Whitmire Says Houston Is Broke Other Than For His Political Allies In Public Safety Unions

​There was a vote yesterday in Houston City Council regarding a $3.5 million tax abatement for child care providers in Houston. The item passed with four of the six Council Republicans voting "no."

The 10 minute debate over the abatement was interesting because Mayor Whitmire, who supported the abatement, kept saying over and over that the city is broke. He said childcare is important and so are many other things. And that there would not be money for much of anything going forward. 

The discussion starts at the two hour 18 minute mark of yesterday's meeting. Here is a link to yesterday's meeting.      

The Mayor says the city is broke, but just recently announced a deal with the Houston Firefighters Union that will cost the city at least $650 million. There is at the moment no funding plan for the firefighters contract.

(Above is screenshot of Mayor Whitmire yesterday saying we are broke.) 

We'd have more money if the firefighters would get less money. They could give back $100 million of the $650 million. It would be a goodwill gesture to a city planning across the board cuts in every department but police and fire. It would be solidarity with fellow city workers. There is a discussion about the firefighters contract in yesterday's meeting that runs over an hour, at the 35 minute mark of the video linked to above.  

Mayor Whitmire paints a picture of a city that can fund nothing other than police and fire at what he sees as sufficient level. Why even bother having a city?         

The firefighters union says don't "politicize" the contract. That's something coming from a public safety union that endorses election deniers & that was fully content to be on board with John Whitmire's portrayal of Shelia Jackson Lee as soft on crime in last year's mayoral election.  

We don't have to glorify first responders or their unions. We can respect first responders while remaining justly wary of their unions. People entrusted with our safety have a duty to speak up for democracy and not support extremist Republicans. There is no public safety without democracy. Fire and police departments exist to serve us. Not the other way around.

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