Disrupting the Status Quo: Dr. Letitia Plummer on Legacy, Justice, and the Fight for Harris County
March 1, 2026
Transcript
Ty (host):
What's up guys, welcome back to a special episode of Ridgemon4'sFinest the podcast. We are days away from an election this Tuesday that will define the direction of Harris County. Today we're joined by a woman who is a dentist, a small business owner, and a history-maker as the first woman elected to the Houston City Council and city council in Texas. She recently resigned her seat to run for Harris County judge because she believes our community needs a leader who is not afraid to disrupt the status quo. I am so very happy and honored to have with me Dr. Letitia Plummer. Hi Dr. Plummer.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Hello Ty, thank you for having me, I'm so excited. I know this was like a long time coming, but we're here! I'm so excited.
Ty (host):
Absolutely, I was talking to my mom yesterday, I'm like, "Mom. Guess who I'm getting ready to interview?" And I told her, she's like, "Wait a minute. I know her dad!" I was like, "Yeah I remember being a little girl and seeing the flyers come in the mailbox", like yes I know who that is! She was so excited, so I'm happy here. So before we dive into all of the issues we have facing Harris County I want the audience to really understand who you are, and what you're running for. So before we get into that tell us about the Harris County judge position, and tell us what your job would entail if elected.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yeah, so no, first that's just so great because it's so interesting, no one knew about the county judge until Judge Hidalgo became the county judge. It's typically this quiet position; it's not super sexy, and no one talks about it, but the main responsibility of the county judge - it says the word "judge", but it's not legal. That's the first thing that everyone has to know. It's an executive office, so my main, main, main responsibility is to support us when it comes to a disaster, so I will be the last voice when it comes to disaster. I will be allocating money, driving dollars down to the county, etc. for a storm, not only when a storm happens but also in preparation of that. I will be on [Harris County Commissioners Court], but all of our votes are equal, and in most of my other responsibilities will be public safety, and then obviously supporting my commissioners on court to execute all of the budgetary ideas and things that they have in place. So it's an executive office, and it's not a judge, so I think that's the number one thing. So really disaster, recovery, resilience is the key. Yeah, everyone's like, "You're a dentist and a lawyer?", and I'm like, "Nooo I'm not that smart."
Ty (host):
Speaking of, you are not just a name on the ballot. You are a product of Houston's diversity, and you have a legacy, a family legacy of activism. You also described yourself as a layered person, so how has growing up in such a rich multicultural Houston household shape the way you see the world that you lead today.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yes so my mother is Yemeni and Persian, and then my dad is Black America. Just quick quick story, they met in Africa. My dad was in the Peace Corps. He was actually teaching math in the Messaih village, met my mom. He says he fell in love with her, love at first sight. He's a Morehouse man and a Alpha, so who knows? You can only believe him as far as you can see him, right? But married my mom soon, brought her back here, and let me tell the really crazy thing Ty, so when my parents got married my grandmother and grandfather did not know they were getting married. My uncle James is a lawyer, very, very distinguished lawyer in the city of Houston. He actually wrote the letter and signed my grandfather's because in the Muslim religion you have to get the blessings of the family, and so it's very official. I mean know everyone has to do that, but in our religion it's very, very serious. When my mom and dad got here, I'm literally living in the house where my dad grew up, so they circle North MacGregor, South MacGregor, they did this loop for like 20 minutes until my mom met my grandmother for the first time, and she had her Kenyan head garb on, and she was just so beautiful. My grandmother always describes the first time she saw my mom. Yes, so I'm very multicultural. I think I would say one thing that really created who I am and kind of how I think is probably traveling to Mombasa, Kenya. So my mom was born in Zanzibar but lived in Mombasa, Kenya, and I've traveled there probably since middle school. The povery that I saw there I couldn't conceptualize, so I really understood my first concept of compassion and understanding and gratitude really happened at a very young age. I didn't know those words at the time, but as I grew up, and now really as an elected official, I think it's more clear now than ever before. Last little joke is in my house it was fried chicken and curry. You never knew which one was coming first, but it was really cool, and I just think it so prepares me for this role, for my role in city council because we do live in the most diverse county in the nation.
