(The Center Square) – Shortly after being sworn in as mayor of Houston, the fourth largest city in America, John Whitmire, started reversing the political logjam that characterized his predecessor’s administration.
Within 30 minutes of being sworn into office on Jan. 1, Whitmire went out on patrol with Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, following through on his pledge to support the police and crack down on crime.
“This lets the public know our No. 1 priority is public safety,” he told reporters. “And it lets first responders know I am out here with them and that I support them. It gets them rejuvenated.”
By Jan. 3, he withdrew the city’s challenge to a law he sponsored while in the state Senate to provide pay parity for firefighters. By Jan. 4, he was already working with his former Republican colleague to ensure that $200 million in unspent Hurricane Harvey relief funds were used.
While he has vowed to make other significant changes in the city, his first major actions have been lauded by both Republicans and Democrats, seen as a complete reversal of Houston’s former Democratic Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Within 72 hours of being sworn in, Whitmire instructed the city attorney to withdraw the city’s appeal to a court ruling and drop its challenge to a law he sponsored that requires mandatory arbitration for certain municipal fire departments when collective bargaining efforts reach an impasse.
A former state senator of 40 years, Whitmire sponsored SB 736 during the regular legislative session in 2023. It passed with bipartisan support and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law last June. Turner challenged the law as part of his eight-year fight with Houston firefighters, arguing it was unconstitutional.
Last December, state District Judge Lauren Reeder ordered the city and the union to return to contract negotiations, which Turner challenged. He also fought a 2018 ballot proposition, Proposition B, which voters passed, requiring pay parity for Houston police officers and firefighters even though their job requirements, hours and conditions are not the same. In 2023, the Texas Supreme Court struck down the proposition, arguing it conflicted with another voter-approved referendum requiring firefighters and first responders the legal right to collective bargaining. The court also upheld SB 736 as constitutional.
Whitmire also began the negotiating process, saying, “I want the City to remove itself from the court process as much as possible and focus on resolving this long-standing dispute as fairly and quickly as possible. I stated repeatedly on the campaign trail and in my inaugural address that our first responders will not have to fear court action during the Whitmire Administration. I am following through on that promise.”
In another reversal of Turner policies, Whitmire pledged to work with former Republican state senator, and now General Land Commissioner, Dawn Buckingham, to administer $200 million in Hurricane Harvey relief funds that had been held up by Turner. In a letter to Whitmire, Buckingham congratulated him on his win, also acknowledging the GLO had a “strained relationship with Houston.”
She said the city agency responsible for administering the funding “has been plagued with a number of problems from the previous administration including a lack of staff, conflicting priorities and a limited capacity that led to many Houstonians not receiving the help they so desperately needed. As a result, the GLO has had to step in and taken on program management in several key areas to ensure timely distribution of critical hurricane recovery funding.”
Hurricane Harvey, which struck Houston in 2017, dumped roughly 60 inches of rain in some areas for four consecutive days. It caused $125 billion in damages, led to the death of 36 people and damaged 150,000 homes in Harris County alone.
One of GLO’s responsibilities is natural disaster mitigation to restore critical infrastructure and mitigate future damage through several programs. It administers two major grants funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provide shelter and repairs to damaged homes after natural disasters. In 2017, Abbott directed the GLO to be the first state agency to partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide short-term housing for displaced Texans.
The GLO’s former commissioner, George P. Bush, who lost his bid for attorney general, also had an embattled relationship with Houston and Harris County. Bush only granted Harvey relief money to the city and county after widespread bipartisan pressure to do so. Unlike Bush, Buckingham has promised “to do everything in my power to work hand in hand with Houston” to help Texans recover from hurricanes.
Whitmire said he strongly agreed with Buckingham that “when natural disasters hit, floodwaters don’t adhere to political boundaries.” He also said he was “excited to work” with her and they “will create a plan to ensure the $200 million Harvey federal relief fund is distributed as quickly and equitably as possible to those who qualify and need it.”
