Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A real good Over the past several days, a lot
of people have been surprised at how some people on
the left and the right have unified and become friends. Okay,
one example would be President Trump and Zorhan Mam Donnie.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That was a surprise to folks.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Maybe something that's a little more relatable, Laura Trump doing
a podcast with Bill maher and is amazing the long
list of things they seem to agree on. Here for
those of you you know that are maybe new to
the show or don't listen all the time while we're
on the radio in many places around the country. Our
flagship station is Houston, Texas. We jokingly call it the
Capital of the South, and the mayor of the Capital
(00:36):
of the South is probably the best big city mayor
in America right now, in my humble opinion.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
And a Republican. Well that's it, right, that's some.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And when we put that opinion out there, a lot
of people were surprised that we felt that way. In fact,
the Houston Chronicle let me author an op ed about it,
and we got a big response from Democrats and moderates
and conservatives alike, saying, yeah, John Whitmeyer is a pretty
reasonable guy.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Imagine that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, yeah, just good old common sense and normal thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So we invited him on the show, and you know
he won't.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Do the show. He doesn't do interviews.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Man, Well, it turns out he said, yes, we is
on the line.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Now, Mayor John Whitmile, oh Way, welcome to the Walton
Johnson Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Sir, good morning, Good morning toe.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Hey do you do you still go out to that
park and run or the same park where Kenny runs.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I know you run it.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
I go to I just don't run as fast as
I used to want it because by the time I
get to the park, I've had a eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hour day crosably. So yeah, they's a jar of the park.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
I actually go to the park to see how people
are in jaring it, and on these beautiful days there's
not enough parking. So oh yeah, I get frustrated. I
get frustrated because every where I go I want to
fix things for the public, and Sundays there's not adequate
parking in Memorial Park. So you know, I bring that
(01:58):
to the attention of the conservancy. It runs a park
and we're working on it. I live a quote normal life.
I get up and go to barbershop, Uh, go to
Yel Street Pharmacy for for breakfast and anyway pretty normal.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I will tell you off the air the best places
to park in that park because I go there every day.
I can always find a good parking spot because I
know where to go. But we'll do that off there,
because I don't want to give up secret.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Probably my neighborhood out of the park into the Crestwood neighborhood,
and many of the neighbors want to go to permit parking,
which I don't like because then when you want to
have a meeting or a guest over, they got to
get a permitt So, you know, it's part of the
challenge living in a big city. We're very fortunate U
(02:47):
people want to be here. It creates, you know, challenges, congestion,
things that come with a huge urban sitter city.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, you know, on that note, you talk of this stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You talk about speed bombs and parking and crime and
balancing the budget because that's what your job entails. And
the national media a little less than a month ago
publicly attacked you or celebrated you for the radical opinion
that as the mayor of Houston, it's not your job
to you know, dictate foreign policy or figure out imagine
(03:20):
whether we're going to build a wall, or you know,
prevent federal agents from enforcing federal laws. And I never
thought that was controversial. Were you surprised by the reaction
to that.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Well, I'm not surprised at anything coming from any direction.
But I've been very consistent. I just want to fix
our challenges. You know, I've had a distinguished career in
the legislature, ten in the House, forty in the Senate.
I was making a difference in the state Senate when
three years ago Houstonias asked me to come back to
(03:54):
Houston and run for mayor and I said no. Then
they came back and said would you consider it, and
said that's a serious question.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Sure I'll consider it.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
And I said, they said, well, what would get you
to run? I said, get in the car with me
and drive across Houston. I grew up here, went.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
To high school U of H and I've seen.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
The neglect and neglect of our infrastructure, our streets, our drainage,
our garbage pickup.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
But even more importantly.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
As Chairman of Criminal Justice in the Senate, working close
with law enforcement, I know we have concerns about our safety.
You know, at the Yale Street pharmacy, seniors come up
to me and say, we just don't go out after
five o'clock. The young families will say we don't feel
good going to the parks. Now, that gets my attention,
(04:45):
and I said, we don't have to live like that.
So I made a tough decision to come back and
run for mayor. And each day I know I made
the right decision because we are making big differences.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I got the best team.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
That anyone can remember, with the best police chief in America.
