Comments To Council About King Whitmire & His Imperious Ways

I spoke before Houston City Council this past Tuesday, regarding the arbitrary and seemingly lawless way Mayor Whitmire is running Houston. Above is Council this past Tuesday. 

It's important people show up and address Council. Democracy must be strong at the local level. 

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Here is what I said:

As a law-abiding Houstonian who believes in democracy, I want to know how Mayor Whitmire-King Whitmire-can just appropriate money on his own, not carry out city propositions approved by the public & negate and gut city ordinances by memos and decrees.  

If we are as broke as Mayor Whitmire often says, where did the money come from to tear up Houston Avenue make it less safe?

Why do we have money when Mayor Whitmire wants a fancy crosswalk near his house?

When are we going to get a clear public report on Proposition B? When it was discussed here recently, there was a mix of legal opinions and Mayor Whitmire’s ramblings that the folks who put forth the proposition were some sort of radicals. But Prop B got more votes than Mayor Whitmire. If we are just going to ignore the people’s vote, then announce it outright. Call a press conference Mayor and say it.

How was the sidewalk fee gutted with just a memo from the Mayor? The proposal to tank the fee was made by a Proposition A motion by Councilmembers Pollard, Evans-Shabazz & Thomas. When the votes were not there, the Mayor gutted the fee with a memo. The purpose of Prop A was to expand democracy. Not rule by decree.

The effort to revise the sidewalk ordinance reflects the lousy process. The planning commission has stalled the ordinance because it had no civic benefit but to kill the fee and make certain we build fewer sidewalks. Councilmember Alcorn testified before the Planning Commission in the hope something useful could be salvaged from this process to nowhere. While the issue stagnates, the fee remains- wrongly- mostly blocked. 

How can Mayor Whitmire just torpedo the lights on the bridge in Montrose after the money had been approved by Council? I don’t care about the bridge. I just want to know if there are any laws or not. The Mayor says he takes “personal responsibility” for the decision. So what? What about Council.

The Mayor says he can allocate funds as he chooses. That is just the Trump/Musk argument being made in Washington. But even those scoundrels intend to challenge a post Watergate reform law that directs the president to correctly allocate money approved by Congress. Are we running a shop at Houston City Hall even more arbitrary than the insurrectionist-in-chief intends to run in Washington? 

Mayor Whitmire’s strongman rule diminishes and degrades the people who work for him & with him. The planning director and planning department are compelled to write & defend an ordinance to nowhere. The city finance director can’t answer a question about removing the money for the lights, without handing the question off to the city attorney. The city attorney concocts  legal theories from thin air to justify after the fact what the Mayor has done. Councilmembers spend four years of their professional lives being treated like chopped liver. Like the comedian used to say—No respect. Like the comedian used to say-No Respect.

Elected in low turnout, special interest funded elections, Council’s connections to a functioning democracy are shaky enough. Stand up to the Mayor. Stand up for yourselves, Stand up for the people of Houston. Stand up for democracy. 

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. ​​​

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