* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [District J Redistricting Town Hall and CIP Meeting] [00:00:09] WELL, GOOD EVENING TO EVERYONE. I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. UH, TONIGHT I AM COUNCIL MEMBER EDWARD POLLARD. I REPRESENT DISTRICT J, WHICH IS SOUTHWEST HOUSTON, PRIMARILY GULFTON, SHARPSTOWN, WESTWOOD, BRADBURN, AND ALE. AND, UM, TONIGHT WE WILL BE HAVING A COMBINED MEETING. SO FIRST WE WILL BE DISCUSSING REDISTRICTING EVERY 10 YEARS, UH, BASED ON THE CENSUS COUNT. UH, WE HAVE TO RE-LOOK AT EACH DISTRICT TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE AS CLOSE TO EQUAL AS POSSIBLE, RIGHT? AND WE LOOK AT DIFFERENT DYNAMICS BASED ON COMMUNITY, UH, BASED ON LIKE-MINDED, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS BASED ON YOUR, UM, ELECTION PRECINCT, UM, JURISDICTIONS. AND SO THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TONIGHT TO DISCUSS THAT, UNDERSTAND THE RULES AND REGULATIONS AROUND THAT. UH, AND THEN AFTER THAT, WE WILL BE DISCUSSING OUR CAPITAL PROJECTS, THINGS THAT ARE ONGOING WITHIN DISTRICT J, UH, THINGS THAT ARE CURRENTLY, UH, UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, AS WELL AS, UH, WHAT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE. YOU ALL WILL BE HEARING FROM OUR MAYOR, UH, SHORTLY. BUT I DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCO IS WITH US. I WANNA GIVE A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO THE, UH, CITY OF HOUSTON PLANNING AND THE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS, UH, FOR PREPARING TONIGHT'S, UH, MATERIALS. COUNCILMAN ROBINSON, COUNCIL MEMBER ROBINSON JUST STEPPED IN AS WELL. THANK YOU, DAVID, FOR BEING HERE. WE ALSO HAVE MANY OF OUR DEPARTMENTS, UH, THAT ARE REPRESENTED HERE, UH, TONIGHT. SO THANK YOU ALL, ALL THE DIRECTORS WHO ARE, ARE IN ATTENDANCE AS WELL. AND THEN WE HAVE SOME OF OUR COUNTY PARTNERS THAT ARE IN THE BUILDING. SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. UH, WE DO HAVE REFRESHMENTS IN THE BACK, UH, CHICK-FIL-A. SO IF ANYONE GETS HUNGRY THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT, UH, PLEASE HELP YOURSELF, UH, TO SOME FOOD. TONIGHT'S PRESENTATION AND OTHER RELATED MATERIALS, UH, WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE ON LET'S TALK HOUSTON.ORG/REDISTRICTING. UM, THIS MEETING ALSO IS GOING TO HAVE TRANSLATION, AND SO I WANT TO SHOUT OUT TO GLOBAL SPEAK TRANSLATIONS, UH, FOR PRO PROVIDING, UH, SPANISH TRANSLATION SERVICES. AND I ALSO WANT TO GIVE, UH, A BIG THANK YOU TO MS. SANDRA RODRIGUEZ, WHO'S IN THE BACK, WHO HELPED, UH, COORDINATE WITH OUR OFFICE FOR THOSE TRANSLATIONS HANDOUTS WITH TRANSLATIONS OF THE VIDEO SCRIPT. AND CITY COUNCIL REDISTRICTING RESOLUTION WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE REDISTRICTING TABLE IN FOUR LANGUAGES. WE HAVE THEM IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, CHINESE, AND VIETNAMESE SPANISH TRANSLATIONS DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT PORTION OF THE MEETING IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. RESIDENTS WHO CANNOT ATTEND TONIGHT'S MEETING WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO, UH, ATTEND A VIRTUAL MEETING ON MAY 25TH THAT WILL STRICTLY TALK ABOUT REDISTRICTING. UH, SO TONIGHT YOU'RE GONNA GET A LOT OF DIFFERENT MATERIAL, A LOT OF DIFFERENT INFORMATION. UM, AND SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU ALL ARE HERE, UM, FOR YOU ALL WHO ARE IN ATTENDANCE. YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT IS GONNA MAKE BE TO MAKE SURE YOU GO BACK INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT HERE. AND SO THEY WILL HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THEY CAN SEE THIS, AS WELL AS TO GET THEIR INSIGHT AND YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN YOUR DISTRICT. UM, SO NOW I'D LIKE TO CALL UP THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON, MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER. LET ME THANK, UH, YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER, AND CERTAINLY LET ME THANK ALL OF YOU FOR BEING PRESIDENT, UH, UH, THIS EVENING. AND WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE, UH, DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES, THE DIRECTORS, THE STAFFERS WHO, WHO ARE HERE. AND, UH, WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF THEM. SO IN ADDITION TO THE REDISTRICTING. AND THEN THE SECOND PART, DEALING WITH CIP, UH, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE AROUND IN PLANNING DEVELOPMENT BAR, UH, ARTURA MICHELLE, THE CITY LEGAL, UH, ATTORNEY IS HERE, UM, LIBRARIES HERE, PARKS AND RACK WEST, UH, DIRECTOR KENNY ALLEN OF PARKS AND REC IS HERE. UH, SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THAT ARE HERE. SO PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE. LET ME JUST, WHILE I'M ON, ON THE PARKS AND REC, UH, IF YOU KNOW OF PEOPLE WHO, WHO KNOW HOW TO SWIM, LIFEGUARDS. LIFEGUARDS, UH, I WILL TELL YOU, WE ARE IN NEED OF LIFEGUARDS FOR THE SUMMER DESPERATELY IN NEED. UH, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, IT'S HARD TO, WE'RE HAVING A HARD TIME HIRING PEOPLE, UH, BUT WE WON'T BE ABLE TO OPEN UP THOSE POOLS FOR THIS SUMMER IF WE DON'T HAVE THE LIFEGUARD. SO LET ME JUST PUT THAT OUT. IN FACT, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THAT IN EVERY ONE OF THESE DISTRICTS, UH, BECAUSE WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF LIFEGUARDS FOR THE, FOR THE SUMMER. UH, BUT AS YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER SAID, EVERY 10 YEARS WE GO THROUGH THIS REDISTRICTING PROCESS. AND, UH, THERE ARE NO MAPS THAT WE ARE SHOWING [00:05:01] YOU BECAUSE NO MAPS AT THIS POINT HAVE BEEN DRAWN. UH, THE FIRST PART IS JUST LISTENING TO YOU, UH, YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU LIKE THE WAY THE DISTRICT IS CONFIGURED, YOU LIKE THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE IN THE DISTRICT. UH, THEN LET US KNOW, UM, THIS DISTRICT, LIKE A FEW OTHERS, UH, THERE IS AN, UH, AN UNDER COUNT, UH, AND YOU WOULD HEAR, YOU CAN KIND OF GO 5%, 5% BELOW, 5% ABOVE EACH ONE OF THESE DISTRICTS SHOULD BE RIGHT AROUND, IS IT 203,000? UH, UH, 209, 209,000. SO THERE ARE SOME DISTRICTS THAT ARE ABOVE THE 209, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME DISTRICTS THAT ARE ABOVE, BELOW THAT, 209. SO, UH, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO HEAR FROM YOU, UH, YOUR THOUGHTS. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE, UH, RECORDED, UH, THIS EVENING. AND THEN, UH, THE, UH, THE DRAFTERS WILL GO BACK AND THEY'LL PUT TOGETHER SOME PROPOSED PLANS, AND THEN YOU'LL GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THOSE, UH, THOSE MAPS. AND THEN WE'LL GET YOUR FEEDBACK BACK AGAIN. THERE'LL BE SOME PUBLIC MEETINGS IN JULY. AND THEN, UH, UH, THESE MAPS WILL THEN BE PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER S SILENT COUNCIL, MEMBER S SILENT ALCO, AND COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID ROBINSON, AND, UH, THE 14 OTHER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS. AND THEN, UH, SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER. AND THEN BASED ON THAT, UH, THEN THE PEOPLE WILL RUN BASED ON THOSE NEW MAPS, UH, AND THEN THEY WILL START REPRESENTING, UH, THE RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS IN JANUARY OF 2024. SO THIS IS THE FIRST STEP, GETTING YOUR THOUGHTS, HEARING FROM YOU, UH, YOUR FEEDBACK, UH, AND THEN FROM YOUR FEEDBACK, AND THEN THE FEEDBACKS THAT WE ARE GETTING, AND THESE 11 OTHER, UH, MEETINGS, THEN THE MAPS WILL BE DRAWN, DRAFT MAPS WILL BE DRAWN, AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON THAT. UM, SO THAT'S WHY WE ARE HERE. IT IS A LISTENING SESSION. I WILL TELL YOU, I'VE GOT THREE MEETINGS TONIGHT, SO I'M GONNA STAY, UH, AS LONG AS I CAN. AND THEN WE'LL BE BEEN, I'LL BE RUNNING ALL OVER. BUT LET ME JUST STOP. AND AT THIS POINT IN TIME TO KINDA GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE WHOLE REDISTRICTING PROCESS. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO GO TO THE VIDEO. HI. HELLO. THIS IS MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER. HOUSTON, THE CITY, WE ALL CALL HOME CONTINUES TO PROSPER AND GROW. RANK THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. WE ARE A DYNAMIC COMMUNITY, RICH IN CULTURE AND DIVERSITY TOGETHER, OUR PEOPLE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS HELP TO SHAPE THE GLOBAL METROPOLIS, WHERE IDEAS, DREAMS, AND IMAGINATION ARE WELCOME AND CELEBRATED. HOW WE CHOOSE TO GOVERN OURSELVES IS ESTABLISHED BY OUR CITY CHARTER, MUCH LIKE THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. OUR CITY CHARTER IS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S GOVERNMENT, AND FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR GOVERNMENT AND WE THE PEOPLE, ANY GOVERNMENT, WHETHER FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL WORKS BEST WHEN IT REPRESENTS THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THE COMMUNITY. THAT'S WHY ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS IS SO IMPORTANT. OUR CITY ATTORNEY, ARTURO HEL, WILL NOW TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN THIS REDISTRICTING PROCESS. THE CITY CHARTER, AS WELL AS STATE AND FEDERAL LAW, REQUIRE THAT WE ADJUST OUR CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS FROM TIME TO TIME IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN DISTRICT POPULATIONS IS NEVER MORE THAN 10% OF THE AVERAGE DISTRICT POPULATION. THE LAST TIME THE CITY ADJUSTED CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT BOUNDARIES, AN ACTION CALLED REDISTRICTING WAS 10 YEARS AGO. SINCE THEN, OUR POPULATION HAS GROWN BY 9.8% AND IS MORE THAN 2.3 MILLION PEOPLE. EACH OF THE 11 COUNCIL DISTRICTS EXPERIENCE POPULATION CHANGE AT DIFFERENT RATES. AS