Those other issues are just issues. I'm focused on fixing Houston.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
We travel around the state a lot because we have
affiliates all over the place.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You know, we do comedy shows and stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And one of the things we've noticed is even though
Houston's the biggest city, we do not have the worst
homelessness compared to Austin or Dallas or San Antonio, even Waco,
you know.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Pair capita.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
All that being said, there's still homeless people under the
freeways and stuff like that, and we know that people
on the far far left, the ACLU types, don't want
you to do anything about it. You're building this facility
downtown now, there's a pretty big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
It seems like a reasonable solution.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
That you know, it used to be a border detention facility,
if I'm not mistaken, Now it's going to become a
homeless building. I don't think that's a horrible idea. How's
that going? And how do people in your little circle
feel about clearing out the homeless encampments and moving them
into that building.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Well, the homeless issue drives me nuts. No one should
live in those conditions, and we don't want to have
to deal with the homeless in our neighborhoods. And certainly
they were downtown the Central Library you could barely use
it for the smell of urine in that restroom. So
we have a huge challenge which we're addressing. We've made
(06:16):
a difference, but we've got to have residential facilities. You
can't help people with their drug and alcohol challenges, nor
their mental health challenge if you don't have them in
a residence where you can have a caseworker and get
them to change their lives. So we're looking for facilities.
We found the Emancipation Street site.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
It'll hold about three hundred folks.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
They won't read their long term it's to stabilize them,
then refer them to other shelters. But it's right by
Dynamo Stadium, the Shell facility they call it to the stadium.
It was an immigration detention facility. It will be used
in some fashion the house individuals. It's largely in an
(07:05):
industrial entertainment area.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
So you know, when you go to the.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Ballpark to watch some astros, all those people you had
to step over to get into the stadium, they'll no
longer be there. There's gonna be a few blocks from there. Now,
let me tell you about the public safety of that site.
We're going to locate eight police officers there and a
sergeant full time to deal with the homeless. It's a
hot team. It's an HBD outreach team that deals with
(07:34):
the homeless. They're familiar with these people. They'll take them there,
they'll be stabilized, and then we're looking at other locations,
which would be the next step.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
You know, the homeless issue is.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
A very complex issue, largely let me digress here.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Men. Also, it's fed by the public.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Safety, the criminal justice system. You can't let people out
of prison with nowhere to go. You can't let people
out of the Harris County. Yeah, with no money and
no family. They end up on the streets. So we
have a lot of work. The good news is we're
moving into our direction. We're cleaning up downtown. You know,
(08:12):
I saw a poll by a United Airline last year.
There are people didn't want to quit working at home
because they didn't want to deal with the homeless. So
it's affecting our businesses, it's affecting our neighborhoods. I want
the ability to see someone under a freeway.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
We call a.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Number, an HPD or a hot team outreach team. That's
what it's called Houston Outreach. So police pick this person
up and put them in a facility. No one's criminalizing homelessness.
We're trying to help the homeless and residents and citizens
of Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I have members of law enforcement and the fire department
texting me right now asking me to thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You've said you want four thousand new police police officers
over the next several years. You've also worked really hard
right now to balance the budget, and obviously this is
a city that has had no shortage of budget issues
over the past couple of years. Are you still committed
to trying to accomplish both of those goals. How do
you walk that line with getting more police officers but
(09:18):
also trying to make sure that we're not spending money
we don't have.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Well, first of all, we can't afford not to spend
money on police and fire if we're not safe. Nothing
else we talk about this morning matters. That's my highest priority.
It's always been my highest priority. And we will find
the resources to have the best fire in police departments
in America. We have a great fire chief, a great
police chief. The morale is at an all time high.
(09:46):
And let me tell you what we've done. We've given
the benefits to fire and police. That is a ripple effect.
It's crossing the state. For way too many years, fire
and police officers did not get the benefits they deserve.
Government took them for granted. Oh they won't go anywhere else, Yeah,
they'll go somewhere else. They got to make a living.
(10:08):
Most of them have second jobs. I won't police and
fire to have the prior, mayor the primary job for
public safety. And we're headed in the right directions. The
rows at an all time high. The cadet classes are full.
People are wanting to come to Houston to be police
(10:28):
and fire personnel EMS. So we're on a roll. It's
improving public safety. The response time on COD one the
most serious police cause is five point six minutes. Dallas
is at twelve minutes. But we're not through. We're going
to continue.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
That number.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
You said four thousand ausers. Frankly, I've never heard that number.
I won't I know immediately. We need fifteen hundred and
let me tell you what's happening. Because of our hard
work and dedication, we'll for the long time, first time
in anybody's memory, we are regaining washers than those that
are retiring. In the past, they would retire, double dip,
(11:11):
get the retirement, and then go to work for another agency.
