Kathy Whitmire

Whitmire was appointed as City Controller to serve out the unexpired term of Leonel Castillo, who had been appointed as Commissioner of Immigration for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, making him the first Hispanic to hold that role. Castillo accepted the Federal position on April 7, 1977.[3] As City Controller, Whitmire became extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the city's finances. She won a full two-year term in a landslide defeating Steve Jones in the Runoff Elections with 110,762 votes (58.57%) to Jones' 78,365 votes (41.44%). Upon being inaugurated for a full two-year term on January 2, 1978, Whitmire criticized the late then-Mayor Jim McConn for his inefficiency and lax administration.[4] Becoming familiar with "sweetheart contracts", that had often been awarded to friends and supporters of influential office holders, she stopped the practice by rigorously enforcing observance of the Open Bidding laws. She also diligently looked for inefficiencies or outright wasteful practices in each of the city offices. Although this angered many "insiders", she won election in 1979 to a second term, becoming the first female elected to a top job in the Houston City government.

Whitmire decided to run for mayor in the 1981 election. The incumbent, Jim McConn, had already served two terms in the office and was supported by the business community, who had largely controlled city politics for decades. However, McConn lost in the general election to Jack Heard, formerly Sheriff of Harris County and the City Controller, Whitmire, sending the race to a runoff between the latter two. There was a sharp contrast between Whitmire and Heard in the runoff election. Heard was 63 years old, with 25 years of experience in political office. Whitmire was only 35 and had little political experience. She said in her speeches that her opponent's experience was too narrowly focused on law enforcement. According to one report, Heard spent $1.5 million on the race, while his opponent spent $650,000.[5] While Heard had credibility with those who were more concerned about law and order or maintaining the status quo, Whitmire campaigned on her fiscal conservatism and moderate-to-liberal views on social issues. Whitmire was supported by a coalition of women, minorities, and other groups who were looking for a more progressive city government. These voters had been strengthened by the wave of newcomers who had moved into Houston during the boom years. She won the race with 170,695 votes (62.49%) to Heard's 102,446 votes (37.51%) . As noted by the New York Times,

The developers and bankers and oil millionaires who used to handpick candidates can no longer be said to dominate the political scene. Houston is home today to too many different kinds of people, with too many different sets of values and interests, for any one group to control elections so easily.[6]

Whitmire was the first mayor to appoint an African American, Lee P. Brown, as Houston's police chief. Brown had previously served as Commissioner of Public Safety, in Atlanta, Georgia. In Houston, he introduced the concept of Community Policing, creating improved relationships between the police department and the various diverse communities of the city. He left Houston in 1990 to serve as Police Commissioner of New York City. [upper-alpha 3] Brown was succeeded by the city's first female police chief, Elizabeth Watson, after he resigned to accept the top police job in New York City.[7] Whitmire also appointed the first Hispanic, Sylvia R. Garcia, as presiding judge of the Houston Municipal Court. [upper-alpha 4]

In 1985, she ran for mayor against five-term mayor Louie Welch. She won that election, getting about 60 percent of the vote. She was re-elected in 1987, winning 74 percent of the vote. Her closest rival in a field of six was Bill Anderson, who only received 12 percent of the vote. She then won the 1989 mayoral election, receiving 63 percent of the vote (176,342 votes), while former mayor Fred Hofheinz received 88,971 votes (32 percent of the total).[upper-alpha 5]

Bob Lanier was a wealthy attorney who was considered a political kingmaker in Houston. During the 1980s, he had sold off much of his investment portfolio, just in time to avoid the economic collapse that engulfed many other investors. Appointed as chairman of the Texas Highway Commission, he became a critic of Mayor Whitmire's plan for Houston Metro to build a monorail system. Supporters of the Metro agency decided that it was prudent to compromise with Lanier, so they agreed to fund more street improvements, rather than concentrate solely on a rail system. Lanier soon became chairman of the Metro system board. The mayor fired Lanier from his Metro position in December 1989. It proved to be fatal to Whitmire's political future. Unable to find another satisfactory candidate for her office, Lanier decided to challenge her himself. The hot-button issues for the 1991 election became fear of street crime and skepticism about the functionality of an expensive monorail system proposed by Whitmire. Lanier promised to cancel the latter and put more police on the streets. Lanier made inroads into Whitmire's white supporters, while a black candidate, Sylvester Turner, cut into her black support. She placed third with 20% of the vote and thus failed to make the run-off election. Lanier would go on to defeat Turner for the mayoralty.[8]

After the 1991 election, Whitmire turned her talents to teaching at Rice University, and the University of Maryland. At Rice, she served as Director of the Rice Institute for Policy Analysis and held the Tsanoff Lectureship in Public Affairs. In the latter position she taught courses in public policy, management, and political science.[9] In 1994, she was appointed President and CEO of Junior Achievement. In 1995 and 1996, Whitmire served as lecturer on Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was a Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.[2] In 1997, she accepted a position at the newly formed Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland College Park campus. She is credited with attracting former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley to join the Academy as a scholar and chairman of the board.[10]

Unlike most of Houston's former mayors who are still living, Whitmire has moved away from the city. She has said that she has no plans to return, although she visits the city regularly to see family and friends.[11] In 2001, Whitmire moved to Hawaii, where she became an active investor in real estate. She married Alan J. Whelms in 2002.[2] Whitmire commutes by air to work at the University of Maryland, where she is a professor at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.[12] She has also taught at Harvard University and Rice University.[13] On July 1, 2005, Whitmire became the volunteer president of The Outdoor Circle, an organization dedicated to preserving Hawaii's beauty by eliminating outdoor blight.[13]

When Annise Parker, Kathy's long-time friend and supporter, ran for Mayor in 2009, Whitmire flew to Houston to show her support by hosting a fund raiser. Parker ultimately won the election and became the city's first gay mayor.[7]