Houston city council notes, prepared by Emily J Hynds.

Agenda

1. Monthly Financial Report
2. Mayor’s Report
3. Consent Agenda (items that require a vote, like purchases, resolutions, ordinances, etc)
4. Council Member Pop-Off

Mayor’s Report

• Mayor Turner praised the James Beard Chef Action Summit that took place last weekend, organized by the Houston First Corporation.
• Houston received a $28.7M Safe Streets grant from the Federal Department of Transportation for work on Bissonnet between South Dairy Ashford and Hillcroft. This is the largest single award for any entity in Texas, which Mayor Turner attributes to Houston’s Vision Zero, a plan to end Houston traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. Turner thanked the planning department, public works, and federal officials.
• We are now required to microchip all pets in the city of Houston. There are lots of free microchip events and offerings, check BARC’s website.
• Mayor Turner welcomed the new Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and said “Super Bowl here we come,” which got some chuckles.
• Turner invited everyone to stay after the meeting for a ceremony renaming the council chambers in honor of longtime city secretary Anna Russell.
• Mayor Turner concluded by wishing luck to Alief native Toby Ngiwe at the Grammy’s. SWAT!

Item 2 – Membership in the Houston-Galveston Area Council
H-GAC is BACK (in the discourse)

It has been awhile since H-GAC was on the menu. Today’s item 2 approved $92K to renew our membership. H-GAC is a 13-county “Council of Government” made up of elected officials that coordinates federal and state grant money, facilitates cooperative purchasing, and organizes studies and workforce trainings in the region.

• CM Kamin supports our H-GAC membership but highlighted how Houston was shafted during the Harvey flood mitigation funding that H-GAC was in charge of. CM Kubosh asked “why are we supporting them if they’re not supporting us?”
• Mayor Turner agreed the disparity is frustrating. H-GAC is able to draw significantly larger amounts of funding because of Harris County/Houston, but the funding distribution does not always reflect that. Turner still stressed the importance of maintaining local partnerships and being a good neighbor. He hopes that our continued involvement, and $$, will elevate this conversation and “turn a light on.”
• Some discussion ensued about how H-GAC term limits and board structure hamper the Harris County/Houston area from being accurately reflected, and Turner said he genuinely isn’t sure how to solve that problem.
• CM Castex-Tatum agreed that Houston did not receive a fair share of the Harvey Flood Mitigation funding, but amplified the trainings and studies that H-GAC has paid for in District K.
• CM Alcorn, who serves on H-GAC and led the charge for us to get more of the Harvey funding, said we are trying hard to build relationships at H-GAC. She pointed out that most of the funding H-GAC gets and distributes is for workforce development (like what Castex-Tatum talked about) and that funding is allocated proportionally. Houston is the biggest player at the H-GAC table, which naturally causes tension. Houston represents 60% of the H-GAC area, but only makes up 20% of the board composition.
• Mayor Turner described our relationship with H-GAC as a “work in progress,” and that it’s about building relationships. He cautioned against retreating to our separate corner and firing from there. He concluded by saying “there is value in the union.”
• This item passed.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 3 approved the $1.8M final contract (which means the work is completed) for the renovation of Hermann Square downtown. CM Gallegos praised this work for making the square more accessible to people with disabilities, keeping the tree canopy, and improving lighting.
• Item 6 approved $100K for the Credible Messenger program, which CM Jackson has been championing. It partners youth involved in the criminal justice system with a mentor who has had similar experiences. It is proven to reduce re-arrests and generally make people’s lives better.
• Item 8 approved $14M for an outside vendor to repair water main leaks and phewww that’s a lot of money. Mayor Turner said the city averages 400 active leaks per day and they prioritize repair based on size of leak, which is why some have been going on for a long time. Drought and freezing weather causes underground infrastructure to shift, and we have had both. The city is planning to apply for a large federal grant to address this.
• Item 12 approved $6K for safety vests for Houston Public Works. Keep them safe!
• Item 18 approved the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for a private company to purchase a 324 unit affordable housing complex called Coppertree Village in District B. There was some confusion about the tax-exemptness of these bonds, and it turns out that they are 100% tax exempt, which means the city won’t make any money from property taxes. Several CMs argued that it’s okay to lose that tax revenue in this case because of the greater good being done. CM Knox voted no, even though he thinks it’s a good project, because of the tax thing. This item still passed. Everyone has high hopes for the renovation of Coppertree Village, and for their better management under the new owners.
• Item 19 approved $1.3M for the SERjobs Workforce Training Center to buy an emergency generator and construct a childcare room at the Center. CM Gallegos remarked on how challenging childcare can be and praised this item for tackling the issue.
• Item 20 approved a $5M payment to the county to go towards financing a 50-unit affordable housing community for youths aging out of foster care. The total project cost is $40M, with the county paying most of that.
• Item 22 approved $4.2M for the “purchase and distribution of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kits for use at public and private schools.”
• Item 26 fixed an administrative error that lead to the city underpaying for ShotSpotter, the surveillance tech that claims to be able to locate gunshots. Instead of spending $700K, we are now spending $3.5M. CM Thomas used this opportunity to advocate for ShotSpotter on the west side, which she says her constituents want. CM Kamin hopes a review of ShotSpotter’s efficacy will come before the Public Safety committee soon. This item passed, CM Knox voted no.
• Item 39 approved a public hearing on 2/22 at 9am on the creation of a Conservation District Ordinance.
• Item 41 would have approved $396K for an interlocal street rehab project with Harris County, which CM Evans-Shabazz tagged last week in order to scuttle the vote. She opposes the narrowing of Blodgett to make way for protected bike lanes, and is using this small piece of the funding pie to hold things up. I attended a town hall she organized back in December on this, so HMU if you wanna know more about that. Today this item was referred back to the administration for the second time. I don’t know if we will see it again. There was no discussion today although there was quite a bit yesterday during the public comment session.