A RESULT, ADJUSTMENTS ARE REQUIRED FOR OUR CURRENT DISTRICTS BY CITY COUNCIL BEFORE THE NEXT MUNICIPAL ELECTION IN 2023. THIS MEETING IS ONE OF THE FIRST STEPS IN THAT PROCESS. ACCORDING TO THE 2020 CENSUS, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DISTRICT WITH THE LARGEST POPULATION, DISTRICT C, AND THE DISTRICT WITH THE SMALLEST POPULATION, DISTRICT H IS OVER 66,000 PEOPLE. THIS IS 31% OF THE AVERAGE DISTRICT POPULATION, FAR ABOVE THE MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE VARIATION. OTHER DISTRICTS ARE ALSO ABOVE OR BELOW THE ALLOWABLE RANGE, AND WILL HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY. THE GOAL OF REDISTRICTING IS TO RECONFIGURE OUR DISTRICTS TO ACHIEVE AN EVEN DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION IN EACH DISTRICT TO MEET REQUIREMENTS OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS. STARTING IN 1964, [00:10:01] THE SUPREME COURT RECOGNIZED THE PRINCIPLE OF ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE, AND THE APPLICABILITY OF THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE TO REDISTRICTING. AND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 AS AMENDED ALSO SETS FORTH REQUIREMENTS THAT WILL AFFECT THIS PROCESS. REDISTRICTING MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, OR MEMBERSHIP IN A PROTECTIVE LANGUAGE. MINORITY GROUP CITY COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED A RESOLUTION THAT ESTABLISHES THE TIMELINE CRITERIA AND RULES THAT WILL HELP GUIDE THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS. THE SPECIFICS FOR EACH OF THESE AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, VIETNAMESE, AND CHINESE, CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEBSITE@WWW.HOUSTONTX.GOV. OUR REDISTRICTING TIMELINE IS GUIDED IN PART BY THE DATES THAT RESULTS OF THE 2020 CENSUS BECOME AVAILABLE, AND BY THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE, WHICH PROVIDES THAT CHANGES IN ELECTION BOUNDARIES. EXAMPLE, COUNCIL DISTRICTS MUST BE ADOPTED MORE THAN THREE MONTHS BEFORE ELECTION DAY. IT IS ALSO INFORMED BY THE 12 MONTH RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT ESTABLISHED IN THE CITY CHARTER. AND THE CITY CHARTER ALSO REQUIRES THAT A REDISTRICTING ORDINANCE BE ADOPTED IN THE SAME YEAR AS THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION. SO THE PLAN ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL IN THE FALL OF 2022 WILL BE RATIFIED BY CITY COUNCIL IN EARLY 2023, AND THE NEW BOUNDARIES WILL BE EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1ST, 2024. WE HAVE ORGANIZED THESE TOWN HALL MEETINGS TO HELP KEEP YOU INFORMED AND AWARE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING AT EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, YOUR PARTICIPATION IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PROCESS, AND WE HOPE YOU'LL PROVIDE COMMENTS TO HELP GUIDE DECISIONS ABOUT THE CONFIGURATION OF OUR 11 COUNCIL DISTRICTS. THESE MEETINGS WILL HAPPEN ACROSS HOUSTON THROUGHOUT THE MONTHS OF APRIL AND MAY. IN JUNE, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, DEMOGRAPHER AND LEGAL COUNSEL WILL PRESENT A DRAFT PLAN AND MAP TO CITY COUNCIL. THREE, PUBLIC HEARINGS WILL BE HELD FOR CITIZENS TO COMMENT ON THE DRAFT PLAN AND MAP. THE FIRST TWO HEARINGS WILL BE ON JULY 13TH, ONE IN THE MORNING, AND ONE IN THE EVENING. AND THE THIRD WILL BE HELD ON JULY 20TH. CITY COUNCIL WILL APPROVE THEIR REDISTRICTING PLAN ORDINANCE IN SEPTEMBER. THE CRITERIA ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL, WHICH SHOULD BE FOLLOWED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE, INCLUDE DISTRICTS SHOULD BE RELATIVELY EQUAL IN POPULATION WITH NO MORE THAN A 10% VARIATION FROM THE AVERAGE DISTRICT SIZE, THEREBY ENSURING THE VITAL STANDARD OF ONE PERSON ONE VOTE. THEY MUST BE COMPOSED OF WHOLE COUNTY VOTING PRECINCTS, WHICH ARE DEFINED BY THE COUNTIES, AND SERVE AS THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS. WHEN PRECINCTS ARE SPLIT BY THE CITY LIMITS, ONLY THE CITY PORTION OF THAT PRECINCT WILL BE USED. THEY SHOULD HAVE EASILY IDENTIFIABLE GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES, SUCH AS MAJOR THOROUGHFARE OR BAYOU. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT NOT ALL COUNTY VOTING PRECINCTS FOLLOW CLEAR GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES, WHICH MAY MAKE IT NECESSARY FOR CITY COUNCIL BOUNDARIES. TO DEVIATE FROM A PREFERRED BOUNDARY, THEY SHOULD MAINTAIN COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST. NEIGHBORHOODS. THEY SHOULD BE COMPACT AND COMPOSED OF CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY, INCLUDING FUNCTIONAL AND GEOGRAPHIC CONTIGUITY. THE FUNCTIONAL DIMENSION MAY TAKE ON ADDED WEIGHT IN SITUATIONS IN WHICH GEOGRAPHIC COMPACTNESS MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE, IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT SOME AREAS ARE ATTACHED TO THE REMAINDER OF THE CITY, ONLY BY RELATIVELY LONG AND NARROW STRIPS OF LAND. FUNCTIONAL COMPACTNESS AND CONTINUITY INCLUDES CONSIDERING FACTORS SUCH AS AVAILABILITY OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION, EXISTENCE OF COMMON SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND OTHER SHARED INTERESTS. THE ABILITY OF CITIZENS OF A COUNCIL DISTRICT TO RELATE TO EACH OTHER AND TO THEIR REPRESENTATIVE ON CITY COUNCIL, AND THE ABILITY OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER TO RELATE TO HIS OR HER CONSTITUENCY. THEY SHOULD PRESERVE INCUMBENT CONSTITUENT RELATIONS BY RECOGNITION OF THE RESIDENTS, OF EXISTING MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, AND THEIR HISTORY IN REPRESENTING CERTAIN AREAS. THE PLAN SHOULD NOT FRAGMENT A GEOGRAPHICALLY COMPACT MINORITY COMMUNITY OR PACK MINORITY VOTERS IN THE PRESENCE OF POLARIZED VOTING SO AS TO CREATE LIABILITY UNDER SECTION TWO OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. MORE DETAILS ABOUT THESE CRITERIA CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEBSITE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, VIETNAMESE, AND CHINESE. TO HELP US MANAGE THIS COMPLICATED AND LENGTHY PROCESS, CITY COUNCIL ALSO ESTABLISHED THESE IMPORTANT RULES. THE CITY'S PLAN AND ANYONE ELSE'S PLAN SUBMITTED TO THE CITY FOR CONSIDERATION MUST BE IN WRITING, BE BASED ON THE 2020 FEDERAL CENSUS MUST REDISTRICT THE ENTIRE CITY CONTAINING PROPOSED BOUNDARIES FOR ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS WITHIN THE CITY. IF A PLAN DOES NOT REDISTRICT THE ENTIRE CITY, IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR COUNCIL TO ASSESS THE PLAN'S IMPACT ON ONE OR MORE PROTECTED [00:15:01] MINORITY GROUPS. THIS REQUIREMENT DOES NOT PRECLUDE CITIZENS FROM PROPOSING THAT PARTICULAR VOTING, PRECINCTS, NEIGHBORHOODS, OR LOCATIONS BE INCLUDED IN A SPECIFIC COUNCIL DISTRICT. THE PLAN MUST CONFORM TO THE CRITERIA DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY AND BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 4:45 PM ON JULY 20TH, 2022. TO RUPE KOSHI IN THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. WE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD REGARDING YOUR SUGGESTIONS OR THE CONFIGURATION OF THE NEW COUNCIL DISTRICTS. YOUR INPUT MAY SIMPLY BE REGARDING NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES, OR YOU MAY WANT TO SUBMIT A COMPLETE REDISTRICTING PLAN. EITHER WAY, THERE ARE SEVERAL POINTS AT WHICH YOU CAN SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS, OPINIONS, OR PLANS, ONE HERE AT THIS OR OTHER SCHEDULED TOWN HALL MEETINGS. TWO THROUGH OUR WEBPAGE@WWW.HOUSTONTX.GOV. THREE DIRECTLY TO RUPE KOSHI IN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT THROUGH EMAIL AT RUPESH DOT KOHI, AT HOUSTON TX.GOV BY US POSTAL SERVICE, OR HAND DELIVERY TO RUBES KOHI, OR FOUR AT ONE OF THE THREE PUBLIC HEARINGS THAT WILL BE HELD IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF CITY HALL 9 0 1 BAGBY STREET. IF YOU WANT TO SUBMIT A PLAN OF YOUR OWN, IT IS VITAL THAT YOU FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES CRITERIA AND RULES FOR THE CONSIDERATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW COUNCIL DISTRICTS. WE'RE READY TO HELP TO ENABLE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP AND SUBMIT THEIR OWN PLAN. A COMPUTER KIOSK WITH REDISTRICTING SOFTWARE WILL BE SET UP IN THE OFFICES OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT ON THE SIX FOUR OF SIX 11 WALKER STREET, SEVEN SEVEN ZERO ZERO TWO. PLEASE CALL 8 3 2 3 9 3 6 5 5 2 TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT SO A STAFF MEMBER CAN ASSIST YOU IN USING THE SOFTWARE. AGAIN, ALL PLANS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 4:45 PM ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH, 2022. NO MATTER HOW OR WHERE YOU JOIN THIS CONVERSATION, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHERE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES ARE AND WHERE IT MAKES SENSE TO KEEP A COMMUNITY OF INTEREST TOGETHER. HOUSTON WILL BE STRONGER AS A RESULT OF YOUR PARTICIPATION. THANK YOU FOR JOINING IN THE CONVERSATION. UM, SO NOW, UM, WE'LL GET TO THE PART WHERE, WHERE ANYBODY WHO CAME TONIGHT TO MAKE SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE REDISTRICTING, THIS WILL BE YOUR CHANCE TO DO SO, AND HOPEFULLY YOU, UM, SIGNED A CARD. I DON'T HAVE ANY CARDS. YEAH, NO CARD. RAISE YOUR HAND AND STAFF WILL PICK UP CARDS. AND JUST A REMINDER, THIS FIRST PART, WE JUST, UM, WANNA HEAR ABOUT REDISTRICTING. AGAIN, I'M JENNIFER OSLAND, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, AND I'M JOINED BY JERRY WOOD, WHO'S OUR DEMOGRAPHER ON THIS PROJECT. AND HE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY, UH, SEVERAL REDISTRICTING EFFORTS OVER THE YEARS. SO I WILL DEFER TO HIM FOR THE HARD QUESTIONS. UM, AND THEN WHEN WE'RE DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS, THE, UM, HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS WILL COME UP AND, UM, LISTEN, UM, TO COMMENTS ABOUT THE CIP. SO WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS I'M GONNA GET THE CARDS, I WILL CALL NAMES. UM, LET'S SEE. ALL RIGHT, SO FIRST LET'S, UM, HEAR FROM, UH, BRIAN RAGY. DID I SAY THAT? I PROBABLY SAID THAT RIGHT? FOLLOWED BY VERONICA. UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE. X-I-L-O-J. I'M SORRY, BRIAN. YES. YES. WELCOME. