Charles Kuffner (host):
[I'm] speaking today with Letitia Plummer who is just at the end now of almost two terms, 7 years as a Houston city council member, just had your last council meeting, and you are a Democratic candidate for Harris County judge in 2026. So first of all thank you for speaking with me today, and tell me why are you running for Harris County judge?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
So honestly I did not think that I was going to continue [in] politics. We had done such good work at the city, and I genuinely thought that I was done in public work, but when I learned that Lina Hidalgo Judge Hidalgo was not going to run for re-election I knew. I looked at the field, and I knew that Harris County deserved a progressive candidate in this race. So really continuing the work that I've done at the city of Houston focusing on quality of life issues, disaster recovery and preparedness. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to continue that work and to move to a larger stage.
C. Kuffner (host):
Okay, let's talk about what you have accomplished at Houston City Council. I think most recently you were pushing an apartment regulation ordinance, but over seven years what would you say have been your main, your top two or three accomplishments, things you're most proud of as Houston City Council member.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yes, great question. We have a strong mayoral form of government, and so getting anything done at the city of Houston is often a challenge. I believe the three top accomplishments would be my cancer cluster initiative in the Fifth Ward / Kashmere Gardens area, being able to bring down non-profit dollars, $1.8 million dollars of resources for early detection cancer screenings. That has been a huge win. Really working on community benefits agreement with [Union Pacific Railroad], and the community has been something that has changed the trajectory of what Fifth Ward / Kashmere Gardens is moving towards. Second, I think my apartment inspection reform ordinance. We've got about 5,000 apartment complexes in the city. About half of the inventory are not habitable according to state guidelines. So really allowing the city of Houston to hone in on those bad actors and enforcing the direction to where those landlords have to treat our residents in a fair and equitable way is a huge win. Hopefully getting that generated in Kashmere Gardens, the first one to create resiliency and preparedness for disaster control in that Fifth Ward / Kashmere Gardens area has been a huge win for us, and then creating that blueprint in moving forward. I mean I can go on and on Charles on the accomplishments that we've done. Funding the medical crisis outreach teams for mental health and [Houston Police Department]. Huge wins. These are accomplishments that not just affect the city of Houston; these are actually blueprints for larger entities and municipalities to follow. Huge wins, huge accomplishments at the city of Houston.
C. Kuffner (host):
Obviously most of Houston is in Harris County, and Harris County is roughly half Houston. The city and the county work together on a number of things, do a number of other things separately, but there's a long tradition and necessity of the city and the county working together that has operated better with some mayors and county judges than with others. What was your experience as a city council member in working with Harris County, and I'll get to the relationship with Mayor Whitmire in a minute, but what has been your experience, and where do you see opportunities as county judge to work better with the city of Houston?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Absolutely. So Judge Hidalgo and I entered this space around the same time, and so we have experienced the county and the city have experienced six natural disasters including COVID. I have at the opportunity and the pleasure to serve two mayors, Mayor Whitmire and Mayor Turner, in this, and so I have seen and watched us work very well with the county. We were elected at the cusp kind of at the end of [Hurricane Harvey], really focusing on those dollars moving them forward. We did a great job [Houston Public Works]. Harris County Flood Control did a great job pushing resources in those spaces. We got through COVID together. We had to work together to find out the best practices and the ways to survive the only pandemic that I think we've ever experienced. And so the relationships have been good for me working with the county and moving things forward. During COVID I very quickly noticed the mental health crisis that we experienced. I pitched the crisis intervention [Mobile Crisis Outreach Team] MCOT proposal to Mayor Turner. He did not put it forward immediately, but I also mentioned it to [Harris County] Commissioner [Rodney Ellis], and he put forward a similar program called [Holistic Assistance Response Team] HART. These are initiatives that we've been able to influence the county with city initiatives. Also the eviction challenges we've experienced. The county saw the challenges; the city saw the challenges, and one things that Commissioner Ellis put forward was a contractual agreement between any of these non-profits or organizations that get tax benefits that are building these complexes within the county, they're having to agree to an [Memorandum of Understanding] MOU for habitability, and so these are just a couple of the initiatives that we were able to put forward; we were able to partner with the county to enable us to move forward.
