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
The Mayor’s Report
Mayor Whitmire shared condolences and service details for Milton Alford, one of the first Black firefighters the city hired back in 1955. Whitmire called him a trailblazer and said he opened doors for future generations.
Whitmire thanked Watson and Jones, the plaintiffs in the drainage lawsuit. He criticized past administrations for misusing the drainage fee and said this case should have been settled years ago. The Mayor said there will be $120M more in the drainage fund this coming year because of this settlement, increasing the total funding for drainage and streets to almost $500M. The $120M is coming out of the general fund. Whitmire said that a plan to replace that money will be addressed in future budgets.
Agenda Items, Selected Works
- Item 10 accepted final work and approved the final payment of $3.3M for replacing fire hydrants across the city.
- Item 11 accepted final work and approved the final payment of $2.1M for intersection redesign in 13 locations across the city. “The project consisted of rebuilding traffic signals, curb-ramps, turn lanes, pavement markings, concrete panel replacement, signing and sidewalk installations.”
- Item 13 approved $550K for chemical firefighting foam for the airports.
- Item 14 increased spending on firefighter turnout gear from $9.5M to $13.3M.
- Item 15 would have approved $1.1M on vehicles for the police department but CM Kamin tagged it.
- Item 18 approved $36K for upholstery and rug cleaning at 11 libraries.
- Item 19 approved $162K for six thermal imaging camera systems for the police department. These cameras will be installed on HPD’s helicopters and airplane.
- Item 21 approved $2.1M for street maintenance equipment for Houston Public Works, including street sweepers, rollers, and planers.
- Item 24 provided $1.1M to SEARCH Homeless services.
- Item 25 approved an interlocal agreement with Harris County Public Health for the “routine exchange of aggregated and deidentified data.” This will help both agencies better understand disease trends and health threats. “Shared data will include disease case counts by: condition; age; sex; race/ethnicity; geography (ZIP code); case status; and wastewater viral load detection data for specific pathogens (e.g., COVID-19, RSV, flu, mpox).”
- CM Alcorn remarked on the importance of combining the city and county health services. She said this is a first step and hopes for more to come.
- Similar to item 17 last week, today’s item 28 approved a $1M settlement across two companies who sued the city for halted payment on emergency water line repair in 2023. All payments were frozen when a Houston Public Works employee was discovered scheming, bribing, and abusing her power to favor her and her family’s companies. The two companies in today’s item were caught in the crossfire and sued to recover the money the City contractually owed them. See the link in the resources section for more.
- Item 30 approved $1.4M for the replacement of the Solid Waste Department’s Northwest Transfer Station. This item is for the pre-construction phase only. More funds will be requested for construction.
- Item 31 approved an interlocal agreement with the Downtown Development Authority for the purchase and installation of two publicly-available electric vehicle charging stations in Buffalo Bayou Park. The city will contribute $100K. CM Kamin thanked partners and said, “We have a responsibility and obligation for leading in the energy transition.”
- Item 59 approved using $550K of the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund (our old friend, the DDSRF) for design work on various street redesign projects. CM Kamin said that the design phase on one of the projects in this item was already paid for by a TIRZ and criticized lack of oversight that led to duplication. She said she expects more thorough details moving forward, and, “I’m not necessarily trusting the process and things are falling through and we’re wasting money.”
Item 29: The drainage lawsuit settlement
Item 29 finalized the $500K settlement to Jones and Watson, plaintiffs in the drainage lawsuit. “The Plaintiffs have agreed to allow the City time to meet its obligations in return for payment of attorneys’ fees incurred during their lawsuit and certain other responsibilities the City must perform.”
- CM Alcorn supported this item and clarified that going forward, the ad valorem tax will be properly allocated into the drainage fund. The city has been properly using the drainage fund already.
- CM Kamin complained that the settlement agreement was not made public and attempted to delay the vote for one week.
- Mayor Whitmire was dismissive, tried to vote without answering her question, and then (lightheartedly I guess) deflected responsibility to the agenda director Marta Crinejo. He said, “Marta used her best judgment, and quite frankly, she was in contact with [legal] for the finished product that we brought forward today. And I think Marta’s one of the most valuable employees that we have. She does the very best she can, and she’s very transparent.”
- Kamin was very obviously not criticizing Marta. I sincerely mean no offense to Marta, but she has never been singled out like this before, so it felt strange (and icky tbh). I have been in similar situations and it’s very awkward for everyone involved … except the person doing the deflecting, perhaps.
- This item passed. The next step is to get the settlement court-approved, which should require no further action from council.
Council Member Pop-Off
- CM Davis complained about stray dogs and advocated for turning BARC into a local government corporation to help with money issues. He plugged a town hall on 7/21 with free air purifiers.
- CM Flickinger plugged a Senior Citizen Prom in Kingwood on 5/16.
- CM Kamin thanked many partners that made a Mother’s Day event at the Houston Area Women’s Center a success. She complained about noisy bars and clubs. She advocated for a raised crosswalk at Heights High School and said she will fund it, it just needs approval from HPW.
- CM Jackson said that work on Hirsch Road is starting soon. The Bordersville Park will reopen this Saturday 5/17. People should contact her office if they want to organize a neighborhood cleanup. She implored people to stop illegally dumping.
- CM Ramirez recognized National Police Week and commemorated three fallen officers.
- CM Thomas remarked on a fire in Alief and plugged her Summer of Safety initiative, which includes information on smoke alarms. She funded speed bumps in several neighborhoods, but the project has been delayed by HPW. Budget hearings are ongoing. There is an immigration round table on 5/21 centering African voices.
- CM Castex-Tatum has high hopes that the anti-bandit sign bill will pass the TX legislature this year. Mayor Whitmire made a funny comment about how he could arrange for her to get her picture taken when it passes but she might get criticized for working with the opposition. Castex-Tatum plugged a ribbon cutting at the Don Perkins Trail this Saturday 5/17 at 10am. There is a Senior Citizen Prom on Saturday 5/17 at the Stimley Blue Library. There is a PIP meeting on 5/21 at 6pm, they’re going to talk about helicopters.
- CM Peck plugged a ribbon cutting on Saturday 5/17 from 10am-12pm for the Spring Branch Trail Phase 2.
- CM Pollard plugged a bike ride touring “J City” on Saturday 5/17 starting at 10am at Burnett Bayland Park.
- CM Alcorn plugged a budget town hall this Saturday 5/17 at 10am at Fonde Center.
- CM Evans-Shabazz plugged the unveiling of Boynton Chapel’s historic marker from 12pm-2pm on Sunday 5/18.
- CM Castillo is also having speed cushion delay problems and asked for help from HPW. He plugged the budget town hall on Saturday 5/17. The District H Horizons Internship is accepting applications, and it is paid! There is a lemonade market at Lindale Park on Saturday 5/17.
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 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.
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.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/milton-c-alford-houston-s-first-black-20320228.php
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/court/2025/02/05/513017/former-houston-public-works-employee-to-serve-10-years-in-prison-following-water-line-repair-scheme/
You can find your City Council Member and their contact info at: https://www.houstontx.gov/council/whoismycm.html
Thank you to the volunteers who proofread these notes.
My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.