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. SO I'M GONNA START OFF WITH, I NEED A BIT OF AN EDUCATION. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE CENSUS IS USED TO COUNT ALL HOUSEHOLD, NOT NECESSARILY HOUSEHOLDS THAT HAVE THE LEGAL ABILITY TO VOTE. MY CONCERN IS IF I UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS CORRECTLY, WHICH I'M NOT SURE I DO, UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL AREAS WITHIN HOUSTON THAT HAVE LARGE POPULATIONS OF RESIDENTS THAT IN THEORY CAN'T VOTE. SO HOW DOES THE OVERALL PLAN FOR REDISTRICTING ENCOMPASS THOSE ANOMALIES SO THAT YOU WON'T WIND UP WITH A DISTRICT WITH A LARGE POPULATION THAT ISN'T VOTING AND A VERY SMALL POPULATION THAT IS VOTING, SO THAT AS WE LOOK AT STATISTICS IN FOLLOWING YEARS, YOU MIGHT BELIEVE THERE'S A VERY LOW VOTE OR TURNOUT, BUT WE'VE DRAWN THE DISTRICT TO INCLUDE [00:20:01] A LARGE POPULATION OF PEOPLE ON THE CENSUS THAT CAN'T LEGALLY VOTE. THANK YOU. JERRY, CAN YOU THE, WHAT IS, UH, OH, YOUR TRANSLATION? OKAY, PLEASE. GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. MY NAME IS FLO DEI. I'M THE CEO OF GLOBAL SPEAK TRANSLATIONS. AND TONIGHT WE ARE PROVIDING LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SERVICES, INTERPRETATION SERVICES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH. SHOULD YOU NEED THOSE SERVICES, PLEASE COME SEE US WHEN I START. SO IF FLO DEI, THE CENSUS DOES COUNT ALL POPULATION, UH, WITHOUT REGARD TO WHETHER SOMEONE IS A, UH, CITIZEN OR NOT A CITIZEN, OR WHETHER THEY'RE 18 YEARS OLD OR NOT. SO, UM, AN, AN AREA THAT HAS A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF, UH, FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN, FOR INSTANCE, WILL HAVE A HIGHER RATIO OF, OF NON-VOTERS THAN AN AREA THAT IS, FOR INSTANCE, MOSTLY ADULTS LIVING IN DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS, FOR INSTANCE. UM, THE SAME WOULD BE TRUE IN A CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE YOU HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CITIZENS IN A GIVEN AREA. BUT AS FAR AS THE DISTRICTING IS CONCERNED, WE ARE USING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN A GIVEN, UH, GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF PRECINCT IN THESE CASES, UH, AS THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THESE DISTRICTS. AND WE DON'T HAVE A, UH, WE DON'T HAVE A PROCESS FOR TRYING TO BALANCE OUT THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL VOTERS BECAUSE THAT WILL VARY WITHOUT REGARD TO CITIZENSHIP EVEN. IS THAT SPECIFIED BY LAW, OR IS THAT A CHOICE WE'RE MAKING? BECAUSE I, I THINK IT LEADS TO PRETTY LARGE STATISTICAL ANOMALIES IN HOW WE'RE BEING DIVIDED UP IN THE CITY. LET ME, LET ME EVEN ADD TO WHAT JERRY HAD TO SAY. FOR EXAMPLE, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE SOME AREAS, LET'S SAY IN RURAL TEXAS YEAH. YOU HAVE PRISONS. YEP. OKAY. THOSE PERSONS IN THOSE PRISONS ARE COUNTED WHEN YOU'RE DRAWING THE LINES. UM, MANY OF THEM CAN'T VOTE, BUT IT IS BASED ON THE BODIES, NOT BASED ON, UH, WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE, CAN VOTE, DO VOTE, UH, IT IS BASED ON WHERE THE BODIES ARE. AND THEN YOU DRAW THE LINES ACCORDINGLY. SO, UH, THAT IS BY LAW. OKAY. SO FOR EXAMPLE, SO IF YOU HAVE SOME PEOPLE THAT SAY, UH, THAT ARE NOT EVEN ELIGIBLE TO VOTE, CAN'T VOTE, THEY ARE STILL COUNTED IN GETTING TO THAT 209,000 NUMBER. YEAH. AND I'M, I'M NOT SUGGESTING THEIR VOICE SHOULDN'T COUNT. RIGHT. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE VOTING STATISTICS WHERE IN COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD'S CASE, HIS DISTRICT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IT HAS VERY LOW VOTER TURNOUT. YEAH. BUT HE HAS A VERY LARGE POPULATION OF NON ABILITY TO VOTE RESIDENTS. AND, AND I'M WITH YOU AND I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION, BUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE, WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE PEOPLE, FOR EXAMPLE, A DISTRICT THAT MAY BE HEAVILY POPULATED WITH IMMIGRANTS OR REFUGEES, OR WHETHER YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHERE THERE ARE PRISONS AND THEY'RE LOCKED UP, DOESN'T MATTER. IT, IT DOES NOT MATTER. IT'S WHERE THE, WHERE THE WARM BODIES ARE. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IF, IF THAT, AND THIS, THAT'S THE BEST WAY I CAN EXPLAIN IT. YEAH, NO, THAT'S, THAT'S A VERY GOOD EXPLANATION. I APPRECIATE IT. RIGHT. AND IT'S BASED ON THE LAW. THAT'S LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN I WAS IN THE LEGISLATURE, UH, FOR RURAL TEXAS WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE MOVED OUT, AND YOU HAVE THOSE PRISONS AND LET'S SAY IN RURAL TEXAS, AND MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE COMING FROM, LET'S SAY, UH, CITIES. OKAY. WHILE SOME WOULD ARGUE THAT, UH, THOSE PERSONS SHOULD BE COUNTED IN THE CITIES THAT THEY ARE COMING FROM, UH, BUT YOU COUNT THEM WHERE THE BODIES ARE. AND SO THEY ARE COUNTED IN THOSE AREAS, EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY BE COMING FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE. AND EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE, YOU STILL COUNT THEM IN DRAWING THE LINES. OKAY. AND THEN I KNOW WE THREW OUT A LOT THE, THE VIDEO WASN'T WORKING. UM, BUT GO BACK TO THE MAP. UM, GO BACK TO THE CHARTS. THE NEXT ONE, THE NEXT, THERE WE GO. SO AS YOU CAN SEE WITH DISTRICTS, B, DISTRICT F, UM, HI, AND J, UH, THEY ARE UNDER. AND THEN YOU HAVE SOME OF THOSE DISTRICTS WHO ARE ABOVE. SO WE ARE TRYING TO PORTION, PORTION THAT OUT SO THAT ON [00:25:01] AVERAGE, UH, YOU HAVE ABOUT 209,000 IN EACH ONE OF THE DISTRICTS, BUT THE VARIANT CAN BE 5% OVER OR 5% UNDER. SO THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO EVEN OUT IN. NOW, LET ME JUST SAY THIS. THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN, FOR EXAMPLE, IN DISTRICT J, THAT THERE ARE 11% LESS PEOPLE. OKAY. THE, THE CENSUS COUNT MAY HAVE BEEN UNDER, DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN, COULD HAVE BEEN, THERE COULD BE MORE PEOPLE IN DISTRICT J, BUT BASED ON THE CENSUS COUNT, THESE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT WE HAVE TO USE. OKAY. BECAUSE IN MANY, MANY CASES, THE FOLK IN DISTRICT, JADE, FCON DISTRICT, I, THERE MAY BE A LOT MORE PEOPLE IN THOSE DISTRICTS, BUT WE CAN ONLY GO BY THE CENSUS NUMBERS. AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE. OKAY. NEXT. THANK YOU MAYOR TURNER. NEXT IS, UM, UP IS VERONICA. SHEILA, I APOLOGIZE IF I GOT YOUR NAME WRONG. THANK YOU. YOU ACTUALLY DID A GREAT JOB. NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN PRONOUNCE IT . SO, HELLO EVERYBODY, MY NAME IS VERONICA, SHEILA MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE IN THIS WONDERFUL DISTRICT THAT WE'RE IN. UH, TODAY I WANT TO ADVOCATE FOR SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, WHICH WOULD BASICALLY MEAN ADDING MORE COUNCIL DISTRICTS INSTEAD OF EXPANDING THE CURRENT COUNCIL DISTRICTS. WE HAVE, WE HAVE NOTICED, AND, AND THE MAYOR DID MENTION THAT, THAT THE CENSUS DATA DIDN'T, PROBABLY FULLY DIDN'T COLLECT EVERYTHING. UH, WISE. WE LIVE IN, IN A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE ARE AFRAID BECAUSE OF THEIR BACKGROUND, THAT THEY CAN FILL THE CENSUS OUT, THAT THEY DIDN'T FEEL, FEEL SAFE, UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO THE POLITICAL CLIMATE BACK THEN, AND COVID, IT INFLUENCED A LOT WITH THIS DATA. SO IN MY OPINION, IT WOULD BE A LOT MORE PROPORTIONATE INSTEAD OF EXPANDING. AND PARTICULARLY TO SAY DISTRICTS I AND J, WHICH ARE DISTRICTS THAT ARE MAJORITY LATINO, UH, ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GONNA KIND OF GET A LITTLE BIT DISSERVICED IF WE EXPAND THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS. AND THERE MAY BE SOME DISPROPORTION THERE BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH GREAT INITIATIVES COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE WANTING TO WORK ON. UH, WE HAVE A COUNCIL MEMBER THAT DOES A LOT OF WORK FOR US IN PUBLIC SAFETY AND SO MANY OTHER INITIATIVES. AND SO EXPANDING ON A DISTRICT WOULD KIND OF PUT A CONSTRAINT ON WHAT COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ABLE TO DO, UH, IN A WAY WOULD KIND OF BRING HARDSHIP TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. 