Infrastructure, funded waste, public safety (including his own)

HOUSTON – It’s time to get to work.

This is the mantra of Mayor-Elect John Whitmire after officially winning Saturday night’s runoff election in overwhelming fashion over U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.

State Sen. Whitmire is about to undergo a career change at an age when most individuals are enjoying retirement. Whitmire’s reasoning? This is a calling for him and the Houstonians who requested he come home to fix the city.

Whitmire sat down with KPRC 2 Investigates Sunday morning hours after his historic victory and discussed a variety of topics that he will now be responsible for addressing. Whitmire’s message to us is similar to what was echoed on the campaign trail. His focus will be on making Houston streets safer as well as improving its infrastructure.

Regarding public safety, Whitmire said this initiative is tops on his list.

“Public safety will be our highest priority,” said Whitmire.

It is such a personal objective. Whitmire said he plans on evaluating how many police officers are currently assigned to protect the mayor. Whitmire said the current strategy is “bloated” and all resources should be used to better serve Houstonians.

“I will take my protection very seriously but I will not waste officers that I think could be on the streets,” said Whitmire.

Whitmire said the Turner administration’s claims of violence being down are not being presented in proper context to Houstonians as it remains high in comparison to just a few years ago, right before the pandemic.

Whitmire announced last week that HPD Chief Troy Finner will be held over but he also admits he is well aware of one key issue that personnel in the department have been conveying to KPRC 2 Investigates– morale within the department.

“Real low, all-time low that I’ve been in my 50 years of public service and you know I work very closely with HPD,” said Whitmire.

When asked if he was still committed to Chief Finner knowing that morale is at an “all-time low,” he stated, “I don’t know how much of that I would fault Chief Finner.”

When reminded that a team looks at its leader, Whitmire quickly interjected, “Well Finner knows how I feel. Finner will certainly be my chief. On day one, I expect him to do better, and he will do better.”

KPRC 2 Investigates then asked, “And if not?”

“Well you always keep your options open,” said Whitmire.

When it came to the discussion infrastructure, Whitmire said he is planning on doing a comprehensive review and sharing it publicly.

“We are going to do a complete audit of every department and we are going to show you the report and I think we are going to be shocked and maybe not so shocked by what we see,” said Whitmire.

There are “too many directors” inside the City of Houston, according to Whitmire and he wants to cut down on what he already views as waste being paid for by Houstonians.

“We’re currently in transition and my team is looking at every department, seeing where we can consolidate, where we can maximize our resources cut out waste, duplication,” said Whitmire.

Whitmire will become Houston’s next Mayor on Jan. 1.