Houston Mayoral Candidate Garcia pledges to end 'pay-to-play' at Houston City Hall
You Decide: Houston’s Next Mayor
As "You Decide" Houston's next mayor, FOX 26 is delivering comprehensive coverage of all the "key" contenders. Our Political Reporter Greg Groogan, spoke with former METRO Chief Gilbert Garcia whose vying to be the first Latino elected to lead the nation's fourth largest city.
HOUSTON - Longtime Houstonian and mayoral candidate Gilbert Garcia successfully manages a $22 billion bond fund.
It's a "skill set" he's offering the City of Houston, which, according to experts, is heading into financial hardship.
"It cannot pay its bills. There is far too much incompetence going on in City Hall. I think we have lost the trust of the people. We've got to bring it back, We've got to get under the shenanigans. It's almost like an expectation that the way to do business is 'pay-to-play' and I want to stop that practice," said Garcia.
SUGGESTED: Two front runners emerge in UH survey for Houston mayoral race: Whitmire vs. Lee
A harsh assessment of the leadership delivered by outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner who Garcia says made many promises but kept few.
If elected, the Yale graduate with a degree in economics is pledging top-to-bottom auditing of every City Department in search of waste and inefficiency.
"Crime is very high. People don't feel safe. They don't even want to go shopping anymore because they don't feel safe. The roads. What happened to being the pothole Mayor? The roads are exactly in the same position, if not worse," said Garcia.
As for improving public safety, Garcia proposes a paradigm shift in policing.
RELATED: As Whitmire, Jackson-Lee top mayoral poll, voters identify priorities
"Number one, you need greater visibility, and number two, you've got to get to crime faster and so what does that mean, well if you look at the firefighter model, they have stations throughout the City. Why? Because they already know to get to the fire the fastest, you've got to be spread throughout the City," said Garcia. "I would bring back much more community policing and I would bring back visibility of police officers throughout the City because the deterrent is for people to know there is much more police security in the neighborhood."
DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP BY CLICKING HERE
New polling has Garcia sitting in a distant third place behind the two front-runners State Senator John Whitmire and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Unfazed, Garcia believes once Houstonians begin paying closer attention to the race, he's poised to make up plenty of ground, with voters opting for a proven businessman over career politicians.
The November 7 election is 103 days away.