Bob Lanier (politician)
Encyclopedia
Bob Lanier is a businessman in the real estate industry (Landar) who served as mayor of the city of Houston, Texas from 1992 to 1998. He is currently Houston's oldest living mayor.

Background

Lanier was elected mayor in 1991, 1993, and 1995, until term limits, enacted in 1991 and reinforced in 1994 by a grass-roots citizen initiative spearheaded by the conservative political activist Clymer Wright
Clymer Wright
Clymer Lewis Wright. Jr. , was a Texas conservative political activist and a crusading journalist later credited with bringing term limits to Houston municipal government and encouraging Ronald W...

, prevented his candidacy in 1997. Lanier averaged 88 percent in his re-election races, with strong support in each political party and ethnic group. As mayor, he was affectionately called "Mayor Bob."

Born to working class parents in the refinery town of Baytown, Texas in 1925, Lanier was a child of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 who was greatly influenced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s policies. Lanier worked while attending college and started his career as a suma cum laude graduate from the University of Texas Law School in 1949. Initially employed by Baker & Botts
Baker Botts
Baker Botts L.L.P. is a major United States-based international law firm of around 800 attorneys, with a long, prominent history, significant political connections, boasting more than half of the Fortune 100 companies among its clients. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas,...

 law firm, Lanier practiced for a decade before switching gears to pursue a business career.

During that business career he worked in banking and eventually he established himself as a major Houston real estate developer, focusing mostly on subdivisions and apartments.

In the 1991 Mayor of Houston election, most white voters of all economic levels voted for Lanier. His strongest tallies came from affluent neighborhoods like River Oaks
River Oaks, Houston, Texas
River Oaks is an affluent community located in the geographic center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans . Established in the 1920s by brothers William and Michael Hogg, the community became a well-publicized national...

, Meyerland
Meyerland, Houston, Texas
Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8.A notable feature of Meyerland is Meyerland Plaza, a large outdoor shopping center. Meyerland also is the center of Houston's Jewish community...

, Uptown
Uptown Houston
The Uptown District of Houston is located 6.2 miles west of downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard, Westheimer Road , and the Galleria...

, Memorial
Memorial, Houston, Texas
The Memorial area of Houston, Texas, United States is west of Downtown Houston and northwest of Uptown Houston. It is bounded on the south by Buffalo Bayou, on the east by Interstate 610, on the west by Texas State Highway 6, and extends just north of the Katy Freeway to Westview and includes...

, and Sharpstown
Sharpstown, Houston, Texas
Sharpstown is a master-planned community in Greater Sharpstown, Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. It was one of the first communities to be built as a master-planned, automobile centered community and the first in Houston. Frank Sharp, the developer of the subdivision, made provisions not...

; in those areas he won with 60 to 65 percent or more of the vote. Lanier won 75 percent of the votes in his home Houston precinct. In racially-mixed areas such as Westbury
Westbury, Houston, Texas
Westbury is a neighborhood in the Brays Oaks district of Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. It is located east of Bob White Road, north of U.S...

 and Alief
Alief, Houston, Texas
Alief is a community in Harris County, Texas, United States that is mostly within the city limits of Houston. The Alief Community Association defines the boundaries of Alief as, "Westheimer on the north, Sam Houston Tollway on the east, Fort Bend County Line on the west and Highway 59 on the...

, Lanier had the majority of votes with his main opponent, Sylvester Turner, having finished in a close second place. Lanier did not win in Montrose and many African-American neighborhoods.

The Bob Lanier Public Works Building
Bob Lanier Public Works Building
Bob Lanier Public Works Building is a tall skyscraper in Houston, Texas. It was completed in 1968 and has 27 floors. It is the 41st tallest building in the city. Eero Saarinen's CBS Building in New York City inspired the design for this building...

 in Houston is named after him.

Political career

Before seeking his first and only elective office as Houston’s mayor in 1991, he was a gubernatorial appointee to the Texas Highway Commission, which he chaired, and chairman of METRO, Houston’s transit authority. Lanier also was a founding member of Houston Community College, which he continues to support.

As mayor, Lanier’s actions were guided by three core values:
  • That Houston should capitalize on its diversity
  • That his administration had to improve the city’s infrastructure, particularly the inner city, and bring it to the level of the more affluent suburbs.
  • That public safety should be improved.

Achievements

Lanier's core values were translated into specific programs once he had taken office. By the time he had left office in 1997, he had achieved the following:
  • 1,244 Police officers or their equivalents added.

  • Crime reduced by 246,323 major felonies compared to 1991 rate.

  • 5,226 units of single family housing assistance with down payment and closing costs . rehabilitated or repaired.

  • 5,986 units of multi-family housing completed or approved by city council.

  • 5,287 units of public housing completed or approved by city council.

  • 1,600 homeless beds completed or approved by city council (not including units provided by Harris County in FY 1993 and FY 1994.

  • 20,536 homeless persons and individuals with AIDS assisted.

of sidewalks constructed or initiated.
of hike and bike trails under design and planned.
of water and sewer lines to serve families without city water and sewer service.
of street overlay accomplished or initiated.
  • 41,322 streetlights installed, 2,512 streetlights authorized for installation.

  • 25,290 streetlights upgraded to higher quality lighting.

  • 312,648 traffic control signs installed and maintained.

  • 935 traffic signals and controllers upgraded.

  • 2,673,348 potholes filled with 48-hour maximum response time.

of right-of-way mowed.
  • 11,810 abandoned dangerous building units demolished by the city and an additional 3,714 buildings voluntarily demolished by property owners.

  • 2,532 abandoned dangerous building units were secured by the city.

of roadside ditches cleaned and regraded.
  • 50,918 lots mowed.

  • 464,578 cubic yards of trash removed by the city.

of rehabilitated sewer lines completed or initiated.
of new sewer lines completed or initiated.
of water mains replaced or initiated.

The Texas NAACP presented him its Texas Hero award and he also received the Hubert Humphrey Civil Rights Award. His work in transportation earned him the National Auto Dealers' Award. His work in finance brought a Bond Market Association Award.

In 2000, he received the Leadership Houston Distinguished Service Award and the Urban Beautification Award from the American Horticultural Society. In 2002 he was inducted into the Texas Transportation Institute's Hall of Honor at Texas A&M University. In August 2007 he was also inducted into the Houston Hall of Fame.

Mayor Lanier also headed the corporation that oversaw construction of the city's new Hilton Americas – Houston, the city’s first convention center hotel – a project that started during his administration.

Lanier continues to manage his real estate properties, lectures several times a year, oversees the Lanier Public Policy Conferences at the University of Houston and participates in various civic, academic and political activities.

Personal life

Lanier and his wife Elyse live in Houston, as do their seven children and 11 grandchildren.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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