Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Throughout Whitmire’s first 12 months in workplace, his administration oversaw the town’s response to main storms and the decision of a years-long stalemate with the firefighters’ union. He additionally butted heads with the county choose and drew criticism over his dealing with of infrastructure tasks.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s first 12 months in workplace noticed storms, spats over public infrastructure, a blockbuster take care of firefighters and rising rigidity with Harris County Choose Lina Hidalgo. Listed below are the highlights of his first 12 months, and what to anticipate in 2025.
Drawing on state sources for storm restoration
Whitmire’s mayoral marketing campaign highlighted his relationship with energy brokers on the state degree. He tapped into these relationships within the aftermath of the derecho and Hurricane Beryl.
After Beryl tore by Houston’s energy system, hospitals have been reluctant to discharge sufferers to houses with out electrical energy. Ambulances backed up in hospital parking heaps, ready for beds to open up. At Whitmire’s request, the state supplied 25 extra ambulances. He additionally requested 100 cops to help in patrols across the metropolis.
On the time, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick described Whitmire as a “no-nonsense man,” including that “the state and metropolis have the perfect relationship we have had in a long time.”
When Houston Metropolis Council thought of a tax hike to assist cowl about $50 million in sudden prices from the derecho and Beryl, Whitmire pushed again and finally obtained greater than $30 million in funding from Governor Greg Abbott.
“(State leaders) do not need to increase property taxes,” Whitmire mentioned. “Austin has labored in latest classes to do every little thing we are able to to decrease the property taxes … I feel that is simply step one of many the place Austin will help us.”
Butting heads with Harris County Choose Lina Hidalgo
In stark distinction to his rosy relations with Republican state leaders, Whitmire’s relationship with Democratic Harris County Choose Lina Hidalgo grew more and more fraught all year long.
They initially held competing press conferences through the Kingwood flooding in Might, then disagreed over the order of audio system throughout their first joint press convention.
When Hidalgo introduced her engagement in June, Whitmire commented that her fiancé “appears like a nerd.” Hidalgo known as the remark “merciless,” whereas a spokesperson for Whitmire mentioned it was meant to be “lighthearted.”
The strain got here to a head in December when Whitmire commented on Hidalgo’s psychological well being and political aspirations. In 2023, Hidalgo spent seven weeks at an in-patient facility for therapy of melancholy. She spoke about her therapy publicly in an effort to destigmatize struggles with psychological well being.
In a December interview with the Houston Chronicle, Whitmire mentioned she had “documented a few of her emotional points,” including that “this can be a horrible occupation to be in in the event you’re battling stress.” He mentioned Hidalgo did not intend to run for an additional time period in 2026 and appeared to sign an endorsement of former Houston Mayor Annise Parker for Hidalgo’s job.
Hidalgo known as his feedback “behind the instances,” and her workplace mentioned she hadn’t determined whether or not to run once more. Whitmire later mentioned the feedback have been meant to be “sympathetic,” not political.
$1.5 billion take care of Houston firefighters results in monetary considerations
In June, Whitmire resolved an eight-year contract stalemate with the firefighters’ union. The decision checked off one in every of his main marketing campaign guarantees, which earned him an endorsement from the union throughout his run. Nevertheless it additionally raised fiscal considerations.
The $1.5 billion deal included $650 million in backpay in addition to 34% raises over the subsequent 5 years.
Union President Marty Lancton celebrated the deal, which was unanimously accepted by Houston Metropolis Council.
“We owe a profound debt of gratitude to Mayor Whitmire for his steadfast dedication to bringing this ordeal to a detailed,” Lancton wrote in a press launch. “He made a promise, and he has fulfilled it. His assist and public recognition of Houston firefighters and the job they do are bolstering morale and serving to to fix years of mistrust.”
Earlier than the vote, Whitmire sparred with the town’s chief monetary officer, Controller Chris Hollins, over the main points of the settlement. Shortly after the deal, two of the massive three credit score rankings companies downgraded the town’s credit score outlook from “secure” to “unfavorable.”
“This settlement was accepted with no corresponding plan for the best way to pay for it,” Hollins mentioned in August. “Predictably, rankings companies haven’t responded positively.”
Whitmire and Hollins continued to spar over the town’s fiscal outlook, with the mayor saying he has a plan to pay for it and the controller pointing to the credit score outlook downgrades.
“If a few of our elected officers would give up scary them and scaring them with misinformation, we’d be in so much stronger monetary image,” Whitmire mentioned in August, including “I guarantee you that there will probably be enough funds to satisfy our obligation earlier than we tackle subsequent 12 months’s price range.”
Road fights
Whitmire’s first 12 months noticed the claw again of a number of road tasks meant to enhance security, in addition to an indefinite pause on different enchancment tasks.
Certainly one of his first main choices, in February, was to tear up medians alongside Houston Avenue. That they had price $100,000 to put in, and the removing ended up costing greater than $1 million after building brought about water and gasoline leaks.
He described officers within the earlier administration who put in the venture as “anti-car activists” who needed to decelerate site visitors.
Whitmire additionally known as for a assessment of an award-winning redesign of eleventh Road, which included the addition of motorbike lanes and the discount of auto lanes. The venture was finally left untouched.
Additionally within the Heights neighborhood, a $100 million redesign of Shepherd and Durham drives was paused for 2 months earlier than continuing with six-feet sidewalks as an alternative of ten-feet sidewalks.
He additionally overhauled the board of the Montrose Redevelopment Authority because it thought of a contentious redesign of Montrose Boulevard. The venture would have featured a discount of lane widths within the curiosity of site visitors security, in addition to a combined use pedestrian and bike path connecting the neighborhood to the Buffalo Bayou on the expense of outdated oak timber. Whitmire’s overhauled board finally spiked the combined use path, preserved the timber and maintained the 12-feet lane widths.
RELATED: Contentious Montrose Boulevard venture shifting ahead beneath revised plan
Some tasks stay paused. On the ultimate metropolis council assembly of the 12 months, Council Member Abbie Kamin mentioned she obtained no response to a number of inquiries over the past six months about what number of infrastructure tasks are paused and what the timeline is for resumption.
“We’re doing our due diligence in public works and need to make sure that it’s executed accurately,” Whitmire responded.
What to anticipate in 2025
2025 will see the renegotiation of a contract with the police union and the launch of a brand new initiative to fight the presence of homeless folks in public areas.
In terms of the police contract, Whitmire signaled in September that the union can anticipate heat on the bargaining desk. He introduced $10,000 raises for police cadets and mentioned his administration is open to reconsidering reforms to the police pension system.
Whitmire has repeatedly criticized the presence of homeless folks in public areas, saying in October that their continued use of public areas is “simply not gonna be acceptable.”
He introduced in November a plan to “finish homelessness” in Houston. It features a dramatic ramp up in native funding for traditionally profitable housing-first initiatives — in addition to a push to criminalize the presence of homeless folks in public areas in any respect hours, which might require approval by metropolis council. He particularly needs to broaden the town’s “civility ordinance,” which prohibits mendacity, sitting, or inserting private possessions on sidewalks through the daytime hours in sure elements of the town. His proposed enlargement would cowl the complete metropolis and embody nighttime hours.
