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. Public Comment
4. Council Member Pop-Off

Mayor’s Report

Mayor Whitmire praised City staff, first responders, and the community at-large for successfully weathering the recent freeze. He thanked school districts for closing and said he couldn’t believe it turned into some kind of controversy.

• The City’s warming centers housed ~2K people. Additional warming centers set up by faith organizations and the YMCA helped even more. As the warming centers close, the City plans to conduct outreach to make sure people who want them have support networks and places to go.
• Whitmire praised Public Works for frozen pipe repair.
• CM Thomas praised the communication from the Mayor’s office and advocated for a warming center on the West Side.
• CM Martinez advocated for more warming centers in general, apparently the City itself only opened six.
• CM Kamin outlined the complexity of the past week: a Texans Playoffs game on Saturday, the Houston Marathon on Sunday, MLK Day on Monday, and a hard freeze from Monday through Wednesday. She praised City employees, first responders, and departments from BARC to Parks to HPW who made sure things ran as smoothly as possible.
• CM Castex-Tatum pointed out the District K multi-service center doesn’t have a backup generator which means it can’t be used for a warming center. She wants to know which centers have backup generators and said we should think about that as budget season approaches.
• CM Davis mentioned the dueling MLK parades and Whitmire jokingly deputized him to figure out how to get the two to combine.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 1 confirmed the appointment of Jay Zeidman as Chair for the Houston First Corporation. Several CMs had nice words of welcome for Mr. Zeidman, but what stood out to me was Mayor Whitmire’s repeated inability to correctly pronounce CM Castillo’s name, which is embarrassing for Whitmire and disrespectful to Castillo. I hope someone helps him out with that ASAP.
• Item 3 approved final payment of $1.4M for road construction at Ellington Field. CM Pollard complained that the vendor did not meet their Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) goal. The vendor also received an unsatisfactory rating from the City’s Office of Business Opportunity (OBO) for not making a good faith effort to fulfill this requirement. CMs Plummer and Martinez made similar remarks. CM Castex-Tatum agreed that the MWBE ordinance could use revision, but reminded all that the City is under legal obligation to pay these contracts and could be sued if they don’t. City Attorney Michel referenced a lawsuit the City is currently under, having to do with the City’s MWBE policy. A similar lawsuit was brought in years past, but the City’s policy held up in court.
• Item 8 would have approved an $8.6M final payment to a contractor for road repaneling. CM Castex-Tatum complained that a one-year warranty isn’t enough for projects like this and wants to revisit the policy. CM Jackson tagged the item so she could review the work.
• Agenda Item 9 approved a $16.7M final payment to a vendor for a paving and drainage project in District B. Another MWBE discussion ensued because this vendor also fell short of their goal, although not enough to be censured by OBO. CM Plummer said that many contractors count on the fact that the City is legally obligated to pay them even if they don’t fulfill their MWBE goals. CM Castex-Tatum wants to bring this to the Economic Development Committee for review. CM Davis asked what the review process is like during the terms of a contract, and even Attorney Michel admitted the City could do better at checking in to make sure goals are being met. CMS Pollard, Jackson and Davis voted no but the item still passed.
• Item 11 approved $109K for HPD’s Gang Division to purchase equipment to help HPD gather and sort data on gun related crimes. “Currently, the ATF traces around 12,000 crime guns annually in the Houston metro area, and this tool will allow for comprehensive collation and analysis of this data for the first time, facilitating the visual identification of various elements related to shootings, cartridges, firearms recoveries, Federal Firearms License (FFL), and other information pertaining to the criminal use of firearms.”
• Item 15 approved a $244K grant to Career and Recovery Services for homeless initiatives. CM Martinez praised Career and Recovery Services and highlighted the need to focus on workplace reentry. CM Ramirez supported this item but criticized what he implied was a lack of transparency. CM Thomas responded that all the information Ramirez is asking for was gone over at a Housing and Community Affairs Committee meeting last November. She said, “The amount is little but the impact is huge,” and, “They are doing yeoman’s work in critical times.”
• Item 18 approved a further $877K for the Southwest Multi-Service Center in District J. CM Kamin congratulated CM Pollard on receiving this funding and used the opportunity to advocate for similar renovations to the West Gray Multi-Service Center, which serves as the disability hub for the region. Mayor Whitmire agreed with Kamin and complained about the previous administration’s deferred maintenance. He particularly complained about fire stations, some of which don’t have central air or heat. CM Alcorn said, “You are singing my song,” referencing the City continually deferring regular maintenance, and requested a facility conditions update.
• Item 19 appropriated $22M from two separate funds for the city’s first Public Safety Complex. “The newly constructed facility, which includes a 29,0000 sf police station and a 2,000 sf fleet building, will be located adjacent to the existing Fire Station 84 … The facility will provide spaces for patrol, administration, investigative functions, and opportunities for community relations, as well as a Fleet Building for the maintenance of HPD vehicles. Site improvements include landscaping, parking, stormwater detention, fencing, exterior lighting, and a backup generator.”

Public Comment

Normally, the public comment portion of the meeting takes place on Tuesday, so I don’t usually cover it. The meetings were consolidated this week because of MLK Day. This isn’t everyone, just some highlights.

• Three contractors complained about being unpaid for work done for the City.
• One person advocated for changing Council meeting times to a time that would be more convenient for people to attend. He suggested Thursday at 5pm.
• One person praised the City’s progress on bike infrastructure, especially the 11th Street bike lanes.
• Eight people protested the war against Palestine, urging Council to re-evaluate the City’s investment policy, which includes bonds to Israel, amongst other action items.
• Two people remarked on the unfair treatment of people feeding the homeless at the Central Library downtown.

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

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.