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

Mayor’s Report

• Mayor Turner encouraged everyone to get the new COVID-19 booster, specifically mentioning that the City’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Persse received the Novavax version. He also encouraged everyone to get the flu shot and young people and elders to get the RSV vaccine. If you have insurance, vaccines are available through your general physician and pharmacies. If you don’t have insurance, you can contact the Houston Health Department to find free options.
• Mayor Turner highlighted upgrades to the City’s fleet made during his tenure: $531M spent since 2016 to upgrade vehicles, including a new $1M hazmat truck, making the city’s total three.
• RIP Kathrine McGovern, who passed on December 1.
• Turner pointed out that even if every item on today’s agend passed, the fund balance would be $417M and the net position of the City would $7.6B. Considering the City’s net position when Turner took over in 2016 was negative $95M, he is pleased with himself.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 9 approved the official renaming of River Oaks Park to Pumpkin Park, which has been its unofficial name for, like, ever? CMs Huffman, Kamin, and Alcorn spoke in support. CM Alcorn in particular thanked ~unnamed~ people for the “significant” private investment going into park renovations.
• Item 11 approved the $31M 2024 budget for the Trinity River Water Conveyance Project, part of the Coastal Water Authority that provides water to the City. This funding falls under Houston Public Works, if you’re ever doing some budget combing and want to know where to look.
• Items 28 and 29 approved funding and a lease agreement between the City and Texas State University for the university’s aviation school at Ellington Field. Mayor Turner highlighted the significance as one of the only schools of its kind in the US. CM Castex-Tatum praised this program for addressing the pilot shortage and advocated for state funding. CM Pollard thanked Turner and his administration for their investment in TSU.
• Item 31 would have allowed United Airlines to begin revamping IAH’s Terminal B with an initial $150M investment from the City, but Controller Brown still has not certified funds. Today, CM Castex-Tatum compared this item to another large deal with Southwest Airlines in August, which the Controller did not hold up. She said, “It just seems that the timing is questionable, and it seems really personal.” Mayor Turner said, “He’s not being called out like he should be called out. He is abusing and it’s outside of his authority.” He also implied that the Controller is waiting to certify the funds until the next administration takes over because, “Who knows, he may be a part of the next administration. Time will tell.”
• Item 33 approved $42M to renovate an existing HPD property storage facility into a combined HPD Central Patrol Division and Special Operations Division. CM Robinson recused himself. Mayor Turner remarked on how the renovation will be good for the Greenspoint neighborhood.
• Items 45 approved using $5M from the City’s Parks Special Revenue Fund for the renovation of MacGregor Park Project. The total project cost is $54M, $24M of which comes from an anonymous (until now!!) angel donor.
  • CM Gallegos complained about not knowing where the mystery funds were coming from. He also complained about inattention to Mason Park.
  • Mayor Turner lamented that he could not get to Mason Park before the end of his term. He revealed that the mystery angel donor is, in fact, The Kinder Foundation.
  • CM Kamin highlighted what a “steal” this deal is, with the City only having to pitch in $5M out of $54M total.
• Item 50 approved using $5M to replace the existing Sharpstown Community Center in District J, which will include stormwater detention. CM Martin made a joke about CM Pollard being the Mayor’s little brother who gets all the money. All in good fun, I hope.
• Item 74 approved the Parks and Recreation Department Master Plan. CM Kamin proposed an amendment, which was approved, which adjusted the ranking of facilities so that the West Gray Multi-Service Center receives more emphasis than it did before. West Gray is the only facility serving the disabled community in the entire region, not just its neighborhood. Mayor Turner and CMs Gallegos and Robinson vocally supported.
• The Water Bill Relief Ordinance passed! I will refer you to last week’s notes for details on that. CM Martin complained (again) that the ordinance doesn’t do anything to prevent problems, and I’m sorry but we’ll just have to agree to disagree, I guess. The City is already replacing everyone’s remote read devices.
• Item 79 approved the $10M purchase of land in District H for the future home of Houston Public Library’s new Hispanic History Research Center. Although CM Gallegos was glad to support the item, he complained that he was not consulted in the location search, especially since he is the only Latino Council Member. He said he had to chase Library Director Lawson for meetings, and that during one zoom call, “She just sat there, not saying a word.” He said there was no community involvement in the location search. He lamented the library’s loss of some LULAC archives due to their isolationism. Big beef between CM Gallegos and Library Director Lawson!

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://houwatch.com
http://www.houstonwater.org

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

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