Ramirez would be most effective on City Council
If you drew a Venn diagram comparing the runoff candidates for Houston City Council, At-Large Position 1, you could fill the intersections of the circles pretty easily.
Melanie Miles and Julian Ramirez are both attorneys by trade. Miles, 57, runs her own practice specializing in family law. Ramirez, 60, is a former Harris County prosecutor who led the DA’s felony and public corruption divisions and trained cadets at the Houston Police Academy. Both are prioritizing crime prevention and public safety and want to see the Houston Police Department add more officers. Both boast significant support from law enforcement: Miles is endorsed by the Houston Police Officers’ Union and Harris County Deputies’ Organization; Ramirez by Harris County Constables Ted Heap, Mark Herman and Phil Sandlin, as well as the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas. Both have previously run for office in Harris County as Republicans; Miles for family court judge in 2018 and Ramirez for district court judge in 2022.
Where these two qualified candidates diverge is their philosophy on how a City Council member should function. In a strong-mayor form of government where city lawmakers have limited power to effect change, Ramirez sees himself as a watchdog. He says he would think and act independently of the mayor, push to rein in public spending and root out corruption in city government. Miles, who now identifies as a Democrat, is a consensus builder who would work collaboratively with colleagues on the City Council and prides herself on her relationships with the two candidates running for mayor and other city officials and insiders.
We believe Ramirez’s approach would be more effective. In a sense, Ramirez would fill the lane vacated by Mike Knox, the term-limited Position 1 City Council member who made a habit of being a thorn in Mayor Sylvester Turner’s side on a wide range of issues.
Ramirez, however, does not conceive of himself as a bomb thrower. His approach to holding the city accountable mirrors his experience as a prosecutor. He would push for auditing city departments to prevent abuses of power. He says he would consider hiring a certified fraud examiner on his staff and keep close tabs on the procurement process to ensure that city officials aren’t steering contracts to their preferred vendors. Ramirez’s hope is that his willingness to be a public ombudsman will lead to tips and information that could prevent corruption.
“I’m proud of the fact that I don’t have a personal relationship with either of the candidates in the mayor’s race,” Ramirez told the editorial board. “We need at-large council members who are going to be independent thinkers, and not afraid to speak up and speak out when it’s necessary when the mayor proposes things that are not in the best interest of the city.”
Despite his troubling endorsement from the far-right group True Texas Project, Ramirez insists he is no extremist. He sums up his political philosophy as favoring free-market solutions and limited government. Indeed, the issues he says he would focus on in the City Council — public safety, flood mitigation and environmental justice — shouldn’t have a partisan bent. His top priority is cutting spending and diverting funds for additional police officers and the Houston Forensic Science Center, which has a backlog of untested evidence that is stalling criminal investigations.
With a new mayor coming in to reset the agenda, Houston needs lawmakers who will set a standard for good governance and won’t shy away from rattling City Hall’s cage when the public’s interests are not being protected. Ramirez is that candidate. We urge voters to back him in the runoff.
He would be watchdog, unafraid to rattle City Hall’s cage.