C. Kuffner (host):
It's probably fair to say Mayor Whitmire's relationship with Harris County government, his relationship with Judge Hidalgo has not been the best in terms of city county relationships. You as you say have served for three years under Mayor Whitmire. As county judge what is your view of Mayor Whitmire and the relationship that you would have with him between the city and the county.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I have a good working relationship with Mayor Whitmire. Obviously we butt heads often because we just don't have the same priorities. My priorities are quality of life, looking at transportation equity, ensuring resiliency, making sure there's affordability, and people can live and thrive, looking at workforce development. Mayor Whitmire has different [priorities]. He's really on public safety, investing millions of dollars into public safety in my opinion without looking at root causes. We have different priorities. We do have a working relationship, and because as you mentioned the city is the largest city within the county. We do have 33 other [cities] that have to be part of this conversation. I plan on working very well with him, obviously standing our ground. My commitment has always been the residents that have voted me in, and I represent everyone, and so I'm going to continue to push forward on those initiatives that actually change and transform people's lives, but by the same token we do have to work with all of the municipalities; we have to find ways to work with the state and federal government - especially as we're seeing what's happening on a national level with the illumination of funding that's coming to our health departments, to our resiliency, our opportunities of resiliency in terms of climate change and climate opportunities. We have to work together, and I know that I am that person to be able to do that, but also standing my ground and not being controlled by what initiatives Mayor Whitmire wants to put forward.
C. Kuffner (host):
What is your view right now on how Harris County government is operating? It has been as you say you came on the scene roughly the same time as Judge Hidalgo. That's when Harris County went from many decades of Republican majority on [Harris County] Commissioners Court to a Democratic majority which it has had since then. How've we been doing? What's your view of how Harris County government has been operating, and where do you see opportunities to do better that you would bring in as county judge?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Clearly Charles we've had some challenges, but I really want to bring people to when we first got there. A lot of good work was done, and like I said we were able to get through many challenges in terms of COVID and all of the disasters we've experienced. Yes - Charles I'm sorry my dogs are barking. Do you want me to hold off?
C. Kuffner (anchor):
You're [good]. I can't hear 'em. Keep goin'.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Okay, okay. They're currently have been challenges between the relationship between the county and the city, but we have to go back to where it started and all the challenges that we experienced, that we worked really worked well together, and so in my mind the county has done its best. There clearly have been some challenges - Charles I'm so sorry. Give me you've got to hold this for a second, I've got to open the door. I believe the work we can do better is we can collaborate more with [Houston Public Works], with the Harris County Flood Control. I think there are some conversations there. I believe that we could look at shared services more - BARC, our libraries, the health department. There's some opportunities there to not duplicate services, and that's an initiative that I would want to put forth, have a deeper conversation of. All in all I do believe that we work well together, and it's really working well with the state and the federal government that are really two things that I would want to focus more deeply on.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
We'll get back to that in a second. Right now Harris County is facing some fiscal difficulties, and I think that's one part because the county has done more. That's one part. Inflation and tarriffs and other things that are beyond our control, and one part is always things that can be done better. What's your view of the county's fiscal situation, and what specific things do you have in mind to improve it?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
No the fiscal situation is obviously a challenge. One thing that I wish would have been done better is when they gave the raises to the sheriffs and the constables I wish they would have phased that out in a different way; I think giving all that money to them at one time was a mistake. Although I do understand the two million people that live in the unincorporated areas do need to make sure they have public safety opportunities because as I mentioned before, I believe shared services is something we need to look at - the health department, BARC, our library system. Those are all a couple of departments that we could look in terms of sharing services. We passed a $2.8 billion dollar bond on flood, and we're short almost $400 million dollars. Those are challenges that we could work more closely with the city of Houston to see where we can make sure that when we're making infrastructure improvements that we're also doing the same thing at the county as well. Obviously you know affordability, inflation, and all of those are a big challenge, and because the shortfall is the way that it is, a lot of it comes from the lack of injection of resources from the federal government and from the state, and so the county has to work with what it has, but I think building more public-private relationships would be something that we can do to defray some of those shortfalls.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
