Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner trumpeted his management of Houston by way of monetary peril, pure disasters and a pandemic as he gave his remaining State of the Metropolis handle on Sept. 27 to a crowd of a whole lot at a downtown ballroom. Turner, who turned 69 the day of his remaining State of the Metropolis handle, has led Houston for the previous eight years however can’t run once more due to time period limits.
With the theme of “A Lasting Legacy,” the mayor mirrored on his time in workplace, shared highlights of a few of his accomplishments and mentioned he’s laid the groundwork for the town’s future.
“I’ll hand to whoever the following mayor will probably be, as a substitute of $160M within the gap, we’ll offer you a surplus of almost $420M,” Turner informed the gang.
He highlighted Houstonians’ resilience by way of seven federally declared disasters like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the 2021 winter freeze.
The speech, which contained no new initiatives, got here at a second of relative calm in comparison with the tumultuous seven-and-a-half years that preceded it. Throughout that interval, Turner famous, the town noticed seven federally declared disasters. Hurricane Harvey nonetheless could loom the most important for a lot of Houstonians.
Turner began off his handle by rattling off infrastructure initiatives the town is launching throughout his waning days in workplace, starting with the Inwood Forest Stormwater Detention Basin challenge close to White Oak Bayou.
Different initiatives he highlighted included a brand new strong waste switch station in northeast Houston, the realignment of Interstate 45 and $2 billion in deliberate enhancements for the George R. Brown Conference Middle.
He additionally had recommendation for whoever would be the subsequent mayor to steer the nation’s fourth-largest metropolis.
“I’m going to jot down a observe, and one of many issues that I’m going to say is, ‘Get pleasure from,” Turner mentioned. “A phrase of recommendation for individuals who search to observe: Watch out of what you promise. Watch out on the way you criticize.”
Turner additionally famous he modified the channel throughout a mayoral debate earlier this week. Some candidates attacked Turner over public security, dealing with of metropolis funds and alleged corruption in his administration.
Greater than 1,500 elected officers and enterprise and neighborhood leaders attended the sold-out luncheon.
Early voting for the upcoming Houston mayoral race begins October 23.