'CAUSE THEY WANNA TOUCH EVERY CORNER OF THEIR DISTRICT. WE KNOW THEY'RE THERE TO ADVOCATE FOR US. WE KNOW THEY'RE ALWAYS THERE TO LISTEN TO US. THE MAYOR IS ALSO THERE. UM, SO FOR ME, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADVOCATE AND SEE IF THE CITY COULD CONSIDER THAT, EVEN IF IT'S NOT NOW, MAYBE POTENTIAL IN THE FUTURE. UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF LEG WORK INVOLVED WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT IT WOULD BE SOMETHING GREAT TO CONSIDER, UM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE CURRENT PLAN WOULD REALLY BE DISPROPORTIONATE, NOT ONLY TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO TO THE MINORITY COMMUNITIES, WHICH ARE A LOT IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. SO I JUST WOULD LIKE TO ASK IF THAT IS AN OPTION OR IF THAT'S SOMETHING THE CITY HAS CONSIDERED YET. THANK YOU, JERRY. UH, IT'S ALL SET BY THE CITY CHARTER. SO WE, WE HAVE A CHARTER RIGHT NOW THAT SPECIFIES 11 DISTRICTS AND FIVE AT LARGE. UM, A CHARTER CHANGE WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR US TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF OF SIG MEMBER DISTRICTS. RIGHT. AND AND THAT'S, THAT HAS TO BE VOTED ON BY THE PUBLIC. THAT'S CORRECT. YEAH. AND IT WOULD REQUIRE A CHARTER CHANGE. BUT I WILL TELL YOU IN, IN DRAWING THE DISTRICT LINES, UH, NOT ONLY DO YOU FACTOR IN, UH, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, THE WARM BODIES IN A CERTAIN AREA, BUT YOU ALSO FACTOR IN THE COMMUNITY OF INTEREST. YOU FACTOR IN THE DIVERSITY OF THE CITY. YOU KNOW, ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. SO WE DON'T JUST, IS THERE A MAP THAT WE, WE HAVE MAPS ON THE SIDE, BUT NOTHING THAT CAN, WE CAN PUT ON THE SCREEN? NO. WELL, MAYBE THIS HOLD ONE UP. YOU TAKE ONE. OKAY. I HAVE TWO VANNA WHITES HERE. , I CAN'T. OKAY. IS THAT THE YEAH. OKAY. SO THESE, THESE, THESE ARE THE DISTRICTS. OKAY. IT IS NOT, UH, IT IS NOT AS EASY AS, OKAY, DISTRICT J, WHERE'S DISTRICT J? DISTRICT J IS RIGHT HERE. SO IT'S, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT TAKING AND ADDING 11%, YOU KNOW, AND PUTTING IT IN DISTRICT J OR ANY OF THESE OTHER DISTRICTS. WE DO TAKE INTO TO ACCOUNT THE COMMUNITY OF INTEREST BECAUSE THAT'S, THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT. OKAY. WE DO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE, WHETHER THE DISTRICT HAS TOO MANY PEOPLE OR TOO FEW PEOPLE, WE FACTOR THAT IN. BUT WE ALSO FACTOR IN THE DIVERSITY OF OUR CITY AND THE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, FOR THAT DIVERSE DEMOGRAPHIC TO BE FACTORED IN. SO WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHETHER OR NOT THE DISTRICT AND DISTRICT J IS, IS ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE, IF NOT THE DIVERSE, UH, DISTRICT [00:30:01] IN THE ENTIRE CITY. SO WE TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT. WE TAKE IT INTO ACCOUNT, UH, IN TERMS OF MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING HISPANIC REPRESENTATION, AFRICAN AMERICAN REPRESENTATION, ASIAN REPRESENTATION, UH, WE, ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS WE DO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. SO IT'S A, IT IS A MORE COMPLICATED PROCESS, BUT IF YOU START, UH, WE HAVE 11 DISTRICTS AND FIVE AT LARGE, IT REQUIRES A CHARTER CHANGE. BUT EVEN IF YOU GO IN THAT DIRECTION, YOU'RE STILL GONNA HAVE TO FACTOR IN ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THERE'S NO GUARANTEE WHO'S GOING TO BE ELECTED BECAUSE THEN IT, YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHO GOES TO THE POLL AND VOTE. BUT WE DO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE DIVERSITY OF OUR CITY AND WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO ARE SITTING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE ARE REFLECTIVE OF THAT DIVERSITY. DEFINITELY. OKAY. THAT'S IMPORTANT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. I'VE GOT, UH, TWO MORE SPEAKERS SIGNED UP ON REDISTRICTING, UH, GREG, UH, D DEXTER, SORRY. FOLLOWED BY ROY LIRA. UH, THANK YOU. MY NAME IS GREG DETER DEGER, AND, UH, I'M AN ATTORNEY AND I'M ALSO A METEOROLOGIST, WHICH PLAYS INTO THE QUESTION THAT I'M GOING TO ASK YOU. UH, WHEN I HEARD THE CONSIDERATIONS Y'ALL HAD FOR SIGNING DISTRICTS, THOSE ARE ALL GOOD AND NOBLE CONSIDERATIONS, BUT THE ONE THING I DID NOT HEAR WAS AN ABILITY TO TRY TO NOT BREAK UP STATE HOUSE OR STATE SENATE LINES, STATE SENATE DISTRICTS. AND THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU GET A DISTRICT HERE, LIKE JAY, WE HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM WITH SHEET FLOODING THAN RIVER FLOODING. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT ALL THE VARIOUS FLOODING PLANS FOCUS ON THE RIVER. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF WE HAD A SORT OF A VERTICALLY ALIGNED WHERE THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS AND THE STATE REP AND THE STATE SENATE DISTRICTS WERE TWO, THE EXTENT POSSIBLE CONTIGUOUS WITH EACH OTHER SO THAT THE DISTRICT SPECIFIC PROBLEMS COULD BE HANDLED BY THE SPECIFIC REPRESENTATIVES AND SPECIFIC SENATORS. AND THERE COULD BE A MORE LOCALIZED APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING IN AN INTEGRATED MANNER. THANK YOU. ROY LIRA. HI, GOOD EVENING. UH, MY NAME'S TOO LOUD. ROY LIRA. I AM, UM, VICE PRESIDENT OF SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE AND ALSO A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT H. SO I HEAR A LOT OF THE SIMILARITIES THAT OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY ARE OCCURRING OR EXPERIENCING. AND I WANTED JUST TO SHARE A FEW THOUGHTS HAVING ATTENDED A FEW OF THESE. UM, ONE THING TO CONSIDER IS WE'RE LOOKING AT REDISTRICTING THE AMOUNT OF THE 11 COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH FIVE AT LARGE MEMBERS. THERE'S VALUE TO HAVING AT LARGE MEMBERS, AND SPECIFICALLY HAVING SEEN THIS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, EXAMPLES, IF WE HAVE 16 COUNCIL MEMBERS, THEY LIKELY WILL NOT BE LOOKING AT THE LARGER PICTURE OF HARRIS COUNTY AS AN EXAMPLE OF SHARED SERVICES. WHAT ARE WE GETTING IN VERSUS OUT? ADDITIONALLY, SOME OF THESE ISSUES THAT IMPACT THE ENTIRE CITY, ALTHOUGH NOT AT THE SAME TIME, SPECIFICALLY CHAPTER 30, WHICH IS A SOUND AND NOISE ORDINANCE THAT'S BEING ADDRESSED BY LARGE MEMBERS ARE BEING PUSHED BY THAT. AND SO THERE'S REALLY, THERE'S TRUE VALUE IN THIS. WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT AND BEGIN TO CONSOLIDATE WITH EVEN SMALLER NUMBERS, WE SOMETIMES LOSE PICTURE, LOSE THE BIG PICTURE IN ALL OF THIS. AND AS A REMINDER, JUST TO CLARIFY, FROM THIS EVENING, WE CAN STILL GO BACK AND PROBABLY LOOK AT THE CITY WEBSITE AND LOOK AT SOME OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT BORDER, WHERE OUR CURRENT DISTRICT IS TO IDENTIFY THOSE THAT MAY BE MOST LIKE US. ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT BE A 100% MATCH. THERE ARE QUITE A FEW ITEMS OF DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, REAL ESTATE, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL INCOME, SO THAT IF THERE IS, OR WHEN THERE IS REDISTRICTING, THE CHANCES OF HAVING A COUNCIL MEMBER MOST LIKE US, REGARDLESS OF OUR AREA, IS QUITE HIGH AND COULD SPEAK FOR US. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. CHEERS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THAT CONCLUDES, UM, THE SPEAKERS ON REDISTRICTING. I DO HAVE A SPEAKER SIGNED UP FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, AND I'LL PASS THAT ON. UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT THE NEXT SESSION HAS, OH, YOU MAYBE ONE MORE. ONE MORE. OKAY. ON THE REDISTRICTING. ON REDISTRICTING, YES. YEAH. AND IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OF REDISTRICTING, UH, PLEASE, PLEASE FIRE AWAY BEFORE I, 'CAUSE I, BEFORE I HAVE TO LEAVE, UH, ONE MORE. THANK YOU. UM, LEE SHARP. YEAH, I'M LEE SHARP. I LIVE IN SHARPSTOWN, UH, NO RELATION. . UM, IT IS THE MOST DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE MOST DIVERSE CITY IN THE COUNTRY. AND I LOVE IT. IT IS DIVIDED ON EVERY [00:35:01] POLITICAL BOUNDARY EXCEPT FOR ONE, WE HAVE ALL OF SHARPSTOWN. THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS ONE CITY COUNCILMAN, AND WE ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE THE BEST ONE THERE IS. SO NONE OF US WANT TO LOSE HIM. WHEN YOU'RE REDISTRICTING, AND I'M SORRY IF THIS MEANS YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A BIGGER DISTRICT WITH MORE WORK, BUT WE LOVE THE JOB YOU'RE DOING, , AND I, I THINK, UH, THAT IS THE CONCERN OF MYSELF AND SOME OTHERS IS, UH, WHEN ALL OF THIS IS GOING ON, WHO'S GONNA REPRESENT ME? ARE THEY GONNA REPRESENT ME AS WELL? UH, ARE THEY GONNA COMMUNICATE WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE AREA? ARE THEY GONNA COMMUNICATE WITH THE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES? ARE THEY GONNA LISTEN? ARE THEY GONNA KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? AND THAT IS RARE. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT COUNCIL PERSON AND I WANT TO KEEP HIM, BUT I ALSO WANNA, UH, LET YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE FEAR OF THE RESIDENTS IS WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO WE SHOULD BE LOOKING UP AND VOTING FOR NEXT YEAR, BECAUSE WE WON'T EVEN FIND OUT WHAT THE DISTRICT IS, AND THEY WON'T EVEN HAVE A CHANCE TO DECIDE IF THEY WANNA RUN UNTIL MUCH LATER. SO MORE FEEDBACK AND MORE FEEDBACK ON NO, YOU'RE NOT GONNA LOSE YOUR WE'RE WE'RE NOT GONNA LOSE EDWARD. UH, WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WELL, , I MEAN, I THAT WAS GOOD. YEAH. AND, AND, AND, AND, AND LOOK, AND YOU DO HAVE AN EXCELLENT COUNCIL MEMBER. UM, BUT WHAT I WILL TELL YOU IN THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS, IT IS NOT PERSONALITY SPECIFIC. IN THE END, THE VOTERS HAVE THE FINAL, THE FINAL SAY. WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR US IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DRAW DISTRICTS, UH, BASED ON ALL OF THOSE CATEGORIES WHERE WE ARE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE COUNT, TRYING TO GET THAT COUNT RIGHT, COMMUNITY OF INTERESTS. AND THAT'S A PART OF WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY. UM, THE DIVERSITY, THE DEMOGRAPHICS IN OUR CITY, UM, ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS WE FACTOR IN. AND THAT'S WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. FOR EXAMPLE, EVEN AFTER THIS MEETING, IF THERE ARE CERTAIN COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS THAT YOU THINK THAT JUST SHOULD STAY TOGETHER AND YOU KNOW, THEN THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO HEAR. IF YOU GO TO THE CORE OF DISTRICT EIGHT, I MEAN DISTRICT J, WE, WE CAN LOOK, JERRY, YOU CAN ALMOST BE ASSURED