Houston City Council member Sallie Alcorn plans joint virtual sidewalk summit

City of Houston Council member at-large position five Sallie Alcorn has issued the following press release:

Join Council Member David W. Robinson and me for a Houston Sidewalk Summit at 5 p.m. on Sept. 21. The virtual Sidewalk Summit will bring together decision-makers and stakeholders for a candid discussion of current sidewalk regulations, municipal policies, and critical investments being made in Houston. We’ll also discuss new ideas for addressing the city’s sidewalk challenges and improving the overall pedestrian experience.

The summit will be broken up into a series of panels, each focused on different policies and investments related to sidewalks, with opportunities for public input and discussion. Directors from the Planning and Development Department and Houston Public Works will start the program with an overview of the state of sidewalks in the city, before handing it over to Houston’s Complete Communities director and chief transportation planner for a discussion on the role sidewalks play in our communities and transportation network. City staffers will also speak on how sidewalks tie into our resiliency, sustainability, and accessibility initiatives.

Smart Growth America, the Houston-Galveston Area Council, AARP, LINK Houston, and other organizations in the transportation sphere have also been invited to participate.

Please register for the summit here.

I have heard from many concerned constituents across the city about the rise in violent crime in Houston. According to July 2021 Houston Police Department (HPD) stats, murders are up 23% over 2020 and aggravated assaults are up 5%. Overall crimes against property (including robbery, burglary, and theft) are down 5%. Theft of motor vehicle parts and accessories, including catalytic converters, are up 82%.

Police Chief Troy Finner spoke at the July District G Informational Town Hall on Crime and acknowledged the spike in violent crime saying, “Today, we have a crime problem…we are in a hole and we can’t keep digging.” He reported there is a backlog of over 100,000 court cases including 55,000 felony cases, 1,500 murder cases, and almost 500 capital murder cases. He also stressed the need for violent criminals to be in jail. A recent Houston Chronicle report cited Harris County data, “in 2020, 18,796 defendants were charged with new felonies and misdemeanors while out on bond, a number that has tripled since 2015.”

To combat crime, the City of Houston dedicated $2.1 million American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to police overtime. City Council also voted to add an extra HPD cadet class ($2.3 million) to the schedule, for a total of six cadet classes this year. Further, $25 million in ARPA funds were allocated to expand the HPD’s crisis intervention initiatives, including the Domestic Abuse Response Team, Clinician-Officer Remote Evaluation, Crisis Intervention Response Team, Crisis Call Diversion Program, and Mobile Crisis Outreach Team. Additionally, Harris County Commissioner’s Court voted in July to dedicate an additional $15 million to clearing the criminal case backlog.

What can you do to help reduce crime? HPD Westside Commander David Angelo gives this advice: Report a crime when it occurs, regardless of what it is. We use crime analysis (e.g. reported crimes) to determine where, when, and what type of crime is occurring in a certain area so we respond accordingly. Violent crime takes priority over property crime; however, we need the community to report both violent and non-violent crime when it occurs.

Be a good witness. If you witness a crime in progress please do not put yourself in harm’s way.  Some citizens may be reluctant to speak with the police for fear of retaliation.  Your personal identifying information is not public record and will not be released even if media makes a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the report.  The only report information released for FOIA is date, time, location, type of crime and a small summary of the incident.  No personal information is included in the release of information.

Please remove personal belongings from your vehicle, especially guns.  For the first six months of 2021, there were more than 1,600 reports of guns stolen from vehicles. These are 1,600 plus additional guns on our streets.

