Hurricane Harvey: Reaction, Recovery, Resiliency
Under Mayor Turner’s direction the city’s recovery work included:
Opening and operations the George R. Brown Convention Center as an impromptu shelter that held as many as 12,000 people benefiting from services by thousands of volunteers and the American Red Cross.
Creating and operating Neighborhood Recovery Centers, which became one-stop recovery service centers close to where victims lived, and later a set of resource centers through which victims applied and received federal housing repair aid.
Convincing FEMA to create a credit against the city’s financial obligations for volunteer services that address the recovery.
Successfully lobbying congress to increase FEMA funding and related funding for Houston’s recovery. The lobbying effort included work by former Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum, who served 15 months without pay as the mayor’s chief recovery officer.
In 2016, the mayor had already created and filled a position of city “flood car” to oversee long-term flood control projects. The flood czar’s work, which started before Harvey continues with even more urgency.
Establishing the position of chief resiliency
officer to strengthen Houston to deal with
potential future “shocks,” from natural
disasters to economic shifts.
City Budget and Financial Stewardship
Mayor Turner dealt successfully with
challenges posed by the city budget, which
must be balanced annually despite a
revenue cap imposed by voters in 2004. He:
• Cut annual city spending by tens of
millions of dollars every year to balance
the city’s annual budgets without tax
hikes or layoffs of city workers.
•Worked with county officials, non-profit
organizations, private companies and
foreign diplomats for them to provide
funding that augments city services and
programs. County Commissioner Rodney
Ellis concentrated street and sidewalk
resources on city neighborhoods, for
instance. Other partners included,but
were not limited to, Microsoft, Verizon,
Facebook, The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100
Resilient Cities, Shell, Bloomberg Associates,
the nations of Qatar and United Arab Emirates,
the Kinder Foundation and the Astros
Foundation.
• Began steps to reduce the city’s Other
Postemployment Benefits liability with an
approach like the one he took with historic
pension reform.
Public Safety Improvements
To keep a lid on crime, Mayor Turner
appointed proven crime-fighter Art Acevedo
as Houston police chief and provided the
police force with all resources available
under the constraints of the city budget.
Reported crime has declined in Mayor
Turner’s four years in office, in the violent
crime and non-violent crime categories.
Mayor Turner also
• Worked with schools, students and
neighborhoods to focus on solutions to
violence against and by youth.
• Appointed a Commission Against Gun
Violence, composed of people from
diverse backgrounds and viewpoints,
that made policy recommendations now
under consideration.
Appointed proven public safety leader
Samuel Pena as fire chief with goal of
restructuring the department to meet
modern-day demands and work within
budget constraints.
• Won city council approval of updating Fire
Department vehicles and equipment.
• Following the retirement of Dennis
Storemski, Mayor Turner chose veteran
law enforcement leader George Buenik as
director of Public Safety and Homeland
Security.
• Establishing the position of chief resiliency
officer to strengthen Houston to deal with
potential future “shocks,” from natural
disasters to economic shifts.
Economic Development
The continuing economic development of
Houston is another cornerstone of Mayor
Turner’s mission. He:
• Challenged businesses and potential
business leaders to establish Houston as
the next national frontier for computerbased
tech innovation by creating a fertile
environment for start-up companies.
• Soon after the mayor issued his
challenge, an “ecosystem” for the tech
industry began to flourish with plans for a
bio-research campus at the Texas Medical
Center, the designation of the former
Midtown Sears building as an innovation
hub, Verizon’s delivery of 5g service to
commercial customers in Houston before
doing so in any other city, and much
more. Taking note, the Houston Business
Journal called this startling growth sector
“Silicon Bayou.”
• Led Houston’s successful bid to host the
World Petroleum Conference in 2020.
Led international missions to nations that
trade heavily with Houston, including China
and India, resulting in increased Houston
commerce, tourism, and cultural ties.
• Fostered the Office of Business Opportunity’s
Turnaround Houston, which helps “hard to
employ” residents position themselves for job
opportunities.