THAT THIS PORTION IS GOING TO STAY OKAY. IT'S ON THE EDGES WHERE THAT CAN BE SOME, BUT, AND IN DISTRICT J'S CASE, SINCE YOU ARE 11% UNDER DISTRICT J IS GOING TO BE LOOKING TO ADD TO DISTRICT J. NOW, IN SOME CASES, WHEN YOU ARE ADDING, YOU CAN SHIFT AROUND. SO EVEN THOUGH DISTRICT J IS 11% UNDER, AND WE ARE SEEKING TO ADD, SOMETIMES THINGS GET SHIFTED IN AND OUT, BUT THE NUMBER IS, WE ARE TRYING TO GET THAT NUMBER UP TO TWO TO 209,000. SO WE TRY TO MAINTAIN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE COURT ELEMENT. UM, BUT WE DO TAKE INTO EFFECT THOSE, THOSE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. UM, BUT IT IS NOT PERSONALITY SPECIFIC, BUT I'M SURE BASED ON HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS, THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD TRY TO KEEP THEIR DISTRICTS AS SET AS POSSIBLE. UH, BUT WE DO FACTOR IN, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL OF THOSE. WE WANT A DISTRICT THAT'S REPRESENTATIVE OF, UM, OUR CITY. WE ARE NOT TRYING TO CHANGE IT. SO YOU CAN'T RECOGNIZE IT. AND THAT'S WHY YOUR INPUT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. SO, UM, BUT AGAIN, IF YOU'RE RIGHT HERE IN THE, IN THE KIND OF LIKE MEAT OF IT, IT'S FINE. IT'S ON THE EDGES SOMETIMES THAT GETS SHIFTED AROUND. OKAY. ANY, ANY OTHER, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS TONIGHT? I KNOW THE VIDEO DIDN'T WORK, BUT ANY, AGAIN, NO MAPS TONIGHT, JUST YOUR COMMENTS, THEN, UH, THEY WILL DRAFT MAPS AND THEN THEY'LL BE PRESENTED TO YOU AGAIN. AND THERE'LL BE THREE PUBLIC HEARINGS IN JULY. AND THEN COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON THE FINAL MAP IN SEPTEMBER. AND THEN, UH, UH, PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO RUN BASED ON THOSE NEW MAPS AND THEY WILL TAKE OFFICE IN JANUARY OF 2024. OKAY. ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU ALSO VERY MUCH. AND, UH, WE ARE SHIFTING NOW, UH, TO, TO THE CIP [00:40:01] LET ME APOLOGIZE. I'M GONNA HAVE TO RUN TO ANOTHER MEETING. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WELL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. UH, MY NAME IS MICHAEL LORETI AND I'M A DEPUTY DIRECTOR WITH CAPITAL PROJECTS FOR HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS. AND ON BEHALF OF OUR DIRECTOR, HADDOCK, UH, DIRECTOR HADDOCK AND MY BOSS, ERIC DARGAN, HE'S HERE SOMEWHERE, UH, AND 4,000 EMPLOYEES OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS THAT DO THEIR WORK ON A DAILY BASIS TO KEEP THE CITY GOING. THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME TODAY. I PROMISE, I KNOW TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, SO I'LL BE SHORT MY PRESENTATION. UM, LET'S START WITH THE FIRST SLIDE. THIS IS A PUBLIC NOTICE ANNOUNCEMENT. SO, UH, THE CITY CONTINUES TO ADDRESS THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF PANDEMIC. HOUSTON WILL RECEIVE 607.9 MILLION FROM THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT PASSED BY CONGRESS LAST YEAR. UH, WE RECEIVED HALF OF THE FUNDING LAST YEAR, AND WE RECEIVED THE SECOND HALF THIS MONTH SOMETIME. SO WE'VE BEEN ASKED TO DO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. THERE IS A SURVEY ON THIS WEBSITE THAT YOU SEE HERE. IT'S ABOUT A 22 QUESTION SURVEY. PLEASE GO AND, UH, GIVE YOUR INPUT AND IT ALSO DETAILS OUT WHAT THE 307 HAS BEEN ALLOCATED TO. SO, ALTHOUGH I STAND HERE TODAY AS PUBLIC WORKS REPRESENTATIVE, THE CIP IS COMPRISED OF SEVERAL THINGS. IT INCLUDES GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT WHO DO THE VERTICAL, UH, CONSTRUCTION FOR BUILDINGS, COMMUNITY CENTERS, AND ALSO PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, AND ALSO THE TERRA. I KNOW WE DO HAVE TWO ACTIVE TERRA WITHIN DISTRICT J. UH, SO IT INCLUDES ALL THOSE PROJECTS. SO LET'S START WITH THE NEXT SLIDE. THERE WE GO. SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING I WANT YOU TO TAKE TODAY IS THE THREE RS. OKAY. WE'LL JUST CALL 'EM THE THREE RS. UH, BUT IT'S, UH, BUILT HOUSTON FORWARD, WHICH FUNDS MOST OF OUR STREET AND DRAINAGE FACILITIES, IS A PROGRAM TO ENHANCE, IMPROVE, AND MAINTAIN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE WITHOUT ACCRUING ADDITIONAL DEBT. UH, WE USE THESE THREE PRINCIPLES REPAIR, WE'LL HAVE MORE QUESTIONS. UH, REPAIR INCLUDES STANDARD OPERATION MAINTENANCE, MOWING THE DITCHES, UH, PATCHING POTHOLES AND CLEARING STORM LINES. UH, MANY IF NOT MOST OF THE 3 1 1 ITEMS THAT WHEN YOU CALL IS WHAT THEY DO WITH OUR IN-HOUSE FORCES TO DO REPAIR WORK. REHABILITATE IS THE THIRD STRATEGY WE USE. AND, UH, IN THE PAST IT HAS NOT BEEN, BUT NOW IT'S ONE OF OUR MAJOR, UH, PART OF OUR, OUR STRATEGY TO KEEP UP OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. IT'S REALLY TO EXTEND THE LIFE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER THAN JUST REPAIRING. SO IT IS THE FIVE TO 10 YEARS OF EXTENDING OUR, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. THAT INCLUDES THE STORM WATER ACTION TEAM PROJECTS, VERY, YOU KNOW, LOCALIZED TYPE OF DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT, DITCH REGRADING, UM, UH, COULD BE PANEL REPLACEMENTS, IT COULD BE SKIM PATCH OR OVERLAYS ON STREETS. SO THAT EXTENDS OUR LIFE INSTEAD OF JUST LEAVING IT WITH REPAIR ONLY. AND THE THIRD ONE IS RECONSTRUCTION IS A LARGER PROJECTS. AND THESE TYPICALLY TAKE A LONG TIME. THEY TYPICALLY REQUIRE RIGHT AWAY, UH, REAL ESTATE AND, UH, COMPLEX UTILITY COORDINATION AND THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT THIS IS, YOU COMPLETELY REMOVE IT AND YOU REPLACE IT. AGAIN, IT CANNOT BE REPAIRED OR REHABILITATED. SO WE USE ALL THESE STRATEGIES TO KEEP UP OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. NEXT SLIDE. SO I'M JUST GONNA HIGHLIGHT SOME PROJECTS TODAY. I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A PAIN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UH, WE'RE ALMOST THERE. SO FOUNTAIN VIEW LIFT STATION, THIS IS A 30 MILLION, UH, LIFT STATION CONSOLIDATION, UH, WHICH IS LIKE ON THE LAST MONTHS OF OF IMPLEMENTATION. IT'S ONE OF OUR REALLY IMPORTANT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS ON WESTHEIMER TO TO, TO THE NEW LOCATION. SO THERE'S SEVERAL LIFT STATIONS THAT ARE CONSOLIDATED HERE ON FOUNTAIN VIEW AND 59. NEXT SLIDE. [00:45:02] THIS IS RICHMOND PLAZA. THIS IS A $20 MILLION, UH, PROJECT SOUTH PAVING AND DRAINAGE PROJECT. IT WILL BRING, IT WILL START THIS SPRING. UH, WE HAVE BEEN UPDATING IT WITH THE NEW STANDARDS OF DRAINAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR DETENTION WITH ATLAS 14. UH, THE PROJECT WILL IMPROVE STORM WATER DRAINAGE, PAVEMENT CONDITIONS ON THE ROADS HIGHLIGHTED ON THIS MAP. UH, CONSTRUCTION IS SET TO WRAP UP FOLLOWING SUMMER. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED HILL CRAFT, UH, HIGH STAR SAFETY PROJECT IS COMPLETE. THE VISION ZERO ALIGNED PROJECT FOCUSED ON IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EQUITY IN THE GULFTON CORRIDOR. THE 3 MILLION PROJECT IMPROVED ON WIDENED SIDEWALKS, INSTALLED BIKEWAYS AND ADDED PEDESTRIAN LIGHT. UH, AT DASHWOOD WE ADDED LIGHTING SAFE CROSSINGS ON THE PEDESTRIANS. URBAN CUTTING WILL BE HELD AT THE FUTURE DATE. UH, OUR TEAM WITH TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATION RIGHT NOW ARE WORKING TO ADD ARTWORK AND PLANTING FOR THE AREA. NEXT SLIDE. REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS PROJECT. I THINK IT'S PROBABLY ALL KUDOS TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER. I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR THIS FOR A WHILE. THIS IS A 6 MILLION BRA RAYBURN GLEN FLOOD MITIGATION PROJECT. THIS IS ONE OF THE CDBG MITIGATION PROJECTS. UH, WE'LL BEGIN IN 2025, UH, WHICH WE WERE AWARDED THROUGH THE JLO. THE BOLD TAIL LINES HERE SHOW THE ROADWAYS WHERE STORM WATER IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE MADE TO IMPROVE DRAINAGE FOR THE HIGHLIGHTED AREA. THE PROJECT WILL WRAP UP IN 2020. IN 2027, IT'S REALLY CRITICAL IMPROVEMENT. THE ABOUT 7 74 INLETS, 27 MANHOLES, AND ALMOST 5,000 LINEAR FEET OF PIPING WILL BE REPLACED. SO I SAID, UH, OUR STRATEGY NOW IS TO DO MORE REHABILITATION TYPE OF PROJECTS. SO THIS IS A SCREENSHOT THAT WE TOOK OUT OF OUR BUILT HOUSTON FORWARD.ORG WEBSITE, SPECIFICALLY FOR DISTRICT J. SO THESE ARE ALL THE LOCAL DRAINAGE PROJECTS, PROGRAM PROJECTS, AND THE STORM WATER ACTION TEAM PROJECTS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING. UH, SO SOME OF THE EXAMPLES ON THIS, UH, RIE AND MAR MAR MARINATE, IS THAT RIGHT? MARINATE, MARINATE, I'M SORRY. THE PHASE ONE WAS COMPLETED IN 2019. PHASE TWO IS UNDER DESIGN RIGHT NOW. UH, SO THESE ARE THE KIND OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO IMPLEMENT WITH THIS PROGRAM. SO IT IS THE GREEN DOTS ON THE WEBSITE, SO YOU CAN GO SEE THE STATUS OF WHAT'S COMPLETED AND WHAT'S UPCOMING AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE. SAME THING, UH, FOR STREET INSTEAD OF DRAINAGE. THE STORM IS, THIS IS THE REHABILITATION PROJECTS. OUR STREET MAINTENANCE TEAM HAVE SEVERAL MAJOR THOROUGHFARE AND LOCAL STREET RESURFACING PROJECTS ONGOING ACROSS DISTRICT J. THIS MAP SHOWS IMPROVEMENTS ALONG CLEARWOOD FONDANT AND BINET TO BRAESWOOD AND OTHERS. UH, YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ON BUILD HU BUILD HOUSTON.ORG. AND IT'S ALSO THE YELLOW DOTS THERE. NEXT SLIDE. ALL RIGHT, THIS IS A PARKS PROJECT. THIS IS THE ST. GEORGE PLACE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHOR AUTHORITY HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE HOUSTON PARKS AND REC DEPARTMENT ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF ANDERSON PARK. FIRST PHASE DEVELOPMENT IS IN THE DESIGN AND WILL INCLUDE MULTI-AGE PLAYGROUND, UH, EXERCISE AREA AND LAWN PICNIC TABLES AND BENCHES, WALKWAYS AND PLAZAS PARKING, LIGHTING AND LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPING. CONSTRUCTION