We had alsers applying to the DPS to become allshoes,
better benefits, better paid. No longer, they've thrown those applications
in the trash. People want to be police and fire
in the city of Houston. Now, the rest of the
story is we got to protect them. We got to
protect them with proper equipment. And we've had two officers
(11:34):
police officers assaulted Saturday and Sunday nights. That's one reason
this morning I was dragging little I was up to
two o'clock Sunday morning with Jake Parker, an officer that
was shot point blade at a red light of road rates.
He was on the way to work, shot in the shoulder.
(11:55):
Very fortunate that it went through the other side, did
not hit an oregon or a bone. He survived.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
He survived.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And then and then Sunday night, I get another call
to go downtown at Market Square.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We had an officer that was stabbed in the neck.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Oh my god, apparent apparently a homeless person. So let
me tell the alarming thing. Jake Peters that shot Saturday night, just.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
His suspect got a.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Sixty thousand dollars bob. Yeah, folks, we will never be
the safe city. We won't if HPD and fire do
their jobs and then some of the judges give them
low amounts of bond.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
It's just wrong.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
You've got to hold people accountable, and when someone pulls
a gun on you, whether it's an officer or a citizen,
they need a long confinement and be held accountable.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, yeah, we agree with that.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You were criticized by the kind of people that like
and support Zorhan. Mom, Donnie because you've tried to work
with Republicans around the state to bring funding to the
city of Houston, and now Zorhan Mom Donnie is pretty
much trying to do the equivalent of that by meeting
with Donald Trump this past week. I'm not saying you
should gloat or rub it in the faces of those critics,
because he's pretty much doing exactly what you were doing
(13:19):
earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
But you know, if you wanted to, would you like to.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
What I've got a full time job right here.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
I haven't even made one trip over seed NOE of
these trade missions or junkets that other mayors or the
county judge goes on't We can slowly focus on getting
quality of life issues taking care in Houston, Texas.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
And I've got a full plate.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I don't have time to worry about critics or others
that comes with a job. But I will work with anyone,
and I'm known in Austin for working across the AIS
to help Houston. We just had the best legslave session
anyone's memory, millions of dollars. In fact, believe it or not,
Austin gave us money for two hundred police cars because
(14:08):
I got on the phone and told them how critical
it was for us to get some additional police cars.
Got one hundred million for wastewater treatment plan and about
a million dollars for eight separate parts.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
So we're moving into our direction. The critics that come
and go. You know, I was asked by.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Houstonians to run for mayor. Tough decision. I preyed on it.
It's the toughest job anyone can have. It's seven twenty
four if you do it right.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
We only got a minute here left with you.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
But we just want to say sometimes people think because
we criticize Houston or talk about Houston crime or politics
on the radio, that we don't love this city. We
love this city so much, Mayor, I love living here.
Houston is my home. I've been here most of my
adult life. Everybody in this studio could say the same thing,
and obviously I think we have that in common with you.
What do you love the most about Houston and where
(15:03):
do you love to go eat when you get some
free time?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I love most about Houston as people. When I meet
with delegations in my office. There was a group from
Sweden the other day on a trade mission. It's it's
I have to do it, you know, I want to
get back to work, but that's part of the job.
To greet people delegations. I told them, when they leave Houston,
I want to remember most and there's a hell help
(15:29):
a lot to remember about Houston, our mediciners, our academic.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Universities, our port.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
I said, I want you to remember our people and
go away saying Houston is the most friendliest place we've
ever visited. And I really mean that we are a
friendly city when we come together. We do come together
when we're in crisis, and when I'm at a Texans
game and when they win a game and an Astro
(15:57):
game during the World Series and everybody comes together.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I just think what a great.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Ceiling that hustone is can set aside their differ differences
and come together and be so supportive of a sports team.
And I want that same energy and support and passion
towards Dixon Houston. I'm willing to spend the you know,
eight years or some of the best years left in
(16:22):
my life working to make this a better city.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And you know what, we're moving into right direction.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yes we all amen to that. Appreciate you, God, bless
you mayor whitmyer. It feels good to have a mayor
that we support, and we want to say the happy
Thanksgiving thank you for your time today, sir, same.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
To you, save to everyone listen, be safe.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Thank you Rogers, Walton and Johnson Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Behind the scenes right now here at your favorite morning show.
