Whitmire Archives - Reduce Flooding

City’s New Dredging Program Launched

12/20/2024 – Just in time for the holidays, the City’s new dredging program on Lake Houston finally launched this week, but with some changes.

The placement area for the spoils will now be near Luce Bayou, not Spanish Cove as previously reported.
This phase of dredging will be restricted to 181 acres on the West Fork. In a previous Town Hall meeting, presenters hinted it might also include East Fork sediment.

According to Dustin Hodges, Chief of Staff for District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger, delays earlier this year in the long-awaited dredging program had to do with the search for an optimal placement area.

DRC, the City’s contractor, and its sister company, Callan Marine, will dredge 876,672 cubic yards of West Fork sediment and pump it four miles to property they bought near Luce. Their objective: to restore the river to its pre-Harvey profile, thereby reducing the potential for flooding.

Depth of the dredged area will vary. But today, the contractor was working at an average depth of 7-8 feet when I visited the operation.

Funding Success Tied to Location

Funding for the program comes from FEMA via U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw. The City will use money left over from the West Fork Mouth Bar dredging. As a consequence, this phase of dredging will be limited to the West Fork to meet FEMA requirements.

*Callan will dredge green areas. For a high-resolution printable PDF, click here.*

However, an agreement to use property near Luce Bayou for placement of the spoils may be fortuitous for future East Fork dredging programs. The proximity of the disposal site to the East Fork could lower pumping costs and make dredging there more affordable.

*Callan’s General Pershing Dredge working today on West Fork.*

*Sediment will be pumped from the drill bit through this 18″ pipeline up Luce Bayou on the far side of the East Fork.*

Mayor John Whitmire and City Council Members Fred Flickinger and Twila Carter have pushed this program since taking office.

*Partially submerged drill bit at work.*

When Whitmire was elected, he said he wouldn’t forget Kingwood. And he hasn’t.

Key to Reducing Flood Potential

The City’s new dredging program should reduce the potential for future flooding by increasing the conveyance of the river through this critical area.

It is here that water slows down as it meets the standing water in Lake Houston. That causes suspended sediment to drop out of suspension. When enough piles up as it did with the mouth bar, it can back water up into homes and businesses.

Mouth bar — *The West Fork Mouth Bar as it existed after Harvey. It has since been removed. The current dredging program will focus on areas beyond the mouth bar*.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/20/24

2670 Days since Hurricane Harvey

How Kingwood Voted in Whitmire Win

In the 2023 runoff election for Mayor of Houston, John Whitmire won by a landslide. Kingwood voted for Whitmire at much higher rates than the city as a whole. He won 91.4% of the votes in Kingwood – a 10.6 to 1 margin of victory over Sheila Jackson Lee, compared to 1.9 to 1 for the City as a whole.

Most of Undecideds Sided with Whitmire

Whitmire enjoyed a 7% lead over Lee in early polls, but picked up most of the undecideds. He finished with a convincing 65.26% to 34.74% victory, not quite a 2:1 margin.

Citywide, Whitmire won by a margin of 60,275 votes. In Kingwood, he beat Jackson Lee by 8,734 votes – 14.5% of his citywide margin.

That’s remarkable for two reasons.

Kingwood has only 3% of the City’s population (about 70,000 out of 2.2 million).
Kingwood had 5% of the total voters in the runoff.

Among the City’s 1.2 million registered voters, turnout was a meager 16.92%. But among Kingwood’s 44,000 registered voters, turnout was 23.86% – 7 percentage points higher.

Ten of Kingwood’s 12 precincts had turnout in the top quintile of all precincts.

So, Kingwood had higher turnout than most areas and those who voted preferred Whitmire overwhelmingly.

Meaning of Whitmire Win

Whitmire ran a positive campaign focused on crime, the economy, drainage/infrastructure, city services and bringing Houston together.

Kingwood is traditionally Republican. Kingwood’s overwhelming endorsement of the moderate Democrat may herald a sea change in local politics. Here, in this election, in this place, at this time, voters buried partisan politics and reached across the aisle to support centrist viewpoints that benefit the majority.

Precinct-By-Precinct Rundown

Kingwood has 12 voting precincts.

*Kingwood voting precincts. 948 is all commercial and had no registered voters.*

Here are the totals for each candidate in each precinct from HarrisVotes.com. See how your neighbors voted.

