You’re not in Austin anymore. ‘Whit-liar’ needs to rebuild trust in City Hall | Editorial
Every mayor makes backroom deals, but at some point they have to level with the public. We’re not seeing that with the mayor. Despite having the squinty deadpan style of a straight shooter, Whitmire prevaricates. He waffles, jumbles and obfuscates. Examples abound.
The Houston Chronicle seems to have it in for John Whitmire. It seems way out of character for the Chronicle. Got me thinking, are the people that run the city, no, not the mayor or city council, realizing that John Whitmire is and was not the right choice to run Houston?
The business elites have always run Houston, and those can mostly be found at the Greater Houston Partnership.
In about half a year, FIFA comes to Houston, and how will the world see Houston? Will it be water pipes pouring thousands of gallons down storm sewers? Will they drive on streets that are as bumpy as unpaved country roads?
Will they come and see the news that shows the city is going broke? John Whitmire has not indicated how he plans to raise money to pay for the pay raises and maintain a healthy, vibrant community.
Those who are Spanish speakers come and see what is happening to Spanish-speaking people here in Houston, and how the city has failed to protect its immigrant community.
From the glowing endorsement the Houston Chronicle gave him two years ago to the brutal takedown of Mayor Whitmire, there is a steep drop.
Chronicle endorses John Whitmire
Whitmire fits no mold. He has charted his own course, from his meteoric rise as a college dropout who at 23 won a newly created state House seat, to to his evolution from Texas House class clown to Senate criminal justice chairman, to his transformation from prison builder to bipartisan criminal justice reformer. Whitmire earned national recognition in the mid-2000s for teaming up with a Plano Republican to show thata “tough on crime” state could be “smart on crime” as well by closing prisons and, instead, expand diversion and treatment programs. He was later heralded for ending Texas’ biased pick-a-pal grand jury system and protecting mentally ill inmates through the Sandra Bland Act. Today, Whitmire represents a majority Black and brown district and is the longest serving member in the Senate, earning him the honorary title of “dean.” He’s the only Democrat to chair a committee in the Republican-controlled chamber.
At turns charming and hard-nosed, Whitmire isn’t the smiley backslapper who sets people at ease. He’s hard charging at times, eerily quiet at others and can fire off a clever quip without breaking a squint. His humor can be wicked — and also revealing.
… “On the policy issues he’s always been there, and it irritates me when I see the criticism that I think is unjust and undue,” Garcia told us. She calls Whitmire “the man for the moment.” He’s uniquely qualified to address crime, she says, and after 50 years in the House and Senate, he’s got the relationships with Republican leaders in Austin that could end some of the state government’s feuds with Houston.
As mayor, Whitmire insists he’d be committed to diversity and equity, and the city’s 22 department heads will reflect that. What he lacks in youthful pep or pigment he makes up in connections and know-how: “You don’t have my experience when you’re 35. It’s that simple. I’ve worked with nine mayors and seven governors,” he says. “Experience matters.”
It’s clear that Whitmire is well-prepared to do the unglamorous work of making this city function.