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

Controller Hollins and Finance Director Dubowski both made their respective reports.

Please excuse the incoming finance jargon — I don’t really like it and often don’t understand it, but I think it’s important this time. Controller Hollins projects a general fund ending balance of $245M for fiscal year 2025, ~$117M lower than the finance department projections, mostly accounted for because the controller’s office included the annual $100M settlement requirement from the drainage lawsuit. “[The finance department’s] numbers do not account for that requirement.” The general fund end balance is like the City’s savings account and the City is legally required to maintain it at a certain level. The $100M from the drainage lawsuit settlement will still ~belong~ to the City, it will just not be in the general fund balance; it will need to be transferred to the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund (the DDSRF), whose purpose and intention you can deduce from its name.

Controller Hollins mentioned an audit plan his office has proposed to Council. He shared emotional condolences and remembrances for Paul “PJ” Lord, a member of the Controller’s team who recently passed, and Sylvester Turner. Hollins advocated for official remembrances of Turner, including an official photo at City Hall and renaming part of Bagby Street in his honor.

Director Dubowski projects a general fund ending balance of $363M for fiscal year 2025, ~$117M higher than the Controller’s projections. She talked about ongoing negotiations with the drainage lawsuit plaintiffs, which will dictate how and when the City must transfer the annual $100M into the DDSRF. (and which will affect these dueling fund end balance projections)

CM Pollard asked about the variance between Hollins’ and Dubowski’s ending fund balance projections and when the City needs to put the $100M into the DDSRF.

• It seemed like Dubowski did not include the $100M payment in her projection because it’s still under negotiation. She expects to have a plan ready by early May.
• Pollard asked Hollins how his proposed audit plan is different from the recently released Ernst & Young (EY) efficiency report. Hollins explained that EY was not actually auditing, that audits must be independent and EY was not because they were hired by the City. Hollins explained that any overlap between his office’s audits and EY’s report will be “more than coincidental.” The Controller’s office will audit to make sure that recommendations from the EY report are being implemented properly, studying projected budget impacts versus actual impacts, and more. He emphasized again the independent nature of the Controller’s office.
• Pollard, and later CM Castillo, prompted Hollins to explain his office’s staff size. Hollins said they would best operate with ~30 and currently have ~17, the smallest team of a major city in Texas even though Houston is the largest Texas city.

CM Martinez asked which audits in the forthcoming plan will be prioritized and warned against duplicating efforts with EY. Hollins said that audits which might result in the largest savings will be prioritized. Hollins said his team has not been granted full access to the EY data and hopes that Council, and the Mayor’s administration, will support him in his quest for that access. Martinez said, “I think we’re all excited about the audits…” Ahem, all of us??

The Mayor’s Report

Mayor Whitmire shared condolences and solicited Thoughts and Prayers for Paul Lord, Daryl Carter, and Sylvester Turner, and initiated a moment of silence. Then he gave 10-year service awards to CMs Peck and Martinez.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Items 1 and 2 confirmed the reappointment of Michael Roa to the St. George Place TIRZ. CM Pollard praised Roa and said, “TIRZs are as good as the people that serve on them.”
• Item 3 approved the final cost of $81M for IAH’s Terminal A Airport Security and Baggage Handling System. I’m including this to highlight how much money we spend on airports.
• Item 4 approved final work and payment of $2.4M for construction at Winzer Park in District B. Updates include an entry plaza with a park name sign, a picnic pavilion, a playground area, exercise station with a shade cover, splashpad, shade sails and seating, concrete trails, site furniture, fencing, lighting, trees, grass, irrigation, grading, drainage, and site detention.
• Item 11 approved $990K for a Threat Intelligence Platform Solution, which identifies cyber threats to the City.
• Item 17 authorized the submission of four potential projects to the Harris County Precinct 2 2025 Call For Partnership Projects. “Harris County Precinct 2 is seeking potential Capital Improvement Projects to be funded in partnership with other area agencies to serve the citizens of Harris County.” Options are drainage upgrades at Melrose Park, repaving and drainage of Fulton Street, storm sewer work in Gulfway Terrace, and railroad quiet zones in the East End.
• Item 29 would have amended the loan to the MacGregor HEB but was tagged by CM Ramirez. But the whole thing is very interesting to me. The Houston Housing Finance Corporation (whatever that is) owns the land and expected the county to exempt HEB from paying property taxes, which didn’t happen. Since HEB has to pay property taxes, this item proposed letting HEB forgo interest payments on the loan for the land in order to lighten HEB’s financial burden. If anyone knows more about this, please DM me! My understanding is likely very flawed. Maybe we will learn more when it comes back on the agenda next week.
• Item 36 approved $400K for the library’s adult literacy program.
• Item 39 approved $119K for one year of services from Questmark, the company that summons prospective jurors for the municipal courts.
• Items 43-47 would have approved the budgets for five different TIRZs but were tagged by CM Ramirez who took issue with not having enough time to properly review. CM Davis agreed and joined the tag. CM Castex-Tatum encouraged attendance at Economic Development Committee meetings, where the TIRZ budgets are examined. CM Martinez encouraged attendance at TIRZ meetings and said, “[We need] to do our part to make sure that we’re not slowing down projects.” CM Peck spoke in support of Item 45, the Memorial City TIRZ budget, which she says has engaged with both her and CM Huffman and the Mayor’s administration. CM Castillo joined the tag on Item 46, the Harrisburg TIRZ budget, because of typos in the support document.