WILL START LATER THIS YEAR. ALL RIGHT, THIS IS CLUB CREEK PARK AS PART OF THE REGIONAL DETENTION BASIN DEVELOPED BY THE SOUTHWEST HOUSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND OTHER ACTIVE TOURS. UH, THE PARK IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE PARKING, SHAPE STRUCTURES, PLAYGROUND, EXERCISE AREA, AND WALKING TRAILS. THE TRAIL NETWORK WILL CONNECT TO UPCOMING BIO GREENWAY TRA TRAIL. UM, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL AT THE PARK IS ALSO IN THE WORKS. NEXT SLIDE. [00:50:01] THIS IS FORUM PARK AS PART OF THE 50 50 PARK PARTNER PROGRAM. FORUM. PARK DEVELOPMENT WILL INCLUDE TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS, PARKING, SHADE, STRUCTURE, AND CORDS. THE PROJECT IS IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION WILL START IN THE FALL OF THIS YEAR. ALL RIGHT. BEFORE I END TODAY, UM, I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS THE KEY WEBSITE, THE ENGAGE HOUSTON WEBSITE. SO THIS IS WHERE WE PUT ALL OUR ACTIVE PROJECTS, AND YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE AS A USER FOR A SPECIFIC PROJECT IF YOU NEED TO. WE ALSO HAVE THESE CARDS TODAY AT THE PUBLIC WORKS TABLE THERE. SO THEY HAVE A Q QR CODE SO YOU CAN SCAN IT AND YOU CAN ASK YOUR QUESTIONS THROUGH THERE AS WELL. AND WE DO HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE TODAY, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON THE SPECIFIC DOTS THAT YOU SAW TODAY, THEY DO HAVE THE LIST AS THERE AS WELL. THAT'S IT. THANK. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU MICHAEL. UM, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PRESENTATION, WE HAVE MANY PROJECTS THAT ARE EITHER ONGOING, UM, OR IN DESIGN PHASE, OR WILL BE STARTING SOON. AND WHAT WE TRY TO DO IS LOOK AT EVERY, UH, AREA OF THE DISTRICT AND UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS AND THE NEEDS OF EACH AREA, AND ACTUALLY PUT FORTH THE CIP WHERE YOU ALL CAN SEE PROJECTS THAT AREN'T GONNA BE SO FAR DOWN THE ROAD THAT YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET THE BENEFIT OF IT. RIGHT. SO MANY OF THESE PROJECTS THAT YOU SAW ARE ABOUT TO START OR ARE, UM, UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW. THE ONE I'M REALLY, REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IS, IS THE BRAEBURN GLEN FLOOD MITIGATION PROJECT. UM, THAT'S AN AREA THAT MANY OF US KNOW, EVEN WITH THE HARD RAIN, UM, EXPERIENCES, A LOT OF FLOOD ISSUES AND FLOODING ISSUES. MANY OF THOSE HOMES HAVE BEEN FLOODED. PEOPLE HAVE TO MOVE OUT. THE COUNTY IS BUYING OUT, UH, SOME OF THOSE PROPERTIES. UM, BUT THOSE RESIDENTS OF THE BRAEBURN GLEN, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD ARE CONTINUOUSLY, YOU KNOW, ADVOCATING FOR REAL RESULTS AND REAL PROJECTS THAT WILL MAKE TRUE IMPACT ON THAT COMMUNITY. AND THAT SIX PLUS MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT IS SOMETHING THAT MY OFFICE HAS BEEN, UM, FINDING EVERY CREATIVE WAY TO TRY TO SECURE THAT MONEY. AND SO THAT'S GONNA BE SOME FEDERAL MONEY THAT WE'RE ABLE TO TAP INTO AS WELL AS SOME STATE MONEY. AND TO BE ABLE TO DO A $6 MILLION PROJECT WITHIN A A LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD IS A BIG DEAL. WE HAD A TOWN HALL WITH THAT NEIGHBORHOOD LAST YEAR, AND MANY OF THE RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, ADVOCATING THAT FOR A LONG TIME. THEY FELT THAT THEY WEREN'T HEARD, AND A LONG TIME THEY FELT AS IF THERE WAS NOTHING OF SIGNIFICANCE THAT WAS BEING DONE IN THEIR AREA. AND SO I'M EXCITED ABOUT THAT PROJECT. UM, THE DESIGN WILL START SOON. IT'S NOT ANYTHING THAT WILL HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA BE A HUGE PROJECT, UM, BUT VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT AND THAT THE MONEY HAS BEEN SECURED. UM, YOU ALSO SAW SEVERAL PARK IMPROVEMENTS AND A LOT OF THESE, MANY OF THE PARKS THAT YOU SAW ARE IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN UNDERSERVED FOR A LONG TIME. AND THROUGH THE MAYORS PARKS INITIATIVE, THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH OUR OUR CHURCH, CHURCH NUMBER ONE AND CHURCH NUMBER 20, WE ARE ABLE TO LEVERAGE, UH, DIFFERENT POTS OF MONEY THAT WILL GO TOWARDS REALLY ENHANCING THOSE PARKS. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT LEVY PARK, WHICH IS, UH, RICHMOND AND BUFFALO SPEEDWAY AREA, UM, IN THE HEART OF LIKE UPPER KIRBY, THAT'S ONE OF THE NICEST SIGNATURE FAMILY PARKS IN THE CITY. AND SO I SAID, I WANT TO PARK LIKE THAT IN MY DISTRICT. AND SO WHAT YOU SAW AT ANDERSON PARK, UH, IS A SMALL PARK, POCKET PARK, BUT ONE THIRD OF THAT PARK HAS BEEN FOR A BASEBALL FIELD, AND I LOVE BASEBALL, BUT THAT BASEBALL FIELD WAS A PERMIT FIELD, WHICH MEANS YOU HAD TO GET A PERMIT TO UTILIZE THE FIELD. AND MANY OF THE RESIDENTS EITHER DON'T PLAY BASEBALL, THEY DON'T NEED TO HAVE A PERMIT TO PLAY BASEBALL. AND SO THE FIELD WAS JUST THERE FOR LEAGUE PLAY. I WANTED TO FLIP THAT AND MAKE IT MORE INVITING FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD, FOR THE FAMILIES THAT WERE IN THE AREA. SO, UM, AFTER A LOT OF DISCUSSION, WE DECIDED WE'RE GOING TO REMOVE THE BASEBALL FIELD AND WE'RE GONNA UTILIZE ALL THAT GREEN SPACE, UH, TO PUT A PARK THERE THAT IS SIMILAR TO LEVY PARK, WHERE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE WALKING TRAILS, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, [00:55:01] UH, A PLAYGROUND AREA. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, UM, AN AREA FOR PERFORMANCES. WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, BIG DOG PARK, SMALL DOG PARK, RIGHT? FOOD TRUCK, UH, AREA. AND THEN WE'LL HAVE PARALLEL PARKING ALL AROUND THE, UM, THE PARK. SOMETHING REAL MODERN, VERY SLEEK, SOMETHING THAT, UM, THIS COMMUNITY DESERVES, RIGHT? WE DON'T ALWAYS NEED TO TRAVEL OUTSIDE OF DISTRICT J JUST TO HAVE AMENITIES, RIGHT? WE NEED TO HAVE THOSE AMENITIES RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD, AND THEN SOME OF THE NON-SEXY, UH, PROJECTS, BUT ARE TRULY BENEFICIAL TO YOU ALL. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, THE STREETS IMPROVEMENTS, WHETHER THEY'RE PANEL REPLACEMENTS, UH, WHETHER THEY'RE, UH, MILLING AND OVERLAYS, YOU KNOW, OUR STREETS, YOU KNOW, I HAVE FRIENDS COME IN TOWN FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND THEY ALWAYS SAY, MAN, YOU GUYS STREETS ARE HORRIBLE. RIGHT? AND, UH, I MEAN, THEY'RE RIGHT. WE HAVE TO DO, WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO DO ALL THAT WE CAN TO, AND, AND, UM, IMPROVE OUR STREETS. AND OUR PUBLIC WORKS TEAM DOES ALL THAT THEY CAN TO STAY ON TOP OF IT. BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE, RIGHT? WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN A DENSELY POPULATED AREA, UH, THAT IS WELL TRAFFICKED. AND SO THE, THE NON-SEXY PROJECTS OF CONTINUING TO LOOK AT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS ARE, ARE REALLY VITAL AND KEY TO MAKING OUR OUR, UM, OUR COMMUNITY VERY ATTRACTIVE, A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY. AND SO I, I'M VERY PROUD OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE. UM, MY GOAL IS TO CONTINUOUSLY BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU NEW THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING, RIGHT? SO NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD SEE EVEN MORE PROJECTS. SOME OF THESE PROJECTS WILL BE ONGOING OR COMPLETED, AND THEN WE'LL PICK IT UP. BEFORE I GOT ELECTED, I USED TO COME TO CIPS AND YOU'LL SEE LIKE THESE FIVE YEAR PLANS, THESE SEVEN YEAR PLANS, AND SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS NEVER EVEN COME TO FRUITION, RIGHT? AND SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THINGS YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, AND MANY A TIME THAT'S, UH, RELATED TO IF YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A FUNDING SOURCE AND IF YOU'RE GONNA HAVE THE, THE, THE MONEY FOR IT IN THAT PARTICULAR FISCAL YEAR. BUT FOR THE MOST PART, MOST OF THE PROJECTS THAT YOU SAW, YOU SAW 20, 20, 21, 20 22, 20 23, RIGHT? I WAS BIG ON BEFORE THE END OF 2023. I WANT TO SEE PROJECTS HAPPENING, PROJECTS COMPLETED, UH, BECAUSE I WANT YOU ALL TO SEE THE VALUE IN WHAT OUR OFFICE, UH, BRINGS TO THE TABLE. UM, BUT BEFORE WE CLOSE, UM, I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE MY OFFICE BECAUSE THEY SEND ME UP HERE TO DO THE SPEECHES, BUT REALLY, UH, THEY DO ALL THE HARD WORK. AND SO I WANT TO SHOUT THEM OUT, UH, REALLY QUICKLY. FIRST, I HAVE MY CHIEF OF STAFF, UH, PAUL YOUNG, RIGHT HERE. I SAW MY DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, MISTY STARKS, SHE'S IN THE BACK. MY DIRECTOR OF CONSTITUENT SERVICES, DAVID ZU, ALSO ON THE BACK. AND OUR DISTRICT COORDINATOR IS FRANCIS ELLIS. SO THEY WORK TIRELESSLY, UH, TO ENSURE THAT YOU ALL HAVE THE REPRESENTATION THAT YOU ALL DESERVE. UH, OUR OFFICE WAS RANKED NUMBER ONE OUT OF ALL, UM, LOCAL OFFICES, CITY COUNCIL, AND, UM, COUNTY FOR FASTEST RESPONSE TEAM, UH, TIMES, UH, TO CONSTITUENT, UH, CALLS. AND THAT ALL GOES TO THEM. THEY DESERVE ALL THE CREDIT. I REALLY TRY TO PUSH THEM TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, BE AS CREATIVE AS POSSIBLE WITH THE WAY IN WHICH WE APPROACH ISSUES, RIGHT? AND A LOT OF TIMES IT'S AS SIMPLE AS LISTENING, RIGHT? WE WANT TO BE AS RESPONSIVE AS POSSIBLE, BUT THAT'S ALL UP TO YOU ALL BEING ENGAGED WITH US, COMMUNICATING WITH US, LETTING US KNOW WHAT YOUR ISSUES AND CONCERNS ARE. AND BASED ON THAT, WE'RE ABLE TO ACT ON YOUR BEHALF. AND I'M A FIRM BELIEVER THAT THOSE THAT ARE CLOSER OR CLOSEST TO THE PROBLEMS USUALLY HAVE A SOLUTION OR AN IDEA ON HOW TO CORRECT THAT, RIGHT? SO IF YOU HAVE A, A, A FLOODING PROBLEM ON YOUR STREET, AND YOU SEE HOW THE WATER FLOWS EVERY SINGLE DAY, AND YOU UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF THE DRAINS ON YOUR STREET, WELL, YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA