On Wednesday, the Houston community was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of U.S. Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
MORE INFO: Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner passes away at 70
Many politicians across Houston and Harris County have voiced their support and reflected on Turner’s legacy as a key leader in the community.
KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun spoke exclusively with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo about how she and the city are reacting to this tragedy.
Here’s a full transcription of their conversation:
KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun: Judge, just kind of talk to us a little bit about just how you’re feeling right now about the news of Congressman Turner.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo: Frankly, just in shock. I think it’s totally unexpected. And it’s a big, big loss for our community. Just a couple months ago, we were celebrating his inauguration. Everything he wanted to do for Harris County in the Congress, and now there are so many of us mourning his passing.
Totally surprised and taken aback by what’s happened. And you have to remember, he’s been a leader in the community pretty much his entire career. So the number of people that he has mentored, that he has served with, that he has served, is enormous. I myself am just in shock, he and I went through a lot together, from the [COVID-19 pandemic] and winter freeze and all kinds of disasters, to the Astros [World Series wins] and the parade and so many experiences.
On a personal note, I really, really loved him, appreciated him, appreciated his respect for me and his in support of me. And on behalf of the county, our deepest condolences to his family and to so, so many people that he touched. I’ve spent the morning speaking on the phone with just, I mean, all kinds of people who are just as devastated.
One thing I’d like to say, we’d always we always laugh about this. We have this line that, you know, “How is it possible that a kid from Acres Homes and an immigrant kid become the mayor and the county executive of place as large as Houston and Harris County?” And so, you know, that’s still true, that that we achieved that. And, you know, we’ll get through this together as a community in the days that come.
Rilwan Balogun: You kind of alluded to it as judge and former mayor, the partnership, you all had to work closely to get things moving day to day. Kind of talk to us a little bit about that legacy, that partnership you two had together.
Judge Lina Hidalgo: It’s what makes it so hard to really process that he’s gone, because I worked with him so closely, and he stood up for me. He stood by my side during my reelection. I stood by his side during his elections and through the difficult times, we became friends.
I mean, people always talked about our differences of opinion during COVID, and of course they were there. But you have to learn to respect each other, to work together. And I heard from so many people that for decades, the relationship between Harris County and the City of Houston was weak. And that, of course, was to the detriment of the people of the community. So we were very proud that even though we had different perspectives on some things, we had different backgrounds, we were able to work that through and work together.
I mean, just imagine trying to figure out how to navigate a pandemic. It was it was just it was intensive. Our staffs became very close. I’ve been reaching out to some of his staff as well, because I know them too and vice versa. So, that’s why I keep saying a shock, because I don’t think I quite have, have processed it right now. And he’s somebody that I was getting ready to work with now that he was in the Congress, and I thought it was just a perfect capstone for his career. So I’m devastated. His friends are I know his constituents are. And we’ll just have to find out. You know exactly what happened.
Rilwan Balogun: You kind of alluded to it here that most of his adult life has been serving others in his role in the state legislature, as mayor and then Congress member. Talks was a little bit about, what legacy does Sylvester Turner leave?
Judge Lina Hidalgo: Well, first, a legacy of service, really dedicating his life to this. But just remember, you know, he’s a graduate of Harvard Law School. He’s somebody who could have gone and worked at a firm and made all the money, and instead, he decides to serve his community.
He was elected very young to the State House, and he always mentored young people. He really wanted to lift the future generations, because he was one of those young people that came in fresh with a fresh perspective and really grew from there. And so I think that he leaves, of course, a legacy of service, a legacy of leadership, but also a legacy through all the people that he supported, all the young people that he mentored. [There is] just a big, big hole in our hearts and in Harris County. I mean, we expected for him to be in the Congress for a good few years.
Rilwan Balogun: What are some of those qualities from him that you kind of took on as you watched him in his various roles that you’ve taken up as judge?