Ty (host):
So you have spent years building a successful dental practice, and helping people find their confidence through your nonprofit, Career Smiles, which we're doing to get into a little bit later because I think that is so dope. I love the concept of that. While many people stay in their lanes, you chose to step into the political arena becoming, I have to say it again, the first Muslim woman elected to the Houston City Council and in Texas. I have to keep remembering the Texas part because I only thought it was Houston, so to hear that it was Texas is like, "Oh you are that girl." So what was that ah-ha! moment that being just a dentist and business owner was not enough, and that you needed to be at the table where laws were being made?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
So no actually it was a sad episode that happened in my life. I actually was in a surrogacy battle with my ex-husband. We have a son; his name is Alex. We had a son in 2018, August 2018, and I lost legal custody of him because the laws of Texas were not strong enough. So Alex is now 10 years old. I often say I cannot wait. I gotta wait eight more years til I can introduce myself to him. I lost custody of him in a really hard battle. I always tell you I almost went bankrupt trying to pay for legal fees. It was really a hard tough time in my life, but I met a really great [Texas State Representative] Joe Deshotel out of Beaumont. I met him through a mutual friend and told him my story. People don't talk about surrogacy because it's such a private, when you're infertile or can't have children or want to create families, for women especially, I have three other sons, but you know in that situation we don't talk about it often. And so you know when you have these conversation, once I started talking about surrogacy - even though it's legal in the state of Texas, there was one piece, I would say it's a chapter of a book, just if you're missing chapter five - so if you got divorced there was this piece of dissolution of marriage that did not exist in the family code. And so my legislation filled that gap, and so I lost by two votes the first time I ran it through; the second time we got it done unanimously. Don't quote me on the numbers, but I think it's less than two percent of the time you get the [Texas State House of Representatives] and the [Texas State Senate] to fully vote for something. But now the bill is in place, and it basically supports women and men that have their children through surrogacy - that's how they want to create their families, but it supports the intended parent, which is a nonbiological parent, and that's what I was. So now if you were to get divorced, you have a child through surrogacy, you've gotten divorced, then that child would the child of the marriage. Whereas before you had to adopt the child, and that's where I got kind of caught up in the legal battle.
Ty (host):
Thinking we're married; this is our child.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Exactly, so the expectation was when I went to mediation, the expectation was we're going to go, and we're going to figure out even-odd weekend, and we're going to get child support situated in the same way that I did in my previous marriage, and so that's kind of what I thought. And it just didn't work out that way. It was a very dark time for me. I'll be honest with you; it was a very dark time for me. But I don't know, I think one thing that we have to always say is you have to turn your pain into passion some kind of way. And in a way I'm kind of glad maybe that it happened because I don't think that I've ever been propelled into the political space, but I got recruited by Brand New Congress, which is a super progressive organization, and they recruited me to run for Congress in 2018. Did really well in that race. I lost by I think 2,500 votes in a runoff, and then Amanda Edwards stepped down for that city of Houston race. So you know, God always has a plan because now that district CD22 is solid red, and I would have been a one-term Congressperson. You just never know what God has in store for you. I'm incredibly spiritual, and so here now, and that's kind of how this whole thing happened. It was nothing I ever expected at all.
Ty (host):
That is awesome. That's a beautiful story. So you were raised like we said earlier with civil rights giants. Your grandfather Matthew W. Plummer was part of the legal team that represented Muhammad Ali during his draft evasion case here in Houston. So what that kind of pressure and legacy of activism in your DNA, why is this role of Harris County judge the right place for you to carry that torch for the Black community here in Houston?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I think honestly simple answer is as I did as a council member. I really believe not being in this political bubble and being able to think kind of outside the box. And then obviously having my grandfather who's always been a giant in my mind. He was 6'3", tall, he just always looked so big to me. I never felt this pressure though; I felt it was kind of really cool. He would sit down in the living room oftentimes. He would do this really weird thing about like he would play with your ear. It was so weird. But he would play with your ear and tell a story. It was kind of like really weird. He would just hold our ears, and we would all be sitting on the floor because he was always so tall. That's just one memory that just comes to me, but he was so sweet; so kind. He never intimidated me, and honestly I don't think that I was in awe of him until after he passed away, and then I started researching the big things he did, and now being in the politics space how hard it was to probably do those kinds of things. He desegregated the Harris County cafeteria - unheard of. And so all the pieces kind of have come together in a really beautiful way. But no, he was an amazing person in my life. I think I got all the I don't know the public service stuff maybe through osmosis or something. But it was never in my face as a dentist, but it was really cool growing up with him. It was really awesome because my dad was so involved with all the political folks, so the Rodney Ellis' of the world, Mickey LeLand's of the world. Like they were at my house. I saw them growing up and so, but I didn't, like I said, I didn't know how big that was until after I got in the space that I really realize like how special like Mickey Leland is my brother's godfather. Was past tense. Um, and yeah, and so, but like I said, you don't really realize how cool it all is until you get in a space to where it means something and it actually matters. But but they all thought I mean public - my grandmother was an educator - so always fighting for people and I know people should say that we should not say that we're not politicians, but what I mean by that is I didn't aspire to be a politician. I know that I'm one now, but I didn't aspire to be one. And so I think I've always had the opportunity to kind of think outside the bubble and really put people first in the same way I do about my patients. And so, um, all of those kind of, um, all of those experiences I had when I was a child and a teenager, um, as a young adult, I think that it all just prepared me for this job.
Ty (host):
So, you've owned your practice since what, 2001?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
2000, yeah. December 2000.
