The Power Issue: Sylvester Turner Is Reaching Across the Aisle to Save Texas's Biggest City
At the end of a long day, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner has the look of a man who is gamely trying to get through his last appointment without displaying the desperation he feels for a little peace and quiet. He’s running behind. People have been ushered in and out of his sprawling, light-filled city hall office for the past couple of hours, while the sun sinks lower and lower on another ruthlessly hot October day. There should be a path worn into the carpet at this point, as Turner walks people in and out, out and in, giving everyone the impression that he has all the time in the world.
His voice is just a little sandpapery behind the poetic cadences that have made him famous for his oratory. There are shadows under his eyes, too. But within a few seconds of greeting, Turner rights himself, switching on a smile that, if practiced, is still welcoming. “It’s been a while,” he says, a line that suggests he remembers the last time you met, even if you aren’t sure when or where that was.
It’s to Turner’s credit that he doesn’t show much wear and tear—he looks much the same as he did when he was elected the mayor of America’s fourth-largest city. Winning that job was a lifelong goal, and he overcame some bruising fights—and eked out a razor-thin margin in the runoff election—to get here. And now, almost three years into his tenure, it’s possible to wonder whether he, or anyone else, could have imagined the challenges he’d face: a seemingly never-ending pension crisis that still threatens Houston’s future. Donald Trump’s attempt, in June, to force the famously diverse and welcoming city to roll up its welcome mat and warehouse the children of undocumented immigrants. And the onslaught of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated large swaths of the city and has forced him to fight the governor and the federal government for billions in recovery funds.
Turner can be criticized—and he has been—for not always having an A-team, for his hotheadedness, and for a certain paranoia toward the local press in particular (he was the victim of a vicious smear campaign back in the nineties, when he first ran for mayor). But through a combination of friendly persuasion and, when needed, a harsh temper, he has held a complex, extremely diverse city together in some of the worst possible times. “Turner is one of the best politicians around,” says Bill Miller, who is probably Texas’s premier political fixer. “He makes a concerted effort to work with everyone, and he makes a concerted effort to understand why they take the positions they do. He doesn’t hang on to things. He’s friendly with anyone who approaches him. He’s straightforward, and he’s honest, and he will work with you. That’s a dream come true in my book.”
Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/power-issue-sylvester-turner-reaching-across-aisle-save-texass-biggest-city/