Mayoral candidate Buzbee pledges cleanup 'crusade' at City Hall

HOUSTON - Tony Buzbee likes to say he was born with a "plastic spork in his mouth" - a recognition of both his humble east Texas beginnings and the extraordinary self-made success he's carved out in a city he's proud to claim as his adopted home.

 A Marine Corps combat veteran, Aggie regent, acclaimed trial lawyer, and father of four, Buzbee is looking to add one more big line to his biography - mayor of America's fourth-largest city. 

"I think we are at a crossroads. Are we going to be the city that we all know we could be, that we should be or are we going to be the city we are all a little afraid we might become because under this leadership, I think we are going in the wrong direction," said Buzbee.

It is a backslide Buzbee attributes to "corruption" he sees as chronic, crippling and certain to continue if current mayor Sylvester Turner is re-elected.

"I think people believe and understand that there is a certain level of graft in almost every government, but Mayor Turner and this administration have taken it to a whole new level, I mean a whole new level. He's taken this to an art form. When you can figure out who is going to get contracts with the City of Houston based upon who donates money to the mayor, then you got a real problem," said Buzbee.

Buzbee's recipe for reform and renewal begins with a complete purge of so-called "pay-to-play" practices executed by an independent chief executive with no favors to return, no quid quo pro to complete.

"If I am going to be the crusader. If I am going to be the problem-solver, the United States Marine Corps captain to go into City Hall and to clean this up, then I have to be beyond reproach, meaning I'm not taking a penny from anybody. I'm self-financing this campaign. I see it as an investment in the City of Houston," said Buzbee.

As for flooding, the peak priority of Houston's two million-plus citizens, Tony Buzbee proposes a multi-front strategy of more retention and an end to the diversion of millions of local drainage dollars to fund other functions of the city.

Failure to act effectively, he contends, could devastate Houston's future.

"The City of Houston has now been branded, branded from the outside. We are known as the city that every time there's a heavy rain, we flood. That hurts us in two ways. It hurts us, one, because people don't want to locate here and two, because people want to leave here and that's not good for a city, a vibrant city that should be growing like we should be," said Buzbee.

FOX 26 asked Buzbee about Turner's festering labor dispute with firefighters over voter-approved pay parity with police.

 "We are going to pay the firefighters, it's as simple as that. We are going to sit down, work out a collective bargaining agreement and pay the firefighters," said Buzbee.

As for heavy criticism of his six-figure contribution to President Donald Trump and ill-fated outreach to conservative power broker and anti-gay activist Steven Hotze, Buzbee offered a blanket response.

"As far as this partisan politics and these lightning rods here and there and trying to tie me to this person or that person, I am my own man. I listen to my own counsel and the counsel of people around me that I trust and I hold myself accountable. I want to lead this great city. We have a world-class city, but we don't have world-class leadership," said Buzbee.