Houston city council notes, prepared by Emily J Hynds.

Agenda

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

The Mayor’s Report

• Mayor Turner began by highlighting some bills (he thinks are bad) that are making their way through the current Texas legislative session, colloquially known as “the lege.” The tiniest explainer: bills originate in either the house or the senate and if approved, move on to the other. HB stands for House Bill and SB stands for Senate Bill, so you know where the bill originated. This also makes it easier to look up if you want to read more.

• HB 2127 would turn “home rule” cities, like Houston, into “general rule” cities, where cities can’t legislate on things that aren’t expressly governed by the state. He said this is an example of the state trying to hamper the power of municipalities.
• SB 1015 is being pushed by Centerpoint. The way the *current* system works; when energy companies want to raise rates, there is a review process with oversight from municipalities, who can vote to deny the increase. Energy companies are required to reimburse the cities for legal fees incurred during this process. SB 1015 would remove the requirement for the companies to reimburse the cities. Review of rate increases would be left up to the state, “to the extent that they do it all,” Turner said. He pointed out that extreme weather costs, like during Winter Storm Uri, were all passed onto consumers, not absorbed by the energy companies themselves, and removing this oversight would weaken protections even further.
• SB 736, sponsored by John Whitmire, would require binding arbitration for firefighters. Turner said that Houston’s city council should determine what city employees get paid, not a third party who is “unaware of our budget constraints.” He also said it “doesn’t create positive relationships.”
• Mayor Turner encouraged people to contact the city’s government relations office for help and guidance advocating at the lege. He strongly encouraged Council Members to make the trip and advocate on the city’s behalf.
• It’s “fix a leak week.” Excellent branding, I have no notes. The city and partners are hosting two virtual classes with “leaders in the leak repair industry.” houstonpublicworks.org/fix-leak-week
• The Inwood Forest Stormwater Detention Basin groundbreaking is March 31 at 10am. It can hold more water than the astrodome and will provide recreational space. He made a joke about this groundbreaking upstaging the NCAA Final Four tournament, which got some laughs.
• Speaking of which, the NCAA Final Four tournament is April 1 and 3 at NRG Stadium. Turner warned of street closures and commended the NRG team for making such a quick-change from rodeo to Final Four.
• Mayor Turner expressed concern and outrage over the state TEA takeover of HISD. He called attention to the disparity in communication from the state; Governor Abbott was in Cypress recently advocating for a school voucher program which would give parents $8K vouchers to send their kids to private school. Turner quoted Abbott as saying “parents matter” and should have educational choices. Turner pointed out that Abbott has made no appearances to discuss the HISD takeover, instead sending a lower level TEA rep to Westbury High School. Turner said, “if parents matter in Cypress, parents matter at Westbury,” (and Kashmere, and Wheatley, and Wortham). “Somethings’ just not right in the universe,” he said, and he quoted a bible verse that instructs us to treat every person the same. Turner said we cannot “favor one group over another” and “I will fight for our kids.”
• Then he jarringly pivoted to shilling for some new Astros merch.
• Finally Turner wished all Ramadan Mubarak.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Items 1 and 2 approved seven people to the board of Eado TIRZ, including mayoral candidate Chris Hollins.
• Item 5 approved spending $1.7M on tech for the library.
• Item 6 approved $63K for the purchase of two “throwbot” robots for HPD. These are search robots that can “move through a structure and transmit real time video” to an officer. They can “locate and identify subjects and reveal a room’s layout.”
• Item 11 approved the intention to make the downtown “More Space: Main Street” program permanent. The program allows Main Street to close to vehicular traffic between Commerce and Rusk so that restaurants and bars that face the street can use it as customer-serving space. The supporting doc uses the phrase “reclaimed pedestrian area,” which I love.
• Item 19 approved up to $406K to Houston HELP to “finance the operation of a permanent housing community … to very low-income households, in which one or more members are living with HIV/AIDS,” in District D.
• Item 23 approved the purchase of property in District K with 52K square feet of land and 22K square feet of offices and warehouses for the health department to be used for “administrative support during emergencies and natural disasters.”
• Item 32 would have approved reimbursing the county $396K for the already completed underground utilities on Rosewood Street in District D, but CM Evans-Shabazz tagged it. There was no discussion.

Council Member Pop-Off

• CM Thomas appreciated the short agenda, and I agree! She plugged a bunch of events like Easter Day on 4/1, SHSU day at City Hall on 4/11, and a deed restriction workshop on 4/29. Sign up for the District F newsletter and follow Thomas on Twitter to keep up to date.
• CM Alcorn has invited Airbnb to present at the Regulatory and Neighborhood Affairs committee meeting tomorrow. They will go over trust and safety policies, how to report party houses, and Houston First will be there to report on Hotel and Occupancy Tax (HOT) from Airbnb.
• CM Plummer wishes a good Ramadan to all.
• CM Peck plugged a “coffee with cops” event this Friday 3/24, a Saturday plant sale by Near Northwest Management district (nnmd.org), and a Cigna Sunday in the Park event at Shwartz park on Sunday 3/26.
• CM Jackson said the Parks Department will present at the next District B debrief. She’s working on a program to help seniors with their yard work that will hire unhoused people.
• CM Pollard plugged the HBCU all star basketball game on 4/2 at TSU.
• CM Evans-Shabazz remarked on two suicides at UH and said they are “devastating and heartbreaking.” She thinks mental health needs more resources and support. There is a MacGregor Park clean up on Saturday 3/25. There is a Sunnyside Prayer Walk and Block Party on Saturday 3/25, she said “please come out because prayer changes things.”
• CM Cisneros went to every day of the rodeo. Wow!! She applauded the rodeo for raising $22.5M for youth.
• CM Castex-Tatum plugged a volunteer day at Shearn Elementary on Saturday, a “founders breakfast” fundraiser at Westbury park on 3/25, and free tax service at Fountain Life Center. Y’all get you some!! Call 713-726-3398 for more info.
• CM Gallegos commented on a recent community meeting in Eastwood about a planned METRO overpass on Lockwood, which will help the BRT avoid stopped trains. Gallegos relayed the feedback that many residents are opposed to the overpass because it will destroy the character of the neighborhood. Gallegos suggested pursuing an assurance from Union Pacific that they won’t stop on the tracks, which would remove the need for an overpass.
• Finally, Mayor Turner said it’s “all hands on deck” for the legislative session and offered transportation help to any CMs traveling to the capitol to advocate. He added that he hopes this will be a bipartisan effort.

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.

While compiling these notes I used the following sources:
https://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/
https://www.houstonpublicworks.org/fix-leak-week
https://nnmd.org/
https://www.houstontx.gov/specialevents/sunday-in-the-park.html

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

Thank you to Houston In Action and ACLU TX for supporting these notes.
My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.