There's look, we were not supposed to get that interview.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I wit Meyer won't talk with my mayor. John Whitmeyer
a great guy.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Obviously we like and we get along with him.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
He is not really someone you'd expect to see on
this radio show.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Well, apparently you ain't got time for that kind of stuff.
He very very busy. He's staying up till two o'clock
in the morning getting back up with the sun. I'm
telling you, Uh, maybe it's his his work ethnic that
has got people all fired up about him. But syl
Vesas Turner didn't put in these kind of how as.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I can guarantee you, Dad, No, Mayor Whitmeyer works a
lot harder than any other mayor.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He's a man of the people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
He doesn't walk around with security all day like Lena
hen Dalgo, the Harris County judged us still have a job?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Does she?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I haven't heard of her, and I was gonna ask him,
but we went along with everything else. I don't I
don't even know if she still works. Yeah, something to
be said about that. Do you know what John.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Whitmyer did to the City of Houston, Well, he balanced
the budget, he got more police out there, he cleaned
up homes.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
It's all well and good, but he also he killed
Houston's vibe. He killed according to this guy and the Chronicle,
not you another guy.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, I write for the Chronicle.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
That's Jamiel David wrote an article four days ago and
he said, John Whitmeyers anti scooter agenda has killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Once you kill your vibe, you don't get it back either,
you know. Okay, I was downtown on Sunday watching a play.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
You know what I'm kidding. I know, I know he
really did write that, but good lord, people, come on.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I was downtown on Sunday watching a play, the last
performance of The Outsiders, really good. And we're all sitting
there in traffic, waiting to pull in so we could
park our vehicles, and this dude with an electric scooter
pulls out.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
It was an e bike.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's not an electric scooter, but I think he's talking
about the same thing in your email. This guy in
this e bike pulls out in the middle of this intersection,
drives out in the middle of the road, stops all
this traffic. Three cars almost get into a head on collision.
The people with the e bikes are out a scooters.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Are pretty much the same thing, because they're they're very dangerous,
they're they're all over we matter of fact, he almost
got hit, you know, walking out of a game or something,
walking down the sidewalk leaving a Dynamo game. He said
he had to step aside to let a scooter fly
by on the sidewalk. Now, of course, the people that
(19:22):
defend them say, well, you know, the traffic is so
bad downtown because more people should be on scooters.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And that way we wouldn't have so many of these
vehicles in the road.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
No, that's the thing, guys, We need vehicles because you
can't move food and freight and electronics on your e bike.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
It's silly. We don't need.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Hot and humid most of the time, and it's rainy
a lot of the time, and you just don't want
to be out on a skateboard with a stick for
a steering wheel. Hmmmm, Well, anyway, he's killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
That's all I know.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
You know, you think of if she Jack had won,
You think she would have killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Look we took out, No, she would killed. She wouldn't
be alive right now. She died recipes, God rest her soul.
We took a lot of heat when we came out
and supported Whitmeyer, and I do not regret it at all.
He was vastly better than what the other options were.
Sometimes you got to be pragmatics. You know, it's we
don't all we all wanted Ron Paul to be the mayor.
(20:19):
It wasn't gonna happen. So so Whitmeyer was a nice
Uh was a nice alternative, I think, and I'm glad
we got him. Hey, an odd news story today. This
guy named Ze teng Wang implanted an rfi D microchip
in his hand so he could perform magic tricks using
the power of technology.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Cool. The idea was that he.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Could have his hand over someone else's phone and the
RFI D reader in the phone would pick up and
do something like display a meme on the phone. Unfortunately,
RFID tags aren't that accurate. It turns out, ze that
pressing someone else's phone to my hand, he said, repeatedly,
trying to figure out where their phone's RFI D reader is,
really doesn't come off super mysterious and magical. And then
(21:00):
something even worse happened. He forgot the password. So now
he's had a.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Microphone, He had a password on his own RFID microscope
on his little chip in his hand, and now he
didn't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So now he's got this microchip in his hand and
it's worthless. Oh god, and you thought you had problems. Guys,
don't forget your password.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Never forget.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
It's simple, like your birthday or your kid's birthdays or
something like that, right, or the word password or one
two three four.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Look, it's not like people are going to hack into
your hand. Courty's good. Yeah, one two three four. That's
the exact code on my luggage. Of course, it is
