Houston Opens Doors, Hearts to Evacuees
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press Writer
September 9, 2005, 3:30 PM EDT
HOUSTON -- As the tragedy unfolded in New Orleans, Houston's mayor threw open the Astrodome and the convention center to tens of thousands of Katrina's refugees. Then he did something more remarkable: He essentially told convention groups whose plans were spoiled by the move, "Tough luck."
The decision could ultimately cost Houston a bundle in lost business and burden its social service agencies for many years to come. But so far, this city of swashbuckling capitalism -- of self-made oil men, engineering magnates and real estate tycoons -- is backing Bill White in his act of municipal compassion toward the mostly poor, mostly black victims of the storm.
For White, an enormously popular first-term Democrat up for re-election in November, this could very well be his "Giuliani moment" -- the moment he, like New York's mayor in the aftermath of Sept. 11, distinguished himself in a crisis.
"Whoever it was, they made some very quick, good, obvious decisions, generous decisions," said economist Barton Smith, director of the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting.
In an editorial this week, The Houston Chronicle commended White for "exerting decisive leadership that has been lacking in the federal relief effort."
"Even before the decision was made to open the Dome as a shelter, the mayor began organizing a team of corporate CEOs, leaders of major church congregations and government officials to create a multifaceted relief effort to provide clothing, medicines and long-term shelter for the evacuees," the newspaper said.
"The federal government could learn some lessons from the rapid response and can-do attitude that Houston's elected officials and civic leaders have demonstrated."
America's fourth-largest city, along with the Harris County government, opened their hearts after Louisiana's governor asked Texas for help.
"There wasn't any hesitation," White spokesman Patrick Trahan said. "That's your neighbor needing help."
White -- whose own city became a metropolis after a hurricane in 1900 virtually wiped out Galveston and killed as many as 12,000 people -- promptly announced plans to shelter 25,000 of Katrina's homeless at Houston's sports arenas and downtown convention center.
"We're going to kick some people out," said the mayor, a white man in a city of 2 million people, with whites, blacks and Hispanics each representing about one-third of the population. Then he dared any of the organizations that had reserved convention space in Houston to explain their inconvenience to someone who was homeless and had lost everything.
While some Houstonians feared that the lawlessness rampant in New Orleans' Superdome would spread here with the arrival of the evacuees, far more rolled up their sleeves to help.
More than 24,000 volunteers registered to help and thousands more opened their churches and homes to refugees. So many doctors from the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest, showed up at the Astrodome that there was not enough work to go around.
The normal complaints about life in Houston -- snarled traffic, a scandal-plagued legal system and a large illegal immigrant population that strains social services -- were muted, at least for a week or so.
The effort does not come without risk for White, 51, a businessman and former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration who was elected almost two years ago by a nearly 2-1 margin and faces only token opposition this fall.
"There could be some negatives over time. It's a high-wire act and no American city lately has absorbed anywhere near this number of people so quickly," Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston, said Thursday.
"You're coming into a state that has a deserved reputation for being low-tax and low-service. If you try to be generous to your new residents, some of the poor folks here are going to notice and are going to start raising Cain."
The influx of children, for example, could put a financial strain on Houston's school system, said economist M. Ray Perryman. Nearly 2,000 were enrolled this week in the Houston district, which reopened two elementary schools that had been shut because of low enrollment and made them available exclusively for Katrina refugee children.
On the other hand, the city's energy industry and its port -- No. 2 in the United States in total tonnage -- are likely to benefit from business shifted from crippled New Orleans, Perryman said. Moreover, the governor of Texas has asked the federal government to reimburse the state for providing services to the storm victims.
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not likely to be a huge impact on Texas," Perryman said. "On balance, I would expect Houston to have a net positive impact."
For his part, White told the City Council this week that Houston could take care of "everyone without putting our guests before our residents. If we succeed in that, we will be so much stronger as a city."
Already, Houston's welcome has engendered goodwill among the new arrivals.
"It's a beautiful city," Ruby Josephs, 78, of New Orleans, said from the Reliant Center, one of the evacuation shelters opened after the Astrodome reached capacity. "I'd like to move here. They've been extremely nice."