BE ABLE TO EDUCATE ME. RIGHT? ON WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HELP ALLEVIATE THAT PROBLEM? AND WHAT WE TRY TO DO AS A OFFICE IS WE'RE EXTREMELY BOOTS ON THE GROUND. MANY TIMES YOU SEE US IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS ON THE STREETS KNOCKING ON THE DOORS, TALKING TO YOU ALL DIRECTLY ABOUT HOW CAN WE BEST, UH, SERVE YOU? AND SO MANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT YOU SAW BEHIND US CAME OFF YOUR FEEDBACK. YOU KNOW, THIS PARK HASN'T BEEN IMPROVED IN YEARS. WHY AREN'T YOU, WHY, WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY, ANYBODY DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT? DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT THIS AREA? RIGHT? SO WE MAKE NOTES OF THAT, AND WE GO BACK TO PUBLIC WORKS, OR [01:00:01] WE GO TO PARKS AND WE SAY, THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO HAPPEN, RIGHT? WE'RE, WE'RE DOING WORK RIGHT NOW WITH, UH, BURNETT BAILIN PARK, AND WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR, OUR CURRENT COUNTY COMMISSIONER JACK HAGEL, ON LOOKING AT WHAT A MASTER PLAN FOR THAT PARK WILL LOOK LIKE. MANY OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS IN SHARPSTOWN WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW, AND HOW WE CAN HAVE MORE CONNECTIVITY WITH, WITH, WITH TRAILS AND, AND, AND, AND, AND BIKE. NOT BIKE LANES, BUT BIKE TRAILS, UH, THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOODS. UM, SO A LOT OF THAT FEEDBACK COMES FROM YOU ALL. UH, WE CAN'T DO IT BY OURSELVES. WE DON'T WANT TO DO IT BY OURSELVES. WE ACTUALLY WANT TO TAKE YOUR, UM, IDEAS AND FIND WAYS TO CONNECT THE DOTS. SO THAT'S WHAT TONIGHT WAS ALL ABOUT. UM, STAY IN TOUCH WITH OUR OFFICE. YOU CAN ALWAYS REACH US AT DISTRICT J@HOUSTONTX.GOV. AND I KNOW WE HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS EARLIER AND THE MAYOR DID A GREAT JOB OF ANSWERING THOSE. BUT BEFORE WE CLOSE, IF ANYONE HAS ANY OTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY OTHER ISSUES, UH, NO. THIS IS THE TIME TO ASK WHILE, WHILE I'M HERE, AND IF NOT, THEN, OH, MR. BARRE, YOU HAVE A QUESTION? UH, YES. JUST COME UP. COME ON. WELL, ACTUALLY, I THINK I CAN SPEAK LOUD ENOUGH WHERE EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME. I NOTICED THAT THE BRADBURN GLEN DOESN'T HAVE A PROJECT NUMBER YET. CAN I, CAN I GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY TOMORROW? EMAIL 'EM AND TELL 'EM IT'S WRITTEN IN STONE, JUST LIKE WHEN MOSES CAME DOWN FROM THE , WHICH BRAVER NEIGHBORHOOD? YES. YES, IT IS DEFINITELY SECURE, SIR. UH, YEAH, WE MIGHT NOT HAVE A PROJECT NUMBER YET ON ENGAGE HOUSTON, BUT UH, WHEN WE COME, UH, FOR THE DESIGN INPUT, IT WILL BE VERY MUCH ACTIVE. ONE MORE THING. OKAY. THE ONLY WAY I COULD BEAT THAT GENTLEMAN THAT CAME UP HERE IS CAN SAY, WE LOVE YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD. I NEVER THOUGHT ANYBODY WOULD DO AS GOOD AS COUNCIL MEMBER LASTER, BUT YOU HAVE STEPPED IN AND DONE JUST AS GOOD FOR BETTER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WE HAVE ONE QUESTION HERE, MIKE. YES. I'M MIKE MCMAHON. UH, I'M ON THE GULFTON SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, BUT I'M NOT REPRESENTING, MY COMMENTS ARE NOT REPRESENTING THE COUNCIL. UH, UM, I WANTED TO SPEAK TO, UH, SAFETY, UM, BICYCLE AND, AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY, UH, RELATED TO TWO OF THE PROJECTS HERE. UH, THE FIRST, THE FOUNTAIN VIEW PROJECT, UH, HAD PAINTED BICYCLE LANES ON IT. IT HAS FOR YEARS, BUT, UH, THEY'RE DOING, THEY'RE DOING ALL THE, THEIR WORK ON THE STREET. AND, AND I, MY CONCERN IS THAT THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NO PLANS FOR, UH, THE BICYCLE LANES. I DON'T FOUNTAIN VIEW, I DON'T RECALL THERE EVER BEING BICYCLE LANES ON FOUNTAIN VIEW. UH, YES, THERE WERE. THEY'RE PAINTED. THEY WERE PAINTED. AND THE CARS, THE CARS REMOVED THE PAINT DRIVING OVER 'EM, BUT OKAY, I'LL, I'LL LOOK INTO THAT FOR YOU. THANK YOU. AND THEN WE COULD PROVIDE FEEDBACK. OKAY. THANK YOU. THE OTHER WAS, UH, THE, UH, HILLCROFT HIGH STAR, UH, PROJECT WA, YOU KNOW, WAS A THANKS FOR THAT. THAT'S A, WAS A MUCH NEEDED PROJECT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. UH, UH, MY REQUEST WOULD BE TO, UH, START A PROCESS TO EXTEND THAT TOWARD 2 59. UH, THAT WE STILL HAVE THOSE SAME FOUR, UH, WIDE LANES, UH, GOING AFTER AFTER THIS CURRENT PROJECT IS, UH, IS PASSED. AND, UH, IT'D BE A GREAT HELP IF, IF, UH, BICYCLE LANES COULD BE EXTENDED THERE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. YES. UH, THANK YOU AGAIN, UH, COUNCILMAN FOR ALL YOU'RE DOING. ABOUT A YEAR AGO IT WAS ANNOUNCED THERE WOULD BE SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING SET UP, I BELIEVE, ALONG BEL AIR OR SOMEWHERE IN THIS SECTION. AM I CORRECT OR HAS THAT BEEN PUT OFF, OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT? NOTHING OFF OF BEL AIR OR IN THIS, IN THIS SECTION THEN? THIS YES, SIR. OR THE ONE OVER BY, UH, BY HILL PROP 59. BACK BY, BY, WELL, YEAH. OKAY. SOMEWHERE IN THE, SO THERE, THERE IS, THANK YOU. THERE WERE SOME [01:05:01] AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS, UH, THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN THE SEVO REGENCY SQUARE AREA, UM, BY HOPE, UH, HOPE HOUSING, NEW HOPE, NEW HOPE HOUSING, NEW HOPE, UM, AND SO THAT, THAT DEVELOPMENT IS UP RIGHT NOW. UM, THAT'S A MORE COMMERCIAL AREA OF OUR DISTRICT. UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, MY BIGGEST THING WAS WITH THE ARCHITECTURE. WE WANTED TO MAINTAIN, UM, A CORPORATE FIELD, UH, AND SO THAT WE WOULDN'T CHANGE THE DYNAMICS OF THAT PARTICULAR CORRIDOR AND THE, UH, NEW HOPE HOUSING AGREED TO DO THAT. AND SO, UH, WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY ISSUES, UH, WITH THAT PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT. UM, BUT WE WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED IF THERE'S ANYTHING, UM, IN DISCUSSIONS GOING FORWARD. HELLO, MY NAME IS TAMMY RODRIGUEZ. I'VE BEEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, OR IN DISTRICT J FOR 32 YEARS. UM, AND MY HEART IS ENGULFING, BUT I DIDN'T HEAR OUR PARK. BURNETT BAILIN. AND ONE OF THE, UH, THINGS THAT, UH, ARE THE ISSUES THAT I, I SEE ARE AN EASY FIX. IT FITS IN THE MIDDLE CATEGORY OF WHERE, UH, WHAT IS IT? THE, JUST BE ABLE TO, TO FIX IT. THEN THE, THE REHAB AND THEN RECONSTRUCT. I WOULD LOVE TO RECONSTRUCT, BUT I'LL TAKE A FIXING OF ALL OUR FENCES THAT ARE AROUND THE PERIMETER. UH, IT JUST, I HAVE PICTURES THAT I CAN PROBABLY JUST, YOU KNOW, SEND 'EM TO ANYBODY. UH, THE PARK IS IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS. UH, I THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING AND THE MONEY THAT YOU'RE DONATING, UH, TO GET THINGS GOING. BUT THE, WHAT I CAN'T ACCEPT IS THE ACTUAL MAINTENANCE OF THE, OF THE PARK. THE PARK IN ITSELF IS, IS AN EMBARRASSMENT ATTI AT TIMES THAT WE'RE, WE HAVE VISITORS, WE HAVE TO GET PARK DEPARTMENT, EVERYBODY TO COME TO THE PARK, AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN, UH, YOU KNOW, ANY TYPE OF A EVENT. AND IT'S A SHAME THAT IT TAKES THAT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO GET SOMEBODY TO THE PARK. SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, IF SOMEBODY WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO WALK WITH US TO BE ABLE TO GO LOOK AT THE RIVER OF THE FENCE THAT IS FALLING APART, UH, BUSHES ARE OVERGROWN, THEY CAN'T WALK AROUND THE SIDEWALK AROUND THE PARK, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, THE VAGRANT AND THINGS LIKE THAT. I KNOW WE'RE WORKING ON IT. UH, NOW THAT THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY HAS COME THROUGH THE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, UH, WE HAVE SOME, UH, MONEY'S GONNA BE HEADING THAT WAY, BUT I, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST UPSETTING THAT WE HAD TO WAIT ALL THIS TIME FOR IT TO BE HIT. SO IT'S NICE TO HEAR ABOUT THE OTHER PARKS, BUT WHAT ABOUT GOLFING? SO, UH, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING 'EM FORWARD. A COUPLE THINGS ON BURNETT BAILIN. ONE, ONE, AS YOU KNOW, WE CREATED THE GULFTON MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, UH, WHICH WILL BE ASSESSMENTS FROM COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS THAT WILL STAY WITHIN THOSE BOUNDARY LINES FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PARK, TO THE GENERAL LANDSCAPE FOR ADDITIONAL PUBLIC, UM, UM, SAFETY INITIATIVES. AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR A DECADE, RIGHT? AND SO LIKE ANYTHING, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FUNDING SOURCE, RIGHT? SO WE'VE CREATED A FUNDING SOURCE NOW, AND YOU WILL BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE TO HELP LEAD THOSE INITIATIVES. AND YOUR VOICE WILL BE VERY MUCH HEARD AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UH, FROM A COMMUNITY STANDPOINT AS IT PERTAINS TO BURNETT BAILIN. ALSO, AS YOU MENTIONED A FEW WEEKS AGO WHEN WE DID OUR, UM, MARCH ON CRIME EVENT THROUGH GULFTON THAT ENDED AT THE BURNETT BAILIN PARK, WE WERE ABLE TO GET OTHER STAKEHOLDERS AND OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS OUT TO THAT PARK. AND THEN ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS IS WE WANTED FOR THEM TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES THE CONDITION OF THE PARK. THAT PARTICULAR PARK IS A COUNTY PARK, BUT THE CITY MAINTAINS IT, BUT IT'S SOMETIMES LOOKED AT AS, UM, AN AFTERTHOUGHT. THE COUNTY'S NOT PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO IT, THE CITY ISN'T PAYING THAT MUCH ATTENTION TO IT, AND THEY KIND OF POINT FINGERS AT EACH OTHER ON WHO SHOULD DO WHAT. RIGHT? I WOULD JUST LIKE FOR SOMEBODY TO BE IN THE ACTUAL COMMUNITY CENTER. WE HAVEN'T HAD ANYBODY SINCE NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR. SO THE GREAT THING ABOUT IT IS WE HAVE RECEIVED SOME COMMITMENTS, UH, NOT FROM OUTSIDE OF JUST OUR OFFICE TO LOOK AT IT, TO DO A MASTER PLAN ASSESSMENT, TO REALLY BE ABLE TO DO, PUT BOOTS ON THE GROUND AND EYEBALLS AT THAT PARK ABOUT THE CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE NEEDED, UM, IN THE SHORT TERM AND THE LONG TERM. UH, WE'LL BE, WE'LL BE WORKING WITH THE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT THAT YOU SERVE ON FOR SHORT TERM GOALS RIGHT NOW, AND THEN BEING ABLE TO PUT AN ASSESSMENT WITH COMMUNITY INPUT ON WHAT THE LONG, LONG TERM STRATEGY WILL BE. SO CAN I ASK THAT THEY UPDATE THE WEBSITE AND ALL THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE SHOWN THAT ARE RUNNING OUT OF THAT CENTER SEND TAKEN DOWN , IF YOU SEND ME AN EMAIL ON WHAT PROGRAMS ARE LISTED THAT AREN'T ACTIVE, [01:10:01] AND FOR OUR OFFICE TO GET BACK WITH YOU WITH A STATUS UPDATE ON WHY THAT IS AND WHEN YOU CAN EXPECT THAT. WE'LL GET IT BACK TO YOU SOON. