THE MEN WHO WOULD BE MAYOR
Sylvester Turner and Bill White answered questions from OutSmart

by Josef Molnar

Mayoral candidates Sylvester Turner and Bill White both scored well and nearly identically after screening with the Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus. Only hundredths of a percentage point separated the men—White being slightly ahead—in the caucus’s numerical ranking system (see the full endorsement list at the end of this article).

OutSmart contacted all of the candidates for mayor and requested interviews—including Michael Berry, Laverne Crump Smith, and Ray Rodriguez, who later left the race. We submitted questions by e-mail to the campaigns and conducted telephone interviews with the candidates. After initially expressing interest, the Orlando Sanchez campaign did not respond to later inquiries.

Election day is Tuesday, November 4.

SYLVESTER TURNER

Sylvester Turner (obviously the more loquacious of the two candidates) is a former associate with Houston’s Fulbright and Jaworski law firm, later a partner in the Barnes, Morse and Turner law firm, and a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 139 since 1988. After a previous mayoral bid in which he was accused in a KTRK television report of participating in a multi-million dollar insurance scam while a partner at Barnes, Morse and Turner that he said negatively affected the race, Turner sued the television station and won. He has received a number of awards from local and state groups for his legislative efforts in education, crime reform, and environmental issues. In this year’s legislative session, the Republican speaker of the house named Turner the speaker pro tempore. The position is the second most powerful in the Texas House.

OutSmart: You were the only mayoral candidate in the Pride parade.
Sylvester Turner: The LGBT community is being defined as a wedge issue in campaigns through the efforts of some in the Republican Party. I thought that now, more than ever, candidates for public office need to be clear about where they stand. To me, riding in the parade was the easiest thing I could have done.

What are your plans to campaign in traditionally gay areas of Houston?
I have been actively campaigning in traditionally gay areas like Montrose and others. I have been actively working in the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, and areas like Westbury. Gay and lesbian voters are spread out through the city, but we are certainly campaigning in areas where there are larger concentrations. I am also the only candidate in this race that has developed campaign literature that specifically answers the issues of gay and lesbian voters. I also have no doubt that I have attended more gay and lesbian events and had my staff at those events than any other candidate for mayor.”

What is your commitment to the GLBT community?
As your friend in the legislature since 1988, I have a record of service and accomplishment that is unparalleled in this race. I am proud of my work on behalf of my district and, frankly, for all people regardless of sexual orientation in this state. As a former vice chair of both the powerful state affairs and calendars committees, I have worked hard to support legislation that would have provided nondiscrimination protections for Texans based on their sexual orientation at both the workplace and in our schools. I am most proud of my work as a co-author of the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act to set a higher standard in punishment for biased acts of violence. I have fought for hate-crimes protections and nondiscrimination legislation as hard as I have fought against bills like the divisive Defense of Marriage Act and the antigay foster care bill. I support providing health-care benefits to all city employees and their families, regardless of sexual orientation.”

What do you see as the top three issues in the gay community?
Politically, I think the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Texas sodomy law sent a huge ripple effect throughout your enemy’s base. Again, they are using your community as a tool to fundraise and support their extremist groups and will try to make you the Willie Hortons of the 2004 campaign. That is going to be the greatest challenge for you in the coming year.

Secondly, I think the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic needs to be reassessed. The increase in new HIV cases is astounding and signals to us the need to go back to the drawing board. Our education efforts need to be tailored to the hardest-hit communities in a culturally appropriate way. The advent of effective drugs to combat HIV has given many people a false sense of security that we cannot afford. During the past two years, Houston has lost many legendary advocates for HIV efforts like Gene Harrington that would be greatly disappointed at the new increases. We owe it to their legacy to refocus our efforts.
Finally, we are going to have to defend the progress we have made. I think that in the legislature we will have to work to keep the James Byrd Hate Crimes and other progressive legislation we have successfully passed.

How will you support efforts to widen HIV-prevention efforts by the city or obtain additional funding for existing programs?
Because of my work, despite a budget deficit and cuts in spending for social services, I was able to secure increased funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. As mayor, I will also work aggressively to pull down more federal dollars for HIV-prevention efforts in Houston.

If you are elected, will you appoint a liaison to the GLBT community, as Lee Brown did?
My first chief of staff was Hispanic, and my campaign itself includes women in management positions and a Hispanic deputy campaign manager, not to mention gay staff members in key roles. I would certainly look at the possibility of appointing an LGBT liaison, but I am campaigning on a new direction in how we do business at City Hall. I do not count on one person to advise me on LGBT issues, and I am not sure that’s where we want to go. There are numerous very active and high-profile members in your community that have constant access to me and provide me with very good counsel on general concerns as well. Make no mistake: The LGBT community will have a place at the table, and I think you should be looking for a candidate who believes there is room for more than one person to represent your interests when I serve you as mayor.

BILL WHITE

Bill White is a San Antonio native who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in economics, from the University of Texas law school, and then served as the editor-in-chief of the school’s law review. He later joined the Susman Godfrey law firm, where he stayed until 1993. He has served on a number of local and regional civic advisory boards and committees, and now serves on the Baylor College of Medicine board. During the Clinton administration, he served as the deputy secretary of energy, on the president’s management council, and with national delegations. He has also advocated on behalf of consumers in the U.S. Congress, and has involved himself with minority projects. He currently heads WEDGE Group, Inc., an oil and gas services group.

OutSmart: What are your plans to campaign in traditionally gay areas of Houston?
Bill White: We’re out block-walking all the time in the community. People want a well-managed, tolerant community. Another issue is my lifelong support for increasing the quality of life in our community, in the arts, and other aspects of the city, which create a vital urban community.

What is your commitment to the GLBT community?
I was one of the leaders in fighting Proposition 2 [which denied domestic partner benefits to city workers]. The lack of partner benefits has affected a close relative of mine, and I’ve always stood up against stereotyping that holds people down.

What do you see as the top three issues in the gay community?
Generally speaking, they are same as confront many other Houstonians. We need new mass transportation alternatives in the city. I want to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, include better safety and quality of life, and remove the billboards. We need a mayor who can celebrate the diversity of the city and tolerance that leads to growth and prosperity.

How will you support efforts to widen HIV-prevention efforts by the city or obtain additional funding for existing programs?
Houston historically has not been as aggressive in seeking federal grants and assistance. I want to make sure we get every penny and dollar available through grants.

If you are elected, will you appoint a liaison to the GLBT community, as Lee Brown did?
It would be good to have a liaison and figure out a way to get periodic feedback from the community.

Sylvester Turner was the only Houston candidate to ride in the Pride parade in June. Why didn’t you campaign that way as well?
I had committed to attend the Urban League dinner as the guest of the people who were chairing it. I will support the parade as mayor. I will ride in the parade.

Josef Molnar, a frequent OutSmart contributor, collaborated with attorney Mitchell Katine on his essay on the Lawrence v. Texas decision in our August issue.

CAUCUS ENDORSEMENTS

The Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus PAC
has endorsed candidates in the following races:

Mayor: Bill White
Controller: Annise Parker
City Council At Large: #1 Brian Wozniak
City Council At Large #2: Gordon Quan
City Council At Large #3: Jolanda Jones
City Council At Large #4: Sue Lovell
City Council At Large #5: Dwight Boykins
City Council District C: Malaki Sims
City Council District D: Ada Edwards
City Council District E: Vickie Keller
City Council District F: Derrick Wesley
HISD #3: Michael Gomez
HISD #4: Dr. G. San Miguel
HISD #8: Joseph Rodriguez

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