Ty (host):
Okay. And you founded Career Smiles. So, I talked about that earlier. So, I want you to get into that. So, Career Smiles, you repair people's teeth so that they have the dignity and the confidence to interview for jobs. So I love that concept because I've heard you often talk about economic mobility through the lens of human dignity. So, let's talk about Career Smiles and what made you start that organization.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yeah so, I'm not sure if y'all remember workforce; there was a big workforce push um in 2016, 2015, and there was a there was a big push, vocational schools became more of a thing. I'm not sure if you remember that but um it just became more of a thing. Well, that was also the big craze when people were having gold crowns. Also a big thing. I was teaching at the National Institute of Health, and so it was like it's this um kind of vocational school teaching dental assisting. I was teaching there. I was kind of one of their adviserss there, and I don't think it exists anymore actually. But a lot of the students had gold crowns, and I was kind of on the edge, on the end of it. I was teaching the seniors or the graduates of the program, and I remember talking to one of the instructors, and I said, you know, if these young people go to an interview, and it's in my space, I'm wondering how they're going to be perceived because all of the jobs that we're training them for are are one-on-one, front office, patient interaction. Now it was nothing bad about it or anything. I just kind of brought that question up. And so I started talking to students. I said, do you feel confident? First of all, do do you feel confident? And most of them were like, "I got this done when I was a teenager. I wish I could take it out. I know that I need to do my interview. Sometimes I don't smile because I don't feel comfortable with my smile." And so that's kind of why the tag phrase was "A smile exudes confidence." That moment I started my nonprofit and I said, I'm taking off all the gold crowns. I'm going to give a person a front tooth back, so it was only your smile line. So it was gold crowns, missing front teeth, anything that would affect how you smiled because I know as a business owner when you walk in an interview, and if you can't smile the person on the other side doing your interview automatically assumes that you're uncomfortable and not qualified. That's why we say "A smile exudes confidence" because you go in that room with big old you know big smile, and that just exudes a different aura right? And so I think that we probably treated over 200 patients. I even have now people come back to me like, "You changed my life like you literally changed." Because it was free, so all of it was was funded by donations, and so that's that's where that's where Career Smiles got its beginning. I saw a need in that vocational space, and we helped a lot of young people, and I know that we changed a ton of lives.
Ty (host):
That is awesome. That is beautiful. So speaking of your entrepreneurial skills, um how does that mindset translate into how you will manage a multi-billion dollar county budget?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
It's perfect. As a matter of fact, I think that it honestly supports what we're what we're wanting to do more so than if I had held three positions in political office. When you're a small business owner, and you know how hard it is to make sure you pay people fairly. When you know that you're responsible for 10 households, they're extended households. when you are looking how rents are happening, and you feel the feeling of how hard it is when a disaster hits and you can't make a rent payment. Just the experience that you have as a small business owner is a big deal. And then when you're taking care of patients, when they don't have insurance or have insurance, you see those internal struggles that they experience because you know we lead in lack of health care. Dental health is a huge problem. I got my start with Harris Health. So I actually opened up Strawberry Clinic and Gulfgate Clinic, the dental clinics, and so I got my start in indigent care. So all of those pieces kind of culminating in one; it gives me an understanding of what people, real people experience every single day and how important it is as a county and as a city to be able to support the economic development, looking at public health and giving access to people that don't have access to health care. I mean the importance of the Harris Health system as a catch net for health care is imperative. I got all that being a small business owner, and then knowing the challenges of being able to go to a traditional bank and not being a able to get a traditional loan, having my expansion done through micro-llenders like an Axion or a Lift Fund. Like those are real issues. One of my team members, her parentsused to be not documented right, so understanding the challenges and stresses that she feels in her own household. Those armed me for this because I understand kind of firsthand what people are experiencing and why incredibly important it is to fix the problems. And as a small business owner and as a doctor or dentist, I don't have the opportunity of waiting a year, three years, five years to make something happen. When a patient walks in my office, they expect for it to get done. That's it. And so the red tape, and the kicking the can down the road, and the status quo, and the playing politics with everybody is just not how I want to do [it]. Now, that makes you a bit unpopular sometimes in that political space, because you just do politics differently. I remember some one of my colleagues called me one time. He's like, "You just got to play politics." I said, "Not that girl." You know, I'm just not that girl. So, we're just gonna have to not get along, I guess? But then we we figure it out because I think one thing that supersedes everything is data. If you show the numbers, no one can argue. It's math. So you have the numbers, and then you have people that are having the experience, and then you have policy folks that can help you write policy to fix the problem, and you bring all that to a table - and then you bring other stakeholders on the other side you find like that common ground, no one says anything. Everyone goes along with it, right? Honestly I am so grateful that I've had the background that I have, and I have not been in politics for the past, you know, I don't know, 18, 20 years like my opponent [Annise Parker] because I really do believe when you're in that bubble, you are completely disconnected with what happens in the outside world.
