HOUSTON – KPRC 2 and partners - Telemundo Houston, Que Onda Magazine and the League of Women Voters of Houston - hosted a mayoral debate with the five qualifying candidates Tuesday.
The debate was held at Dunham Theater at Houston Christian University and was broadcast on KPRC 2, KPRC 2+ and Telemundo Houston’s digital platforms.
The one-hour debate, moderated by KTMD’s Crystal Ayala and KPRC 2′s Daniella Guzman, included five of the qualifying candidates which were determined by the number of individual campaign donors. The contenders discussed their vision of Houston’s future specifically related to crime, city infrastructure, disaster preparation as well as equity and equality in housing and employment.
The debate included a live audience of invited guests and additional coverage by KTMD’s Antonio Hernandez and KPRC 2′s Khambrel Marshall.
The candidates talked about everything from affordable housing to city spending, as well as crime and infrastructure, which are two of the top issues likely voters care about, according to a University of Houston poll.
A third of Houston residents said they don’t feel safe in their own neighborhood, according to a Kinder Institute Poll – an issue they want Houston’s next mayor to tackle.
Watch the full debate here:
Candidate breakdown
Annie “Mama” Garcia ran for the U.S. Senate three years ago. She is a mother, wife, lawyer, English-Spanish-German speaker, small business owner, founder of non-profit OpHeart, dual Spanish-American national, and Rice University alumna. Garcia has prioritized public education throughout her campaign. She wants to expand the Parks and Recreation Department to provide after-school, summer school and tutorial services. Garcia also wants Houstonians to have the chance to voice their possible opposition to the Houston Independent School District takeover.
Garcia disagreed with how crime is being framed in the city. She said it is a result of poverty and is worth taking a deeper look at. While half of likely voters said road conditions such as potholes have a bad impact on their daily lives, she said they aren’t her concern.
“With all due respect, I didn’t come here to talk about potholes. The next mayor of Houston needs to be more than a bureaucrat,” Garcia said.
She then changed the topic to public education and raised concerns about the HISD takeover.
Lee Kaplan is an attorney and Houston native who desires to address crime, traffic and potholes, garbage, and the city bureaucracy. The Princeton graduate later attended the University of Texas Law School. Kaplan believes prudent spending on mobility will help save money. He also believes that by cleaning up the city more effectively and efficiently, we can save money in the process. Kaplan says efficiency in public works, especially permitting and inspection, will accelerate the development of affordable housing and save money.
“It’s common sense that more visibility helps us with crime,” Kaplan said during the debate.
Kaplan said that the next mayor also needs to prioritize fixing the damaged roads.
“Those potholes tear your cars apart and they shake your teeth loose. What we have to do, what we really have to do is repair the streets because we have a drainage fee,” Kaplan said.
M.J. Khan is a Sind University graduate with experience in business management and city government. He was elected three terms as a Houston City Council Member for District F., representing Sharpstown, Alief, Gulfton, and southwest Houston. As a city council member, he proposed “Zero-Based Budgeting” for city departments. He wants to decrease crime rates, make infrastructure cost-effective to fit the needs of the city, provide more support and resources to first responders, and build better connections with Austin and Washington.
Khan said he’d fight crime without raising taxes.
“I will add $100 million to HPD’s budget and start recruiting 500 more officers, have civilians do the desk job, have officers patrol the streets,” Khan said.
Khan also discussed auditing departments to ensure each is operating efficiently and saving money.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is the democratic Chief Deputy Whip for the U.S. House of Representatives. A Yale University graduate, she is the author and lead sponsor of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which established the first new federal holiday in 38 years. Jackson Lee’s major legislative initiatives include the Sentencing Reform Act, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, The RAISE Act, The Fair Chance for Youth Act, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, Kaleif’s Law, the American RISING Act. She wants to work toward safer neighborhoods, better streets and an economy built around our working families.
“I will use our offices to target high crime areas using data analysis,” Jackson Lee said during Tuesday’s debate.
She called herself a crime fighter who would take a comprehensive approach.
And while the UH poll shows Sen. John Whitmire leading and that the race will likely be a runoff, Jackson Lee is still confident.
“Polls are basically not accurate,” she said. “The only backup plan I have is becoming mayor of the city of Houston.”
Sen. John Whitmire is the Dean of the Texas Senate and a University of Houston graduate. He was a long-serving chair of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and authored the Sandra Bland Act, addressing law enforcement training, jail resources, and support for individuals with mental illness, substance abuse, or intellectual differences. He also spearheaded grand jury reform, eliminating the “pick a pal” system and promoting diversity in panel selection. Additionally, he led efforts to decriminalize school behavior and expunged thousands of class C misdemeanors from the records of young Texans.
During the debate, Whitmire acknowledged that crime is affecting Houstonians’ quality of life.
“Violent offenders have to be held accountable. Non-violent, they want to turn their lives around. We need to help them with their addiction. We need to address mental health,” Whitmire said.
He also addressed pothole issues, saying, “It’s not only our streets and potholes and slabs of concrete but our general maintenance has been ignored for years.”
Election Day is Nov. 7. Early voting begins Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 3.
Long before the Aug. 21 filing deadline, we decided five candidates would participate in the on-stage portion of the event. In late August, we sent a letter to all candidates stating: “Only five of the leading candidates will be eligible to participate in the live debate broadcast. The leading candidates will be determined by polling and by the number of individual campaign donors.”
HOW CAN YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UPCOMING ELECTION?
The League of Women Voters of Houston has a nonpartisan voters guide free of charge. Click here for your copy.
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