Hurricane Harvey landed in Texas four years ago, bringing over 50 inches of rain to Houston and flooding thousands of homes and businesses across the region. In the aftermath, we had an opportunity to rebuild Houston as a stronger, more resilient city better prepared for future storms. A summary of what’s been done since Harvey:

Completed & In-Progress Projects

• Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs): $501 million has been invested in drainage-focused CIPs, with over 82% of the 51 projects fully completed.
• Local Drainage Projects: By the end of this fiscal year, the city will have spent $21 million on 164 local drainage projects. These projects are smaller, site-specific projects costing under $3 million and completed at a faster pace.  
• Storm Water Action Team (SWAT): Over the past four years, $34.7 million has been spent on constructing 124 SWAT projects. An additional eighteen projects will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.
• Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Inter-Agency Projects: Six projects totaling $33 million have been completed in partnership with local TIRZs. $76 million has been committed to three additional drainage infrastructure projects currently under construction.
• Detention: $70.5 million has been spent to acquire 357.6 acres of added detention. 
• Dredging: $120 million in state and federal funding was used to dredge three million cubic yards of sand and sediment from the West Fork of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston.  
• Home Elevation: $66.1 million has been spent on elevating 260 homes through the FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance program. Many more homes are currently in the planning stages for elevation.

Project Development

The city has continued to seek additional funding from state and federal agencies. Recent grants include:

• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-Mitigation: $57 million indirect allocation for local infrastructure projects
• FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant: $300 million for regional detention and flood damage reduction projects (Inwood, Lake Houston Dam, North Canal, TIRZ 17)
• State Grant: $50 million for additional dredging of Lake Houston
• State Subsidized Loans & Grants: $32 million for two flood-damage reduction projects
• CDBG-Disaster-Recovery: $23 million for infrastructure planning recovery and resilience projects

Policy

• Chapter 19 Updates: In 2018, city council approved changes to Chapter 19 of the city’s code of ordinances, updating rules on providing rainwater retention areas and requiring new construction to be built two feet above the 500-year floodplain. 
• Detention Rates: The city adopted new rainfall data and detention rates as a result of NOAA Atlas 14 increased precipitation estimates.
• International Partnerships: Over the past four years, the city has grown existing partnerships and established new international relationships to collaborate on water-related challenges. 
• Green Development:  Three incentives for green development were launched recently, including a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Expedited Permitting Pilot Program and a GSI Tax Abatement Program.
• Resilient Houston and the Climate Action Plan were developed as a framework for city departments, local and regional partners, and everyday Houstonians. The strategies link existing efforts with new ones that will collectively work to protect Houston against future disasters–from hurricanes to extreme heat waves–and chronic stresses such as aging infrastructure, poor air quality, and flooding.

Next week, the Recovery Office will present a four-year recovery report, with a more comprehensive overview of recovery, hazard mitigation, and housing improvements that have been completed. The work is far from over, but today we are safer than when we began recovery four years ago.

Hurricane Ida

The City of Houston is partnering with the National Association of Christian Churches (NACC), Kroger, and Gallery Furniture owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale to assist storm evacuees. To volunteer or donate supplies, please call NACC Disaster Services at (832) 626-7111. Kroger has also launched a relief drive in more than 100 Greater Houston and Louisiana stores to support the communities and families affected by Hurricane Ida. Customers can donate a bag of non-perishable, ready-to-eat foods for $6 at checkout. The Houston Food Bank is also looking for volunteers to assist. My team and I will be packing meals today.

Hurricane Ida is a reminder that hurricane season is far from over. Make sure to have supplies on hand and keep your gas tank full when storms are in the Gulf. Monitor official channels like HoustonEmergency and Ready Harris for updates on emergency readiness.

Vaccinations

To increase the city’s vaccination rate and save lives, the Houston Health Department is providing up to $150 in gift cards to get vaccinated against COVID-19. People who get a first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at an eligible health department site starting Aug. 26 will receive a $100 gift card.

Gift cards valued at $50 will be awarded with second doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine administered at eligible health department sites. To qualify for the second dose incentive, people must have received their first dose on or after Aug. 2 at an eligible health department site and complete the series within 42 days. More information about the program and a list of eligible vaccination sites is available on the Houston Health Department website.

At Wednesday’s council session, Mayor Turner reported that 72.6% of eligible Houstonians have received their first shot of the COVID vaccine and 59.5% have been fully vaccinated. During the first five days of the new incentive program, 4,288 vaccines were administered at the eligible sites, up from 528 the previous week.