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As Houston’s new mayor takes the helm of the city’s operations, Latino-led organizations are seizing the opportunity to air their grievances and demand better representation of the city’s diverse makeup at city hall — a campaign promise they hope to see fulfilled soon.

In a letter sent to Mayor John Whitmire on Dec. 19 by the NALEO Educational Fund, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Mi Familia Vota, leaders argue that City Hall does not currently reflect Houston’s diversity. More than 2.3 million Latinos make up about 45 percent of the city’s population, according to the latest U.S. Census data.

“As you noted during your campaign, Latinos are severely under-represented at City Hall,” the letter states. “We urge you to address this disparity by proactively recruiting and appointing Latinos to serve in your Administration, particularly in senior positions.”

Whitmire was sworn in as Houston's 63rd mayor on Jan. 2, succeeding former Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was in office for eight years. Under Turner’s leadership, diversity across the city’s top positions were often questioned.

“There’s just a shortage of Hispanic representation. I’ve known that for years, and now I’m in a position to do something about it,” Whitmire said during an interview with the Abdelraoufsinno last week.

At a mayoral debate, Whitmire brought up the issue, stating Turner failed to appoint Latinos and Asians to leadership roles. Turner later demanded an apology, accusing Whitmire of blowing a “dog whistle” for implying there is only one look in the city.

Out of the 23 city of Houston department directors, most of them appointed by Turner, 13 are Black, five are Latino, five are white and none of them are Asian, according to the city’s website.

“There seemed to be a real bias in putting people in positions of power and authority and leadership,” said David Contreras, a national historian and archives coordinator with LULAC.

Contreras said a main concern is figuring out how deep these perceived trends seem to have trickled down to middle management roles over the years.

The city had 21,362 employees on its payroll, according to city of Houston employment records as of October 2023.

About 5,857 of all the jobs, or 27 percent, are staffed with a person who identifies as Latino or Hispanic, 35 percent are held by Black employees, 28 by white employees, and 7 percent by Asian employees.

“We highly believe that [Latinos] should be represented amongst the top ranks of City Administration and that comes through the appointments of the mayor,” said Adrian Izaguirre, interim Texas director of civic engagement at NALEO.

High-level appointments can impact hiring at every level, and can also influence who gets appointed to other boards and commissions supporting those departments, Izaguirre said.

Of the 389 city jobs labeled executive level, Latinos hold 75, or 20 percent, of these positions, according to the city’s employee list. Of these jobs, 38 percent are held by Black people, 30 percent by white people and 15 percent by Asian people.

Out of a total of 4,244 city jobs labeled as “senior” positions, Latinos hold about 25 percent, Black people hold about 34 percent of these jobs, white people hold 32 percent and Asian people only hold 7 percent.

“You have a city that is roughly half Latino, a little bit over 2 million folks, so you definitely can find qualified Latinos anywhere within the city of Houston’s limits,” said city councilman Joaquin Martinez. “It shouldn't be a heavy lift.”

Martinez was also elected in November, taking over representation of District I, which was formerly represented by Robert Gallegos. The former councilman was the sole Latino on the 16-member council before the latest election.

Now, Martinez is one of three Latinos representing the city. Mario Castillo was also elected to represent District H, replacing Karla Cisneros, and Julian Ramirez who took over representation of the at-large District 1 position, formerly represented by Mike Knox.

A few important announcements are coming down the pipeline, Whitmire said, hinting at major appointments and the possibility of a Latina becoming the next director of Metro. But no one has been confirmed yet.

Whitmire said he owes his successful election to the Latinos and Latinas running his campaign and the voters who fully engaged. Now that campaigning is over, the mayor said his goal is to make some progress in the span of about a month and finalize appointments over the next few months.

“We will have major department heads occupied by Latinos,” Whitmire said. “And changes in which you see Hispanics in leading departmental positions.”

Having representatives from the Latino community could also help spur investments in projects such as a long-awaited Latino Research Center, Contreras said, which was delayed without much information issued to the public.

“We don’t know when it is going to be built, we don’t know where the location is,” Contreras said. “The city would not announce it.”

As of early Thursday, Izaguirre with NALEO and Contreras with LULAC had not yet received a response to their letter or their request to meet with the mayor to serve as a resource as the mayor moves forward with efforts to increase diversity.

But Izaguirre and other local leaders remain hopeful that Whitmire will take them up on their offer to work together to figure out solutions.

Representation and visibility can be that fire-starter needed to attract talent that might not see a way in, Martinez said. New leadership comes with new networks of talented individuals ready to contribute in different ways.

“That network opportunity to open the door to a whole new diverse group only happens when you bring in somebody new, somebody different,” Martinez said. “Not to say that you need to hire a Latino director to hire directors, but it’s helpful.”

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Hola! My name is Danya Pérez, one of Abdelraoufsinno’s diverse communities reporters. I cover Latino/Hispanic communities here, including those who are mixed race or mixed status. ¡También soy México-Americana y hablo español! ¿Qué notas te gustaría leer? What topics or stories would you like to see me cover? Email me your ideas at [email protected]

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