Party downtown celebrates new Houston leadership
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- On Monday morning, the incoming members of the city of Houston government will take their oaths of office. You can see it live on ABC13 and abc13.com.
Hundreds of people got the inauguration party started early for Mayor Sylvester Turner during a pre-inauguration celebration in Market Square Sunday evening.
"The campaigning is over. And now it's time to represent every Houstonian," Mayor Turner said Sunday.
Some of the people who danced the night away were strong Turner supporters.
"Of course I supported Sylvester Turner all the way, 100 percent," said Yolanda Murdock-Wiltz.
Some were on the fence.
"I'm a wait-and-see person," said Dominic Mazoch. "But I do want to give this man six months to a year to see what can happen."
Hundreds boogied to the live music that filled the downtown air until the night sky took over. But for Houston's second African American mayor, the issues facing his city weren't far from his mind.
"We want to start fixing the streets in real time. I've heard a whole lot about potholes. We will address potholes in real time. You'll get an announcement on that," Turner said.
He says fixing the city's infrastructure is his first order of business.
"Some things we can fix in short order. Some things are going to take a little longer to address," he said.
Mayor Turner was sworn in Saturday. Monday is the pageantry of the official inauguration ceremony. As soon as that's done, it's on to a Special Meeting of City Council to start making good on campaign promises. At least one city councilman says he's excited to work with Turner.
"I think mayor turner will come in with a relationship-building between he and the council which we didn't have with the prior mayor," says Councilman Dwight Boykins. "Very nice lady, but in terms of being more open with the council members, I think we'll get more of that with Mayor Turner," Councilman Dwight Boykins said.
From Dominic Mazoch: Good luck making all those promises happen.
"I'm a history buff. No candidate has ever done it. But the main things, if he can work on infrastructure and the pensions I consider that success," he said.
The inauguration is starts at 9:30am Monday.
