Houston City Council Notes, prepared by Emily J Hynds

Agenda

1. Mayor’s Report
2. Public Hearing
3. Consent Agenda (items that require a vote, like purchases, resolutions, ordinances, etc.)
4. Council Member Pop-Off

Mayor’s Report

• Mayor Whitmire initiated a moment of silence for Sheila Jackson Lee. Her body will lie in state at City Hall on 8/29. Whitmire reflected on his long career working alongside Jackson Lee for decades, counting himself as one of her early supporters before she held elected office. This coming Monday, in addition to services for Jackson Lee, Mayor Whitmire plans to attend services for Civilian HPD Officer Russel Richardson and travel to Austin for a hearing on Centerpoint’s Hurricane Beryl response.
• Whitmire invited Houston’s Public Safety and Homeland Security ActingDirector Tom Muñoz to give a Beryl update, especially asking him to talk about his own experience and the City’s preparedness.
  • Muñoz went over his background and experience (growing up poor, the fire department, coast guard, emergency management degrees). When Whitmire asked him what the key to disaster preparation is, Muñoz said, “The key to preparation is experiencing it.”
  • Muñoz outlined the Beryl timeline from June 28 to now.
  • Mayor Whitmire asked why they don’t prepare trailers of ice prior to a storm. Muñoz said it’s not safe for the drivers or the cargo.
  • Whitmire asked what we can do better next time. Muñoz said we need:
    • generators at multi-service centers
    • a warehouse to make and store our own ice (presumably with its own generator)
    • collaboration with Council Members for localized plans that interface with each other
    • Collab with FEMA on disaster recovery centers

• CM Castex Tatum advocated for localized recovery plans that get resources close to the people. She and Muñoz both advocated for the FEMA application process to be easier.
• CM Peck wants the City to interface with Districts on localized plans. She asked how the defunct Centerpoint outage tracker affected the City’s response.
  • Muñoz said it greatly impacted the City’s ability to deploy resources, because they had to use raw data from Centerpoint and GIS maps, basically designing a whole new system on the fly. A system he said they are going to keep because we don’t know when Centerpoint’s tracker will be back online and another storm could come anytime.
• CM Kamin emphasized that the main problem is “the State’s inability to keep the lights on,” then pivoted to a list of concerns.
  • Enhanced outreach for unhoused people prior to storms
  • Centerpoint withholding data
  • Kamin asked if it was possible to get WIC and SNAP vouchers sooner
  • Generators for important recovery assets (fire and police stations, multi service centers). She also wants to make sure the City is assessing facilities for storm strength because back up power doesn’t do much good if the roof flew off during the storm.
  • Power issues at the George R. Brown Convention Center
  • Debris removal
  • Mosquitos
  • What are we doing to hold Centerpoint accountable?
• CM Carter suggested the City partner with school districts as resiliency resources (refrigeration, storage, cooling centers, etc).
• CM Davis advocated for interfacing with faith organizations.
• CM Flickinger especially complained about communication difficulties after the storm.
• CM Martinez advocated for localized disaster responses, especially in areas like parts of District I that don’t have City-held multi-service centers. He advocated for generators at senior living facilities, mentioned article 312 of the State code as a possible avenue for tax incentives. He asked for Solid Waste to come before council to report on debris removal.
• CM Thomas said she didn’t have any “attaboys” for the City’s response, heavily criticizing the lack of City response in District F. She said, “If I was not prepared, we would not have had a damn thing.” She outlined District F’s disaster plan, ability to interface with non-governmental orgs, translation plans, and more. She highlighted multiple disparities on the West side and said we must prioritize those most in need. She pointedly remarked that Harris County Commissioner Hidalgo offered District F ice. (Mayor Whitmire always leaves Hidalgo out when he is thanking County support). It would have been easy for Director Muñoz to react defensively, but he responded with grace, appreciation, and looks forward to working with CM Thomas to better prepare for the next disaster.
• CM Plummer said, “We are the city of storms,” implying that we shouldn’t need to beef up preparedness, we should just already be ready, already. She mentioned getting the lily pads up and running (I think these are designated disaster recovery zones), and wants to add libraries to the list of City assets that can be used in recovery. She plans to add requirements for senior homes to her Apartment Inspection Reform ordinance, requiring generators as policy.
• CM Jackson complained about post-storm communication.
• CM Kamin remarked on the importance of flood mitigation and drainage projects as preventive tools that we need to keep investing in. She asked (again) for a list from Houston Public Works (HPW) of shovel-ready drainage and mitigation projects that have been paused. She said we aren’t ready for “the big one” and that we are on borrowed time.
• In conclusion, Mayor Whitmire remarked on past negligence, the need for transparency, and sounded alarm bells about the City’s water treatment plants. He said, “Everything we talked about today revolves around energy and power.” He complained about a leaky roof and drainage issues at Houston’s own Emergency Center as examples of poor maintenance of City facilities.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 2 approved the 2024 Watershed Master Plan. “Pursuing the Watershed Master Plan activity will improve the city’s class rating from a 5 to a class 4 or 3, which will give the citizens of Houston a 30 to 35 percent discount on their flood insurance.”
• Item 6 approved $1.9M for John Deere agricultural mowers and equipment, replacement parts and repair services.
• Item 7 approved $191K for six e-Plex Bay Towers for the Health Department, which detect respiratory viruses and bacteria, including SARS-COV-2.
• Item 8 approved $65K to The French Corner for catering to the Houston Emergency Center during the May derecho activation operation period.
• Item 10 approved $225K over five years for Houston Public Works to place legal notice in the Houston Chronicle. “Public notice provides notification to the public that an entity is applying for a permit, registration, or authorization to emit or discharge a contaminant into the air or water, or to store, process, or dispose of solid waste.” This is required by the TCEQ.
• Item 13 approved $279K for traffic signal equipment.
• Item 15 allows the Harrisburg TIRZ to issue $35M in bonds (debt) to pursue their master plan, which CM Martinez said will enable the development of parks and other quality of life assets.
• Item 16 approved $1.7M and extended the contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Houston for housing for people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Item 21 would have increased the contract with Evolve Houston from $281K to $1.3M, but CM Plummer tagged it. She said she supports micro-transit but still has unanswered questions. CM Thomas joined the tag.
• Several items approved funding or grant applications to support Houston parks: Items 24, 25, and 26.
• Item 30 set a Public Hearing on 8/14/2024 at 9am for the Museum Park Area to get a civility ordinance. The civility ordinance prohibits what and when people can do on sidewalks and is basically an anti-homeless initiative.
• Item 32 approved an amendment that adjusted quorum rules to the Prop A Committee, making it easier for items sent to the Prop A Committee to come back before Council. There was quite a bit of discussion around this that I won’t get into, except to say that Mayor Whitmire seemed to be purposefully obfuscating the issue. Maybe being willfully ignorant? The amendment passed, with CMs Pollard and Thomas voting no.

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://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/houston/2024/07/24/494533/sheila-jackson-lee-to-lie-in-state-at-houston-city-hall-on-monday-have-multiple-memorial-services-during-week

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

Thank you to the volunteers who proofread these notes.
My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.