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 released the FY24 budget this week. Houston’s fiscal year is July through June. The budget is named for the end year of the fiscal season. So, we’re getting ready for fiscal year 2024, aka FY24.
- Committee meetings that will workshop each section of the budget start today, please see slides from two posts ago for the schedule.
- Turner said this is the best budget his administration could have put forward and described it as fiscally conservative. The fund balance (money held in reserve) is 16.6% of the budget, or about $400M. Very healthy! We are only legally required to reserve 7.5%. Turner said that his goal has been to build up the fund balance so that we have a rainy day fund and can use it to balance the budget going forward.
- He critiqued media representation of this year’s budget and said that even without funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the budget could have been balanced by using that reserved fund balance.
- Turner pointed out a few highlights: a $10M trust fund to address Other Post Employee Benefits (OPEB), additional funding for deferred maintenance, a stabilization fund (IDK what this means), debt reduction (especially OPEB), and more money for drainage.
- Regarding calls for city employee raises, he said that has already been done, “that’s not news.”
- HPD will get over $1B. Turner reiterated that they have never defunded the police. He said crime is going down thanks to One Safe Houston.
- CM Thomas critiqued the revenue cap, which limits the amount of money Houston can collect from property taxes. For context, she said this money could be used to fund Capital Improvement Projects and state of the art community centers in every region.
- CM Kamin brought up the recurring idea of revenue cap exceptions to be spent on public safety. Mayor Turner skirted the issue and defended the current budget.
- CM Robinson brought up the seven federally declared disasters during Mayor Turner’s tenure, and the fact that we have seen no money from the state’s well padded “rainy day fund.” He commended the Mayor for guiding the city through such adversity and managing to not only balance the budget, but build up a healthy fund balance through it all.
- Moving on from the budget:
- It is National Infrastructure Week and National Police Week. HPD Chief Finner and Sgt. Kendrick Simpo are in DC where Simpo is receiving a National Medal of Valor for his role in stopping a potential mass shooting in the Galleria in 2022.
- Saturday there is a Family Day in the Park at Sylvester Turner Park from 2pm-6pm.
- RIP Etta Crockett, whomst Mayor Turner credited with helping him find his way in politics when he was still green.
Agenda Items, Selected Works
- Item 8 approved $15K for more tapping saddles!! 😉
- Item 16 set a public hearing for the proposed budget on Wednesday May 31 at 9am.
- Item 21 approved a $1M grant to Fundación Latinoamericana de Acción Social for providing housing and services to people affected by HIV/AIDS, in District J. Item 22 approved a similar $2M grant to Bread of Life.
- Item 25 approved extending the contract of a service that provides financial management and other services to veterans to help them keep living in their homes. Services include payroll, tax preparation, budget management, cooking, cleaning, bathing, and lawn care.
- Item 26 approved adding $1.95M on top of the already funded $3M for the Houston Forensic Science Center to outsource toxicology cases. CM Kamin highlighted this item and said this is one of the only ways the city can help address the backlog of cases because courts are largely out of the city’s control. Some discussion ensued on what can be done to support the Forensic Science Center. Mayor Turner advocated for more state partnerships, perhaps with DAs and Forensic Science Centers across the state collaborating. He specifically mentioned the fentanyl crisis and concluded by suggesting CM Kamin use the Public Safety Committee to probe into further possible actions.
- Item 43 approved a contract renewal for the company that does mystery shopping services at the airports, no extra funding needed. CM Knox cheekily pointed out that in the survey they just released, Pappas restaurants or Pappas subsidiaries were big winners. The Pappas drama keeps on giving.
- Item 45 approved using $78K from the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund, aka the DDSRF, for an engineering firm to test construction materials that will be used in a drainage project in District H. CM Knox tagged this item last week because he doesn’t think the DDSRF should be used for this type of spending, he thinks it should only be used for actual “shovel ready” projects where drainage work is being done. Everyone disagreed with him because things don’t get built without design, engineering, and testing. This item passed, only CM Knox voted no.
Council Member Pop-Off
- Mayor Turner congratulated CM Jackson on her recent graduation from Texas Southern University and CM Kamin on receiving a Bold Advocacy for Working Families Award from the Gulf Coast AFL-CIO.
- CM Castex-Tatum plugged a Spark Park dedication at Billy Reagan Elementary School on Monday 5/22.
- CM Gallegos advocated for the Railroad Safety Act.
- CM Robinson encouraged people to bicycle to work on Friday, which is Bike to Work Day. There’s an official ride starting at Eado Bike Co at 7:30am.
- CM Thomas plugged a May 20th Health Fair and a farewell celebration for Blake’s BBQ on June 29th.
- CM Alcorn cheered a development in the noise ordinance that allowed the city to revoke The Standard’s (a bar on West Dallas) noise permit. They have had 90+ violations since December of 2022. She praised this year’s budget and said structural imbalances have been met.
- CM Peck praised the new library locker at the Carverdale Community Center. People can order books through Houston Public Library and pick them up / return them at the locker.
- CM Jackson thanked everyone that has helped her during her educational journey, it was very touching. She plugged the Be Successful Second Chance job fair this Saturday, which will also include criminal record expungement services.
- CM Kamin cheered the city’s new remote work policy, which she called transformational. Also, pickleball courts in District C are open!
- CM Pollard plugged a Vietnam Veterans Memorial unveiling on May 26th at Club Creek Park.
- I stopped watching here, because I am very tired and also had other things to do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Who took these notes? And what resources did they use?
My name is Emily Hynds and I am a writer, 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://abc13.com/houston-crime-possible-mass-shooting-galleria-sergeant-thwarted-shootings/12054469/
https://www.houstontx.gov/specialevents/family-day-in-the-park.htmlhttps://houstonbikeplan.org/
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.
