The headline in the Houston Chronicle was Metro to remove Montrose rainbow crosswalk Monday morning, Houston official says
The Mayor of Houston controls the Metro Board.
The Houston METRO board is controlled by a nine-member board of directors whose members are appointed by various government bodies. The Houston Mayor appoints five members, the Harris County Commissioners Court appoints two, and the mayors of the other 14 cities in the service area appoint the remaining two.
But it is convenient for John Whitmire to say that Metro is removing the Pride crosswalk. Wonder what holds Whitmire’s body, as it would not surprise me if it had a backbone. The guy even has a photo of himself when he broke ranks to work with the Republicans, and then dares to claim he was doing it for the Democrats.
An image of John Whitmire climbing stairs is mentioned in a recent New York Times article, and it refers to his decision to break with fellow Democrats during the 2003 Texas redistricting walkout. While the photo itself is not available in the search results, the article describes the image and the event.
- The image: The photograph, which Whitmire keeps in his Houston City Hall office, shows him walking up a flight of stairs in the Texas Capitol.
- The context: The photo was taken in 2003, when Whitmire, then a state senator, decided to return to Austin and break the party’s first major walkout over redistricting. By ending the walkout, he said he “saved the Democrats from losing all their influence”.
Whitmire did not have a backbone back in 2003 and has not grown one since.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – When 10 Democratic lawmakers returned to the Capitol after running off to New Mexico for six weeks to block congressional redistricting, they were met with boisterous cheers from the Senate gallery.
But the crowd had a different welcome for Democratic Sen. John Whitmire of Houston: Members of the audience unveiled white T-shirts printed with one letter apiece, spelling out “QUITMIRE.”
After 30 days holed up in a hotel in Albuquerque, N.M., Sen. Whitmire broke ranks with his fellow Democrats Sept. 2 and decided to return to Texas. His decision gave Senate Republicans the quorum needed to get back to work on a redistricting plan that could give the GOP more seats in Congress.