Council Member Pop-Off

• CM Castex-Tatum wished all a Happy Black History Month. There is an Arbor Day celebration on 2/4 at 9am at Glenshire Park.
• CM Gallegos plugged at least four events that he attended last week. He plugged a hazard mitigation meeting this Saturday 2/4 at 11am at Hartman Park.
• CM Robinson plugged the Transportation, Technology and Infrastructure committee meeting on Thursday, it will have passed by the time these notes come out but they are all available on HTV if you ever wanna dip your toes in!!
• CM Kamin noted Black History Month. She mentioned two street reconstruction projects (the Montrose Allen Parkway bridge and a section of West Alabama) approved today paid for by TIRZ, and thanked them for taking that load off the city’s shoulders.
• CM Pollard plugged a pre-valentines day social on 2/9 from 6:30pm-8:30pm at Bayland Park Community Center.
• CM Huffman gave early notice on a “conversation on crime” she is hosting on 4/13.
• CM Cisneros noted a Safe Streets grant received by the East End district and plugged many pet events – you can visit the District H website for more information.

Who took these notes? And what resources did they use?

My name is Emily Hynds and I am a small business owner, producer of the monthly storytelling series Grown-up Storytime, and lifelong Houstonian. I am not a journalist or government official. I am a local government enthusiast who believes meaningful change starts at home. These notes are presented from my point of view and with my framing, and are not comprehensive. Your notes will certainly be different, and I would love to read them if you attend.

I watched this City Council meeting via HTV: https://www.houstontx.gov/htv/

While compiling these notes I used the following sources:
https://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/james-beard-summit-houston-chefs-restaurant-owners-17754466.php
https://www.houstontx.gov/visionzero/
https://www.khou.com/article/life/animals/houston-mandatory-microchips-pets/285-18b7900c-3a15-4702-a0a1-e95638c871a7
http://www.houstontx.gov/council/h/

You can find your City Council Member and their contact info at: http://www.houstontx.gov/council/whoismycm.html

My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.