Guide to Selecting Our Mayor

Intown Magazine's Mayoral Forum

Sylvester Turner is near the end of his first four-year term as mayor and is up for re-election for what would be his second and final term as Houston’s mayor. Intown Magazine is taking a look at the major issues Mayor Turner has faced and how he has dealt with them. We also conducted exclusive interviews with four of the top challengers Mayor Turner faces at the polls on November 5, 2019. Flooding

Two of the three 500-year floods to hit Houston came during Mayor Turner’s administration. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 devastated the city. Over 50 inches of rain impacted more than 200,000 homes. Sixty thousand people had to be rescued from floodwaters. Damages totaled nearly $16 billion.

After sheltering 10,000 people at the George R. Brown Convention Center, removing 575,000 tons of debris and setting up 14 Neighborhood Restoration Centers to provide assistance to residents, Mayor Turner moved to prevention and flood mitigation to build Houston stronger, more resilient and more sustainable.

Though controversial with some developers, the Mayor won City Council approval for new construction standards requiring elevation of homes in flood plains, along with revising city building codes. He re-named the city’s ReBuild Houston infrastructure program; it’s now Build Houston Forward with accelerated plans to repair and rehabilitate drainage and streets.

He fought for state and federal government funding after Hurricane Harvey, which is finally coming in, convincing FEMA to accept the many thousands of volunteer hours from Houstonians as part of the local match for federal funds.

Mayor Turner won federal grant money for major flood mitigation projects and FEMA approval for the Corps of Engineers to dredge the San Jacinto River. He borrowed $46 million from the Texas Water Development Board and gave it to Harris County for work on Project Brays, with the city to be paid back when the federal government pays the county its portion. He supported the county’s flood bond referendum. Jobs and the Economy

The biggest financial crisis facing the Mayor on his first day in office was the unfunded liability of the city’s employee pension systems. Mayor Turner, with the help of the Texas Legislature, cut the unfunded liability and the city has fully paid its pension obligation for two years in a row.

Mayor Turner formed an alliance with Microsoft, who will work with young Houstonians on STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) and digital coursework, as well as assisting the city with smart solutions to problems.

Mayor Turner supported Rice University’s purchase of the old Sears building to start The Ion with academic programs created by local colleges and universities.

Mayor Turner has traveled to multiple countries to bring jobs and business back to Houston. He recently helped secure Houston as the location for the 2020 World Petroleum Congress, which will bring approximately 10,000 attendees from around the world. Public Safety

Turner acknowledges that Houston needs more police officers. With 5,200 officers, Houston trails other major cities in officers per 100,000 residents.

In 2016, Turner’s first year in office, crime was on the rise with 301 murders. The Mayor put an additional $1.5 million in the Houston Police Department due to the murder rate increase. In 2018 murders were at 279 up from 269 in 2017, while overall crime reported decreased 4.39 percent; violent crime dropped 10.4 percent. Robberies, rapes and aggravated assaults declined.

Mayor Turner hired Art Acevedo as his police chief, the first Latino to lead HPD. Acevedo brought the concept of “relational policing,” to HPD—an attitude that every time a police officer interacts with a member of the public, it is an opportunity to build a relationship of trust with the community. After the shootings in Santa Fe, he appointed the Mayor’s Anti-Gun Violence Commission. The Commission made a number of recommendations and suggestions for changes in state law were sent to the Texas Legislature and the Mayor had his government relations team working to pass them.

Mayor Turner made the fight against human trafficking a high priority. His Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan focuses on the victims of trafficking and how to help them, as well as on law enforcement. City employees received special training to help them recognize human trafficking and assist victims. The Mayor’s Special Advisor on Human Trafficking, Minal Patel Davis, won the prestigious Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons, the highest U.S. award for this issue. First Four Years

DWIGHT A. BOYKINS May o r a l Fo r u m

Anative Houstonian and lifelong resident of District D, Dwight attended and graduated from Houston Independent School District public schools including, Turner Elementary, Whidby Elementary, Cullen Jr. High, and Stephen F. Austin High School. He then went on to earn his BBA in Marketing from the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University.

Dwight was elected to city council in 2013 representing District D that includes the medical center and Museum District. Boykins has a background as a governmental affairs consultant and public advocate. He has also served in various positions through the City of Houston. In 2008, Dwight was appointed by former Houston Mayor Bill White to serve on the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund Board, overseeing the distribution of over $16 million in funding to the city’s most devastated areas. Dwight has also served on the Oversight Committee of ReBuild Houston – a citywide initiative aimed at renewing the city’s flooding and street infrastructure.

Dwight and Genora, his wife of over 30 years, reside in the heart of District D. They thoroughly enjoy serving their community by working with organizations such as SHAPE Community Center, the NAACP, and several other non-profits.

What character traits and experience do you possess that you feel will make you an effective mayor?

Commitment, Courage and Compassionate are my guiding characteristics. Commitment, I have been faithfully committed to my wife of 30 years holding true to my vow. I believe we need to keep the promises we make. Courage, it is not often you see a sitting Council Member with time left on the clock to run against an incumbent Mayor. I hold myself to the same standard I hold our city employees, if they stand on the line so will I. Compassion, it is my belief that we all have made mistakes, but it is by grace that we have come this far. I believe in order for our city to be inclusive of all its citizens we need to find constructive ways to engage everyone in the workforce. What are the two or three most important issues facing the city today?

For years now, the city has faced a looming budget crisis and a solution often discussed but yet to be implement

ed is Zero- based Budgeting. I believe in running the city like we operate our home, we go through all our bills together finding where we are spending our money. Implementing Zero-Based budgeting will help us face our second issue that of Improving and Enhancing the City’s aging infrastructure. Specifically, we need to respond immediately to Flood Control concerns in areas like mine in Sagemont. Additionally, Harvey Recovery is not moving fast enough, in the Boykins Administration we will work with our community and business partners to expedite real recovery. While every concern is valid Public Safety & Crime Reduction must stay as our primary issue. I will increase the number of Public Safety Officers and build stronger relationships in the community with them. What changes if any do you recommend for the city’s budget?

I strongly recommend and would immediately implement zero-based budgeting. The zero-based budgeting process aligns the City’s needs with the funding resources available by requiring

expenditures to be justified. Additionally, it supports identifying past unnecessary and overspending problems. Zero-based budgeting is the right budget process to maximize providing resources to Houstonians. We all deserve our tax dollars to be utilized appropriately and responsibly. How do you propose to make our city safer?

Crime Reduction, I will actively support raising the revenue cap to increase the number of officers on our streets. While continuously striving to increase the goal of community policing that builds relationships and understanding. Employment Opportunities, for five years now I have hosted my annual Second Chance Jobs Fair with the goal to help those who need help getting reintroduced into the workforce a chance. I will not only continue this tradition but also expand it, by giving a second chance to someone who may have made a mistake in their past encourages them not to make a third mistake reducing recidivism.

Mayoral Forum