Knox for City Council At-Large Position 1 seat
Incumbent has shown he’ll stand up to mayor.
As a City Council member, Mike Knox has not been afraid to clash with Mayor Sylvester Turner.
He voted against a $650,000 contract to boost participation in the 2020 Census, saying he had reservations about the “missions and agendas” of the firm chosen to do outreach.
He was one of six council members to vote against a contract that will pay up to $3 million over five years for musicians to perform live at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports — a program strongly endorsed by Turner.
And he was the only council member to cast a “no” vote on Turner’s historic pension reform proposal.
But Knox, 60,a former police officer running for a secondfour year term in the At-Large Position 1 seat, is not merely a contrarian. Knox objected to the airport music contract because he thought the money could be better used for airport amenities, such as improved signage. He opposed an ordinance banning smokeless tobacco use by professional baseball players at Minute Maid Park, on the grounds that it violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
Knox’s said he voted against Turner’s pension plan because the mayor did not provide a draft copy to review. “Now I’m not in the habit and I will not be in the habit of voting for things that I don’t know what I’m voting on,” he told the editorial board.
The editorial board has tended to agree with the mayor on many of these issues, but what’s important about Knox’s positions is his ability to dispassionately look at policy options and, when he disagrees, to be willing to offer an opposing view anchored by logic. “We make too many decisions based on emotion, situational ethics and also just the desire to make a political statement.”
Knox, who championed an amendment that requires all city departments in fiscal 2021 to adopt zerobased budgeting, says his priorities are reining in spending and focusing on basic services.
Knox faces an impressive roster of challengers, including Yolanda Navarro Flores, a former state representative and Houston Community College trustee; Larry Blackmon, a community activist and retired educator; and Georgia Provost, a well-known Third Ward activist who Knox defeated in a runoff in 2015. Another contender, Raj Salhotra, a former teacher and founder of Students With Ambition Go (SWAG) To College, an educational nonprofit, is new to politics, but has emerged as someone to watch. A first-generation Indian-American with degrees from Rice University and Harvard Law School, Salhotra displayed a keen understanding of issues and a forward-thinking approach. With more experience under his belt, Salhotra could serve Houston well in the coming years.
In this election, we believe Knox’s practical mindset — and his willingness to challenge the mayor — provide a much-needed check in a system in which City Council members wield limited power. We are counting on him to keep the needs of Houstonians in mind in a second term, as he seeks to curtail spending and improve city services.