Rule seventeen. Don't turn your back on bears men, you
have wronged or the dominant turkey during mating season Walton
and Johnson Radio Network
A real good Over the past several days, a lot
of people have been surprised at how some people on
the left and the right have unified and become friends. Okay,
one example would be President Trump and Zorhan Mam Donnie.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That was a surprise to folks.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Maybe something that's a little more relatable, Laura Trump doing
a podcast with Bill maher and is amazing the long
list of things they seem to agree on. Here for
those of you you know that are maybe new to
the show or don't listen all the time while we're
on the radio in many places around the country. Our
flagship station is Houston, Texas. We jokingly call it the
Capital of the South, and the mayor of the Capital
(00:36):
of the South is probably the best big city mayor
in America right now, in my humble opinion.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
And a Republican. Well that's it, right, that's some.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And when we put that opinion out there, a lot
of people were surprised that we felt that way. In fact,
the Houston Chronicle let me author an op ed about it,
and we got a big response from Democrats and moderates
and conservatives alike, saying, yeah, John Whitmeyer is a pretty
reasonable guy.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Imagine that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, yeah, just good old common sense and normal thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So we invited him on the show, and you know
he won't.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Do the show. He doesn't do interviews.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Man, Well, it turns out he said, yes, we is
on the line.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Now, Mayor John Whitmile, oh Way, welcome to the Walton
Johnson Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Sir, good morning, Good morning toe.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Hey do you do you still go out to that
park and run or the same park where Kenny runs.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I know you run it.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
I go to I just don't run as fast as
I used to want it because by the time I
get to the park, I've had a eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hour day crosably. So yeah, they's a jar of the park.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
I actually go to the park to see how people
are in jaring it, and on these beautiful days there's
not enough parking. So oh yeah, I get frustrated. I
get frustrated because every where I go I want to
fix things for the public, and Sundays there's not adequate
parking in Memorial Park. So you know, I bring that
(01:58):
to the attention of the conservancy. It runs a park
and we're working on it. I live a quote normal life.
I get up and go to barbershop, Uh, go to
Yel Street Pharmacy for for breakfast and anyway pretty normal.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I will tell you off the air the best places
to park in that park because I go there every day.
I can always find a good parking spot because I
know where to go. But we'll do that off there,
because I don't want to give up secret.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Probably my neighborhood out of the park into the Crestwood neighborhood,
and many of the neighbors want to go to permit parking,
which I don't like because then when you want to
have a meeting or a guest over, they got to
get a permitt So, you know, it's part of the
challenge living in a big city. We're very fortunate U
(02:47):
people want to be here. It creates, you know, challenges, congestion,
things that come with a huge urban sitter city.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, you know, on that note, you talk of this stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You talk about speed bombs and parking and crime and
balancing the budget because that's what your job entails. And
the national media a little less than a month ago
publicly attacked you or celebrated you for the radical opinion
that as the mayor of Houston, it's not your job
to you know, dictate foreign policy or figure out imagine
(03:20):
whether we're going to build a wall, or you know,
prevent federal agents from enforcing federal laws. And I never
thought that was controversial. Were you surprised by the reaction
to that.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Well, I'm not surprised at anything coming from any direction.
But I've been very consistent. I just want to fix
our challenges. You know, I've had a distinguished career in
the legislature, ten in the House, forty in the Senate.
I was making a difference in the state Senate when
three years ago Houstonias asked me to come back to
(03:54):
Houston and run for mayor and I said no. Then
they came back and said would you consider it, and
said that's a serious question.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Sure I'll consider it.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
And I said, they said, well, what would get you
to run? I said, get in the car with me
and drive across Houston. I grew up here, went.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
To high school U of H and I've seen.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
The neglect and neglect of our infrastructure, our streets, our drainage,
our garbage pickup.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
But even more importantly.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
As Chairman of Criminal Justice in the Senate, working close
with law enforcement, I know we have concerns about our safety.
You know, at the Yale Street pharmacy, seniors come up
to me and say, we just don't go out after
five o'clock. The young families will say we don't feel
good going to the parks. Now, that gets my attention,
(04:45):
and I said, we don't have to live like that.
So I made a tough decision to come back and
run for mayor. And each day I know I made
the right decision because we are making big differences.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I got the best team.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
That anyone can remember, with the best police chief in America.
