By Yilun Cheng STAFF WRITER
With less than three weeks until Election Day, leading mayoral candidates took the stage at another debate Thursday morning, making their pitch to Houston voters that they are the right choice for tackling crime and improving city services.
The event — hosted by Houston Public Media, Univision and the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs — featured state Sen. John Whit-mire, former Metro Chair Gilbert Garcia, former Councilmember Jack Christie, attorney Lee Kaplan and Councilmember Robert Gallegos. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who was also invited, was unable to attend because of the U.S. House speaker vote in Washington, D.C.
The hourlong debate largely honed in on key issues troubling Houston voters, as highlighted in the latest Hobby School survey released this week. Topics such as crime, street conditions and property taxes were at the forefront.
The discussion also ventured into politically charged territories beyond the next mayor’s control, including federal immigration policies and the takeover of the Houston Independent School District.
Here are four takeaways:
Adding police officers
Police Chief Troy Finner told the City Council on Wednesday both violent and nonviolent crimes are down across Houston compared to 2022. But nearly half of the city electorate continued to identify crime as the single most important issue facing the city today, according to the Hobby School survey.
As of April, the city had 342 fewer full-time equivalent police officers than it had 25 years ago, data from the Houston Police Department shows. While research debates the link between crime rates and the number of police officers, all candidates on Thursday reaffirmed their support for boosting HPD’s rank.
Several, however, noted it simply isn’t realistic to place hundreds more police officers on the street in the immediate future.
“We can’t just hire 500 more people next year. We’d be sending out 22-year-olds with inadequate training,” Kaplan said. Instead, the next administration should focus on better using existing resources, including adding more civilian employees to free up officers to patrol Houston neighborhoods.
Garcia agreed and added other measures like better lighting in high-crime areas could help, as well.
Gallegos, the only candidate who has consistently supported lifting the city’s property revenue cap, said substantially increasing the city’s spending on any area will not be feasible unless it increases its revenue streams.
Christie, the sole Republican on stage, said he had repeatedly asked for 500 additional police officers when he served on the City Council. But it will not be possible unless the next administration practices fiscal conservatism, he said.
Whitmire said the answer lies in resource-sharing with other law enforcement agencies: “There are 15,000 correctional officers across Texas. I know for a fact I can get 500 of them to come to Houston.”
Bring in state troopers
The Hobby School survey showed a significant portion — 42% — of Houston voters are on board with Whitmire’s proposal to bring in 200 Department of Public Safety troopers to patrol Houston streets. The plan previously drew sharp criticisms from his opponents, who cited accusations of racial profiling and negative encounters in other Texas cities.
On Thursday, the state senator lamented what he considered a “misconception of the use of the DPS.” State troopers already have a working relationship with HPD, Whitmire noted. Using DPS resources such as helicopters, forensic scientists and their anti-gang task force will free up more local officers to be in the neighborhoods, he said.
“We obviously got to recruit, recruit, recruit,” Whitmire said. But DPS troopers “are trained. They are in Houston today. And most of all, we need their resources and money to attack crime in Houston.”
Garcia, on the other hand, said Whitmire’s proposal is “the worst idea” he could think of. “We don’t need to militarize our city,” he said. “I believe there’s a better alternative.”
Hispanic quality of life
The latest census data, released last year, showed Hispanics now constitute 45% of Houston’s population. Meanwhile, a large portion of the city’s Hispanic residents are concerned about unemployment and childcare, past surveys show.
Candidates agreed that the next administration has to prioritize the needs of under-served communities. They proposed a wide range of options such as improving transparency at City Hall, partnering with private companies to boost services and offering Latino children better education opportunities.
Garcia, who often seeks to draw distinctions between himself and the more seasoned politicians in the race, took aim at Whitmire again.
“You’ve been in the pinnacle of power for 50 years,” Garcia said to Whit-mire. “Why haven’t you worked with all these mayors all these years to have done something about these issues that have been going on in cities for decades?”
The state senator did not have an opportunity to offer a rebuttal but later highlighted his work in the Legislature to support Houston communities.
School issues, border
In addition to local issues that the next mayor would have to tackle, debate hosts also asked for the candidates’ opinions on policies that the city does not have jurisdiction over.
The state takeover of HISD, which took center stage during the last debate, received some attention again. Whitmire and Garcia both said they would work with Superintendent Mike Miles to take back local control as soon as possible. Kaplan said he would work with the business community to petition Austin lawmakers to relinquish control over the school district.
All candidates except for Christie voiced opposition to the controversial school voucher program currently under consideration in the Legislature. The proposal would allow parents to apply for $8,000 that they could spend on private school expenses.
Debate participants also expressed sympathy for immigrants crossing the southern border to seek work in Texas, while acknowledging it’s an issue for the federal government to resolve.
“You don’t brave the snakes and the cartels if you’re looking for a welfare check,” Kaplan said, before adding that the next mayor needs to set a welcoming tone from the top for all hard-working Houstonians.