Ty (host):
You are absolutely right. So, going back to economic mobility, how do we move in Houston, this the struggle, we say the struggle is real, but not it's it's literally >> real. So, how do we move from just surviving to true economic mobility for families here in um Harris County?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yes. So I often say, you know, we have been fighting for jobs and justice since the 1950s. It's the same fight, but what we're seeing, Ty, is we're seeing a change. There is a shift happening. Young people are tired and they're done. And so what I want to see happen is, and I know we don't like the word "equity," but we've got to we've got to look at this through an equitable lens, whether that be in infrastructure - where do we put the shovels in the ground in these communities? How do we determine, you know, worse first in those infrastructure projects? How do we increase our workforce development? Making sure we support our public school system; we support vocational colleges and institutions; and we give young people an opportunity to enter the workforce so that they can do what they need to do to take care of their families, if they don't necessarily want to attend a four-year college institution. When it comes to procurement, how do we support small businesses and midsize businesses? One thing that I did at the city was we were using co-ops like your Grangers, your Home Depot, those big box folks, and they were getting all the contracts, and they didn't have to do business with the midsize or small businesses because we're using co-ops, right? I was able to do a carve-out and really make sure that small businesses were a part of that conversation legally because the oversight is by the state. Those same conversations need to happen at the county level. I think we're at maybe two or three percent of African-Americans do business with the county, and we're talking about a billion dollars. I mean, that doesn't make any sense. So, we have to train, we'd have to teach and build our capacity, so that we can be a part of the economic engine that the county has. And then we're looking at public safety. We have to make sure people live in safe spaces. We have to support multifamily spaces. We've got to really create affordable housing. We have to look at crime a different way. Does it mean we put more police or constables or sheriffs on the ground? It's looking at root causes of crime and why crime exists, and handle those conversations. And so all of that, you bring all that together, right? support neighborhoods; look at environmental justices in the way that we need to so people don't leave out of their communities, stay in their communities and build their businesses and open up those small businesses versus moving to the. We do all that. We bring all that together, and now you've got a whole person who has hope, who has opportunity, and who has a dream that they dreamt about, that they can not only dream about, but they can actually catch. And when you start doing that, it changes everything. And that's not politics, right? It's not politics. And that's what I want to do to be able to create an economic engine that we need moving and propelling Harris County forward.
Ty (host):
So, you talked about your opponent earlier. So, in this race, you're up against I'm gonna call her 'an established name,' former mayor of Houston, Annise Parker. Let's talk about the difference between what you guys are are campaigning about.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yeah. So, I think that the biggest difference between myself and and Parker are her stance on HISD. So she supported the takeover and she supported the HISD bond. Any Democrat that existed was literally protesting against the bond. And so that is the biggest distinction between the two of us. She is a longtime career politician. I am not. She supported Kim Ogg. And if you've done the work in public justice, in criminal justice, that is just all bad on every single level. We could talk about that on another show. But that is another distinction, you know, against us. And, you know, now I'm not saying anything about age because I am very respectful of people's age. But I will say this, I do believe that when there when you've been out of the conversation for 10+ years, you don't really know what is happening within the county. She's been gone for about 10+ years. The average age of Harris County is 34. I really truly, you know, believe that you have to have people um you have to have people in in place that can relate to the people that you represent and also be able to implement ideas, concepts, policies, and be able to watch them come to fruition. And so if she spent, you know, two terms as a county judge, she'd be approaching 80. I mean, if you kind of put that together, and like I said, I'm not saying anything bad about age, right? I do believe that you have to have lived lessons and lived experiences. But I think that I'm at that really perfect space at the 55 mark, which means I've got kids that are a little bit younger than the average person. I want to create transportation equity because my kids don't want to drive. I want to make sure that they come back to Houston after college because there's economic opportunity here. I know that climate change is real and we want to ensure that they can come here, live in communities that don't always flood, and then be able to buy a home if they want to for their families. Like, I understand all of that. And so, you know, those are the biggest challenges. I just honestly believe she's a corporate Democrat, right? I mean, she is a Democrat, but she is going to lean in on the corporate side. I'm the only progressive in this race. Still very conservative fiscally. I want to make sure we look at this budget. We are in a shortfall of the county. And so, I want to look at that. But that doesn't mean we have people lose jobs. It just means that we are smarter with our resources and we keep these really great social programs in place, but we got to figure out how to fund them. And so there's some there's some major diff- there's nothing a lot other than we are we both vote in the Democratic ticket. I don't see any similarities. I mean we're going to we're going to work with the current mayor. We're going to work with the other mayors and city council members of the other 33 counties around the county which is going to be important to do, but I will definitely put my foot down probably a lot more than her and I'm not going to be bullied by the governor and by the state and really by Trump either.