Whitmire vs Lee in Kingwood
Precinct	J. Whitmire	S. J. Lee	Total	JW Win %
199	717	69	786	91.2%
340	620	74	694	89.3%
357	664	78	742	89.5%
459	1,029	106	1,135	90.7%
469	883	56	939	94.0%
546	833	39	872	95.5%
563	829	80	909	91.2%
590	668	43	711	94.0%
612	775	84	859	90.2%
635	530	77	607	87.3%
670	999	81	1,080	92.5%
758	1,094	120	1,214	90.1%

Kingwood Total	9,641	907	10,548	91.4%
Citywide Total	128,908	68,633	197,541	65.3%

Kingwood Tallies & Totals vs. Citywide in Whitmire/Lee runoff.

It appears to me that Sheila Jackson Lee’s winner-take-all politics of polarization backfired on her this time. I haven’t yet had time to check other Republican-leaning areas, but in Kingwood, it seems that Republican’s arms didn’t stretch to her extremes.

The Candidate Now Has a Mandate

While Whitmire could have won the City convincingly without Kingwood, he won it dramatically with Kingwood. He will start the job with a broad mandate.

Whitmire still has huge challenges to face. Now comes the hard part of governing a city saddled with debt.

The good news as far as the Lake Houston Gates Project is concerned: funding comes mainly from outside sources and can only be used for gates, according to current Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin.

And after 50 years in Austin, Whitmire knows how to work across the aisle and only Whitmire made flooding an issue in his campaign.

I hope Whitmire’s win ushers in a new era for the City that gives everyone a seat at the table, not just those on the far left.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/10/23

2294 Days since Hurricane Harvey

In Mayor’s Race, Only Whitmire Has Made Flooding a Priority

In April of 2022, State Senator John Whitmire contacted me. He wanted to set up a meeting to learn more about flooding in the Kingwood area.

Whitmire carved out the better part of a day for me. I gave him a tour of flooded areas to show him the extent and severity of flooding. I also set up two meetings for him. The first was with business leaders. The second was with civic leaders and residents who had flooded.

Reaching Across the Aisle

Almost two years before the mayoral runoff election that started today, Whitmire was carefully planning his campaign and building bridges to communities throughout the entire City. That should tell you something about the gentleman and why he has been so successful for so long. Whitmire has served in the Texas Senate for 40 years and in the Texas House for 10 years before that. He is the longest serving member of the Texas Senate.

Last year, when the Lake Houston Gates project was short of funding, Whitmire (a member of the Senate Finance committee) helped salvage it.

Whitmire also made flooding and infrastructure a part of his advertising campaign for mayor even though he doesn’t represent Kingwood in the Senate.

*John Whitmire keyframe from campaign video.*

A Study in Contrasts

I found Whitmire to be a good listener, soft spoken, considerate and thoughtful. I felt he was making a concerted effort to understand the needs of the community. It didn’t feel like political pandering.

In contrast, Sheila Jackson Lee did not reach out to me. Her campaign website makes no mention of flooding. And her website also shows an almost exclusive focus on issues relevant only to her core constituents.

If you want a mayor who listens to all of the people, not just some of the people, I recommend voting for Whitmire.

And then there’s this to consider. If elected Mayor, Jackson Lee would be responsible for managing more than 23,000 employees. But as this leaked audio shows, her management skills could use some polishing.

Latest Polls Show Large Undecided Block

A Houston Public Media/Houston Chronicle/UH Political Science and Population Health Poll released today shows Whitmire with the support of 42% of likely voters. Compare that to 35% for Jackson Lee and 22% undecided.

But I would not take anything for granted. There are three times more undecided voters than Whitmire’s current lead.

As Bill King, a former candidate for Mayor, points out, “During the City of Houston election runoff in 2019, turnout was 18%.” That gives a few committed voters enormous, outsized influence. They could determine the future of this city.

Said King, “The reality is that the City probably has far more effect on your daily life than the federal or state governments and this is possibly the most consequential City of Houston election in our lifetime. Don’t let this decision be made without your input.”

Voting Information

To learn where to vote, see this page on HarrisVotes.

To see City Council races on your ballot, see this page.

Election Day is December 9. But 41 early voting centers will be open Monday, November 27 through Tuesday, December 5. (7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12 noon – 7 p.m. on Sunday).

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/27/23

2281 Days since Hurricane Harvey

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