When his paid consultants have to come out and defend him, I imagine that all the recent articles on his failure to live up to expectations by many who supported him are starting to get under Whitmire’s skin.
Folks know that one of my favorite flicks is “The Wizard of Oz.” When Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion get to Emerald City, the carriage driver who greets them makes reference to the “horse of a different color.” When it comes to who runs the City of H-Town as the H-Town Mayor, Mayor John Whitmire is a “horse of a different color.” Mayor Whitmire may come with a public service and political background, but he is not what so-called insiders expected or want. A “horse of a different color” for sure.
Evan Mintz tweeted this about a Houston Landing story on Mayor Whitmire’s style after a year in office:
“Don’t miss this excellent writeup on dynamics at Houston City Hall“
The tweet refers to an excellent article in Houston Landing, one of the sites I list as worth reading on the site page; see the menu above. I also donate to the site.
Deb Bonario-Martin, a community activist in Northline, admitted that Turner did not always do what organizers wanted, but said the former mayor actually listened to them.
Whitmire, she added, only listens to his donors and supporters.
The mayor denied that, saying it is community organizers who platform their constituents and ignore others.
“No, it’s just back asswards,” he said. “I am for the whole city, and they’re for their membership.”
I represent a small neighborhood in Houston, outside the loop, and I hope the mayor will listen to our problems and do something about them. I have no idea who the groups the article issues are, but I am relatively sure that whatever they advocate for would benefit more than their members. I only know that the city will send someone out if we report someone building an extension and don’t have a permit from the city. That permit means money for the city.
According to Bill King, they love Whitmire in Kingwood and Clear Lake; maybe the mayor is taking care of those Republican areas that heavily voted for him. I have no idea, but it is certainly a possibility. Meanwhile, in my neck of the woods, the heavy trash stayed on the grass for months, waiting to be picked up.
Whitmire also received substantial support from the Hispanic community; I anxiously await what he will do when Trump and Abbott come knocking, asking Whitmire for help in rounding up all the “Illegals.”
That horse must be a politician as it changes colors or opinions to what people want to hear or see. That is certainly a good way to describe Whitmire.