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Greetings Friends,
As we end the first quarter of 2022, we’ve seen a drastic reduction in the number of infections from COVID 19 and a slow return to life as we knew it. I encourage all unvaccinated Houstonians to get their vaccinations and if already vaccinated to remember to get the booster shot.
Every City Council office has received phone calls and emails from constituents expressing concern for missed trash pickup. The Solid Waste Management Department is struggling to maintain regular service as a result of a lack of vehicle operators due to COVID 19 and employees leaving for private sector positions. SWMD asks that if your trash or recycling are not serviced on your regularly scheduled day, please leave your trash and recycling bins out so they may be serviced during the next sweep. SWMD also reminds Houstonians that the City’s six neighborhood depositories will accept tree waste, junk waste and recycling; All that is required is a City of Houston water bill and a valid driver’s license with a matching address.
Finally, I’m proud to announce that on 4 February I was elected as Chair of the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s (H-GAC) Transportation Policy Council (TPC) by my peers on the committee. I am honored and humbled to accept this leadership position and continue to advocate for more expansive, efficient and equitable transit in the 8 county region represented by the TPC.
Gratefully,
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22 April marks Earth Day 2022, a day to reflect on the health of our planet and spread awareness of the need to protect and preserve our environment. The At-Large 2 team works diligently to be environmentally friendly through simple, daily actions such as composting bio-degradable food and plant materials, reducing the use of paper through actions such as using digital business cards and printing documents only when necessary, and recycling as much as possible. Council Member Robinson and staff bike or take public transit to City Hall and community events when schedules allow, and he is an enthusiastic supporter of the No-Car Earth Day Challenge. This Earth Day, he will be recognizing the impacts he makes on 22 April, as well as the commitment he maintains throughout the year. These small steps make a significant impact on our natural environment. Click HERE to visit Link Houston's website and learn more about No-Car Earth Day and click HERE to learn about how you can take small, daily steps to help protect the health of our planet.
On 22 April 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the City of Houston released the science-based, community-driven Houston Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, meet the Paris Agreement goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and lead the global energy transition. To learn more about the action plan, and to read it in its entirety, click HERE.
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CITY OF HOUSTON TRADE MISSION TO MEXICO
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From 28 March through 1 April, Council Member Robinson joined Mayor Sylvester Turner, Houston First CEO Michael Heckman, Greater Houston Partnership Senior Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer Susan Davenport, City of Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken, representatives from United Airlines, travel and tourism stakeholders and leadership from the Houston Airports System for the "Houston Week” trade mission to Monterrey, Mexico and Mexico City, the City of Houston’s first international trade and tourism mission since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a strategic push and international branding campaign to make Houston the number one tourist destination for Mexican travelers by 2024, the delegation promoted Houston’s diversity in food and drinks, entertainment opportunities and cultures. During the mission, the delegation met with numerous dignitaries including Nuevo León Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepúlveda, and members of Governor Garcia Sepúlveda’s administration for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen existing ties between the State of Nuevo León and the City of Houston. A series of roundtable discussions took place including a global trade discussion with Mexico’s Minister of the Economy Tatiana Clouthierl, and while in Mexico City a meeting with the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Roberto Velasco and Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco. While in Mexico City the delegation had the opportunity to meet with the Mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, to discuss strengthening the relationship between Mexico City and Houston as well as common challenges each city faces such as affordable housing, equitable economic development, climate adaptation and urban resilience. For more information on the mission and its successes, click HERE. |
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On 14 March, Council Member Robinson, Co-Chair of the City of Houston Housing Committee gives remarks at a housing roundtable discussion with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge. Organized by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and held at the Cuney Homes housing complex in the Third Ward, this roundtable discussion gave residents and housing advocates the opportunity to address their hopes and concerns to Secretary Fudge, Congressman Al Green, and Houston Housing Committee Chair Tiffany D. Thomas.
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On 2 February Mayor Sylvester Turner released One Safe Houston: The Mayor’s Public Safety Initiative to Combat Violent Crime, a four-pronged approach to fight violent crime in the City of Houston through violence reduction and crime prevention; crisis intervention, response and recovery; youth outreach opportunities; and key community partnerships. The plan commits to put more officers on the streets through overtime and additional Houston Police cadet classes and creates a $1 million gun buyback program. It will further provide an additional $1.5 million in additional funding to the Houston Forensic Science Center to address the current caseload backlog and funds domestic violence programs with an additional $3 million to provide more services for survivors and prevention efforts. Mayor Turner also announced:
• $2.5 million for the implementation of the CURE Violence program in targeted communities. The Cure Violence model trains and deploys outreach workers and violence interrupters to mitigate conflict on the street before it turns violent.
• A proposed ordinance for council approval requiring security cameras on certain classes of businesses where the increase in crime in concentrated.
• A proposed ordinance for city council approval requiring that a bail bond company charge a premium which is equal to at least ten percent of the amount of the bail bond set by the court.
• Increased support for the Community Re-Entry Network Program. The program helps formerly incarcerated individuals with successful community reintegration including workforce development, mental and behavioral health resources and housing and other basic needs referrals and resources. Reducing recidivism is critical for increasing long-term public health and safety and lowering corrections costs. The proposed $1 million dollar increase will allow a 50% increase in participants to grow from 500 to 750.
