Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Engagement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor Whitmire tells Houston youth: 'Be bold' and consider public service
Summary
Mayor John Whitmire addressed City of Houston youth ambassadors at the Ed Talk event, urging them to take responsibility, pursue public service and recounting personal anecdotes about exposure to government that shaped his career.
Mayor John Whitmire spoke at the City of Houston Ed Talk in the Lehi Room at City Hall, praising the youth ambassadors and urging them to be bold in public service.
Introduced by City of Houston Youth Ambassadors, Whitmire told students that the program’s experience could be the start of a life in public service. “If there's not a future mayor, governor, or president among you, I'm gonna be really disappointed,” he said, adding that leadership requires making tough choices. He recounted an eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., and later cited an example from President Lyndon B. Johnson — as told by President Obama at the LBJ Library — to illustrate the value of taking bold decisions over safe politics.
Whitmire described his own public-service path, saying he spent 40 years in the Texas Legislature, and urged the students to use the academy to step into leadership. He encouraged them to return in a year with updates on how they used the experience and asked them to help recruit future participants.
He also referenced operational responsibilities he manages as mayor — public safety, fire and police, health departments — and said the Ed Talk event provided him a welcome opportunity to see youth-led work underway. The mayor closed by thanking program staff, sponsors and the judges and invited attendees to continue engaging with the students after the event.
