John Whitmire says pushing back against the crosswalks’ removal from a Montrose intersection is “a battle we would lose.”
Houston Mayor John Whitmire called the removal of rainbow crosswalks in Montrose “a manufactured issue” at the behest of the federal government and an “ambitious” Gov. Greg Abbott. In his first public comments on the controversy, Whitmire also indicated that a legal challenge would be “a battle we would lose.”
“This was a manmade issue,” Whitmire said during Wednesday’s Houston City Council meeting. “Nothing was broken. Governor Abbott joined because he’s a very ambitious governor, looking at the presidential race. The stripes have been in place for the last eight years of his administration. I’ve had contact with him. It’s never been an issue. It was a manufactured issue, but it’s a real one.”
Whitmire spoke for more than 10 minutes on the crosswalks’ pending removal by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), based on a directive by Abbott. Whitmire had previously been criticized by some for not commenting publicly, including by hecklers during a Tuesday news conference held by city council member Abbie Kamin…