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
*Mayor Whitmire did not do a report today.
Agenda Items, Selected Works
- Item 6 approved $498K for completed repairs to the City Hall Annex parking garage. I’m only including this because it is noted as a Hurricane Harvey repair. Hurricane Harvey was in 2017.
- Item 8 approved $1.5M for completed asphalt and road striping work for bike lanes in Districts C and H.
- CM Castillo tagged Item 10 because he wants more time to understand the process. Item 10 would have approved transferring ownership of an alley from the City to private owners … I think? I was confused by the wording in the support document.
- Item 12 approved $209K for emergency water damage mitigation at both Bush and Hobby airports after Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.
- Item 13 approved the $178K emergency purchase of ice used by the Office of Emergency Management after Hurricane Beryl.
- Item 14 approved $3.6M on vehicles for the Public Works Department. Item 15 approved $75K for a cargo van. Item 16 approved $65K for an SUV for the Police Department. CM Kamin supported all three items but criticized Item 16 for not getting a vehicle with better miles per gallon. She said, “I think we can be doing better on cost savings.”
- Item 18 approved $1.5M over five years for publications, audiovisual materials, books, textbooks, and ancillary services for Houston libraries. The purchase is authorized for a state-approved supplier, Midwest Library Service, Inc.
- Item 26 would have approved the acceptance of audit results for the three City pension systems but CM Alcorn tagged it because it’s going to committee next Monday for review. The pension systems are: Houston Municipal Employees Pension System, Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund, and Houston Police Officers’ Pension System.
- Item 27 denied an application from Centerpoint to raise energy rates in the Houston area.
- Item 28 approved a $250K settlement to a person who claims “the City’s drainage improvements on plaintiffs’ properties damaged multiple tracts of land by causing flooding, water pooling, snake and bug infestation, deforestation and land depreciation.”
- Item 29 approved $100K for computers at the African American History Library.
- Item 31 approved $621K over three years for interpretive services for the Police Department.
- Item 32 approved $58M over three years for a contractor to provide “residual transport services” for the City’s wastewater treatment plants. CM Flickinger complained that this was the only bidder, especially problematic for such an expensive item.
Council Member Pop-Off
Most CMs wished everyone a Happy New Year.
- CM Kamin thanked Mayor Whitmire for his attention to Washington Avenue and advocated for similar attention to the Shady Acres neighborhood. She highlighted a car meet up at the Restaurant Depot every Thursday and Sunday evening, which she says drains police resources and strains the neighborhood. “Guns are going off, fireworks are going off.” Restaurant Depot is a private property and is aware of the meet ups, so she asked Legal what recourse the City has. She also wished CM Huffman a happy birthday.
- CM Huffman complained about slow trash pick up, especially as the City considers a garbage fee. She said, “If we can’t pick up residents’ waste on time, how can we justify a garbage fee?” (it is my understanding that a garbage fee would help address slow pick up, no?)
- CM Ramirez said that a short-term-rental ordinance is in the works. This means regulation of airbnb type rentals.
- CM Thomas shared that the District F Annual Report is out. The southwest trash depository is under construction which is causing trash pick up delays. She shared information about construction projects in District F, a new Westchase patrol, free zoo tickets, and upcoming community meetings.
- CM Castex-Tatum shared information about Christmas light recycling at the South Post Oak recycling center through January. She is hosting a paper-shredding day on 1/25 from 9am-12pm at Westbury United Methodist Church.
- CM Peck shared some updated District A priorities: Spring Shadows drainage and paving, a police and fire station in Spring Branch, Agnes Moffitt Park, the District A disaster recovery plan, and the ditch maintenance program.
- CM Martinez remarked on his office’s efforts to reach unhoused people leading up to the freeze this week; they passed out resources and information to people about shelters. He said, “My office continues to support in the capacity that we can.”
- Mayor Whitmire said there was a METRO mobile warming center up and running during the freeze. “To the best of our knowledge, no one that needed a shelter was going without.” He said there were a few instances where HPD tried to intervene, “but some folks just wouldn’t leave the outdoors.” Regarding the person found dead in a bus stop shelter on Monday morning, Mayor Whitmire said the person denied assistance and called the incident “a mental health case.” (Most news coverage I saw says the person’s death was due to cold weather, but the Mayor said it’s too early to tell the real cause.)
- CM Pollard remarked on his rebrand of District J as “J City.” He outlined some of the services his office will continue to offer to “J City” residents: supplemental home and yard maintenance for seniors, the District J Patrol, a beautification team, a “good neighbor” program, an animal welfare program, and more. Many of these services are ones that District J already offers.
- CM Alcorn plugged Christmas tree recycling around the City.
- CM Carter advocated for second-chance job opportunities for those who have been incarcerated. Mayor Whitmire agreed and complained that the City’s HR department has too much red tape when it comes to this, and hiring in general.
- CM Evans-Shabazz complained about celebratory gunfire. She encouraged people to call 311 to report illegal dumping and then to follow up with her office. She shared an anecdote about confronting a person with a dumpsite on his property. “Sometimes you all think we are just here (in council chambers) but a lot of times we have to take a personal initiative that can put us in some danger.”
- CM Castillo plugged a District H Town Hall this Saturday at 10am at the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center. He complained about poor communication from the Solid Waste Department. Mayor Whitmire agreed and said the Solid Waste Department is under a “severe review.”
- CM Davis went on for a while about crime.
- CM Flickinger plugged the Clear Lake electronics recycling event this Saturday starting at 9am. He shared that he recently had a stroke and thanked Fire Station 101 for steering him through it – literally, it seems. His wife stopped there on the way to the hospital and they helped him.
- Mayor Whitmire used the opportunity to praise firefighters, especially three who were injured during a call yesterday morning. He shared that it was a rehired firefighter, lured back to the department by last year’s pay and benefits agreement, who ended up saving them. He said, “I hope those that challenged the benefits would go by the hospital and see the huge blisters that I saw yesterday. Saved by a rehire that was strong and trained enough to remove the door. It puts a face on our responsibility.”
- CM Davis closed the meeting in prayer for the recovering firefighters and CM Flickinger’s health.
Who took these notes? And what resources did they use?
My name is Emily Hynds. I am a writer, small business owner, producer of the monthly storytelling series Grown-up Storytime, and native 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.
I watched this City Council meeting in person at City Hall (for the first time!). You can watch it via HTV: https://www.houstontx.gov/htv/
While compiling these notes I used the following sources:
https://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic
https://houwatch.com
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/houston/2025/01/06/509800/houston-bus-stop-cold-weather-death/
You can find your City Council Member and their contact info at: http://www.houstontx.gov/council/whoismycm.html
Thank you to the friends who proofread these notes.
My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.
