I love my new role.

 

Chief Recovery and Resilience Officer

City of Houston
Office of the Mayor

 
This is my second week.

 
For my friends here – y’all know what a big crybaby I can be when it comes to meanness and criticism. So what an interesting test of character this will be for me.

 
When it comes to local government, some people seem to see it as the complaint department for whatever frustrates them. The place to heap criticism because we’ve all been convinced that government does nothing right or well. That’s the troublesome bias that underpins the way we judge anything “government” we can see. We look for failures and of course, what we seek, we find.  

No one calls City Hall because everything worked well for 346 days this year. If you need praise to remain committed to service this ain’t your path. Fortunately I only need for four or five people to approve of me and I check in regularly with them to keep my character in line.

 
The bottom line is I love this damn fraught, welcoming, troublesome, spectacular, confusing, hungry mess of a city. I tried to break up with Houston and did for a bit because I was just plumb worn out. But I can’t leave a city so full of people I love, whose longings and aspirations give shape and direction to all this sprawl. Room here for all of us.

 
Houston. I just can’t quit (serving) you.