Or did he learn to say the right words? Only time will tell.
‘Damn near close to perfect’ | Mayor Whitmire praises city’s response to snow, homeless outreach efforts
“We’re damn near close to perfect on how we handled this storm,” Whitmire said.
Another aspect of the city’s handling of the arctic blast that got praise during a Wednesday afternoon press conference was the work that took place at warming centers set up for the community, including unhoused individuals.
“We’ve had 1,300 individuals visit and stay with us in the warming centers. Ten locations across the city,” Whitmire said. “No one was turned around. Finally hit its maximum numbers yesterday, and I was contacted, and I said there’s no such thing, in weather like this, as reaching capacity. No one was turned around.”
The Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department said they helped transport unhoused individuals to those warming centers if they were seeking shelter from the bitter cold.
“One of the things that HFD did for the first time was utilize non-emergency vehicles and HFD personnel to help with the homeless, taking them to the warming centers,” Houston Fire Department Chief Thomas Munoz said.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Mayor Whitmire has turned a corner and realized that if he wants to be the oldest mayor and win re-election, he must have a heart or act like he does.
