Mayor John Whitmire
April made four months into Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s administration and he had yet to meet face-to-face with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
“It has me worried, but it’s outside my control,” said Hidalgo. “I can’t force someone to meet with me.”
Whitmire held countless meetings since becoming mayor of Houston, but one person who was never on his schedule was Hidalgo, who is head of the state’s largest county.
“We’ve had ongoing requests to meet, offered different times, I’ll go there, whatever, but he’s too busy,” said Hidalgo.
In March, when President Joe Biden visited Houston, Hidalgo thought she’d get her chance.
“Normally we all wait in one room with the pastries and coffee and I didn’t see him,” said Hidalgo. “Turns out he was in a different room. We always are in the same room.”
Hidalgo said building a relationship with Whitmire is “critical,” especially with hurricane season approaching.
“The problem is that there’s real policy at stake,” said Hidalgo. “It’s about to be hurricane season. I still haven’t walked him through the emergency operations center. We haven’t been able to get us at this level to build a relationship and work together.”
There is a complicated history between Hidalgo and Whitmire. Hidalgo endorsed Whitmire’s opponent in the mayoral race – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
“As I said during the campaign, if he wins, I’ll work with him, that’s how it works,” said Hidalgo. “I’ve had to work with a lot of people who didn’t support me. You have to do the job.”
A key part of that job is partnership during crises. It’s something KHOU 11 political analyst Brandon Rottinghaus said voters saw up close between past administrations.
“If there is some disagreement, that has to be put aside,” said Rottinghaus. “The good of the region is in the hands of these two critical leaders.”
Campos and Stace have had their say on this. I’m going to keep this simple. I can understand where the Mayor is coming from. There’s a reason why most elected officials pick their spots carefully when endorsing in local races, and why the answer I almost always get when I ask Council candidates who they’re supporting for Mayor is some variation on “I’ll work with whoever is elected”. Judge Hidalgo picked a side, her side lost, and now here we are. Politics ain’t beanbag and all that.
But come on, the election is long over, and last I checked nearly everyone who is represented by Mayor Whitmire is also represented by Judge Hidalgo. There’s tons of shared interests, which go well beyond just disaster and emergency preparedness and response. Mayor Whitmire, to put it gently, is not new at this. He himself has told us at length of his ability to work with people who are not on his team. Why that is not the case here remains a mystery – he did not respond to KHOU’s request for a comment. For a guy who brags about how good his relationship is with state government, it’s quite remarkable how he seems to have no such relationship with county government.
All of which, I say again, would seem to be counter to the Mayor’s own interests, as he tries to reduce costs and tame the city’s finances. To wit, from the Council meeting on Wednesday the 24th:
CM Kamin remarked on climate change and the increasing likelihood of extreme weather related events in Houston, like hurricanes, droughts, extreme temperatures, air quality, etc. She said the City is not prepared and the region needs both large infrastructure projects (Ike Dike, North Canal Project) and small ones, like the drainage projects that often accompany street improvement plans. She said, “We desperately need the planned projects that we have in place for flood mitigation … We need those projects now. We needed them yesterday.” I can’t be sure because she didn’t name names, but I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the Montrose Blvd drainage and street improvement plan that has been in the news recently because some trees need to be removed (and replaced).
Mayor Whitmire defended the City’s preparedness and advocated for partnerships with the County and the State Emergency Center.
(Source) You know what might help facilitate those partnerships with the County? Picking up the goddamn phone when the County Judge calls to get together for a meeting. I’m just saying.
UPDATE: Okay then.
Facing mounting pressure from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s office, Houston Mayor John Whitmire finally responded to inquiries as to why the top two city officials have not yet formally met: He doesn’t have time for games.
[…]
On Thursday, Whitmire released a statement at long last explaining why he and Hidalgo have not even been photographed together since the two met with President Joe Biden on Air Force One. (Hidalgo has met President Biden twice.)
“Mayor Whitmire says he doesn’t have time for games or meet and greets,” the statement began. “He is busy running the city of Houston, which includes preparing for Hurricane Season with the assistance of the City’s Office of Emergency Management.”
Whitmire went on to say that he has hired employees to coordinate with the county on hurricane planning, and the two teams have met at least ten times to discuss emergency management.
“Mayor Whitmire has met with Harris County Commissioners Garcia, Briones, and Ramsey, and he is confident he and Judge Hidalgo will meet when it’s time.”