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Associated Press Writer
September 9, 2005, 3:30 PM EDT
HOUSTON -- As the tragedy unfolded in New Orleans, Houston's mayor threw open the Astrodome and the convention center to tens of thousands of Katrina's refugees. Then he did something more remarkable: He essentially told convention groups whose plans were spoiled by the move, "Tough luck."
The decision could ultimately cost Houston a bundle in lost business and burden its social service agencies for many years to come. But so far, this city of swashbuckling capitalism -- of self-made oil men, engineering magnates and real estate tycoons -- is backing Bill White in his act of municipal compassion toward the mostly poor, mostly black victims of the storm.
For White, an enormously popular first-term Democrat up for re-election in November, this could very well be his "Giuliani moment" -- the moment he, like New York's mayor in the aftermath of Sept. 11, distinguished himself in a crisis.
"Whoever it was, they made some very quick, good, obvious decisions, generous decisions," said economist Barton Smith, director of the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting.
In an editorial this week, The Houston Chronicle commended White for "exerting decisive leadership that has been lacking in the federal relief effort."
"Even before the decision was made to open the Dome as a shelter, the mayor began organizing a team of corporate CEOs, leaders of major church congregations and government officials to create a multifaceted relief effort to provide clothing, medicines and long-term shelter for the evacuees," the newspaper said.
"The federal government could learn some lessons from the rapid response and can-do attitude that Houston's elected officials and civic leaders have demonstrated."
America's fourth-largest city, along with the Harris County government, opened their hearts after Louisiana's governor asked Texas for help.
"There wasn't any hesitation," White spokesman Patrick Trahan said. "That's your neighbor needing help."
White -- whose own city became a metropolis after a hurricane in 1900 virtually wiped out Galveston and killed as many as 12,000 people -- promptly announced plans to shelter 25,000 of Katrina's homeless at Houston's sports arenas and downtown convention center.
"We're going to kick some people out," said the mayor, a white man in a city of 2 million people, with whites, blacks and Hispanics each representing about one-third of the population. Then he dared any of the organizations that had reserved convention space in Houston to explain their inconvenience to someone who was homeless and had lost everything.
While some Houstonians feared that the lawlessness rampant in New Orleans' Superdome would spread here with the arrival of the evacuees, far more rolled up their sleeves to help.
More than 24,000 volunteers registered to help and thousands more opened their churches and homes to refugees. So many doctors from the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest, showed up at the Astrodome that there was not enough work to go around.
The normal complaints about life in Houston -- snarled traffic, a scandal-plagued legal system and a large illegal immigrant population that strains social services -- were muted, at least for a week or so.
The effort does not come without risk for White, 51, a businessman and former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration who was elected almost two years ago by a nearly 2-1 margin and faces only token opposition this fall.
"There could be some negatives over time. It's a high-wire act and no American city lately has absorbed anywhere near this number of people so quickly," Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston, said Thursday.
"You're coming into a state that has a deserved reputation for being low-tax and low-service. If you try to be generous to your new residents, some of the poor folks here are going to notice and are going to start raising Cain."
The influx of children, for example, could put a financial strain on Houston's school system, said economist M. Ray Perryman. Nearly 2,000 were enrolled this week in the Houston district, which reopened two elementary schools that had been shut because of low enrollment and made them available exclusively for Katrina refugee children.
On the other hand, the city's energy industry and its port -- No. 2 in the United States in total tonnage -- are likely to benefit from business shifted from crippled New Orleans, Perryman said. Moreover, the governor of Texas has asked the federal government to reimburse the state for providing services to the storm victims.
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not likely to be a huge impact on Texas," Perryman said. "On balance, I would expect Houston to have a net positive impact."
For his part, White told the City Council this week that Houston could take care of "everyone without putting our guests before our residents. If we succeed in that, we will be so much stronger as a city."
Already, Houston's welcome has engendered goodwill among the new arrivals.
"It's a beautiful city," Ruby Josephs, 78, of New Orleans, said from the Reliant Center, one of the evacuation shelters opened after the Astrodome reached capacity. "I'd like to move here. They've been extremely nice."
Link Here
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