Ty (host):
Awesome. So, as as an educator of over 20- no, I think I'm in my 25th year this year, but you had a video that recently went viral at um the HISD board meeting. So, speaking of Annise Parker and HISD and the state takeover, Mike Miles, who loves me so much. Hi, Mr. Miles- black and brown families are in a crisis over this HISD takeover and what was the threat of school closures, which is now the schools closed. We had 12 schools that they just voted, decided that they were going to go ahead and close. A lot of families feel like the political establishment has abandoned their children and abandoned children in the city of Houston. So when we look at the crisis in our schools, how does your disruptor approach, I love that about you, the disruptor approach, how does that differ from the traditional politics of the past?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I really just believe that we have to go into this with nothing to lose. I mean, when you've lost 12 schools and it's all a setup, right? I mean, so let's back up a little bit, Ty. Let's back up just a little bit. Okay. So, first you bring in ICE and you scare these young people to go to school because they don't know if they're going to go back home. I put forward an an ordinance at city council. I couldn't get the third signature. So, we weren't able to have a conversation or bring it to committee, which is unfortunate. But now you got these families that are scared to go to school because they don't know if they're going to come home and see their parents. So now, as you know, you're an educator. What happens when kids don't attend school? The schools lose funding, right? So, he's losing funding. 4,000 kids, I think we heard I think 4,000 children have not attended, have not gone to school within the HISD system. All because of the immigration challenges. Now, they have the reason to close down schools because now they're going to underperform. They don't have the resources to keep them open. It's all a setup. Then, of course, Mike Miles had to get his voucher thing in. He got that thing done. It's just it's just like this ongoing story and it's happening all over the state now. We heard Austin, we heard Beaumont, now it's it's happening across the board. And in Fort Worth, it's just happening across the state. And so this was the plan of action the entire time because what he is wanting to do is he is wanting to weaken black and brown, specifically black and brown communities at the highest level possible so he can justify building another jail. It all comes down to the pipeline, right? And so I am not going to support another jail. The first thing on my list is looking at our our our Harris County jail system. Looking at mental health. We're having so many challenges. These young people, they can't even be educated because they're worried about so many other things. And so I honestly believe that, you know, my opponent's supporting the takeover. And then she justified it. she justified it and said that, you know, well, she kind of felt like- North Forest when it was taken over a while ago- it was a good thing. No, it wasn't. So, right, it was just wild. And so, I just think that if we want a Harris County that we deserve, it starts with kids. We can't be reactionary, right? The reaction part is putting more police on the ground because we've got crime height at a level because people can't work and get a fair wage, right? But if we start and get them taken care of and give them the educational support that they need as young people, we change the game. And so this is all, they're truly playing chess. And I think that, you know, I think that we are now figuring out that they are, and we're gonna beat them at their own game. But this is this is layers upon layers upon layers of disenfranchisement, right? That just kills our communities. And it just doesn't allow us to thrive. And so it's it's just a long conversation, but at the end of the day, my daddy always tell me this when I was really when I was young, I just hear this over and over and over again. There are two things that beat everything. It doesn't matter what color you are, what gender you are, none of it matters. Two things, education and money. If you have money, then you get to play in different circles. And if you're educated, no one can challenge you. So, we got to get we have to put those two things back in our society. And I really believe that we need a county judge like myself that understands that from our lens and can make sure that we level up the playing field because it's time.
Ty (host):
So you spoke on mental health earlier and I am just now dipping my toe probably the last four or five years into mental health when it comes to our students, and specifically when it comes to our black and brown students spec even more specifically our black students, and I have been very vocal on my social media. I am a 504 mom. I'm a parent of a black girl who struggles with anxiety and how the disproportionate discipline when it comes to how anxiety manifests itself in a white girl versus a black girl, and how the schools immediately go to consequence. And when I say I have been fighting tooth and nail for some cultural competency, cultural awareness training, some just basic common sense training for some of our educators and our administrative administrators and our school leaders. So I know that you have proposed youth mental health partnerships directly with schools. So let's talk about why the county judge has to step in when the state and the school districts are failing our kids in that regard.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Yeah. So, I mean, honestly, we're at a point now where we have to fix- we got to take care of home. I'm sure your mama said that to you. It's time to take care of home. Okay. So, it's time to take care of home. So, we we're not going to- No one's coming here from the from the federal government. No one's coming here to the state to help us. So, we got to figure out how do we take care of Harris County. What does that look like? 80% of the inmates in jail are have are having mental health challenges. 80% um my crisis intervention teams and my medical outreach teams that were funded through ARPA funds with HPD are on the brink of possibly getting losing funding. We were able to expand HART which is a very similar program at the county level and they were able to expand it but we need resources to do that but all you know so I'm not sure Ty this is maybe another podcast we got to do together, but I did I- I would love to get on there I know we're probably going to run out of time at some point but really quickly um there's a concept of weathering that's been coined, and it basically talks about microaggressions- I did a a TED talk on microaggressions that happen to black women and how it causes us to age because they're very quiet and they happen over and over and over again. And so we lead in single parenting, right? And so we're taking we're taking care of our moms, our dads, we're taking care of our children as single moms. We're oftentimes head of household because our men are incarcerated or whatever is happening, right? And they're they're not getting the support that they need to do what they need to. This whole cyclic kind of happens to us. It's just in general. And so you put a mom in a house that's a single mom that's working two jobs to make ends meet. Her baby is feeling the stresses that you're feeling, right? And you're trying to kind of hold it down, but it's hard to do. And they're experiencing that. They even say that the stress sores and weathering can be transferred through the placenta in childirth. It's wild the science that proves this. And so now you're raising a child that feels the stresses of their parents or mom or grandma, right? And now they're having their heightened anxiety. And then you put them out into the world, and they're not getting the support that they need, right? And then they're not being acknowledged. And then they grow up and then they go to the ob/gyn and their doctor assumes they should have high blood pressure, assumes they should be obese, assumes that they don't eat well at home because they're they're black, right? All of these conversations. So then they're and then using a black boy out in the world and he gets stopped by a police and they're automatically assumes that that black boy is gonna ultimately cause a problem. It's this ongoing conversation that is literally destroying our children, and then no one has any support. They want to medicate them with ADHD medication. They want to say they're bipolar. They want to call them- so now they have this mental health aspect on top of them that they have to now fight through. And then the social media piece, I mean, I could go on and on and on, but go with me, right?