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. ALRIGHT, GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD AND YOUR WONDERFUL STAFF. UM, I WAS, UH, DELIGHTED TO HEAR, UH, ALL OF THE WONDERFUL PROJECTS THAT YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, SOME REALLY LARGE PROJECTS THAT ARE, UH, BEING COVERED BY THE CITY HERE. I WANTED TO KIND OF GO TO SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE SMALL BORE. I WAS DELIGHTED TO, UH, HEAR INTERSECTION SAFETY MENTIONED DURING THE PRESENTATION. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT A LOT OF FOLKS ARE UNAWARE OF IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE TRAILS I'M INVOLVED WITH AS, AS PRESIDENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD TRAIL SOUTHWEST IS, THERE ARE MID STREET CROSSINGS, AND THERE IS ONE PARTICULARLY IN, IN DISTRICT J WHERE THE CURRENT BRACE BAY TRAIL CROSSES BINET. I CONSIDER THAT A RATHER DICEY CROSSING ON BIKE BECAUSE BINET HAS SUCH BUSY TRAFFIC. NOW, IT TURNS OUT THAT THE HOUSTON, THAT THE, UH, HOUSTON PARK SPORT IS IN, IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING, UH, EXTENDING RAISED BIO TRAIL FURTHER WEST, ALL THE WAY OUT TO ARCHBISHOP FOR LORENZO PARK. AND ONCE THAT GETS PUT IN, IN ABOUT TWO YEARS, THAT, UH, TRAIL IS GONNA JUST EXPLODE IN TERMS OF, UM, BIKE TRAFFIC, WHICH MEANS THAT THE INTERCEPT AT THE CROSSING AT ETTE IS GONNA HAVE A LOT MORE TRAFFIC ON IT. AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU AND THE CITY TO BE AWARE OF IS WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO IMPROVE SAFETY, UH, FOR TRAIL CROSSINGS THAT ARE MIDBLOCK. IT'S, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE DEAL WITH IN ALL OF THE THREE DISTRICTS THAT, THAT MY AREA, THAT MY, UH, THAT THE, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRAILS, UH, COVERS PARTS OF DISTRICT C BAR, PARTS OF DISTRICT K AND PARTS OF DISTRICT J. AND SO, UM, UH, THERE ARE OTHER EXAMPLES THAT I CAN MENTION, BUT I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, I BELIEVE THE CITY NEEDS TO START THINKING MORE ABOUT. ESPECIALLY, LIKE I SAID, ONCE THAT TRAIL IS BUILT, THAT'S GONNA BE A MAJOR RUSTING, AND IT'S, AND I CONSIDER IT A VERY DANGEROUS ONE. SO I APPRECIATE YOUR LISTENING TO ME ABOUT, WELL, YOUR, YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT THEN, BECAUSE I'M, I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT THAT TO OUR ATTENTION. I KNOW YOU HAVE A LOT OF PASSIONS, UH, FOR TRAILS IS YOU'RE GONNA REACH OUT TO OUR OFFICE NEXT WEEK ON EXAMPLES YOU'VE SEEN AND IDEAS YOU HAVE THAT I CAN TAKE, UH, TO COUNCIL AND TO DISCUSS WITH MY OTHER, UH, FELLOW COLLEAGUES AND, UM, STAY IN CONVERSATION WITH YOU ON WAYS IN WHICH WE COULD POSSIBLY MAKE THAT HAPPEN. BUT YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA HAVE MORE INSIGHT THAN ME. AND SO I'M GONNA NEED TO WORK WITH YOU ON ENSURING THAT I HAVE ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION THAT I NEED TO, UH, TO CARRY FORWARD. I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO WORK WITH YOUR OFFICE. THANK YOU. HELLO, COUNCIL MEMBER. UM, MY NAME IS MARIA HERNANDEZ AND, UM, WANNA THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING IN DISTRICT A AND, UM, AS YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LEVY PARK, RIGHT? UM, IN DISTRICT A AND I THINK THE BURNETT BAY PARK IS, IS ONE SPACE, ONE GREEN SPACE THAT WILL, THAT WILL IMPROVE WITH THE IMPROVEMENTS OF, OF, I NOTICED THAT MANY PARKS ARE, UM, PUT IN SOME MONEY FOR THAT. RIGHT. AND THANK YOU TOMMY, FOR, I KEEP ADVOCATING FOR BURNETT BAYHAM PARK, AND AS YOU KNOW, BURNETT BAYLAND PARK IS THE BIGGEST AND THE ONLY PARK, BIGGEST PARK IN THE GOFTON AREA. AND AS YOU MENTIONED ON, UM, THE MARSHALL CRIME, YOU KNOW, KEEPING IMPROVING THIS, THIS PARK AND YOU AND THE COMMISSIONER KEGEL COMPROMISED. AND AS YOU COMPROMISED TO LUCA INTO MARSHALL PLAN, HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING FROM YES, UM, COMMISSIONER ABOUT THE MASTER PLAN? SO JUST LAST WEEK, A WEEK OR TWO AGO, HE ACTUALLY SENT US A DRAFT OF A LETTER THAT HE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE COUNTY, UH, APPROVING, UH, THE ASSESSMENT OF A MASTER PLAN. SO THAT IS ONGOING RIGHT NOW. UH, HE'S LOOKING AT PUTTING HIS, UH, COUNTY PARKS PEOPLE THERE, ALSO COLLABORATING WITH THE COUNTY ENGINEERS, AND THEN ALSO WORKING WITH OUR CITY OF HOUSTON DEPARTMENT, UH, ON WHAT THAT ASSESSMENT LOOKS LIKE. AND THEN FROM THERE, HAVING COMMUNITY INPUT BASED ON WHAT THE ASSESSMENT LOOKS LIKE TO GET YOUR FEEDBACK ON WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE AND, UH, HOW WE SHOULD GO ABOUT DOING IT. CURRENTLY, RIGHT NOW WITH THE BURNETT BAYLIN PARK, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT PARTNERING WITH THE HOUSTON DYNAMO, UH, FOR SOCCER PITCHES AT THAT PARK. WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, WITH THE GULF DAY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT AND SOME PRIVATE DONORS THAT ARE LOOKING AT, UM, DOING A PERMANENT MURAL, ALSO DOING IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BASKETBALL COURT. UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT GREEN SPACE THAT'S IN THE BACK OF THAT, UH, PART FOR A SIGNATURE SOCCER FIELD THAT [01:15:01] CAN BE FOR LEAGUE PLAY. UM, WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE WORKING WITH YOU ON UNDERSTANDING THE BEST PLACEMENT FOR THE COMMUNITY GARDEN. RIGHT? AND THEN ONE OF THE THINGS I'M, UH, MOST ENCOURAGED ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO BURNETT BAYLIN PARK, WHICH IS A PARK THAT IS HEAVILY USED BY MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM MANY DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES AND MANY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, IS TAKING MORE PRIDE IN THE PARK BASED ON MESSAGING AND SIGNAGE, WHETHER IT IS WITH BEAUTIFICATION, WHETHER IT WAS CRASH. BUT A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE HAVING WITH BURNETT BAILIN FROM A COMMUNITY STANDPOINT IS A LACK OF PRIDE IN THE UPKEEP OF THE PARK, RIGHT? MY OFFICE CAN WORK WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT TO PUT A LOT OF TRASH CANS OUT THERE, MORE LIGHTING, MORE BENCHES, BUT THE MAINTENANCE FROM THE COMMUNITY TO ENSURE THAT IT STAYS LOOKING NICE AND THAT THE TRASH MAKES IT TO THE TRASH CAN IS VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL. AND SO IT'S GONNA TAKE A, UM, COLLECTIVE EFFORT IN DOING THAT. BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT YOUR VOICE, SANDRA'S VOICE, TAMMY'S VOICE, VERONICA, MANY OF THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT ARE IN THE GULFTON COMMUNITY HAVE LOUDLY BEEN HEARD BY OUR OFFICE. UM, JUST LIKE YOU SAW WITH THE OTHER PARKS, WHICH ANDERSON PARK, MANY OF THAT, MANY OF THOSE DOLLARS ARE COMING FROM TURS ONE, UH, CLUB CREEK PARK. MANY OF THOSE DOLLARS ARE COMING FROM TURS 20, RIGHT? SO THEY HAVE THEIR OWN DEDICATED FUNDING SOURCES THAT ARE GOING TOWARDS THAT PARK. EVEN THE 50 50 PARK PLAN WITH FORUM PARK IN THE WESTWOOD AREA. THOSE ARE CORPORATE DOLLARS THAT ARE GOING TOWARDS FUNDING THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THAT PART. NOW WE HAVE OUR OWN MANAGEMENT DISTRICT AND, UM, AND GULFTON, RIGHT? SO WE NOW HAVE A FUNDING SOURCE. AND THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT IS IT IS, IS IT IS COMPRISED OF THE COMMUNITY. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THE RED TAPE OF GOING THROUGH CITY COUNCIL TO GET SOME OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS DONE, JUST LIKE THEY WERE ABLE TO DO IN OTHER AREAS WITH THEIR SPECIAL PURPOSE DISTRICTS TO PUT MONEY INTO THEIR PARKS. WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO, UH, WITH BURNETT BAILIN PARK, UH, WITH YOU ALL LEADING THE WAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MUCH. YEAH. WELCOME. AND WE REALLY LOVE THE IDEA OF, UM, WORKING ALL THESE, UM, SMALL PROJECTS, RIGHT? UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THAT THE, THE BURNETT BILL PARK REALLY NEEDS A MEASURE, A LONG TERM PROJECT FOR THAT. AND WE ARE, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO WORK WITH ALL THE, UH, COLLABORATORS WITH ALL, UH, FUNDERS, WITH ALL, EVERYTHING THAT IS, IS WILLING TO PUT MORE EFFORTS INTO, MAKE, MAKE, MAKE BIGGER IMPROVEMENTS FOR THIS PARK. AGREED. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I THINK THAT WILL WRAP US UP FOR THIS EVENING. UH, AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING OUT. WE DO HAVE A LOT OF FOOD IN THE BACK. UH, CHICK-FIL-A, EVERYONE LOVES CHICK-FIL-A. I THINK WE'RE THE ONLY DISTRICT THAT BROUGHT FOOD. SO, SO THANK YOU ALL AND THANK ALL THE DEPARTMENTS AND EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE. REALLY APPRECIATE IT. GOD BLESS YOU ALL. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.