Garcia on new Astroworld-based plan: 'An example for how the city and the county can collaborate on major events moving forward'

The Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a four-point plan to prevent a repeat of last year’s ill-fated Astroworld Festival on Tuesday, according to a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU. 

A crowd crush at NRG Park during local rapper Travis Scott’s signature live event on the night of Nov. 5, 2021 claimed the lives of 10 people. 

The show’s fatalities were young people, from a 9-year-old boy who asked his father to take him to the show to a 27-year-old man whose last act of love for his fiancée was keeping her from getting crushed, per Houston Daily.

KHOU reported that Harris County leaders passed the plan crafted by the City of Houston–Harris County Task Force on Special Events, which made recommendations mostly toward communication and event planning. 

Under the agreement, the station reported, events at NRG Park with estimated capacities of more than 6,000 people are required to have a unified command center, as well as have a medical and security plan reviewed and approved beforehand.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner called the plan a “work in progress [but] a great start,” KHOU reported. 

“We looked at best practices from around the nation and management of events, and I think it's a great thing,” Finner said. "It gives the chief of police authority to review, approve or reject any security plan. That's important." 

Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that the task force outlined the new safety measures nearly 10 months after its formation.

Per Houston Public Media (HPM), Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said that the NRG complex is the primary lynchpin of the agreement but hopes the plan will be applied to all future events. 

"While NRG Park is a necessary first step, I expect this agreement to set an example for how the city and the county can collaborate on major events moving forward," Garcia, a former Houston police chief himself, told HPM. 

The Houston City Council was slated to vote on a similarly-minded ordinance on Wednesday, but, according to Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, one council member requested more time to get an explanation from the city’s legal department.