Houston City Council members this week continued to consider requiring more transparency from the mayoral administration and giving themselves more power before changes are made to projects in the city’s $16.7 billion capital improvement plan.
Before the city council approved the five-year plan in June, council member Julian Ramirez proposed three amendments — requiring a monthly report from the administration on projects “proposed for delay, cancelation, redesign, or alteration in scope” above a certain cost; giving the city council the power to approve or deny those changes; and, if requested by a city council member, requiring a public hearing before “installation or removal of improvements” along public streets and sidewalks. Those proposals were referred to a city council committee, which met on Tuesday.
Under Mayor John Whitmire, the administration has made unilateral changes to a number of street projects without a formal community engagement process, including the removal of a protected bike lane on Austin Street, the removal of cyclist protections on Heights Boulevard, and the removal of traffic safety features on Houston Avenue. In most cases, the mayor’s office cited safety concerns or feedback from a handful of community members, while mobility advocates protested the changes.
“For council to be relevant and exercise its authority, timely information is critical,” Ramirez told Houston Public Media. “In a strong-mayor form of government, it’s critical that the power that council has be able to be effective and used to help residents.”
Ramirez’s amendments, as proposed, focus on the city’s capital improvement plan, which covers a range of projects including road repair, drainage improvements and water infrastructure. According to Whitmire’s administration, the city tends to manage 300 to 500 capital improvement projects per year. Ramirez, who represents the entire city as an at-large council member, told Houston Public Media the proposal doesn’t come from a place of concern about Whitmire’s actions.
“I personally haven’t had what I feel are major problems with this administration, but you know, my focus is somewhat different than the folks who represent their constituents in a single district,” Ramirez said.
Council member Abbie Kamin, who represents neighborhoods in western parts of Houston, spoke in support of more engagement between the administration and the city council before infrastructure projects are changed.
“Because there are examples where this has happened,” Kamin said. “I’m not suggesting that’s intentionally, and I’m not suggesting that we don’t necessarily not support some of those changes at times, but when there are changes, council, especially the district council members … need to be made aware and given the time to let the community know, get that feedback and … engage in such a way to ensure that the project moves forward as intended or as desired by the community in the safest way possible.”
Kamin also called for applying the rules to a more expansive list of projects, including those overseen by local management boards.
The management board for the Montrose area, which Kamin represents, signed off on controversial changes to a major project on Montrose Boulevard after Whitmire overhauled the board without Kamin’s input. After years of community engagement, the newly installed board approved a design eschewing narrowed car lanes and 10-foot, shared-use paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
Steven David, chief strategy and operations officer for Whitmire, said the administration is open to increased communication with the city council — but he raised concerns about the increased administrative burden associated with regular reports and public hearings. He said Houston Public Works is working on updates to the Engage Houston website, which contains information about infrastructure projects.
“I would ask that we minimize the backend of reporting, where you think that automated updates on a website or automated reporting can occur,” David said. “I’d ask for us to be mindful of the amount of staff time that would go in to continue to fulfill things like a public hearing, right? If we can get information off a website, do we really need that public hearing?”
A handful of residents spoke in favor of the amendments, including Kevin Strickland, co-founder of mobility-focused advocacy group Walk and Roll Houston.
“Transparency is the floor, not the ceiling, for good governance,” Strickland said.
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