houston politics

Black mayors lead 4 most populous US cities and discuss biggest issues they face

Monday, January 23, 2023

Mayor Turner says city's biggest issue is public safety on national TV

Mayor Sylvester Turner spent his Sunday in the national spotlight. He and the mayors of New York and Los Angeles sat down with ABC and discussed how they want to handle some of the biggest issues.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner spent part of his Sunday in the national spotlight. He and the mayors of New York and Los Angeles sat down with ABC's Jonathan Carl in what was a historic meeting.

For the first time, the mayors of the top four cities in the United States are African Americans. Three of those mayors sat down with ABC News this weekend.

All three agree that public safety is the number one issue they face, with Turner adding that defunding the police was not the way to protect people. Instead, he wants to see reinvestment in underserved communities and policies that address the economic reasons why people fall into homelessness.

The border was the other main topic, and Turner hopes the Biden administration's new policy of allowing people to sponsor those seeking to enter the country will help slow the flow of people arriving at the southern border.

"Allowing people to apply from where they are instead of coming over, I think is a significant step forward, so I think we have to wait and see whether or not the new policy that they put in place will have a positive impact," Turner said.

He is in the middle of wrapping up his final term as Houston's mayor.

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