You talked about the relationship with federal and state government. It's fair to say right now that we have an antagonistic relationship with both of them because of who's in charge and because of trends in politics. The county is limited in what it can do because that's the nature of the way county government is set up in the state. You can only do what the [Texas state legislature] allows you to do. What is your strategy for dealing with a currently hostile state and federal government? Where can we do better on that? Where do we just need to hunker down to use a common term familiar to anyone in Harris County and wait for the storm to blow over?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I think hunkering down is something that we want to do, but I will be honest with you Charles, we have to stand our ground. I believe that many people in the federal government and the state government are bullies, and I do not believe that we need to fold in to what their expectations are. By the same token we also need to get it done. I have been able to do that on a city level incredibly well when you look at what I did with the [Environmental Protection Agency] EPA, what I did with the [Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] TCEQ when it came to environmental injustices. Huge wins there. We put pressure on the city of Houston to make sure that the direct allocation of resources for resiliency was placed into multi-family housing and not just single-family housing because that's worth seeing. There are ways to come to the table and be reasonable about what needs to happen. The goal though is to make sure that our initiatives are helping everyone within the county, but also ensuring that we look at worst first. I don't think it's hard to do. I do believe that we have some challenges, but I do incredibly well with collaboration, and I've been able to get things done at the city level with a very strong mayoral form of government, and so I'm up to the challenge. I've done the work. I've proven the way in which I've been able to do that, and so I'm looking forward to the challenge, and I'm looking forward to making sure that we bring every single dollar to our residents in Harris County.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
One place where a certain amount of standing up is probably needed is in the field of immigration enforcement. That I think is more of an HPD issue, but as we know the Trump administration has sought to throw its weight around everywhere it can, especially in blue area. What is going to be your approach dealing with ICE and immigration enforcement as county judge?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
As a city council member I actually put forward a proposition to look at the relationship between HPD and ICE, specifically looking at the general orders, and unfortunately I only got one council member to sign on with me, council member Jackson, and so we fell short. No one else on council signed on to that document, but that document is solid. It deserves a conversation. I'll have those same conversations now. We have to create a distinction what HPD relationship is and the constables and the sheriffs. There's a different relationship when it comes to the county, but as you mentioned multiple times, the city of Houston is the largest city within the county, and so if we can fix that relationship between HPD and ICE, then we're putting a big dent in terms of us leading the interaction with ICE and HPD. I've already done the work Charles. I'm ready to do the same thing at the county level, but we have to do something, and as the county judge, I'm prepared to make those bold moves, and make sure we can protect our immigrant community.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
To circle back to emergency response, county judge is the chief emergency responder within the county. As you said we have had a lot of experience dealing with emergencies in the last few years from flood to drought, from heat waves to freezes, and of course the pandemic. Give me your assessment of how Harris County currently performs on an emergency response level and what you would do as county judge to improve it.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Our resiliency is a regional approach, and so the first thing that I would want to do is meet with all of the mayors and councils in the other 33 cities, including Houston obviously, 34 cities to ensure that we all have a regional resilience approach. I believe that the county's done a good job in terms of getting through our disasters. I'm the only person in this race that's experienced six [disasters] plus COVID, and I was the one that was able to fund the generator at Kashmere Gardens, upwards of $1.5 million dollars, creating that blueprint to ensure that every multi-purpose center in the city of Houston gets a generator as well. We want to do the same thing at the county level. We need resiliency hubs. We need a trust that will allow us to find the resources and make sure that we can submit those resources at the drop of a dime. The bigger conversation is the failing infrastructure that we have within the county. Once again we go back to Houston being the largest [city in the county]. The city of Houston just got sued upwards of $415 million dollars because in 2010 the Parker and the Turner administration, they did not put those resources, those drainage dollars in the drainage fund and spend them accordingly, so we are really behind the eight-ball when it comes to infrastructure investments, and so we have to make sure we invest the resources. The flood bond that was passed at the county level is short. We've got to get shovels in the ground and make sure that our infrastructure can sustain the multiple storms that are coming our way in the future because of climate change. That's the first piece. Having larger conversations with other entities as well and creating those resiliency hubs and really finding ways to make sure that when a storm comes we are prepared. We're not kind of scrambling at the last minute. And I believe that we need to look at our public health system, and making sure that it's funded and ready to go. We don't know if another pandemic is coming. We weren't ready for the last one, and I believe that putting the public health infrasturcture in place is also going to be something that I would focus on. I worked with [Harris County] Commissioner [Adrian Garcia] at the medical containers. That would be an amazing opportunity if all the commissioners purchased these mobile medical units. We could move those around in times of storms. Really looking into the future of how to create that resiliency is something I'm looking forward to doing.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
