Mayoral candidates face off on city issues
State Sen. John Whitmire and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee pledged to protect Houston’s marginalized communities from gentrification, environmental hazards and traffic deaths during a mayoral forum Sunday afternoon.
The forum, organized by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, focused on quality-of-life issues facing local neighborhoods, from housing affordability to environmental justice. Jackson Lee and Whitmire both recognized the complexity of these problems, noting that resolving them will have to involve collaboration with government agencies beyond the city.
The mayoral race advanced to a runoff next Saturday between the two candidates after their vote shares of 42.5% for Whitmire and 35.6% for Jackson Lee in the November general election.
As the finish line nears, both candidates continue to secure support from a broad array of elected officials and groups. This past Saturday, former Mayor Kathy Whitmire, who was married to John Whitmire’s late brother, endorsed Jackson Lee, who served as an at-large council member during Kathy Whitmire’s mayoral tenure in the 1990s.
Garcia has not endorsed either candidate. He said he hoped the forum would help assess which contender could be a better partner in serving neighborhoods in Precinct 2, which currently lags behind other areas in income, health care, homeownership and educational attainment.
Housing affordability
Several of Sunday’s questions concerned housing challenges. The latest census data shows that a quarter of Houston renters spend over half their income on housing, which places them in the “severely rent burdened” category. Rising housing costs have also disproportionately affected Hispanic communities, according to research by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
On Sunday, Whitmire highlighted the need for new leadership and pointed out inefficiencies in outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration. He criticized the city’s move in September to end a $60 million affordable housing program, funded by Hurricane Harvey relief funds, after a missed deadline.
“You’ve got to have a housing director that understands the affordability issue. You’ve got to have Public Works that does not make the permitting process so long and expensive,” Whitmire said. “You’ve also got to have a mayor — and I’m uniquely qualified — to reach across the aisle.”
Jackson Lee also emphasized the need to streamline the permitting process and highlighted her previous efforts as a member of Congress in securing federal funds for Houston’s housing improvements.
“Obviously, as the mayor of the city of Houston, I’ll have a more effective pathway of using those dollars which got entangled in red tape, I admit it,” Jackson Lee said.
She added that even though Houston lacks zoning laws, developers should not have unrestricted freedom to build in neighborhoods. “Let’s work together with our neighborhoods and create restraints that are democratic and respectful,” she said.
Environmental issues
The candidates also proposed ways to rectify environmental concerns in neighborhoods, including the concentration of batch plants in communities of color and a public housing project built near what activists have said are contaminated industrial sites.
Jackson Lee emphasized her involvement in studying the cancer cluster in Fifth Ward and advocating for the affected families. If elected, she said, she would draft a comprehensive environmental plan and appoint a designated staff member to communicate with federal and state agencies to deal with these issues.
“We can’t do this alone,” she said.
Whitmire said tackling neighborhood issues such as illegal dumping was a key motivator for his candidacy. He stressed the importance of increased transparency and holding city leaders accountable, especially when residents’ well-being is at stake.
“We’ve got to get away from just the splash and the press conference and have real people solutions,” he said.
Road safety
A recent Department of Transportation report shows that Harris County has one of the highest number of car crashes in the state — more than 115,000 in the past year.
During the forum, Whitmire and Jackson Lee both agreed that, if elected, they would push for stricter enforcement of traffic laws to enhance road safety.
Residents of Houston’s Eastwood area have repeatedly raised concerns about traffic congestion and safety risks because of delays at railroad crossings. The candidates acknowledged the complexity of this issue, especially because railroads are regulated by federal authorities.