What You Missed at Houston City Council This Month
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 this companion guide.
Winter finally came to Houston—and things got frosty at city hall, too.
Local media reported on the city’s lack of official warming centers during the first bouts of freezing weather in early January, and mayor John Whitmire fired back and doubled down, claiming the city has an extensive outreach program to get unhoused people into a shelter, but that some just don’t want to go. Rather than opening warming centers of their own, the city at first relied on private shelters run by churches and nonprofits, and even a Metro mobile warming center. During the significant freezing temperatures of Winter Storm Enzo last week, the city did open 10 warming centers of its own, using community and multiservice centers in neighborhoods like Acres Homes, Denver Harbor, and Sunnyside.
The Whitmire administration has been very cozy with Metro lately. In addition to the mayor repeatedly praising Metro’s mobile warming center at recent council meetings, finance director Melissa Dubowski attributed significant citywide budget savings to Metro programs that took on the responsibility for some street lighting, traffic signals, and policing. She didn’t mention significant federal grant funding heading to Houston in the near future until councilmember Abbie Kamin questioned her on the matter.
Down payment assistance is coming
Affordable housing is always on the agenda in some form or another, and in early January the city announced an $18 million grant to fund a down payment assistance program using federal Hurricane Harvey dollars. The mayor, Houston’s housing director, and many council members praised this program, saying it will help keep Houston affordable for working class people. Here’s what you need to know:
- The grant funding will be available for low- to moderate-income Houstonians who were here during Hurricane Harvey.
- The grant amounts range from $50,000 to $125,000 and can be used for down payment assistance.
- There are some restrictions: Participants must already be approved for a mortgage, they must remain in the home for up to 10 years (to prevent flipping), and funds can’t be used to rebuild a Harvey-damaged home, among other stipulations. Seriously, read that fine print. The funding isn’t available yet but hopefully there will be significant outreach when it is.
Meanwhile, at HPD…
If you haven’t heard about the drug-addicted rats in the Houston Police Department’s evidence storage room, I am delighted to bring this to your attention. Do yourself a favor and watch this press conference, which feels straight out of a Parks and Recreation episode. TL;DR: Rodents have been snacking on drugs in the evidence room for decades.
Last November, council extended “injury on duty leave” for an HPD officer who was exposed to toxic substances in the narcotics evidence room in 2023. Not only are these substances a danger to personnel and a financial liability, now they are literal rat fodder.
State of the state
It is lege season, that special time every two years when the Texas State Legislature meets. City council recently approved the guiding principles for Houston’s agenda during this legislative session. They include to-be-expected goals like pursuing funding for flood mitigation and housing, but also some interesting items. Perhaps related to the aforementioned viral “rats in the marijuana” news, there is a commitment to try to improve the processing and storage of evidence. And relevant to recent discourse on how to get unhoused people into shelters ahead of bad weather (when they don’t want to go), Houston hopes to pursue legislation “that supports reasonable enforcement of emergency detention orders and involuntary commitment for the safety of those in need of mental health services,” according to the council agenda. Several goals address energy resiliency, like strengthening local governments’ regulatory authority over energy companies, supporting innovative grid solutions, and requiring senior living facilities to have backup power during disasters.
In other energy news: At the January 8 council meeting, members unanimously voted to deny a request from CenterPoint to raise energy rates in the Houston area.
Some bright spots
Did you know that the Houston Marathon started in 1972 with just 113 runners? Councilmember Sallie Alcorn, who ran a half on January 19 along with fellow councilmember Amy Peck, shared an impromptu history lesson at a recent council meeting. This year, the marathon hosted just over 35,000 runners.
Coming up
At the January 15 meeting, one item proposed spending $8.2 million through 2027 on “various goods and products” from Amazon, but it was tagged by councilmembers Abbie Kamin and Amy Peck, which means it’s on hold for at least a week. They didn’t discuss their reasons for tagging, but maybe we’ll find out more the next time it shows up.
I’ll be looking out for more updates on cold weather policies, keeping an eye on affordable housing, and hoping the city manages to wrangle the rats in the evidence storage rooms. And I will, of course, take notes on all of it to share with you next month. Houston City Council meetings take place almost every week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 901 Bagby Street or online via HTV.