Let's talk about the [Harris County] commissioners a bit more because I think however one judges Judge Hidalgo's term in office, I think you can say that certainly of late she has had a particularly contentious relationship with commissioners court, including all three Democratic commissioners on commissioners court. Where the city of Houston as you say is a strong mayor who sets the agenda and gets things done, county judge is one vote among five and arguably has less power individually than any single commissioner because commissioners are in charge of infrastructure projects within their own precinct. What is your current relationship with the members of commissioners court and how do you see that relationship going with you as county judge?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Absolutely. I have a great relationship with all of them. Commissioner Ellis and I have worked on cancer cluster projects and flood resiliency projects in his district. With Commissioner Garcia we've really looked at those medical mobile units, have been a great benefit. With Commissioner [Lesley Briones] I've had the opportunity to do the park shares with the city of Houston, and with Commissioner [Ramsey] I've talked to him multiple times. His area is really outside of [Houston] city limits, so not as much interaction with him but definitely support what he's wanting to do in his district as well. So you're exactly right; it's one vote, but I've also been on a horseshoe with multiple council members as an at-large member, which means I don't get resources as an at-large member in the same way that the judge doesn't. The district members control their district in the same way the commissioners control their precincts. It's incredibly similar which once again puts in the best position to be able to sit down, find our best practices, be able to communicate and collaborate, and give their opinions on what I believe will be best, but obviously respecting where they are because they are the ones that have their boots on the ground. They know the best what's happening in their precincts, so once again I go back to collaboration. I'm well-suited for that. I've proven it currently with the work that I've done, and I'm looking forward to working with all of the commissioners and really making sure that we can run the commissioners court in the most effective way possible.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
We've talked about a lot of different things that we have done, we will do, we would like to do; I think it's fair to say that all of these things will be much more doable with a friendlier, less antagonistic state and federal government, and that depends entirely on getting more Democrats elected up and down the ballot - legislature, to congress, to statewide offices. What will you do in 2026 as a candidate, as a person to help get more Democrats elected in Harris County and around the state?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
The good news is that we have a candidate in every single race in the state, and I believe that's the first time that's happened. I've always run a very grassroots people-powered campaign from when I ran for congress in 2018 to both terms at city council. We are putting people on the ground; we're building an army of volunteers that are calling out, engaging with voters, having conversations, asking what do they want to see happen. We're not running a high-powered high-level campaign; we're on the ground making phone calls, knocking on doors. The county's a big space, but you have a small sector of people that are actively engaged, and so collaborating with other candidates in these elections is going to be important. As the only progressive in this race, we're really pushing progressive values in terms of affordability and making sure that people can thrive within the county. So those are the ways in which we're contributing, and I believe if all of us do that, if all of the candidates do that collectively, we're going to see a huge movement. Hopefully we're going to see the [Beto O'Rourke] effect that we saw in 2018. I'm hoping that that happens, but what we all have to remember is that if never before local government is the most important right now. We have resources coming in. We know what our constituents are asking for. They want to feel safe. They want to make sure that they're housed fairly and equitably. They want to ensure they have some level of public health support. In a place where we have the highest level of uninsured residents, that's what they want to see. They want to be prepared when a disaster comes. That is what I'm going to focus on. I want to make sure that every single resident thrives within the county, and we can do that if we move this ball the same direction with progressive values, understanding people have to come first. They've got to come before politics.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
Well in order to do all those things you'll have to get yourself nominated to be elected. You have two opponents in the primary. When people go to vote in March for Democratic nominee for Harris County Judge, why should people vote for you and not for one of your opponents?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Absolutely, so there are multiple reasons. The first one is I've been here with you. I've been on the ground with you. We've gone through disasters together. We've experienced what it feels like to have challenges within the county, and so I've been present. I will also say that I'm the only one in this race that did not support the [Houston Independent School District] HISD bond or the [Texas Education Agency] takeover. That's important because our young people are going to be our future workforce. I also have been very focused on our criminal justice system and making sure that we don't get sent back in terms of what that looks like. Really having a progressive view when it comes to looking at our criminal justice situation the way that we can are ways that I can definitely differentiate myself from my other opponents. I'm the best suited for this. I understand the work. I've been here. I'm fully grounded. I've got good relationships. I know how to collaborate, but at the end of the day my politics are very different from my opponents. I'm a progressive candidate, and I don't align with previous electeds that just did horrible things within the county - specifically [former Harris County District Attorney] Kim Ogg. There's no similarities between myself and my opponents, and I'm really looking forward to making sure that I can bring the same transparency, the same effectiveness, and the same affordability and fairness that I was able to bring to the city, to the county, and so I'm excited about this race Charles. We've got this. We are going to lead in these voters and voter turnout, and I'm excited to be able to gain and earn the support of all the residents in Harris County to push us forward, and I'm looking forward to being the Democratic nominee.
C. Kuffner (anchor):
All right, Letitia Plummer, thank you very much for speaking with me today.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Thank you, thank you for having me.