They had a lot of viable choices in District C.
Joe Panzarella
Watching Houston activists deal with the Texas Department of Transportation can feel like the story of King Canute trying to turn back the tides. No amount of community organizing can convince the state agency to stop their highway expansion plans entirely. Apparently only the gravitational pull of Austin can control the flow of concrete.
So consider it a sign of striking political sanity — and effectiveness — that Joe Panzarella and others with No Higher No Wider I-10 found a way to redirect community passion about the ill-considered project toward supporting plans to study putting caps over parts of the freeway that cut through Inner Loop Houston.
It’s the sort of smart urbanism that our city desperately needs more of — especially key neighborhoods in District C — but lacks a robust advocate at City Hall. We believe that Panzarella can be that advocate and endorse him in the special election to fill the vacant City Council seat.
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He told the editorial board that he wants to “reduce parking minimums and setback requirements and implement single-stair reform to make it easier and more efficient and cheaper to build in this city.” Single-stair housing policies have been adopted in some cities, updating building codes for residential buildings to have a single staircase, allowing for larger apartment units.
Perhaps even more importantly than his support for these good policies, Panzarella would bring a better way of thinking about municipal policymaking — one that sees how well-intentioned ideas can become tied up in burdensome red tape. Plenty of politicians say they want to cut waste, fraud and abuse, but Panzarella actually knows how to do it.
If elected, he would be the tip of the spear on pursuing the sort of abundant urbanism that Houston invented, almost by accident, when we rejected zoning and shrunk lot sizes. So it is with some frustration that we’ve watched other cities eclipse us in unleashing development and allowing neighborhoods to naturally grow and densify. These are neighborhoods that look like the Heights, Montrose, Midtown and other key parts of District C — neighborhoods that Mayor John Whitmire has essentially insisted must become places commuters quickly drive through rather than welcoming, walkable places Houstonians want to live in.
It’s a challenge Panzarella discussed as he aptly pointed out that District C has a surfeit of incredible amenities, but lacks connections that stitch together neighborhoods and unleash the local quality of life. Westheimer Road has nationally-acclaimed restaurants and bars but a walk down its narrow sidewalks, with little to no buffer from speeding cars, can be lethal.
Traffic-calming measures such as wider sidewalks and pedestrian refuges that reduce crossing distances are good for kids on their way to school and folks supporting local businesses.
“For too long, Houston has developed for recruitment and not for retention, and I look forward to building a District C where everyone is proud to live,” Panzarella said.
Whitmire might not agree with that vision, but Panzarella already has support across the political landscape, including state Sen. Molly Cook, who represents much of District C in Austin. Panzarella also told us he plans to work with Precinct 1 County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who shares his enthusiasm for multimodal infrastructure like sidewalks and bike lanes. He’ll even find allies in the downtown establishment — Panzarella’s vision of thriving Inner Loop neighborhoods is echoed by the Center for Houston’s Future’s Vision 2050, which calls for housing density and affordability, population growth and more vibrant urban living.
He’ll need those allies when standing up for his constituents to the mayor. We’ve watched as Whitmire has mocked and ignored officials and advocates who try to play nice or work behind the scenes. That just doesn’t work. Assertive coalition building does.
Is it just me or does anyone else think maybe Mayor Whitmire won’t get the Chron’s endorsement in 2027? Just a thought. Anyway, there’s more and it’s a gift link, so go to town. Their runnerup for the endorsement was Nick Hellyar, whom they have endorsed before and said they might have endorsed again “if our current mayor was more respectful of District C residents’ priorities”. Panzarella and Hellyar were rated four stars by their metric, with Patrick Oathout and Audrey Nath getting three and a half, and the rest each three stars.
The interviews I have published as of today:
Sophia Campos
Audrey Nath
Joe Panzarella
Angelica Luna Kaufman
Nick Hellyar
Laura Gallier will be tomorrow and Patrick Oathout on Friday. I don’t envy you District C voters, this is a tough choice, but at least it’s a tough choice between good candidates.
As a retired Realtor, selling in the Heights/Inner Loop, I am more than familiar with drainage and flooding issues, setbacks, and high density construction. As a member of the Heights Association Land Use Committee in the 90s, we sought to maintain minimum lot sizes and historical preservation. Developers often won in spite of our efforts. Where townhomes were built, there is no street parking for residents who own homes on 50-foot lots. Developers try to ignore drainage issues, and I’ve had a few come-to-Jesus conversations with them, even appearing with documentation and photos at City Council. As to single stair construction, no, no, no. While my ADU was being constructed, I lived on the 5th floor of an apartment building; thankfully, it had 2 elevators and multiple exit stairs. Single stairs would have had tragic consequences.
For now, I lean toward Audry Nash:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FciQeRGYFlw