Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Houston City Council Meetings
Emily Hynds, known locally as “she who takes notes,” has been independently covering Houston City Council meetings since June 2020. In her monthly Houstonia column, she shares all the juicy intel about what’s going on at city hall. Want to check the meetings out for yourself? Read on.
Houston City Council meetings are where all the big city business gets decided…at least the business that’s public. There are plenty of back-door decisions we aren’t privy to, which makes it all the more important to engage when we can. Government is often shrouded in mystery that makes it feel inaccessible, so I’m taking away the guesswork and helping you know exactly how to attend and what to expect.
Nuts and bolts
City Hall is downtown at 901 Bagby St. Council meetings are split into two days: public comment on Tuesdays at 1:30pm and the rest of the agenda on Wednesdays at 9am. On holiday weeks, these two days are consolidated into one big meeting, so always check the schedule ahead of time to make sure you don’t show up on the wrong day. Yes, these meetings are held during weekday working hours, and yes, it is not the most accessible or convenient time for many. Whether this is by design or not, I cannot say.
Houston has 16 council members, each elected for up to two four-year terms. The mayor counts as a member of council and votes on items, too. Find out who your council member is on the City of Houston website, that way you know who to keep tabs on (don’t forget that at-large members represent us all). Council approves spending, resolutions, and ordinances that shape how our city runs. Some of it is mind-numbingly boring (I can’t tell you how many times I have read about sewer pipe cleaning and inspections), but they also vote on upgrades to parks, equipment for the police department, and legal settlements like a recent one for a former Houston firefighter battling sexual harassment in the workplace.
Meetings vary in length but most don’t last longer than three hours. Public comment sessions can be quite short depending on how many people sign up to speak. And one recent regular session meeting was just an hour long, so really—plan for anything.
What to bring
- Transit plan (see below)
- Government-issued ID, like a driver’s license or passport
- Something to drink if you stay thirsty
- Your love (or tolerance) for bureaucracy and minutia
- A sweater or jacket because the council chamber can be cold
Getting there
If you’re driving to city hall, there are nearby parking garages and metered street parking. If you park on the street, do yourself a favor and download the ParkMobile app before you go, which lets you select the closest parking meter and pay on your phone. You can also pay at the meter if you don’t have the app. Be warned! Most street parking is three hours max, so for meetings you know will run long (I’m looking at you, budget week), find a garage or watch from home.
If you use public transit, many bus and rail routes from all corners of Houston run downtown. For instance, the 82 bus runs along Travis, and you can get off at Rusk, which is four blocks from city hall. The 40/41 will drop you at Bagby/Lamar or McKinney/Smith, both practically on top of city hall. Both downtown rail lines have stops just blocks away. If you’re only going for the day, you don’t need a full-on Metro pass—buy a ticket at the train station, when you get on the bus, or use the Metro Q ticketing app. Each ticket lasts for three hours across Metro services.
If you’re a cyclist, you can walk your bike on all of the trains, store your bike on the front of any Metro bus, or use the bike lanes that run into downtown. Some helpful navigation tools include the Houston Bike Plan network map or the Houston Bike Guide, made by locals who ride on these streets themselves.
If you want to watch the meeting on the internet, it’s streamed on the City of Houston website and HTV’s Facebook page. The city does not allow virtual public comment anymore, so these tools are only for people who want to watch the meeting but not engage. This is a livestream (emphasis on the “live”) so you can’t press pause—it will just restart to where the meeting is currently and you’ll have to catch up later once the video is complete.
When you get there
- You will go through a security checkpoint similar to the airport, but more chill. Put your stuff in a bin and walk through a metal detector. The last time I went, my cowboy boots set it off (¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and the guard had to wand me.
- Then, check in at the front desk. They will scan your ID and give you a badge.
- Take the stairs or elevator to the second floor and the council chamber is right there—you can’t miss it.
If you want to speak at city council
- You must sign up the day before by emailing or calling the City Secretary (instructions here). You can sign up in person too but unless you happen to be downtown, that’s not really helpful.
- They will ask for your address, and it’s very likely that someone from your district council member’s office will contact you to see if they can resolve your issue. See? Already getting results. Information about people speaking at council meetings used to be made public, but council passed an ordinance last year to keep that information private, which makes speaking at meetings safer.
- When signing up, they will ask if you plan to speak for one, three, or five minutes.
- Write down what you plan to say and time yourself practicing out loud. Bring your notes with you. Take a deep breath before you talk and try to make eye contact with council members. Sometimes they will ask follow-up questions or engage, but not always.
- Then pat yourself on the back, because public speaking is intimidating. You did it! You engaged with local government. I think you should get a sticker like you do after voting, but alas.
Fun facts and hot tips
- There is no clapping allowed in the chamber so if you get really enthused about something…snap, I guess?
- Sometimes there are public hearings at the top of the Wednesday meetings. These are fun because we get to hear from city employees who work behind the scenes. You can sign up to speak at these public hearings too; the process is the same as the public comment session (see above).
- If a department head is getting approved, they will often be in the chamber with their family and get to make a speech (sometimes followed by a photo op).
- The press all sit up front at the desks, in case you want to spy on them.
- If you like art deco, you’ll appreciate the building. It was built in 1939.
That’s (almost) everything you need to know about attending a Houston City Council meeting, highly recommended viewing for all those who want to know what’s (really) going on to make Houston run. Local government can be absurd, touching, and affects all of our daily lives more than we know. Every Houston resident deserves the opportunity to experience it.