For more information on the initiative or to read it in its entirety, please click HERE. |
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JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING ON RAIL SAFETY
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On 27 January, Council Members David W. Robinson, Sallie Alcorn and Robert Gallegos co-chaired a joint Transportation, Technology and Infrastructure; Regulatory and Neighborhood Affairs and Quality of Life Committee meeting on the subject of rail safety in Houston following complaints from residents and businesses of frequent, long-lasting road blockages by stationary trains. During the joint meeting, the role and responsibilities of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) were discussed and an update and overview of the Gulf Coast Rail District and railroad operations were provided. Additionally, representatives from Union Pacific Railroad provided an update on their Houston operations in the region and addressed a number of reasons for the blockages, including a lack of railroad engineers due to the ongoing COVID crisis, longer trains due to short staffing, cargo transportation backlogs due to reduced international production capacity as ports and cargo rail catches up to the global supply chain impacts caused by COVID, and safety inspection issues when trains are forced to decouple. This was the first in a series of Committee meetings on the topic of rail safety. The next meeting will take place on Thursday, 12 May at 10:00 AM and will be livestreamed on HTV Houston HERE. |
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PASSAGE OF AMENDMENTS PROTECTING PETS
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On 19 January, Houston City Council approved amendments to Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances related to additional protections for Houston’s four-legged residents. These amendments include updates to mirror State laws regarding procedures when dealing with aggressive and dangerous dogs, a ban on tying or chaining dogs, and mandates access to clean drinking water and adequate shelter at all times. The amendments also include mandatory microchipping for all owned animals, eliminating the traditional rabies tag and physical pet license and replacing it with a microchip. This change will allow BARC Animal Enforcement Officers to scan and return a pet to its owner while the officers are in the field, eliminating the need to bring the animal back to the shelter for intake. Furthermore, the amendments require all pet stores located within the City limits to sell only dogs and cats sourced from a humane organization or a municipal/county animal shelter. The six existing pet stores that sell breeder obtained dogs and cats will be given one year to come into compliance. Congratulations to Council Member Sallie Alcorn for her hard work in passing this amendment which will improve the quality of life of the dogs and cats in our city.
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APPOINTMENT OF SANJAY RAM AS METRO CHAIR
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On 17 February Mayor Sylvester Turner nominated Sanjay (Ram) Ramabhadran as the next Chair of METRO’s Board of Directors to replace outgoing Chair Carrin Patman, who has been nominated by President Biden to be the next Ambassador to Iceland. Sanjay has served on the METRO Board since May 2015 and is the current Chair of the Capital & Strategic Planning Committee and a member of the Finance & Audit Committee. He has helped oversee the planning, design, construction and launch of major projects, including METRONext, that enhance mobility throughout the region. These projects include a multi-million-dollar program ensuring universal accessibility for passengers with a range of disabilities. He also worked to expand METRORapid, the agency’s bus rapid transit (BRT) service. Initially, a single north-south route connecting Uptown to two major transit centers, the service will also include the Inner Katy Line, connecting Uptown and downtown, and the University Line, which will be the longest BRT line in the nation. He is working to enhance the travel time, reliability, and access for 17 of METRO’s high ridership bus routes as part of the BOOST initiative. Sanjay was sworn in as Chair on 24 February 2022 at METRO’s monthly board meeting.
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ELECTRIC VEHICLE PURCHASE
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On 23 February Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston City Council announced approval to purchase 97 battery electric vehicles. The new electric vehicles (EVs) will replace internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles that are aging out of the City of Houston fleet. The EV purchase is driven by the Houston Climate Action Plan – a strategy that sets out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve regional air quality, and build climate resilience. The Houston Climate Action Plan aims to convert all non-emergency, light-duty municipal vehicles to electric by 2030. The Fleet Management Department, working in coordination with the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability, is spearheading the City’s EV initiative. The City recently partnered with Evolve Houston to apply state-of-the-art methods in life cycle analysis and optimization modeling to determine financial and environmental impacts of investment decisions in EVs and associated infrastructure. Based on this study, electrifying the municipal fleet will generate significant savings from lower energy and maintenance costs, and estimated savings are expected to grow as the cost difference between ICE vehicles and battery electric vehicles continues to shrink. City departments adopting electric vehicles from this purchase include:
• Houston Police Department
• Houston Fire Department
• Houston Parks and Recreation Department
• Fleet Management Department
• General Services Department
• Houston Airport System
• Department of Neighborhoods
• Houston Health Department
• Solid Waste Management Department
• Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department
Data collected on the operation of the EVs in the different City applications will be used to optimize additional EV deployments. This purchase will add to the 40 battery electric vehicles already in the fleet. The City of Houston is actively placing EV charging infrastructure at multiple City facilities to support the delivery of the additional EVs. Due to global supply chain issues, the EVs approved by City Council are not expected to arrive until early Spring of 2023. Additional EV purchases are expected in the coming months. Any grant opportunities that come available prior to the delivery of the vehicles will be thoroughly evaluated for potential in offsetting the City funds used to cover the purchase price of the electric vehicles.
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COUNCIL MEMBER IN THE COMMUNITY
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On 29 January Council Member Robinson joined Pastor Kirk Craig, CEO of Agape CDC and community housing advocates for the ribbon-cutting celebrating the completion of their first set of affordable homes in the Greater OST/South Union neighborhood.
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On 5 February, Council Member Robinson joined his colleague Council Member Kamin, Memorial Park Conservancy President Shellye Arnold, philanthropists Richard and Nancy Kinder and supporters and neighbors for the special preview of the Memorial Park Tunnels.
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On 20 March, Council Member Robinson joined Mayor Turner and Council Members Alcorn and Gallegos and the community for Cigna Sundays in the Park event at Hidalgo Park in the Magnolia Park neighborhood in Houston’s East End.
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