Judge Lina Hidalgo: Well, his oratory was one of them. I enjoy public speaking, and so oftentimes he would go first and then I would go or vice versa. So we’d watch each other’s speeches. I mean, I just knew his stump and he knew mine. And he would start out just real quiet, you know, and almost subdued. And then he would just turn into a preacher, almost. And he, I mean, it was just you’d be totally enraptured by his speaking.
His love of community. You know, that is something that we both enjoyed when we had the opportunity to be out in the community together. It was great. He loved to do the Cupid Shuffle.
And just being yourself, you know, that’s something that I’m really proud of and I like to bring to my role, you know, let’s just be people He did that; he was brave enough to do that.
And I came in fresh, and I had conversations with him about, “How do you how do you structure your office? How do you handle this kind of thing?” And I remember, the first meeting I had the day after my election was with him. I was a guest of his at City Hall and, and we chatted, and we said, “We don’t know each other, but let’s work together”. And the first thing we did together was appoint the chairman of the port, who’s just been a fantastic leader.
So I think we’ve made a lot of good decisions together. We certainly did our very best. Sometimes, you know, you think you’re making the best decision, but it turns out not to be the best one in retrospect. But we did our very, very best. And, you know, kind of feeling each other out. He’s, you know, much older than I am. Completely different background. Long time in politics. I’m here, you know, a new an unknown [quality]. And so, it was it was just a real a real interesting time for us, but we quickly, quickly both settled into, “You know what? We got to work together.”
And within three months of taking office, we were standing together because of the ITC fire. The city lent us their air monitoring equipment. We didn’t have it at the time and that was the precedent for years of work together.
Q: What are you going to miss most? I know you said you’re still processing this.
Judge Lina Hidalgo: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I think just his presence everywhere. You would just you would just see him everywhere, and it was the kind of thing where we would gravitate toward each other because we knew each other well. And so, it was sort of that comfort of, you know, you’re always, as a public service, as a politician, you go to so many events, and you never know what you’re going to encounter. And so, you sort of got this, this armor, right, just to [seal] yourself for whatever’s coming your way. But whenever I saw him, [I thought] “Okay, here’s a friendly face. Here’s someone I’m going to just go stand by, say a quick hello. And I know we’re in this together.” And I want to think it was the same for him.
And we’d joke and we just sort of have our own little inside jokes. So, I saw him last, gosh, probably not even two weeks ago. And it was the same thing. I was telling him about some funny story that had just happened to me prior. And so, I’ll miss his laugh. He had a real funny laugh. He really did.
Rilwan Balogun: What does [this loss] do to the Harris County Democratic Party?
Judge Lina Hidalgo: It’s just been a brutal, brutal year, a brutal few months. Many party figures, certainly locally and representatives to our various levels of government. You know, you could never really explain tragedy, right? And people think about it differently according to their faith. But it’s been a really hard, hard year for us as a party. And that’s no secret.
This is certainly not something we expected, but the conversations I keep having is we’re going to get through this together. When I first heard of his passing, my thought was, “I got a call from the Congresswoman [Sheila Jackson Lee], and she how she how she’s doing. Well, she died last year.
Oh my goodness. It’s just it’s almost hard to believe. But, you know, such is life.
We are all focused on supporting his daughter. Those that were closest to him. As I said, my colleague Commissioner Ellis, they were very, very close. I mean, they knew each other since before they were in elective office, probably before they even went to college. And so, he’s heading to DC with his daughter and then the rest of us are here, ready to support them and just supporting each other as we get through this.
Q: What would your message be to the folks in the congressional district, you just kind of mentioned that this is now the second biggest loss for the folks in that district losing their representative. What would your message be to them?
Judge Lina Hidalgo: It is a historic district. It is a district that has been through a lot and seen a lot of positive changes. This is a time of absolute tragedy, but I think the district is nothing if not strong. And it’s a it’s a tight-knit community. It’s a series of tight-knit communities. And we’re all going to be focused to see how we can best support those folks. But there is still representation, certainly they’re all my constituents. And we’re here, just as this goes on, we’re watching out as anything takes place. We’re ready to jump in.
