Bridge Builders Award
Bill White, Mayor, City of Houston, Texas and Robert Eckels, County Judge, Harris County, Texas, for their collaboration in coming to the aid of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
In a matter of days in late August 2005, over 150,000 evacuees from Gulf Coast states poured into Harris County and the City of Houston seeking shelter and sustenance. City and county relief efforts began immediately as the county-owned Astrodome was turned into a mini-city for 23,000 special needs evacuees within 24 hours.
Amidst the despair at the Superdome in New Orleans and the plight of Katrina victims along that coastal community, the Astrodome became a symbol of safety and refuge. As a result an initial request to house 2,000 multiplied to 23,000. In the end, what would become Reliant City housed over 28,000. Other efforts within Harris County and the City of Houston would house an additional 38,000 people.
The strong leadership and quick response by Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels is a national example of successful collaboration in a time of crisis. This partnership worked, not because it was an essential element necessary for the response’s success, but because collaboration was a principle already in practice at the top of each administration.
It is this existing spirit of working together that made all parts of the local Katrina operation mesh as smoothly as possible. Judge Eckels and Mayor White also have worked to ensure the effectiveness of direct dialogue by scheduling regular meetings between themselves, their public infrastructure departments and homeland security/emergency management officials. Other city-county actions during hurricane recovery include establishing a local fund that has raised over $6 million to provide assistance, helping evacuees find homes, schools, and jobs and coordinating city-county appeals to businesses, faith-based groups and volunteer organizations so that the response would have uniform direction and outcomes.
Mayor White and Judge Eckels have found ways to offer shelter and hope in the face of extreme tragedy, and have achieved these goals through an understanding that teamwork is essential to good leadership. Not only has this benefited the evacuees from the Gulf Coast, but in the long run this dedicated partnership will help to create opportunity for everyone throughout Harris County and the City of Houston.