Those other issues are just issues. I'm focused on fixing Houston.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
We travel around the state a lot because we have
affiliates all over the place.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You know, we do comedy shows and stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And one of the things we've noticed is even though
Houston's the biggest city, we do not have the worst
homelessness compared to Austin or Dallas or San Antonio, even Waco,
you know.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Pair capita.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
All that being said, there's still homeless people under the
freeways and stuff like that, and we know that people
on the far far left, the ACLU types, don't want
you to do anything about it. You're building this facility
downtown now, there's a pretty big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
It seems like a reasonable solution.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
That you know, it used to be a border detention facility,
if I'm not mistaken, Now it's going to become a
homeless building. I don't think that's a horrible idea. How's
that going? And how do people in your little circle
feel about clearing out the homeless encampments and moving them
into that building.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Well, the homeless issue drives me nuts. No one should
live in those conditions, and we don't want to have
to deal with the homeless in our neighborhoods. And certainly
they were downtown the Central Library you could barely use
it for the smell of urine in that restroom. So
we have a huge challenge which we're addressing. We've made
(06:16):
a difference, but we've got to have residential facilities. You
can't help people with their drug and alcohol challenges, nor
their mental health challenge if you don't have them in
a residence where you can have a caseworker and get
them to change their lives. So we're looking for facilities.
We found the Emancipation Street site.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
It'll hold about three hundred folks.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
They won't read their long term it's to stabilize them,
then refer them to other shelters. But it's right by
Dynamo Stadium, the Shell facility they call it to the stadium.
It was an immigration detention facility. It will be used
in some fashion the house individuals. It's largely in an
(07:05):
industrial entertainment area.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
So you know, when you go to the.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Ballpark to watch some astros, all those people you had
to step over to get into the stadium, they'll no
longer be there. There's gonna be a few blocks from there. Now,
let me tell you about the public safety of that site.
We're going to locate eight police officers there and a
sergeant full time to deal with the homeless. It's a
hot team. It's an HBD outreach team that deals with
(07:34):
the homeless. They're familiar with these people. They'll take them there,
they'll be stabilized, and then we're looking at other locations,
which would be the next step.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
You know, the homeless issue is.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
A very complex issue, largely let me digress here.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Men. Also, it's fed by the public.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Safety, the criminal justice system. You can't let people out
of prison with nowhere to go. You can't let people
out of the Harris County. Yeah, with no money and
no family. They end up on the streets. So we
have a lot of work. The good news is we're
moving into our direction. We're cleaning up downtown. You know,
(08:12):
I saw a poll by a United Airline last year.
There are people didn't want to quit working at home
because they didn't want to deal with the homeless. So
it's affecting our businesses, it's affecting our neighborhoods. I want
the ability to see someone under a freeway.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
We call a.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Number, an HPD or a hot team outreach team. That's
what it's called Houston Outreach. So police pick this person
up and put them in a facility. No one's criminalizing homelessness.
We're trying to help the homeless and residents and citizens
of Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I have members of law enforcement and the fire department
texting me right now asking me to thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You've said you want four thousand new police police officers
over the next several years. You've also worked really hard
right now to balance the budget, and obviously this is
a city that has had no shortage of budget issues
over the past couple of years. Are you still committed
to trying to accomplish both of those goals. How do
you walk that line with getting more police officers but
(09:18):
also trying to make sure that we're not spending money
we don't have.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Well, first of all, we can't afford not to spend
money on police and fire if we're not safe. Nothing
else we talk about this morning matters. That's my highest priority.
It's always been my highest priority. And we will find
the resources to have the best fire in police departments
in America. We have a great fire chief, a great
police chief. The morale is at an all time high.
(09:46):
And let me tell you what we've done. We've given
the benefits to fire and police. That is a ripple effect.
It's crossing the state. For way too many years, fire
and police officers did not get the benefits they deserve.
Government took them for granted. Oh they won't go anywhere else, Yeah,
they'll go somewhere else. They got to make a living.
(10:08):
Most of them have second jobs. I won't police and
fire to have the prior, mayor the primary job for
public safety. And we're headed in the right directions. The
rows at an all time high. The cadet classes are full.
People are wanting to come to Houston to be police
(10:28):
and fire personnel EMS. So we're on a roll. It's
improving public safety. The response time on COD one the
most serious police cause is five point six minutes. Dallas
is at twelve minutes. But we're not through. We're going
to continue.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
That number.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
You said four thousand ausers. Frankly, I've never heard that number.
I won't I know immediately. We need fifteen hundred and
let me tell you what's happening. Because of our hard
work and dedication, we'll for the long time, first time
in anybody's memory, we are regaining washers than those that
are retiring. In the past, they would retire, double dip,
(11:11):
get the retirement, and then go to work for another agency.
