From the Annals of Houston –  In 1981, Kathryn Whitmire was elected as the first female mayor of Houston.  Whitmire was first elected as City Controller for two terms and then to five consecutive terms as mayor. She also served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Texas Municipal League. As mayor she appointed Lee P. Brown as the first African American to serve as police chief. Brown later would become mayor.  Whitmire was defeated in 1991 by political power-broker Bob Lanier in an election that turned largely on Lanier’s opposition to Whitmire’s plan to bring mono-rail to Houston.  Whitmire moved to Hawaii in 2001.