HOUSTON – On the final day of 2024, Houston Mayor John Whitmire sat down for a one-on-one interview with KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding.
Whitmire is nearing the end of his first year in office and spoke to Goulding about multiple topics, including his perspective on 2024 for the city and what he hopes to do in 2025.
“Houston is a great city with great people, but we have challenges like most major cities, and Houston has its challenges,” Whitmire told Goulding. “One of the reasons I ran for mayor was to address those challenges.”
City finances
Goulding asked Mayor Whitmire a question about city finances.
“Is the city broke?” Goulding asked Whitmire.
“The city’s broke in the sense that the bills have been paid the last four years with federal funding that no longer exists,” Whitmire responded.
The Mayor said because the federal funding has dried up, the city requires better management to be able to pay its bills.
“So it’s going to have to be very smart, efficient. Cut out the waste. Duplication and corruption,” Whitmire said.
Whitmire said raising taxes should not be the first option to recoup money.
“It should probably be your last option. Giving back to that waste and duplication corruption. Cut that out,” he said.
Milby High School Bridge
Following the death of a Milby High School student who was hit and killed by a train while walking to school, calls have been growing for a bridge to be built to allow students a safe way to cross the tracks on the way to school.
“Is it a realistic thought to put in these these crossovers over the railroads? And how can we do that quickly?” Goulding asked Whitmire.
“We do it quickly by one acknowledging we have a problem specifically at the Milby crosswalk,” Whitmire responded. “The president, CEO of Union Pacific, sat right there in the chair and I told her I expected them to help us pay for it. She’s still declining. I asked her to help us remedy the dangers of not only this site, but across HISD and other school districts. We’re reviewing those.”
While the Mayor didn’t walk back his support for the skywalk, he did say that the current solution of Union Pacific not running trains during school arrival and dismissal is proving to be much safer.
“What we immediately did is asked her and she agreed to stop the passage of the train when kids are going to and from school,” Mayor Whitmire said. “We’re focusing on that site for sure, whether there will eventually be a skywalk or right now it seems to be working with the suspension of train traffic during peak hours.”
Pressing Public Safety
One of the key points in Whitmire’s bid for mayor was bolstering the city’s public safety.
That means recruiting new police officers, retaining seasoned veterans and also compensating them not just fairly, but better than the rest.
“Certainly public safety is still my primary objective. It’s my highest priority,” the Mayor said.
While it’s still his focus, the public safety mission has hit a few speed bumps along the way.
This past year proving to be a tumultuous year for HPD.
Chief Troy Finner stepped aside following the uncovering of hundreds of thousands of cases that were miscoded and never investigated.
Gage Goulding: “How do you look at that and then say, we’re going to make this even better and we’re going to close that chapter, figure this out, and we’re going to move forward with a legitimate, well-working police department?”
Mayor Whitmire: “Very good question. First, it’s about leadership. I believe currently Chief Diaz is the best police chief in America.”
The mayor crediting newly appointed chief J. Noe Diaz for raising morale among the “rank and file” employees.
He’s also applauding Diaz’s effort of getting employees in the office out on patrol.
Mayor Whitmire: “Now, let me tell you something that we’ve got to improve on, and I will be speaking out in 2025. HPD officers arresting bad actors, dangerous actors, repeat felons. Take them over to the courthouse. And many times they get a personal recognition bond. They get a very low monetary bond and they’re back out on the streets.”
Gage Goulding: “Where does the buck fall? Who’s whose hand is that on and how can the city play a factor in making sure that people that are committing crimes aren’t back out on the street where they often commit more crimes?”
Mayor Whitmire: “Well said. You can’t continue to allow violent offenders, repeat violent offenders, be released to the streets of Houston. It’s a different jurisdiction. Obviously, elections matter. I’m going to do everything I can to let the public know that we have instances where HPD will serve a warrant on a violent offender, a repeat violent offender. They take them to intake. The county accepts, then they get a bond while they’re waiting to go to court.”
While the city police makes arrests, court cases are handled by Harris County.
This means the city doesn’t have a say.
However, Mayor Whitmire says in 2025, they’ll have a lot to say is violent offenders keep being released on low bonds.
How About A Second Term?
Throughout the interview with Mayor Whitmire, he kept saying that it would take several years to get the city back on track.
“I think it will take years to recover from the neglect that I inherited, maybe as many as eight years,” the Mayor said. “I just don’t know, maybe seven years now.”
It prompted the question: is Mayor Whitmire already thinking about a second term?
The Mayor only wrapping up year one of a four-year term. According to the city’s website, the mayor is limited to two, four-year terms.
Gage Goulding: “You said it’ll take 7 or 8 years to get Houston chugging down the track in the right direction. But just I have to ask, does that mean that we could see you on a ballot again running for another term?
Mayor Whitmire: “You know what? I’m listening to Houston Unions. Houstonians are excited about my administration. What I do going forward will be based on Houstonians, desires to fix this city, make it safe. But I have a lot of fight left in me, and I would be shocked if I can’t.... that if it don’t take eight years or seven more to complete. I want Houston to be the best city in America. And it’s a great city with great people. But we have challenges. And as long as there’s a challenge, I’m up to meeting.”