We had alsers applying to the DPS to become allshoes,
better benefits, better paid. No longer, they've thrown those applications
in the trash. People want to be police and fire
in the city of Houston. Now, the rest of the
story is we got to protect them. We got to
protect them with proper equipment. And we've had two officers
(11:34):
police officers assaulted Saturday and Sunday nights. That's one reason
this morning I was dragging little I was up to
two o'clock Sunday morning with Jake Parker, an officer that
was shot point blade at a red light of road rates.
He was on the way to work, shot in the shoulder.
(11:55):
Very fortunate that it went through the other side, did
not hit an oregon or a bone. He survived.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
He survived.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And then and then Sunday night, I get another call
to go downtown at Market Square.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We had an officer that was stabbed in the neck.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Oh my god, apparent apparently a homeless person. So let
me tell the alarming thing. Jake Peters that shot Saturday night, just.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
His suspect got a.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Sixty thousand dollars bob. Yeah, folks, we will never be
the safe city. We won't if HPD and fire do
their jobs and then some of the judges give them
low amounts of bond.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
It's just wrong.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
You've got to hold people accountable, and when someone pulls
a gun on you, whether it's an officer or a citizen,
they need a long confinement and be held accountable.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, yeah, we agree with that.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You were criticized by the kind of people that like
and support Zorhan. Mom, Donnie because you've tried to work
with Republicans around the state to bring funding to the
city of Houston, and now Zorhan Mom Donnie is pretty
much trying to do the equivalent of that by meeting
with Donald Trump this past week. I'm not saying you
should gloat or rub it in the faces of those critics,
because he's pretty much doing exactly what you were doing
(13:19):
earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
But you know, if you wanted to, would you like to.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
What I've got a full time job right here.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
I haven't even made one trip over seed NOE of
these trade missions or junkets that other mayors or the
county judge goes on't We can slowly focus on getting
quality of life issues taking care in Houston, Texas.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
And I've got a full plate.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I don't have time to worry about critics or others
that comes with a job. But I will work with anyone,
and I'm known in Austin for working across the AIS
to help Houston. We just had the best legslave session
anyone's memory, millions of dollars. In fact, believe it or not,
Austin gave us money for two hundred police cars because
(14:08):
I got on the phone and told them how critical
it was for us to get some additional police cars.
Got one hundred million for wastewater treatment plan and about
a million dollars for eight separate parts.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
So we're moving into our direction. The critics that come
and go. You know, I was asked by.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Houstonians to run for mayor. Tough decision. I preyed on it.
It's the toughest job anyone can have. It's seven twenty
four if you do it right.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
We only got a minute here left with you.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
But we just want to say sometimes people think because
we criticize Houston or talk about Houston crime or politics
on the radio, that we don't love this city. We
love this city so much, Mayor, I love living here.
Houston is my home. I've been here most of my
adult life. Everybody in this studio could say the same thing,
and obviously I think we have that in common with you.
What do you love the most about Houston and where
(15:03):
do you love to go eat when you get some
free time?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I love most about Houston as people. When I meet
with delegations in my office. There was a group from
Sweden the other day on a trade mission. It's it's
I have to do it, you know, I want to
get back to work, but that's part of the job.
To greet people delegations. I told them, when they leave Houston,
I want to remember most and there's a hell help
(15:29):
a lot to remember about Houston, our mediciners, our academic.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Universities, our port.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
I said, I want you to remember our people and
go away saying Houston is the most friendliest place we've
ever visited. And I really mean that we are a
friendly city when we come together. We do come together
when we're in crisis, and when I'm at a Texans
game and when they win a game and an Astro
(15:57):
game during the World Series and everybody comes together.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I just think what a great.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Ceiling that hustone is can set aside their differ differences
and come together and be so supportive of a sports team.
And I want that same energy and support and passion
towards Dixon Houston. I'm willing to spend the you know,
eight years or some of the best years left in
(16:22):
my life working to make this a better city.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And you know what, we're moving into right direction.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yes we all amen to that. Appreciate you, God, bless
you mayor whitmyer. It feels good to have a mayor
that we support, and we want to say the happy
Thanksgiving thank you for your time today, sir, same.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
To you, save to everyone listen, be safe.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Thank you Rogers, Walton and Johnson Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Behind the scenes right now here at your favorite morning show.
