Bill White (mayor)
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| Bill White | |
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| Order | 60th Mayor of Houston |
| Term of Office | 2004–present |
| Predecessor | Lee P. Brown |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Date of Birth | June 16, 1954 |
| Place of Birth | San Antonio, Texas |
| Wife | Andrea White |
| Profession | Attorney, Businessman |
| Political Party | Democrat (Note: all elected offices in Houston are non-partisan) |
William "Bill" Howard White (born June 16, 1954) is the current mayor of the city of Houston, Texas (January 2, 2004–present).
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[edit] Education and career
Born in San Antonio as the son of school teachers, White attended Harvard University on American Legion scholarships and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics. He then attended The University of Texas School of Law, where he was elected editor-in-chief of its law review and graduated with highest honors.
White began his career as a lawyer at Susman Godfrey, LLP, a leading Houston law firm, from 1979 to 1993, where he practiced business litigation and anti-trust law, and eventually became partner. He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Clinton from 1993 to 1995. He organized Frontera Resources, a developer of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea region, and was also the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, from 1995 to 1998. He was the president and CEO of WEDGE Group, an energy, construction and real estate company, from 1997 to 2004.
[edit] Community and business activities
White has served on the board of directors for the North American Electrical Reliability Council. He was chairman for both the World Trade Division and the Environmental Advisory Committee, and served on the executive committee, for the Greater Houston Partnership. He has also served on the board of directors for the Houston Quality of Life Coalition.
[edit] Mayor of Houston
In 2003, White, a Democrat, ran in Houston's officially nonpartisan mayoral election to succeed term-limited Mayor Lee Brown, who was the first African-American mayor of the city. Running as a moderate with business experience, he appealed to Democrats as well as many Republicans despite having almost no name recognition. In fact, White's television ads mainly consisted of a plain white background with himself in the middle of the screen and a black bar displaying info such as his campaign website in the lower third of the screen.
White faced off against Republican former Houston City Councilman Orlando Sanchez, a Cuban-American who unsuccessfully challenged Brown in a heated 2001 bid to become Houston's first Hispanic mayor, and black Democratic Texas State Representative Sylvester Turner, who also ran for mayor in 1991 (against then-incumbent Kathy Whitmire and real estate developer Bob Lanier) but was embroiled in an insurance scandal exposed in an investigation by Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV that eventually led to a 1996 lawsuit. (Lanier went on to defeat Whitmire)
In the November election, White, along with Sanchez, defeated Turner. In the runoff, White defeated Sanchez with 63 percent of the vote.
[edit] First term (2003-2004)
As mayor, White used his business-like approach to government to guide the city through some of its biggest events, including Super Bowl XXXVIII, the 2004 MLB All-Star Game, the 2005 World Series, and the 2006 NBA All-Star Game. In addition, White also began a local recycling campaign known as "Stop Trashing Houston" and received local and national praise for his hands-on management style when he helped lead Houston during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which brought in thousands of New Orleans residents displaced by the storm, and the evacuation of Hurricane Rita, which while sparing the city, clogged its major thoroughfares and led to a massive reform of disaster preparedness and evacuation policies.
Other hallmarks of White's leadership included dealing with neighborhood water sewage, a reform of the city's pension fund, cutting property tax rates, and pinpointing areas of high crime to curb criminal activity. White also initiated a "Safe Clear" program that called for the immediate removal of stalled vehicles on Houston freeways, eliminating the possibility of car wrecks and traffic blockages.
[edit] Second term
In 2005, White was challenged for re-election by minor and perennial candidates and won re-election with 91 percent of the vote (a record landslide since Mayor Bob Lanier's re-election in 1995), preventing the need for a runoff.
During his second term, White focused his work on improving graduation rates in the city's high schools, enforcing air pollution standards, reducing the possibility of flooding in newer areas, adopted a more flexible system of working hours, and capitalized even further on his business experience to create public-private initiatives with private business and community organizations to stimulate growth in the city's most neglected subdivisions.
Crime became a serious concern as Hurricane Katrina evacuees played a major role in a citywide crime wave concentrated around inner and southern neighborhoods of the city, where evacuees were not only crime victims, but were suspects themselves. For example, Houston's murder rate has increased to its highest level in over a decade, which is no surprise given that New Orleans, one of the most dangerous cities in the nation before Katrina, is known for its high murder rate.
Immigration also became a concern in the city during White's second term after federal legislation was proposed regarding illegal immigration. This especially became a hot topic after a Houston police officer was killed in the line of duty by a Mexican national who was not questioned by police in regards to his immigration status; this controversial practice is known as a "sanctuary" law.
In 2006, White proposed a series of eight city propositions aimed at improving infrastructure and putting more police officers on duty, among other things, without a tax increase. All eight city propositions passed in a November 2006 election.
[edit] Political future
Seen as one of the most popular and influential mayors in Houston history, White is being considered as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 against incumbent Republican John Cornyn, whose popularity has been surprisingly modest among Texas' strongly Republican political base. Cornyn , a strong ally of President George W. Bush, is also being rumored to have ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who also has connections to ex-Congressman and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
White is also being mentioned as a leading candidate for Governor of Texas in 2010, when Republican Rick Perry is next up for re-election. While the Governor's Mansion in Texas has no term limits, conventional wisdom indicates that Perry is unlikely to consider another term for Governor. Should White run in that election, he would likely face another candidate, such as Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, or State Senator Dan Patrick.
[edit] Personal
White is currently married to his second wife, Andrea White, a writer and civic leader. They have three children, one of which, 15 year old Steven, made the T-Mac All Star's fifteen year old AAU basketball team in Houston, which only the top 12 fifteen year old players in the city are placed on. The Whites are members of St. Luke's United Methodist Church.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Lee P. Brown |
Mayor of Houston, Texas 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
