Horse of a Different Color

Folks know that one of my favorite flicks is “The Wizard of Oz.” When Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion get to Emerald City, the carriage driver who greets them makes reference to the “horse of a different color.” When it comes to who runs the City of H-Town as the H-Town Mayor, Mayor John Whitmire is a “horse of a different color.” Mayor Whitmire may come with a public service and political background, but he is not what so-called insiders expected or want. A “horse of a different color” for sure.

Evan Mintz tweeted this about a Houston Landing story on Mayor Whitmire’s style after a year in office:

Don’t miss this excellent writeup on dynamics at Houston City Hall

Here is how the Houston Landing article starts:

Leticia Gutierrez remembers feeling optimistic at the start of Sylvester Turner’s first term as mayor. 

As director of government relations and community outreach for Air Alliance Houston, Gutierrez was asked to represent the organization on Turner’s health transition team. That position, she said, helped create a blossoming partnership between the group and City Hall.

Since Mayor John Whitmire took office, that relationship has faltered.

“We just don’t see him,” Gutierrez said. “We don’t — we genuinely don’t.”

One year into Whitmire’s term, Gutierrez and other local organizers working on transportation, climate and community issues say they feel unheard and ignored by Houston’s chief executive.

Whitmire rejects the complaint, saying his relationship with community groups is “very close and full time.”

Much of the difference in communication style with organizers can be attributed to the philosophical shift between the Turner and Whitmire administrations, local political consultant Nancy Sims said.

“The biggest piece of it all is that you had eight years of an administration that was very grass-roots-driven, and then suddenly, you know, overnight, had an administration that came in with what the mayor would say is a broader city view,” Sims said.

Whitmire claims the previous administration did not truly value organizers’ input. Turner policies that organizers laud, he said, were more spin than substance.

Deb Bonario-Martin, a community activist in Northline, admitted that Turner did not always do what organizers wanted, but said the former mayor actually listened to them. 

Whitmire, she added, only listens to his donors and supporters.

The mayor denied that, saying it is community organizers who platform their constituents and ignore others.

“No, it’s just back asswards,” he said. “I am for the whole city, and they’re for their membership.”

Here is the entire Landing read: Grass-roots organizers frustrated by Whitmire’s first year.

Here is what my good friend Bill King said in a tweet about the Landing article:

This is an example of the exaggerated view people inside the Loop have of their significance to Houston. The population inside the Loop has less than a quarter of the city’s population and jobs continue to move out. People outside the Loop don’t care about Link Houston or the Montrose TIRZ. No one at the Landing went out interviewed anyone in Kingwood or Clear Lake or Eldridge. I just saw polling and Whitmire’s approval rating is just over 60%.

City of H-Town pundits, observers and some members of the media still have not figured out who Mayor John Whitmire is, I guess. The Mayor Whitmire I have observed in his first year in office is the Mayor Whitmire I fully expected. He has his own unique style of handling business, and some folks just don’t get it. This stuff about only listening to donors and supporters is malarkey.

In his first year in office, he had a lot on his plate. He doesn’t get enough credit for getting the firefighter deal done. That was a big mess he inherited. He also inherited the police department backlog of over a couple of hundred thousand cases and he is dealing with this. Don’t forget the water billing and meter issue problems he is currently fixing.

I disagree with Evan Mintz on this being an “excellent writeup.” It wasn’t. The article assumed Mayor Whitmire was a typical politico. He is not. Like I said, he is a “horse of a different color.”

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The Texas legislative session starts today, and your guess is as good as mine on who will be the next Texas House Speaker.

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Yesterday was Craig Melvin’s first day as Co-Host of “Today.” See the featured photo.  It was a good welcome. BTW: “Today” first aired 73 years ago today.

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The Chiefs are favored over the Texans by a touchdown. The Texans are one of eight NFL teams still in the Super Bowl hunt.