Six vie for open at-large position
Candidates share their concerns over public safety, budget
The Houston City Council At-Large Position 2 race is one of the most crowded, with six candidates vying to replace term-limited David Robinson.
There are five at-large candidates representing all 2.3 million citizens. The Position 2 race has six candidates who have all previously run campaigns for office. They bring a wide range of professional experiences, from former city staff members to real estate to supply chain logistics. Candidates talked about public safety, infrastructure and strengthening the city’s budget.
Here’s who is running.
Willie Davis
A pastor, Davis said in a candidate forum addressing public safety was a top issue. He said on Sept. 17 the city needs to hire more police and said increases in crime affects the business and economics in communities. He also highlighted cutting response times in a Sept. 14 forum.
Davis declined to answer the Chronicle’s questions at events and did not respond to calls and emails.
This is his third run at at-large position 2 after running against incumbent David Robinson twice in 2015 and 2019.
City Hall candidates must live in Houston to seek office. The Houston Chronicle reported that for seven city council candidates including Davis, public records raise questions. Davis listed a home south of Old Spanish Trail near MacGregor Park on his ballot application. Brazoria County property records show Davis bought a home in Iowa Colony in 2021, where he claims a homestead exemption. Davis reported having lived in the city of Houston for two continuous years.
Nick Hellyar
A real estate broker, Hellyar formerly worked in city and state government. He ran in an 11-candidate race for city council At-large Position 4 in 2019 and lost.
Hellyar said, based on what he’s heard on the campaign trail and while in city government, his top issues are addressing crime and improving infrastructure. He noted that Houston has fewer police officers now than it did two decades ago and supports the city’s ability to recruit more officers.
When it comes to city budget, he said the city needs to go “back to basics.” He said those basics include public safety and infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is a nationwide problem,” Hellyar said. “No matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we can all agree that infrastructure has been underfunded nationally, at the state level, and here in Houston for a while. So we just need to get back to basics, focusing on roads, flood mitigation, those sort of issues.”
Marina Angelica Coryat
Coryat worked as the public information manager for the city’s solid waste department. In 2019, she ran in the council member District A race and lost.
“It was good, but I knew in my heart that I was to run for at-large,” Coryat said. “We all vote at the table but the at-large position also deals with international, global (issues.) That’s something that is of particular passion for me. We have an opportunity to look at the big picture of the city as opposed to district council members that are confined to geographic areas.”
Coryat has said working to bring international economic opportunities to Houston is something she’d want to take up if elected, as well as shepherding initiatives to house domestic violence victims.
She also wants to improve other city issues including timely trash pickup. As a former solid waste department employee, she said she supports implementing a garbage collection fee to bring revenue to the department. Houston is the only large Texas city that does not have a garbage collection fee.
Danielle Keys Bess
Bess ran for Texas House District 147 in 2022 and pressed then candidate Jolanda Jones into a runoff, where Jones beat Bess by about 200 votes.
A second-generation realtor, Bess has highlighted affordable housing as a top issue. She also said building a sustainable city budget is a day one priority for her. The city typically operates at a structural deficit, with expenses growing faster than revenues.
“We do need to focus on, day one of getting into office, building public and private partnerships,” Bess said. “That’s going to be critical for the sustainability of the city government. If I don’t have a good sustainable budget, I cannot have sustainable city services.”
Bess also said infrastructure improvement with federal dollars and public safety are top issues. On public safety, she said that includes placing lighting in highcrime locations. She said the city needs to have “a diversity of funding” in the police department, citing federal funding for de-escalation training as an example.
Holly Flynn Vilaseca
Flynn Vilaseca was on the HISD school board from 2017 to 2022. She works at Johnson Controls Inc., which she said equips her with the expertise to re-evaluate the budget and plan for the city’s long term.
“I want to bring my skill set as an elected, my skill set from the business acumen that I bring to the table, along with the perspective of being a mother, to solve problems in Houston and make sure that we do have equitable access to really good city services,” Flynn Vilaseca said.
“That we really focus on public safety and providing the right supports for our frontline workers.”
Flynn Vilaseca named infrastructure and public safety as “non-negotiables,” or first priority, in the budget.
She is open to looking at reevaluating the revenue cap, which limits the property taxes Houston can collect each year.
With property values rising, city council usually cuts the tax rate to avoid collecting more money than the cap allows.
Obioha “Obes” Nwabara
Nwabara is a supply chain professional and secretary for the organization that hosts Bayou City Art Festival. He ran for Harris County Department of Education Position 7, At-large in 2020 and lost.
Nwabara wants to prioritize reducing traffic and described Houston’s “bumper-to-bumper gridlock actively harming the environment.”
He also said fixing water infrastructure is a priority for him.
He took to social media to document a pipe leak down the street near his apartment in District J.
“It’s not just an issue in District J. It’s an issue all across the city,” Nwabara said. “I traveled as far north as Kingwood. I traveled down to Clear Lake, and then east and west as well. Everywhere I go I talk to people, they mention ‘yeah, we’ve had water leaks, some water main breaks, all these things as well.’ So it’s a citywide issue that’s only going to get worse if we don’t address it.”