Ty (host):
And let's not forget that they cut these social emotional learning counselor positions out of the schools in so many districts. So when those kids had that small little hope when their parents couldn't afford counseling and therapy on the outside, now you've taken that position and I know in some places split that one person into four or five schools or immediately cut the position all together. And so you throw those kids back in the world with no support. They're doing things like putting their head down and withdrawing. and you're writing them up for non-compliance. OH, don't get me started. This is triggering.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I'm telling you, it's horrible. And these sunrise centers are a bunch of whatever, right? Because I had to buy a washer and dryer for an elementary school in Fifth Ward because the kiddos were coming to school with like dirty uniforms, and they didn't have their wraparound services anymore. Like it just- so I'm telling you it is all the plan. Let's break them down fiber by fiber by fiber, and we just cannot let them continue to do this to us. And it starts locally. This is why I didn't want to do anything else. I wanted to stay local because we can answer all of these problems. I know it's a lot and of course my job is not all of this, but I think the influence that I can put you know to the commissioners on the court, the influences we can do with our public health departments, the conversations that we can have that are about this, I really do believe that we can partner with these entities to try to figure out ways to fix the problem and find some solutions.
Ty (host):
I love that. We We definitely have to do a whole another episode because we could talk about mental health in school all day. Like that is my passion. I promise. I always joke, but I'm really not joking. If my school district decides to get rid of me, I have to dip my toe into advocating for black women educators and black girls that are in education because the I can't even curse, but the mess that I see on a daily basis is crazy. And then it wasn't until I started experiencing it with my own daughter that I'm like, "Oh, no. This is not this is not what we're going to do." Especially if you don't have a parent that knows how to advocate for you. What do you do? You don't even go home and tell your parent. And it goes back to how we were raised, right? So, if you were raised with the mindset that you do what the adult says, the teacher is always right. I'm gonna always believe the teacher. I'm not gonna come home to you and say this is what's happening to me at school because one, you're not going to believe me, and two, you don't have the education or the knowledge to even come and advocate for me. And we say this all the time and see now we're getting totally off. You see, you got me triggered. But we say this all the time, even sitting in meetings with parents that we have to, I hate to use the word dumb down our language, but we have to bring it down to a level that the parents understand. Because if I come into a meeting and I'm sitting at a table, I walk into a conference room and it's principles, district administrators, educators, and everybody's using these big words and these acronyms over my head and you're asking me, do I understand it? I'm just going to say yes. Yes. Yes. And sometimes I have to stop the meeting and say, "Hey, mom, did you understand that what he's saying is"- because I I've been doing this for so long, and I'm a product of public schools in inner city, and so I know I'm looking at the wheels turning and I'm like, you didn't get it. So, let me stop the meeting for a little bit and explain it because that is another way we get over on parents by not qualifying their kids for special education or not qualifying their kids for 504 services or overqualifying, under testing and over like I have to-
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
It's No, it's so and then and then and then we have to touch the cultural part in our in our in the black community, For black men it's not okay to say that you're not okay. That is that is that is a problem. The same thing happens in Hispanic in this in Hispanic culture. It's not okay to say that you're not okay. And then the layers of stuff that we're just dealing with. We don't have the bandwidth for this. Like, we don't have the bandwidth. And so, it's just it just creates this environment that's really hard to be able to um navigate. And we as elected officials, I do believe it's our job not to maybe give the full-on end solution, but put the systems in place to where the services are there, but we also let people know the services are there. I don't think we do a good job of that either. We don't communicate what's out there for them. And we need to do a better job of that as well. But I know we're probably almost out of time, but this has been so good. Ty, I'm just I love having this conversation. Thank you. This is so good.