There's look, we were not supposed to get that interview.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I wit Meyer won't talk with my mayor. John Whitmeyer
a great guy.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Obviously we like and we get along with him.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
He is not really someone you'd expect to see on
this radio show.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Well, apparently you ain't got time for that kind of stuff.
He very very busy. He's staying up till two o'clock
in the morning getting back up with the sun. I'm
telling you, Uh, maybe it's his his work ethnic that
has got people all fired up about him. But syl
Vesas Turner didn't put in these kind of how as.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
I can guarantee you, Dad, No, Mayor Whitmeyer works a
lot harder than any other mayor.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He's a man of the people.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
He doesn't walk around with security all day like Lena
hen Dalgo, the Harris County judged us still have a job?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Does she?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I haven't heard of her, and I was gonna ask him,
but we went along with everything else. I don't I
don't even know if she still works. Yeah, something to
be said about that. Do you know what John.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Whitmyer did to the City of Houston, Well, he balanced
the budget, he got more police out there, he cleaned
up homes.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
It's all well and good, but he also he killed
Houston's vibe. He killed according to this guy and the Chronicle,
not you another guy.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah, I write for the Chronicle.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
That's Jamiel David wrote an article four days ago and
he said, John Whitmeyers anti scooter agenda has killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Once you kill your vibe, you don't get it back either,
you know. Okay, I was downtown on Sunday watching a play.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
You know what I'm kidding. I know, I know he
really did write that, but good lord, people, come on.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I was downtown on Sunday watching a play, the last
performance of The Outsiders, really good. And we're all sitting
there in traffic, waiting to pull in so we could
park our vehicles, and this dude with an electric scooter
pulls out.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
It was an e bike.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's not an electric scooter, but I think he's talking
about the same thing in your email. This guy in
this e bike pulls out in the middle of this intersection,
drives out in the middle of the road, stops all
this traffic. Three cars almost get into a head on collision.
The people with the e bikes are out a scooters.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Are pretty much the same thing, because they're they're very dangerous,
they're they're all over we matter of fact, he almost
got hit, you know, walking out of a game or something,
walking down the sidewalk leaving a Dynamo game. He said
he had to step aside to let a scooter fly
by on the sidewalk. Now, of course, the people that
(19:22):
defend them say, well, you know, the traffic is so
bad downtown because more people should be on scooters.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And that way we wouldn't have so many of these
vehicles in the road.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
No, that's the thing, guys, We need vehicles because you
can't move food and freight and electronics on your e bike.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
It's silly. We don't need.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Hot and humid most of the time, and it's rainy
a lot of the time, and you just don't want
to be out on a skateboard with a stick for
a steering wheel. Hmmmm, Well, anyway, he's killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
That's all I know.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
You know, you think of if she Jack had won,
You think she would have killed Houston's vibe.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Look we took out, No, she would killed. She wouldn't
be alive right now. She died recipes, God rest her soul.
We took a lot of heat when we came out
and supported Whitmeyer, and I do not regret it at all.
He was vastly better than what the other options were.
Sometimes you got to be pragmatics. You know, it's we
don't all we all wanted Ron Paul to be the mayor.
(20:19):
It wasn't gonna happen. So so Whitmeyer was a nice
Uh was a nice alternative, I think, and I'm glad
we got him. Hey, an odd news story today. This
guy named Ze teng Wang implanted an rfi D microchip
in his hand so he could perform magic tricks using
the power of technology.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Cool. The idea was that he.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Could have his hand over someone else's phone and the
RFI D reader in the phone would pick up and
do something like display a meme on the phone. Unfortunately,
RFID tags aren't that accurate. It turns out, ze that
pressing someone else's phone to my hand, he said, repeatedly,
trying to figure out where their phone's RFI D reader is,
really doesn't come off super mysterious and magical. And then
(21:00):
something even worse happened. He forgot the password. So now
he's had a.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Microphone, He had a password on his own RFID microscope
on his little chip in his hand, and now he
didn't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So now he's got this microchip in his hand and
it's worthless. Oh god, and you thought you had problems. Guys,
don't forget your password.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Never forget.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
It's simple, like your birthday or your kid's birthdays or
something like that, right, or the word password or one
two three four.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Look, it's not like people are going to hack into
your hand. Courty's good. Yeah, one two three four. That's
the exact code on my luggage. Of course, it is
Rule seventeen. Don't turn your back on bears men, you
have wronged or the dominant turkey during mating season Walton
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