Mayor Sylvester Turner
A Houston native who grew up and still lives in the city's Acres Homes neighborhood, Mayor Sylvester Turner was elected the city of Houston's 62nd mayor in 2015 and overwhelmingly re-elec 2019to serve his second four-year term. In his final year as Houston's top leader, Mayor Turner's theme is "execution and implementation," as he focuses on finishing major projects and initiatives.
Since taking office, Mayor Turner has expertly managed significant challenges facing the nation's fourth-largest city, including budget deficits, homelessness, natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey, and the COVID-19 global pandemic. Amid national unrest and calls for improving the community and police relations, the mayor signed an executive order restricting the use of force and created a Task Force on Policing Reforms.
Mayor Turner has passed seven balanced budgets within the city's fiscal constraints. He also oversaw Houston's remarkable rebound from Hurricane Harvey, championed historic pension reform, cheered on the 2017 and 2022 World Series Houston Astros, and hosted a successful Super Bowl LI. He also launched Houston's first Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, met the Paris Agreement goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and is helping lead the global energy transition.
In February 2022, Mayor Turner released his One Safe Houston initiative to combat the increase in violence resulting from the pandemic, domestic violence, mental illness, and the proliferation of guns on the street. The plan has resulted in a decrease in the year-to-year number of homicides and overall violent crime rate. In March 2023, the mayor launched the One Clean Houston initiative to combat illegal dumping in the city.
Mayor Turner's signature priorities include Complete Communities, an initiative designed to revitalize and improve Houston's most under-served neighborhoods by partnering with local stakeholders to leverage resources to create a more equitable and prosperous city for all Houstonians. He also created the Hire Houston Youth program to provide jobs and internship opportunities for thousands of young people each year. He forged public-private partnerships to improve neighborhood parks and expand Houston's technology and innovation footprint.
As the chief executive of the world's energy capital, Mayor Turner brings a performance-driven approach to the job, creating a more responsive, streamlined, and efficient delivery of city services while shoring up Houston's financial future. Thanks to his leadership, the Texas Legislature and local voters approved the pension reform package that reduced the city's liability by billions of dollars and provided a "fix" that had eluded the city for 17 years.
As a nationally recognized leader, Mayor Turner is a trustee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and serves on the Audit and Finance Committee. He is Chairman of the Resilient Cities Network, a member of the C40 and Global Covenant for Mayors for Climate and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Advisory Committee, and Chairman of the Resilient Cities Network. Mayor Turner is the immediate past Chair of Climate Mayors and the immediate past president of the African American Mayors Association.