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. Council Member Pop-Off

*I am doing a quick version of the notes this week due to some life stuff that took up a big chunk of my Wednesday. I don’t have time to do research or get into very many weeds. I will also not cover pop-off.

The Mayor’s Report

• The Mayor proclaimed April 17th as Houston Rockets Red Day. He congratulated them on making it to the playoffs, took photos with the delegation present, and several CMs made remarks.
• Whitmire has been teasing for months about drainage lawsuit negotiations and today he revealed the result. Whitmire criticized previous administrations for not following the will of voters who approved a charter amendment in 2010 requiring a certain amount of ad valorem tax to be put into the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund (DDSRF). (I will put a link to an article with a recap in the final slide). Whitmire negotiated a deal with Plaintiffs Jones and Watson, so the city will instead “gradually increase its contribution to the fund over time, starting with $16 million this fiscal year, $48 million next year and the full amount by 2028.” (HPM).
  • Whitmire said that resolving the drainage lawsuit will address budget shortfalls, fulfill campaign promises, and put hundreds of millions of dollars into repairing infrastructure. He said, “This could not have happened without my office leadership, Chief of Staff Chris Newport, and myself. Our team has been meeting for weeks, if not the last several months, with these two honorable men (the lawsuit plaintiffs).”
  • Regarding the FY2026 budget, Newport said the city will contribute ~$75M more into the DDSRF than previous years.

• The two plaintiffs, Jones and Watson, both thanked the Mayor for approaching them about reaching a resolution, something the previous administration did not want to do. They both said that every district can look forward to having more money to spend on drainage and street projects.
• CM Peck congratulated the team on the resolution but criticized how the money will be spent. She said the DDSRF has money left over every year even though there are “shovel-ready” projects waiting for approval. She also wants to make sure the funding is equally distributed.
• CM Pollard said that many projects still won’t get done even with more funding because the workers aren’t available.
• CM Plummer advocated for spending this money using a “worst first” strategy.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 2 approved $10M over three years for repair parts and services for fire trucks.
• Item 5 approved $204K for a large-scale signage printer for the airports.
• Item 7 approved $50K for LED lighting at various parks.
• Item 9 approved $19M through February 2029 for office and cleaning supplies from Staples.
• Item 13 confirmed the appointment of 23 municipal court associate judges.
  • Mayor Whitmire said, “We’re looking for great things from the municipality courts. I know you still have four courtrooms that are boarded up from Harvey, which I find outrageous. We’re making significant progress to find you a new facility and expedite the court process. At one time, traffic court was the second largest revenue source in the City of Houston. But in recent years, due to COVID, due to the facilities, and quite frankly, some of the morale issues of HPD, which has all been fixed, we’re looking for great things from our municipal court to do a better job and participate in traffic enforcement, public safety, protection of pedestrians, walkability, and all the things that a great city provides.”
• Item 19 approved the renaming of Terminal E at IAH to the “Sheila Jackson Lee Terminal E” in honor of the late Congresswoman. Several of Jackson Lee’s family members were in attendance and remarked on her legacy and this honor. Many CMs praised Jackson Lee and her many years of service.
• Item 28 approved $11M over three years for “intelligent manhole monitoring equipment, installation, and monitoring services.” CM Castillo said, “I think that we should encourage other departments to look for technologies like this that can monitor, that can alert, that can streamline, so we can improve our operations and our efficiencies.”
• Item 29 extended the contract with the company responsible for “the sale/auction and final disposal of all property that is taken into their possession from the Houston Police Department (HPD) and Houston Airport Systems (HAS) that is considered abandoned personal property.” CM Kamin voted no because she had questions on how this item relates to asset forfeiture that were not answered. CM Jackson voted no but did not comment.
• Item 40 approved $12K for armadillos, the small concrete slugs used to protect bike lanes. CMs Kamin, Jackson, and Alcorn tagged this last week but it was not discussed this week.
• Item 47 created a short-term rental ordinance. People operating short-term rentals like AirBnbs or VRBOs will need to pay a $250 registration fee, comply with a free online human trafficking training, and the city has some discretion about when to revoke permits based on violations. There was some discussion today but it was quite tedious and probably not of interest unless you operate a short-term rental or are an attorney who plans to engage with short-term rental policy and litigation. There was no discussion on how short-term rentals affect housing stock, housing costs, or displacement. Which are issues that I think a lot about.

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.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/city-of-houston/2025/04/16/518969/city-of-houston-slashes-budget-deficit-as-mayor-reaches-deal-with-plaintiffs-in-streets-and-drainage-lawsuit/

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.