But that wouldn't allow Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to continue his temper tantrum.
Houston Layoffs Spurred by Prop B are Avoidable. Houston Chronicle.
You're looking at a Mayor who has no problem providing $6.7 Million dollars to his law partner and then claiming it's not a conflict of interest because it's his FORMER law partner, since Turner left the firm after becoming Mayor.
OK then.
Turner's entire political career has been about financially rewarding his patrons while trying (sometimes ineffectually) to punish his political enemies. He's a small man in a big city whose administration is about small ideas.
All he sees is a vote that went against his wishes, due in large part to organization and effective campaigning by a rival organization, so in his mind the only possible recourse is to punish the organization.
That this might actually lead to the deaths, or grave injuries, of some Houstonians doesn't even cross his mind. He doesn't care. All that matters to him is balancing the political books back to what he perceives is his favor.
The Firefighter's union has to pay. And pay they will, in the form of layoffs.
But the real people who pay will be Houstonians who should be able to rely on a fire department that has good response times and is sufficiently staffed. That's not a component of Turner's political calculus however, and it probably never will be given the framework of his political education.
Something to think about during the 2019 Mayoral election.
