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

Monthly Financial Report

During the Monthly Financial Report, the City Controller and the Finance Director each give a state-of-the-city report. For his first report as Controller, Chris Hollins explained that he plans to present a spectrum of projections going forward from optimistic, base case, or conservative scenarios. He did, however, emphasize the Controller’s generally understood responsibility to maintain a conservative approach in these assessments. Controller Hollins noted that new elected officials were briefed by every city department except for the Controller’s office and said, “I’d like to change that.” He told CMs to expect an invite from his office shortly for a briefing “to talk about the functions of the Controller’s office, how we can best work together, and to answer any questions that you and your staff might have.”

Next it was Acting Finance Director Melissa Dubowski’s turn, and this was the first time I have ever seen her. I do think I saw former Finance Director Will Jones sitting on Controller Hollins’s team, so maybe there’s some juicy gossip there, we can only hope!!! Director Dubowski’s report was unremarkable.

The Mayor’s Report

• Mayor Whitmire highlighted January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month and talked about City initiatives.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 15. The parade presented by the City and the Black Heritage Society starts at City Hall on Monday at 10am.
• BARC and Linda McIngvale are hosting a free pet adoption event at Club Westside on Saturday, January 13 from 11am-3pm.
• RIP US Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, who passed away on December 31.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 2 approved $57K for an eminent domain proceeding on a parcel of land in Webster for a water line that will go from Clear Lake to League City.
• Item 3 approved $127K for new exercise equipment for all fire stations. Rowers and dumbbells, if you’re curious.
• Item 5 approved $200K on replacement parts for Solid Waste vehicles. From the support doc: “Persistent breakdowns have significantly impacted the operational readiness of our fleet, compromising our ability to provide essential trash and recycling collection services to citizens. This ongoing disruption has resulted in substantial delays, raising concerns about potential health and safety issues associated with unattended waste.”
• Item 7 approved $549K for 11 trucks for HPD. Item 8 approved $4.5M for SUVs for HPD.
• Item 22 approved the City Council schedule for 2024. CM Kamin proposed an amendment to make election day a City Council holiday, which was approved.

Item 34: Funding for the Fifth Ward Cancer Cluster Buyout Program
aka the first battle of the new administration

Item 34 was ultimately referred back to the administration for a four week period of discovery, but only after much discussion. In September, Council approved setting aside $5M to kickstart a voluntary relocation program for people living in the Fifth Ward Cancer Cluster. Today, Item 34 would have approved using $2M of that $5M for the Houston Land Bank to set up their part of operations in the program. Today, CM Plummer made a motion to refer the item back to the administration for four weeks, allowing for more community engagement.

• Mayor Whitmire thinks the relocation fund is important but wants to engage more with the community. He mildly disparaged the current plan *as is* and said the entire project actually needs $40M, not $5M. He said that CMs don’t have all of the information they need, complained about the previous administration’s lack of transparency, and said, “That’s not the way we’re going to operate.” Whitmire said this should have been done years ago, critiquing Mayor Turner for rushing it through at the end of his term. He also called out “some activists and maybe the press” for negative messaging.
• CM Jackson, Council Member for District B which includes Fifth Ward, respected Whitmire’s quest for more information but ultimately disagreed with him. She has been advocating around this issue since 2014 and strongly feels that it is time to move forward. She emphasized that relocation is voluntary and no one is forced to do anything. CM Jackson likened the relocation project to buying a plane and building it while you fly, which is … good??? She said you can’t stop the whole project just because you don’t have all the answers and implied that backtracking now is disrespectful to community members who need help now.
• CM Pollard stressed the importance of deferring to a District CM for District matters. He said, “If we do anything today, it should be in the progress of the people. And I think going forward with this will be in the progress of the people.”
• CM Evans-Shabazz joined Team Jackson and Team Listen-to-District-CMs. She tried to force a vote without further discussion, which failed. There were technical issues so I couldn’t hear who voted how, but the final vote was 12-5.
• Discussion continued in the same vein. Whitmire alluded to an unnamed elected official actively discouraging people from joining the program, which caused some fluster in the council chamber.
• CM Thomas outlined the process of setting up the relocation fund so far, which has included case management with partner orgs, partnership with the Houston Land Trust, and partnership with the Houston Land Bank. Today’s item would have set up that final partnership.
  • She complained about the historic inequity of development in Black and Brown neighborhoods and said this is a way to course correct.
  • “We are intelligent and we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
• Regarding the program as a work in progress, CM Pollard said, “If you don’t have the answers that you’re looking for or there needs to be more clarification, guess what? That’s our job … But we don’t want to stop the program from moving forward, … let’s get them the answers.”
• CM Carter agreed with Whitmire that more time was needed to answer questions. She said, “Council Member Jackson needs to have the answers to be able to provide her constituents with responsible, educated answers.” This sounded a lot to me like CM Carter telling CM Jackson what CM Jackson needs in the same discussion in which CM Jackson was actively, currently, coherently telling everyone what she needs. Bold.
• Eventually, CM Jackson agreed to the four week delay and everyone voted to allow it. This was a bit tenser than I expected for a first meeting. Very exciting.

Council Member Pop-Off

• CM Huffman lauded Human Trafficking Prevention Month and mentioned work on a Short Term Rental Ordinance (think Airbnb) that she says will help curb human trafficking. She plugged a coffee with cops event on 1/16 at Pecan Grill on Eldridge at 9:30am.
• CM Castex-Tatum shared paper shred events on 1/20 and 1/27. Sign up for the District K newsletter to keep up with that type of information.
• CM Peck invited everyone to get involved with PIP meetings.
• CM Martinez complained about Greyhound moving to the East End and pledged to focus attention there.
• CM Alcorn gave an update on the Prop B / H-GAC situation. In the last election, Houston voters approved a measure that would force entities like H-GAC to give Houston representation proportional to its size, which is currently not the case. She outlined some meetings she has attended and said, “I think we’re gonna work it out.” Meaning … H-GAC may be open to negotiating on regional representation.
• CM Carter plugged a Coalition for the Homeless headcount on 1/22 that is seeking volunteers.
• CM Evans-Shabazz applauded today’s robust discussion but said, “I am a fierce supporter of district council members … We are there to represent particular areas in the community and we have more of a touch with the people.”
• CM Castillo expressed solidarity with CM Martinez and District I on the Greyhound issue. He also plugged a District H newsletter.
• CM Flickinger plugged an electronics recycling day in Clear Lake on Saturday from 9am-3pm. The trucks fill up fast!
• CM Kamin lamented hate incidents on the rise in Houston. She applauded Fire Station 33 for excellent constituent feedback. The Office of Emergency Management’s new hazard mitigation plan is available at houstonoem.org.
• Many CMs plugged the MLK Day Parade and various day-of-service events.

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
https://blackheritagesociety.net/

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.