State Sen. John Whitmire on Saturday secured a resounding victory over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, clinching the position of Houston’s next mayor.
The Associated Press declared Whitmire the winner at 7:24 p.m. on Saturday, a mere 30 minutes after the polls closed. With 85 out of 450 voting centers reporting, Whitmire garnered a commanding lead with over 65% of the votes.
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Taking the reins from the term-limited Mayor Sylvester Turner, Whitmire, a Democrat who has been a member of the Senate since 1983, is set to become the city’s next leader.
Whitmire campaigned with a focus on enhancing public safety and addressing infrastructure issues. In his victory speech on Saturday, Whitmire outlined his agenda.
- Bolster the city’s police force: “We will make this a safer city,” Whitmire said. “We will do it by recruiting more officers, supporting the officers we have through coalition-building with other agencies.”
- Tackle pressing infrastructure challenges related to roads and water systems: “Our infrastructure will be repaired and fixed,” Whitmire said. “Not only streets, but water. Great cities do not boil their water for two days.”
- End a long-running contract dispute between Turner’s administration and the firefighters’ union: “We will meet with them and give them a contract that is fair to Houstonian taxpayers and the firefighters. The first day, we’ll get out of court,” Whitmire said. “Can you imagine a city suing their first responders? We couldn’t make it without them.”
“We’re not New York. We’re not L.A. We’re sure not Chicago. We fix our problems,” Whitmire said. “Great cities solve their problems. They bring people together. Our campaign united this city. From day one, we will have transparency. In fact, day one, we will have a council meeting, and then I invite each and every one of you and bring your friends and neighbors. Your mayor will meet you at the front door to City Hall to open the door for you. I will shake everyone’s hand. You will be able to talk to your mayor from day one.”
We asked KPRC 2 viewers what issues they want Whitmire to tackle first. Here are some of their answers:
Houston Public Works
- “Clean up the mess in the water department. It’s beyond bad!” - Niloeby Montenoeci
- “Easy. Fire Carol Haddock, head of Houston Public Works. And this is something that can definitely be done on day 1. This will put the rest of the department heads on notice.” - Galieo Darwin 2.0
- “First thing: Fire the entire senior management of the Public Works department and put it out to bid.” - SONOMACHK
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Houston’s economy
- “Check the the books and let the tax payers know how their money has been misspent and handled.” - Phillip Unverzagt
- “Look into all contracts and awards made by turner and/or hidalgo.” - Fran
MORE: Housing costs and the economy are the two dominant concerns for most Houstonians
City Hall
- “Fire all of the shady staff under the current administration.” - Liz Latta Livingston
- “Clean house.” - Margaret Harris Battaglia
- “Fire everyone and start over.” - Robert Combs
- “Get rid of the suits that have no job. Remember how Miles dumped 200 admin jobs at HISD and it affected nothing except to save money.” - oldfud
- “First, meet with all department heads, i.e. police chief, fire chief, etc. Let them first have their chance to offer what they believe will help. After that, the mayor should appoint a few persons he can absolutely trust to help him efficiently and honestly run city government. Then, it will be time to take action. We have to remember that oftentimes chiefs of police and others have ideas that may not get beyond the former mayor’s office, so let them first air their concerns. We have to remember that in large city and county governments there will always be room for inefficiency and corruption; it’s the nature of large local governments. It exists because of what I call the melting pot syndrome; racial, religious and economic differences in the population. Some have grievances that may or may not be addressed, or even manageable, but mayors and city managers with vision who understand that will keep as many solid citizens, representing all these factions, together and talking. That comes first. First listen intently, then act in the interest of all.” - Wayne Bowling
- “He should clean out all of turners subordinates and then show the streets there’s a new big dog on the block.” - ToughenUp
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Public safety
- “Hire more police officers.” - Mark Davis
- “More police officers on the streets. The galleria area has become a haven for criminals and homeless.” - ClickMark
- “Hire more cops to control speeding. Use toll both readers to issue e-tickets.” - Jack Danger
- “Executive Order terminating employment if all non essential city employees and utilizing the money to give HPD a raise...except for Finner. He needs to go...Moral is at an all time low.” HTownPlumber
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Infrastructure
- “The first thing John Whitmire should do on day one is to tackle the aging infrastructure of Houston to prevent severe flooding from occurring in the city.” - Namir Manasiya
- “Fix the water leak on W Alabama between Bollo Pizza & corner of W Alabama & Shepherd. It has been flowing like a river for over 2 weeks.” - Wildflowers
- “This will sound selfish, but I’d like to see those lights fixed on the overpasses on the 59. It’d set the stage and a message that things will get better.” - Riverboat
MORE: A candid conversation with Houston mayor-elect John Whitmire on infrastructure and public safety
What would you add to this list? What do you think should be the goals and priorities for the new Whitmire administration? What should Whitmire do first to make Houston a better city? How do you hope the new mayor will address the issues that you care about?