she said. “But it has everything to do with me being a statistician and a researcher which means I can count real good and I can find stuff.”
For more information on this week’s Houston Newsmakers
· State Senator John Whitmire (D) District 15
· Website: https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=15
· Website: https://www.johnwhitmire.com/
· Carla Wyatt, Ph.D., Harris County Treasurer-Elect
· Website: https://www.drwyattforharriscounty.com/