Ty (host):
So, just a few more questions. Um, you have I love this and I could not wait to interview because I I felt like me, right? You have been willing to challenge leadership publicly, which I love. Uh, whether it was clashing with the mayors over eviction grace periods or housing. Um, why is it better for our community to have a disruptor in the judge's office right now instead of someone who's playing politics or playing it safe with the political establishment?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I think honestly in a lot of ways I am definitely a disruptor, but I also know how to collaborate, and I think that's where that that delicate balance between the two of them, right? I'm going to make sure that I bring all the facts, and this is why I was able to challenge the mayor and he had to kind of just be quiet and leave everything alone because I brought the facts to him, and he couldn't argue with any of it. And so I think when you bring the data and your decisions are data-driven and you bring these stakeholders on both sides, right? And you find the similarities versus the differences because there are a lot more alike than different. And then you sit down with your colleagues just across the board and you have conversations. I think that if we could just remove the politics from it and just have those real conversations, I truly believe we get more done. I think we passed the opportunity of playing nice. I just don't think we can do that anymore. I don't think we can afford to do it anymore. I mean, everything is kind of falling apart here right in front of our eyes. And and playing nice, isn't it? And so people have said that I don't play well in the sandbox. And that's okay, you know, that's okay. I'll take that. I will take that because I don't play in the sandbox in the way in which people historically play politics. And so I believe as we shift, as we see a lot of folks moving out of political office and moving in and bringing in kind of new blood and new energy, we all understand each other differently than I think you know- the whole kiss the ring thing is gone. It's gone. No one's waiting for their time in line anymore. Nope. They're going in and they're taking it, right? And so look, I I am I am a collaborator in the ways in the biggest ways and I'm looking forward. I don't want our commissioner's court to look the way that it does right now. There's a lot of confusion and and unrest and just kind of a lot going on. So I do not plan on on doing that on commissioner's court. I really am looking forward to working with the commissioners on court. I'm looking forward to having some level of working relationship with with Mayor Whitmire and all the other mayors and city council members, but I'm also going to challenge the status quo when I feel that the community is asking for that, and that's that's who I listen to. That's who's going to be voting for me, has voted already for the last two weeks, and will be voting for me on Tuesday. That's who I'm answering to. And I think that as long as I keep my people as my north star, I'm always going to make the right decisions. I'm never going to regret a vote. And if I do vote for something and I change, I will come back to community and say, "I'm sorry, made the wrong decision." Let's come back.
Ty (host):
You're reading my mind. You already know the question I'm getting ready to ask you. So, I was going to say that leadership also means being willing to listen and so many of our leaders don't want to do that, right? So you initially opposed the shock spotter technology, but then you later changed your position to support it after listening to the community, right? So what did that evolution teach you about listening to our neighborhoods concerns about their safety? And then how will that guide your I'm going to quote you your worst first emergency response policy? So let's talk about that.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
So I think that I have to listen because I'm a doctor. So I listen all day to my patients, right? And so listening is something that I believe I do pretty well because I truly believe that my patients already know the answers. They just don't know how to articulate it. So if you listen long enough and kind of shut up and listen long enough, my patients will tell me what's wrong with them. Right? The same thing with spotter. So at first you know I was completely against it because of all the research that we heard. Then community came back and said no no no we want it. So I said okay. But then the data came back and said it wasn't the right thing. And so I kind of pivoted three times. But the last time we were all on the same page. It was new technology. We've never used it before. There was no data. We didn't own the data. And so, we know that in denser communities, it was different than in more wide open areas just the way in which the noise kind of backfired back and forth. It just it was the only vote I've ever done that I kind of did go back and forth on. But every single time I did, I acknowledged my community. I did apologize for maybe making the wrong decision, the first time, but then but this great thing, Ty, it came back to being no. So, I made the right decision the first time. I just really wanted to listen, especially when it's new. But we have to look at license plate readers. All of this AI that we're seeing come into our communities, there's a way that we have to be careful with it because it really does affect and make our community, black and brown communities, more hesitant because we feel like they're impinging on our privacy. And so, we have to use it in ways that work, but not ways that that target. And so that kind of worst first concept is in an infrastructure space, but it's also in the public safety space. I want to take care of community. I want communities to feel safe across the board. But we have to look at social determinance. We have to understand how hard is it for that family to bounce back? How much money is it going to take? Emotional. Expenditure, financial currency, all of that. how hard put- handle those communities first, get them kind of leveled up a little bit, and I think if we deal with that and we look at that research, if we look at those social determinants I believe it will make decisions a bit differently. Versus looking at wealthier zip codes that we often see get things first. You don't see dumping happening at River Oaks, and we can we can bring in transportation equity. When Metro didn't use the red light priority on the red line. We fought hard with LINK Houston when we lost the university line with Metro. I filed a Title VI grievance to the federal government because in my mind that was full-on discrimination. Because if you can't move people around, then we can't go work outside of our areas. You can't go to school.
Ty (host):
University of Houston. All all of those things are right there. Texas Southern University, University of Houston, the Baylor College, all of those things that are there on those lines.
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
That's right. That's right. But these are the ways in which they kind of keep us in our in our areas and don't let us get out of our areas so we don't see anything differently. Experiences really do matter because if you see how something can be done, if you can imagine in your mind, imagine your life in a different way because you've seen how that works. And not on Instagram or or Tik Tok or anything, but like in real life, this is why mentorship is so important. If I can see a black doctor, if a young girl can see a black female doctor walking to her, she then can see her it in herself. And you can't do those things if you can't bring people outside of their neighborhoods, and all of those are incredibly important and that's that worst first model um that we have to deal with in all in all categories.
