Houston city council notes, prepared by Emily J Hynds.
Agenda
- Mayor’s Report
- Consent Agenda (items that require a vote, like purchases, resolutions, ordinances, etc)
- Council Member Pop-Off
The Mayor’s Report
- Mayor Turner remarked on the powerful storms and tornado in Mississippi over the weekend that left 26 dead and many more injured. There are two city-sponsored relief efforts, one with Gallery Furniture and one with the Astros Foundation. Visit https://houstontx.gov/moc/missippi-tornado-relief.html for needed items and drop-off locations.
- There is a lot going on in Houston this week, and particularly in downtown:
- The NCAA Final Four tournament
- Astro’s season opener on Thursday
- Rockets games
- New Edition at the Toyota Center on Saturday
- Mayor Turner gave a special welcome to the athletes, families, and fans in town for the Final Four and encouraged everyone to plan ahead for transportation and parking
- One Clean Houston is live!! This is a program similar to One Safe Houston. I’m sure we’ll all find out more about it soon.
- On Friday there is a Cesar Chavez Day March to oppose the state takeover of HISD at Cesar Chavez High School, starting at 9am.
- March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
- CM Kamin remarked on the shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School on Monday, saying that military-style weapons are being used against our children. She said that it is devastating to feel happy that it wasn’t worse, that more people weren’t killed.
- Mayor Turner agreed and lamented that school shootings have become normalized. He said “today may not be our day, but there is a tomorrow … Tomorrow could be your kid.”
- CM Cisneros said the leading cause of death for children in the US is gun violence, a striking statistic.
- CM Kubosh asked about the lifeguard situation for summertime pools, and Mayor Turner reported the city is still hiring. The pay is $16-$20 per hour and there is a $500 signing bonus.
- Mayor Turner proclaimed March 29, 2023 “Houston Airports System Day” and presented a certificate to HAS director Mario Diaz and his team. Many speeches were made.
Agenda Item 15: The Conservation District Debate
Item 15 would have approved an ordinance that would pave the way for the creation of Conservation Districts in Independence Heights, Freedmen’s Town, Acres Homes, Magnolia Park/Manchester, Pleasantville, and Piney Point. These six neighborhoods would make up the pilot program, helping the city to develop it further. Unlike Historic Districts, Conservation Districts are tailored to specific neighborhoods, led by the people who live there.
The supporting document lists some benefits of a Conservation District:
- “Protecting the character, look and feel of an area or neighborhood.
- Supporting compatible development and new construction.
- This is designed to be simpler to establish than other forms of neighborhood protection, such as deed restrictions or historic districts.
- This district can include structures of any age and is primarily focused on bulk and scale of buildings, not architectural details like historic districts.”
CM Kubosh tagged this item because he has questions about what data has been used to select these neighborhoods. Mayor Turner invited him to listen to the people from these communities and the district CMs who have been advocating for Conservation Districts. Turner reiterated that today’s item would begin the process, but nothing is set in stone, and also that it is a pilot program to develop best practices. When Kubosh kept pursuing “the data,” Turner repeated that this initiative has been led by people living in these communities and directed Kubosh to listen to them.
CM Gallegos lamented that historic neighborhoods like his home of Magnolia Park, which has no deed restrictions, is losing its character to new development. He also said that Conservation Districts are not being forced on anyone.
CM Kamin said that “history is literally being erased in some of these neighborhoods.” She said that this item initiates a process and that education and outreach campaigns have already begun. She asked City Attorney Arturo Michel if this Conservation District ordinance conflicts with federal preservation requirements. Michel said no and that federal guidance is to use local ordinance to prevent demolition.
CM Thomas talked about “asset based community development” which encourages us to let people who live in these neighborhoods drive the development. She remarked on the history of Piney Point and said “the data” is in the neighborhoods because so much of what was originally there is gone. She praised “citizen led development” because it’s important that we let the people lead. She is “shocked” at some people who don’t live in these neighborhoods encouraging others to vote no. Regarding the elders of these communities who just don’t have the resources to advocate for themselves, Thomas said “it’s our responsibility to protect their interests.”
- She also pushed back that anti-gentrification movements are strictly about preventing new builds. People in Piney Point welcome new development because it will contribute to revitalization and attract people back to the neighborhood. But at the same time, that development needs to keep the character of the neighborhood in mind and build homes that contribute to that character, not detract from it.
CM Cisneros said she knows the Independence Heights community would be very disappointed to see this item tagged today because they have been advocating it for 11 years, which is longer than Kubosh has been on council, she pointedly pointed out. So pointy.
I had to step away, but when I came back CM Gallegos was asking Kubosh to please release his tag so they could vote today. Several CMs remarked on the urgency of this item.
CM Kamin explained how extremely difficult it is to change deed restrictions and shared that Garden Oaks / Oak Forest people recently had to get state law changed so they could remove racist language from theirs.
Despite pressure to remove his tag, Kubosh remained firm. This item is on hold for one more week.
Agenda Items, Selected Works
- Item 1 approved ten people to the Independent Police Oversight Board (IPOB).
- Item 12 approved $371K for floor scrubbers at the airports – gotta keep that 5-Star rating at Hobby!!
- Item 13 approved spending $84K on the software that supports the handheld citation devices used by HPD.
- Items 16 and 17 approved funding for housing for people with HIV/AIDS.
- In addition to Item 15, CM Kubosh tagged items 21, 22, 34, and 35. After he tagged 34, Mayor Turner jokingly said “he has now exceeded his limit,” which got some laughs.
- Item 23 approved $550K for improvements to Little Thicket Park.
- Item 38 approved a $396K reimbursement to the county for already completed underground utilities on Rosewood Street. CM Evans-Shabazz used this as another opportunity to call attention to the county “forcibly” building bike lanes on Blodgett, questioning why they get to build them when the community doesn’t want them. I take personal issue with that statement, but this item doesn’t really have to do with all that, as the Mayor reminded her. The Mayor said to her, “Any time an item comes up in D, you can’t go back to the bike lanes.” Evans-Shabazz and CM Kubosh voted no on this item, it still passed.
Council Member Pop-Off
- CM Alcorn gave an update on the Regulatory and Neighborhood Affairs committee meeting last week that addressed Airbnb. She particularly mentioned an apartment complex in Montrose where every unit is available on Airbnb, effectively a hotel without management. She and CM Peck are working on something to address this and she asked for people and CMs to let her know about other Airbnb problems they are having.
- CM Peck plugged a new ditch maintenance program for District A. If you are a senior, have limited mobility, or don’t have reasonable access to the ditch you are supposed to maintain, you can contact her office for help.
- CM Evans-Shabazz plugged the El Dorado Ballroom grand reopening on Thursday and made a couple jokes about how she can’t stop talking about the Blodgett bike lanes.
CM Thomas went to the National League of Cities conference last week and was reminded that “we are a model for the nation.” She shared some Easter egg hunts happening this weekend, encouraged people to call 311 to report illegal dumping, and asked Mayor Turner to hook her up with tickets for the Megan Thee Stallion show this weekend, haha.
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://houstontx.gov/moc/missippi-tornado-relief.html
https://www.houstoncvpe.org/cesar_chavez_day_march_to_oppose_the_takeover
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.
