IN THIS EPISODE:
Khambrel Marshall has a discussion with Mayor Sylvester Turner, and they look back at his time in office.
Watch Houston Newsmakers at 10 a.m. on KPRC 2 and KPRC 2+.
Turner says challenges and triumphs have been rewarding
Mayor Sylvester Turner is nearing the end of his eight years as mayor of the city of Houston and says every minute of it has been gratifying, but he’s looking forward to a bit of a change.
“I’ve given 35 years of my life to public service. I think I’ve earned the right to retain a little bit for me,” he said. “Give me a couple of weeks, then I’ll refuel, and then we’ll decide what’s next.”
On this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall, the mayor says one of the biggest and earliest challenges of his administration came just weeks into office as he tackled unfunded liabilities that threatened the city’s solvency.
“When you look back, initially in 2016, unfunded liabilities were 8.2 billion dollars and going up,” he said. “Today, the unfunded liability is 2.2 billion and going down.”
Mayor Turner takes on a number of topics including the challenge of navigating seven federally declared disasters plus COVID during his tenure, the improvement in crime statistics that he says are the result of plans his administration put in place, his proposal to help Houstonians with unreasonably high water bills, and much more.
On this week’s Houston Newsmakers EXTRA, the mayor addresses concerns about the toxic political environment locally, statewide, and nationally, and also talks about his plans for the future.
For more information on this week’s Houston Newsmakers
· Sylvester Turner, Houston Mayor
· Website: https://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/