Council Member Pop-Off

• CM Martinez plugged a meeting on Saturday at 11am at Mason Park to give an update on park construction and renovation. Barrio Dogs is celebrating their 15th anniversary with Pedal for Paws, a bike ride starting at 11am on Sunday at Bohemeo’s.
• CM Pollard plugged a Vietnam War Day Ceremony on 3/29 at 10am at Club Creek Park. Then he said, “I want to clear a couple things up, Mayor. I’ve heard in the news and through your press conferences the mention of conflicts of interest by my office as it pertains to procurement processes and our CDSF (council district service funds is the budget each CM gets for projects out of their own office, usually about $1M annually) … My office does not hire or fire any contractors or vendors. We follow all the city procurement laws … So any assertion or inference that we are skirting any type of rules is false.”
• CM Plummer mentioned a documentary about Fifth Ward which I had not heard of until today. The link is on the At-Large 4 website. She spoke against allegations about a blood test offered to residents, but I am unclear and would love it if someone else can fill me in on what’s up.
• CM Castillo toured the 69th Street Wastewater Treatment Plant, which treats ¼ of the City’s water. He praised the (hardworking and understaffed) employees for coming up with creative solutions to maintain its aging technology. He is glad there is upcoming investment in the 69th Street Plant because “we’d be in a lot of trouble if that plant went down.” Castillo will host a virtual town hall on 4/9 from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
• CM Davis plugged a town hall on 4/21 at 6pm at the Trini Mendenhall Community Center.
• CM Huffman passionately complained about a homeless encampment on Old Farm Road. She implored for the Mayor’s help to get rid of it. Mayor Whitmire said the encampment is “just part of the neglect that’s been present for years.” He reported HPD already “relocated” thirty people and would be back today (Wednesday) for more.
• CM Ramirez praised the Mayor for an “incentivized retirement plan,” announced after the EY efficiency report revealed the City has too many employees. He told the Mayor his team is “very bright.”
• CM Thomas mentioned Engage Houston, the website Public Works uses to engage with the public, is down. “We spent an incredible amount of time promoting Engage Houston … to build credibility with our department so people know what’s happening. When information is not available, it allows [people] to create stories about what the city is and is not doing.
• CM Castex-Tatum plugged a business tax workshop on 3/24 from 5:30pm-7:30pm, the HPD Southwest PIP meeting on 3/25 at 7pm at Quail Run Community Center, and a bankers fair on 9am-12pm on 3/26 at United Way. She shared condolences on the passing of Vivian Harrison, one of the first Black women to integrate HISD schools by teaching in a white school.
• CM Peck plugged the Battle of the Branch on Saturday at noon, the annual Spring Branch HPD vs HFD softball game. Mayor Whitmire’s mic was on during Peck’s remarks and we could hear him chatting. It was very distracting.

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 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.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/drainage-floods-budget-lawsuit-houston-20133131.php

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.