Ty (host):
I love it. I think I'm going to take that to my principal tomorrow and say, "Hey, let's start using this worst first," because there's so many things that just public education period we need to um do that. I love that. So, you gave up your city council seat because of the resign to run law to take on this this fight. Can you first explain to us what the resign to law is so that everybody understands how much skin you have in this game?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
I was term limited at city council. So, I have a little bit over a year, year and a half left on city council. I really honestly Ty, I thought I was done. I had no intentions on running for any more political office; I was going to go back to my dental practice and be fine. And then I saw Annise Parker get on the ballot, and it was crickets, and I was like, "Are we just going to like settle in and let this woman take the seat? Like where have you been? Like where have you been?" Right? And I obviously talked to my family and my boys and everybody and my team at the city of Houston. I said, "Listen, guys, I know that I'm gonna have to resign." So, with the city and the county, you cannot run for an office if you're currently in an office. So, the moment that you publicly announce your running for office, that is an automatic resignation. And that's just the law. That that's in our charter. Now, why did I resign in July? That's like the big question everyone has for me, like why then? I did because my at-large IV seat has historically been represented by a black person, and I knew the CD18 race was on the ballot and so I knew that if I resign in July I could then increase the chances of an African-American getting my seat- to hold my seat. It was very intentional and unfortunate, I'm not saying anything bad about the person that's there, but unfortunately we were not successful. But I did it because I wanted my at-large IV seat on the ballot with CD18 because I know we would if we ever drove out the black vote, it would be for that race. And also fiscally, I didn't want the city to absorb a $1 million dollar expense to put me on a special election. And so it was very- it's all by dates and times, right? So my date was very specific in terms of making sure that my at-large IV race would be on the ballot. I knew I was term limited. And this is the beautiful thing Ty the beautiful thing about politics for me. I don't have to be there forever. I did my job. Everything that I mapped out to do in 2018 that I wanted to accomplish, I did. Now, maybe we didn't take it over the goal, right, on everything, but the apartment inspection ordinance, it's going to pass at some point. The community is going to put enough pressure on city council. They're going to bring something back on ICE. You know, my procurement, everything that I wanted to do, my generator at Kashmere Gardens got done. Like, everything got done. My work was done. There was no there was no reason for me to there was nothing else for me to do in that position. And I think that's something that a lot of people can't say. I don't have to be there forever. I still have my relationships. I still support community, but now I can do it at a larger level. And that's why I'm running for Harris County Judge.
Ty (host):
Love that. So this Tuesday is the election. So to the person, especially black people who are frustrated with HISD or who feel like the legal system has failed them more than once, just like it failed you, what is at stake if they choose to stay home and not go to the polls on Tuesday, and why are you the fighter that we need in the judge's office?
Letitia Plummer (candidate):
Well, if you don't know why I'm the fighter, listen to this whole interview all over again. Just rewind and go back to the beginning. I'm a fighter. There's nothing nothing short of that. And I love the fact that I am, right? And so I'm in this thing not because I want- not because I have to, because I want to. It's a true desire to make this thing happen. The good news is that you are all voting. We are we are voting at levels where we never thought we would. Democrats are out-voting in the state of Texas. I don't think it's happened since 2002. I think the number said we're we're approaching 210,000 votes, which is crazy considering we have almost voted at 50% of the Democrats in the county. Unheard of, right? Unheard of. In a general election, you get about million people voting and it's typically half and half. And so we are doing really, really good. But for those of you that are watching right now, get out there and go vote. Vote for me. There's some beautiful, wonderful, powerful people on that Democratic ballot. We need you. Everything's at stake. Everything. I mean, watch this video again if you don't know what's at stake. We've gone through all of it. All of it's at stake. You need someone that's going to be there that is solid footing, guys, you know, solid foundation, has experience on all sides, politically, personally, from a small business perspective, understands the health care space, because that's honestly where we're all going right now, mental health, and just public health in general. And I'm the only one that can do that. No one else. I mean, Annise Parker cannot do that. She cannot say that she can. She says she has relationships. Maybe she does, but I've got them, too. And so, um, you know, I'm looking forward to working with my commissioners on court. I'm working I'm looking forward to working with city council in all 34 cities. I'm looking for a regional plan, for the county for us to have the economic opportunity that we need, infrastructure, disaster preparedness, and recovery that we deserve and really looking at environmental justice, in the way that we need to collectively. So, I'm super excited. Go vote. Go vote. Go vote. And if you want to come to our party, celebrate because I don't care what happens on Tuesday, Ty, it will be a celebration. Honey, let me tell you, when you've done the work and you've turned over every rock that you can, and you stay faithful and focused the entire time, you are celebr- I am celebrating my team, my family, my community, you know, everyone that has just enveloped me with love and support, all the folks that have endorsed us, we are celebrating. And so we're gonna be we're going to be at Cedar Creek on West 20th. All the information is on social media. You can still volunteer, guys, if you want to hop on to our website. You can make phone calls tomorrow to push people out to get the vote done. drletitiaciaplummer.com You can hop on there. You can send us a DM. Also, we're checking our social media like crazy. You can send us a DM. We've got tons of- We got some phone calls we can be making. We're going to be phone banking all day tomorrow. And so you can hop on there, too. And and just make a couple of phone calls to tell folks how important it is to get out to vote.
Ty (host):
All right, guys. Well, that is Dr. Leticia Plummer. The election this Tuesday. Like she said, your vote is your power. Do not leave it on the table. And we will see you at the polls on Tuesday.