• Created the Hire Houston Youth program,
matching Houstonians age 16-24 with summer
jobs in the private, non-profit and government
sectors and positioning them as talented fulltime
employees ready to take their place in
the future Houston economy. The number of
HHY jobs for 2019 is a record-high of 10,000,
up from 450 in its first year.
• Promoted Houston’s number one ranking in
the U.S. for ethnic diversity, which serves as
a welcome mat for commerce, cultural and
tourism. A record-high 22.3 million visited
Houston in 2018.
In connection with economic development as well as infrastructure and cultural development, Mayor Turner created Complete Communities, an award-winning initiative combining private
and non-profit investments with funding from city and county government to improve
conditions in underserved neighborhoods. The initial pilot programs, based on community input,
are in Acres Homes, Gulfton, Near Northside, Second Ward and Third Ward. More communities
will be added this year.
Education
With education as key to the future of
Houston’s economy and overall well-being,
Mayor Turner:
• Established the Mayor’s Office of
Education, which works with school
districts to administer Hire Houston Youth
program and provide city support for
successful education programs.
On the services provided by the Public
Works and Solid Waste departments, Mayor
Turner:
• Established a pothole repair initiative that
led to same-day repairs of many potholes
reported to the city by the public.
• Forged a money-saving contract that reestablished
the curbside pickup of glass
• Created a City Council subcommittee on
education.
• Participated in the creation of a non-profit
organization poised to provide philanthropic
resources and policy input to the Houston
Independent School District.
Streets, Potholes, Recycling and Trash Pickup
On the services provided by the Public
Works and Solid Waste departments, Mayor
Turner:
• Established a pothole repair initiative that
led to same-day repairs of many potholes
reported to the city by the public.
• Forged a money-saving contract that reestablished
the curbside pickup of glass
• Created a City Council subcommittee on
education.
• Participated in the creation of a non-profit
organization poised to provide philanthropic
resources and policy input to the Houston
Independent School District.
as recyclable items and opened a new stateof-
the art recycling center.
• Ended several years of financial neglect of
the Solid Waste Department’s aging fleet by
winning council approval for purchasing new
trucks that will replace half the department’s
mobile equipment.
Transportation
Mayor Turner challenged Metro, whose board includes members he appointed, to carry out a
“paradigm shift” that will provide the public with more alternatives to using private motor vehicles
for mobility. With the Houston area slated for continued population growth, Metro responded
and will ask the voters in November 2019 to fund a plan reflecting the mayor’s vision of mass
transit improvements. He also oversaw the construction of bicycle safety measures and bicycle
commuting enhancements.
Climate Change
The mayor has become a leading local government figure in the nation’s moves to control and
reverse man-made climate change. He forged the city’s Climate Action Plan and preserved
the city’s number one standing in the U.S. for municipal government use of renewable and/or
cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind power and natural gas.
Homelessness
Mayor Turner has advanced the astoundingly effective effort to reduce the city’s homeless
population, working with non-profit coalitions and HPD’s Homeless Outreach Team. The homeless
population has shrunk by more than half since 2011.
Transparency
Using technological tools, Mayor Turner oversaw an overhaul of the city’s public website,
houstontx.gov. It now features the public’s most popular interests in city services, such as animal
adoption and job opportunities. He also established a Nextdoor.com account, allowing him to
provide city service updates to more than 300,000 households.
Staff
Mayor Turner’s appointed executive staff includes leaders who garnered international recognition
for their work for the city. Maria Town, director of the city’s Office for People with Disabilities,
received an international Henry Viscardi Achievements Award, which “honors exemplary leaders in
the global disability community who, through the example of their professional accomplishments
and advocacy efforts, are reshaping societal perceptions and making significant changes in the
quality of life of people with disabilities.” Minal Patel Davis, Mayor Turner’s special advisor on
human trafficking, received the prestigious Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat
Trafficking in Persons during a White House meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons chaired by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
