Early voting takes place Nov. 27 and Dec. 2-10. Election day is Dec. 14.
Mike Knox (incumbent)
Occupation/experience: Former HPD, author and consultant on street gangs and violent youth
Website: www.mikeknox.org
What issues do you want to be a lead advocate on?
Creating a sustainable, fiscally sound budget.
What role will you play in improving Houston's budgeting and fiscal planning?
I will continue to press for zero based budgeting practices and more transparent processes regarding city contracts.
What is your take on improving mobility in the city?
I am open to alternative forms of mobility, but believe we can work with METRO to improve the ride-ability of the bus systems in the short term.
Raj Salhorta
Occupation/experience: I am a lawyer by training. I spent time at Baker Botts before taking a deferral to run for Houston City Council. Before law school, I was a teacher and ran an educational mentorship non-profit called Students With Ambition Go (SWAG) To College. I have experience interning for both Councilmember Steve Costello and Mayor Turner's Office of Economic Development.
Website: www.rajforhouston.com
What issues do you want to be a lead advocate on?
I want to be a lead advocate on drainage and flood mitigation, quality of life (public transit, walkability) and economic opportunity (affordable housing, homelessness, after-school and summer programs).
What role will you play in improving Houston's budgeting and fiscal planning?
I will: (1) review the budget line-by-line to identify opportunities to save money; (2) examine partnerships between the City and County that can save money; (3) study other cities to determine examples of cost-savings.
What is your take on improving mobility in the city?
35% of Houstonians identify traffic as the number one issue facing Houston and Houstonians annually spend an average of 73 hours sitting in traffic. We need to pass METRO Next which will expand light rail to Hobby airport, BRT to Bush airport, community connector buses for the first/last mile, and increase local and express buses. Moreover, we should improve walkability and bikeability by embracing Vision Zero.
