Past is present in Turner’s next term
Focus more on poor neighborhoods to truly ‘lift every voice’
After easily winning a runoff to serve a second term, Mayor Sylvester Turner assured Houstonians he had not forgotten growing up with eight siblings in a twobedroom house in Acres Homes, long considered one of the city’s most neglected neighborhoods.
“Let this campaign be a reminder that you can grow up and still live in the ’hood, and still be the mayor of the fourth largest city in the United States of America,” Turner said.
Communities seemingly stuck in the type of poverty Turner escaped are counting on him to remember his roots over the next four years. Council candidates in the past election said they kept hearing from voters who want the city to stop neglecting their neighborhoods — and focusing on the city’s least prosperous areas would strengthen all of Houston.
Many of the people Council candidates talked to on the campaign trail said they weren’t as concerned about topics dominating the headlines: from higher pay for firefighters to alleged corruption in City Hall. Instead, their biggest issues were flooding, trash and raggedy streets. Those Houstonians want city government to get back to basics.
They didn’t talk about building a hurricane-proof dike; they talked about cleanpointed ing out ditches, culverts and bayous so water doesn’t back up into their yards after a hard rain. They’re tired of illegal dumping that makes their neighborhoods look trashy. They’re sick of driving on potholed streets that haven’t had fresh stripes painted on them in years.
Not even crime rose to the same level of concern among the residents they talked to, the Council candidates said. They concluded that while the Houston Police Department might need a larger force, officers interacting with residents might have more impact — especially in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations where residents often fear talking to the police.
Amy Peck, who won the District A seat, out that police are deployed according to how many calls for help they receive. As a result, neighborhoods whose residents are reluctant to call the police may be underserved.
Sandra Rodriguez, who lost her race in Council District J, suggested regularly scheduled conversations between residents and beat officers could build better relationships.
District E Councilman Dave Martin, who won reelection, said it’s going to take more than clearing drains to stop flooding in
Elm Grove and Kingwood, where runoff has resulted from unbridled development in neighboring Montgomery County. The city filed a cease-and-desist order against Perry Homes and two other firms, but more court action may be needed.
Meanwhile, Turner might have a statue erected in his honor if he could broker an agreement among Montgomery County, Harris County and Houston that would prevent future development that makes existing neighborhoods more vulnerable to flooding on either side of their borders.
With the election over, Turner should also reconsider the suggestion of one of his mayoral opponents, Bill King, and others to spend more of the drainage money the city has been collecting since 2011 on flood control.
Turner has defended using a portion of the funds for other vital city services, but a lawsuit has been filed challenging the practice. It shouldn’t take another court fight to do right by Houston.
Turner said after his reelection that he wants to lead Houston through “transformational” changes that will position the city for the future. He wants to improve flood-control infrastructure, including new gates on the Lake Houston dam; speed up lagging Harvey recovery efforts; restructure the fire department; and build a theme park.
Those are worthy goals but as the mayor makes his moves, he should stay focused on his campaign slogan, “Lift Every Voice.” There’s an important message in that homage to the poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became the lyrics to the “Negro national anthem.” James Weldon Johnson’s poem encourages us to remember the past as we march into the future.
If he does that, Turner will well serve neighborhoods like the one where he grew up, where residents feel like they are being left behind by the rest of Houston. Their rebirth as thriving communities would be a fitting legacy for the mayor and would pay dividends for all of Houston, rich or poor. It might mean more to the city than anything else he does.