Again, I am mystified how someone who has been in politics since approximately the Roosevelt administration can be this cavalier about the need to work with others, especially those that ought to be generally in alignment with him. I’m just gonna leave this here:
It would be a lot funnier if it didn’t directly affect me, I’ll say that much.
I find his dismissal offensive, he’s saying she doesn’t matter, he is the important one. I doubt that this would happen if Judge Hidalgo was male. More bad optics from Whitmire, like his GOPer schmoozing, completely unnecessary. I don’t see anything to like about our new mayor so far.
Hidalgo is rife with controversy, shouldn’t be any surprise people don’t want a picture with her. She’s earned that reputation.
Maybe Judge Hidalgo should have considered the risk of a frayed relationship with the new Mayor when she meddled and endorsed against Mayor Whitmire in his contest for office.
Rife with controversy, bullshit. Some allegations about some former staff members due to a County Attorney feeling snubbed. Nothing has ever come of it. The real answer is that John Whitmire is not a Democrat and hasn’t been for a long time. His campaign was all a big smoke screen of supporting first responders, nothing about moving the City of Houston forward in line with Democratic priorities. What he is showing Democrats who mistakenly supported him is that deep down, he is just a jerk. That goofy smile of his shows how serious he really is.
Whitmire probably sees Judge Hidalgo as more of a hinderance than a help. Whitmire is advocating bipartisanship to get more funds and cooperation from state officials, while Hidalgo is in a constant, hyper-partisan war with them.
J, Hidalgo isn’t rife with controversy? Aside from the on-going corruption scandal (say what you will, the evidence that has been made public is compelling), her no-bid personal security contracts, her past erratic and melodramatic behavior (perhaps due to her mental breakdown), her claim to have been sexually molested at Commissioners Court, etc., she just recently turned on her fellow Democrats. In an apparent attempt to repair her own public image, Hidalgo recently implied that her fellow colleagues on Commissioners Court may be rigging county contracts (pot meet kettle). Even Hidalgo’s CC colleagues are now trying to get some distance from her.
Whitmire seems to get along just fine with Garcia, Briones, and most other Democrats. In the future, I’m sure Whitmire and Hidalgo will meet and work together when necessary. Still, Whitmire is a pragmatist, while Hidalgo appears to be more idealistic – with a socialist agenda. I doubt they will ever see eye-to-eye on most things, but both of them, like it or not, are still Democrats.
There is no corruption scandal. Kim Ogg could have filed charges and never has. If she had they would have been dismissed and the issue would have vanished, which did not suit her purposes. Ogg knows that Judge Hidalgo is a favorite target of the right and some self proclaimed moderate Democrats because she dethroned Ed Emmett, for which she will never, ever, ever be forgiven.
No charges filed? Three senior Hidalgo aides, including her Chief of Staff, were indicted. Click on the link below to see the details made public, including Hidalgo’s involvement. I know Hidalgo would like everyone to believe the felony indictments were just GOP/MAGA political attacks. The evidence, however, says otherwise…
https://www.billkingblog.com/blog/county-vaccine-contract-exposed-as-blatant-bid-rigging
Por Johnny got his feelings hurt and now he’s sulking. Grow up Johnny, you’ve got work to do. You were elected to work for us, not to play games. Just another crappy politician putting himself over those they’re supposed to represent. Remember when he first took office? He had to have his name plastered all over the city logo. It’s all about Johnny.
No, Greg, there have been no real charges. If there were, then there would have been a trial by now, if only for Ogg to make political hay. Bill King isn’t qualified to tell us what color the sky is, much less whether a crime has been committed.
Ross, Bill just summarizes it. You can click on the links and read the search warrant findings, affidavit, video, etc. yourself. I’ll just leave at that. You can lead a horse to water…
Whitmire has, so far at least, only proven himself to be a clown. Regardless of the failures and fallacies of the County Attorney, and regardless of how feel about her and about the fact that she endorsed someone else for the Mayor’s job, FFS you still should be working with her for the benefit of the City AND the County. Man up, John.
How much money have the firefighters paid for him to carry your requests, David.
My opinion he is a vindictive racists old white man, always has been.
This is childishness from Whitmire. When the bad events occur, it’s too late to form a relationship with the other leaders in the area.
Delegating the responsibility is delegating the leadership.
Whitmire “is confident he and Judge Hidalgo will meet when it’s time”.
Major flooding in the area that needs some response. Is this time, John?