Houston Mayor, Deputy Mayor elected and sworn into office

During a special meeting Monday evening, the Houston city council elected a mayor and deputy mayor to lead the city for the next year, both positions filled by familiar faces to the city.

Houston is unique as it is a ‘Second Class’ city, meaning that the residents do not vote for the mayor and deputy mayor. Instead, the city council elects the leaders for a one-year term.

For the Deputy Mayor, it was a unanimous vote for Mike Adams, who was elected into the role last year, following the chaos and leadership vacuum when the previous Mayor and Deputy Mayor abruptly resigned.

“Thank you all for the vote of confidence. It’s a lot of work, and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I’m looking forward to it,” said Deputy Mayor Adams.

When it was time to elect the mayor, however, there was tension and silence after two councilmembers were nominated but declined. In the end, the council voted Carter Cole in for another term as Mayor.

“I got into this business to get things done,” said the mayor after being sworn in. He said that the city wasn’t in good shape last year when he and the Deputy Mayor first took office, but feels confident that when their time comes to turn the offices over, it will be all the better for it.

“I’m hopeful that we can accomplish all the good things we’ve started.”

In the run-up to the city elections in Houston, several community members signed a petition to recall Mayor Cole, and while the petition was initially approved, ultimately it was found to be insufficient and the grounds for the recall did not meet requirements to move forward. There is no comment at the time of publication from the originators of the petition, nor word if they will try again at a later time.

“It’s our job as a city and council to be truthful to the people, and that’s what we’ll do.”

The next regular Houston City Council meeting will be held Thursday, November 9 at 6 p.m.