2008 Woodie Awards
Houton mayor uses private sector to help city
Associated Press
Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: State & Nation
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(AP) - HOUSTON - On a bridge over Buffalo Bayou, well-heeled Houstonians celebrated the public-private partnership responsible for transforming the concrete-lined swamp leading into downtown into a landscaped waterway.
Mayor Bill White thanked the project's three lead entrepreneurs and then tallied the city's recent accomplishments: about 150,000 new residents from Hurricane Katrina, evacuation of several million from Hurricane Rita, the hiring of several thousand people at a city-sponsored job fair and the Houston Astros win of the National League pennant.
"Just a typical month in Houston," he said.
Maybe not typical, but a good example of the pace that White set after taking office last year, and one he hopes to continue after his re-election on Nov. 8.
When the municipal bureaucracy can't or won't move fast enough, White - like a host of other businessmen-turned-mayors around the country - turns to the private sector to push through his pet projects.
"I want a performance-oriented government that produces results," White said. "That's contrary to a government based on sound bites and images."
White, 51, is a Harvard-educated lawyer, former deputy U.S. energy secretary and former chief executive of Wedge Group, a holding company with energy and real-estate interests.
Although a former Texas Democratic Party chairman, he never held elective office before becoming mayor, like New York's Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles' Richard Riordan.
White, who has no strong opposition in this election, used the private sector in at least a dozen projects, including the renovation of Buffalo Bayou, during his first term.
He created a foundation of private citizens who in 90 days raised $1.1 million for training and equipment for Houston police through gala events and donations.
He enlisted businessmen to build a downtown park, landscape freeway medians and expand hike-and-bike trails around the city.
Mayor Bill White thanked the project's three lead entrepreneurs and then tallied the city's recent accomplishments: about 150,000 new residents from Hurricane Katrina, evacuation of several million from Hurricane Rita, the hiring of several thousand people at a city-sponsored job fair and the Houston Astros win of the National League pennant.
"Just a typical month in Houston," he said.
Maybe not typical, but a good example of the pace that White set after taking office last year, and one he hopes to continue after his re-election on Nov. 8.
When the municipal bureaucracy can't or won't move fast enough, White - like a host of other businessmen-turned-mayors around the country - turns to the private sector to push through his pet projects.
"I want a performance-oriented government that produces results," White said. "That's contrary to a government based on sound bites and images."
White, 51, is a Harvard-educated lawyer, former deputy U.S. energy secretary and former chief executive of Wedge Group, a holding company with energy and real-estate interests.
Although a former Texas Democratic Party chairman, he never held elective office before becoming mayor, like New York's Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles' Richard Riordan.
White, who has no strong opposition in this election, used the private sector in at least a dozen projects, including the renovation of Buffalo Bayou, during his first term.
He created a foundation of private citizens who in 90 days raised $1.1 million for training and equipment for Houston police through gala events and donations.
He enlisted businessmen to build a downtown park, landscape freeway medians and expand hike-and-bike trails around the city.
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