Crisis is not free pass to pollute our planet

Houston Chronicle Op-Ed
By Robin Schneider

Elizabeth Conley / Staff photographer
Medical groups agree that asthma, cardiopulmonary obstructive disorder, heart disease and various cancers are linked to industrial pollution.

Under the cover of the COVID-19 crisis, Gov. Greg Abbott on March 13 and President Donald Trump on March 26 relaxed environmental compliance rules for petrochemical plants and other big polluters. By setting aside these vital protective measures, the president and governor appear to take advantage of an economic and health emergency in order to allow more profits and pollution from existing industrial plants and to speed up the permitting of proposed new fossil fuel and plastics plants. The public health and planet cannot take it.

Instead, both the Trump and Abbott administrations have the opportunity in this crisis to powerfully change the course of history by setting aside politics and profits.

Many Texans have preexisting conditions that make them more susceptible to contracting COVID-19. This disease has not been directly linked to industrial toxins in our air and water. However, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Society, the American Cancer Society, and numerous other medical organizations and physicians line up behind the facts. The underlying conditions pervasive in our families and communities — asthma, cardio-pulmonary obstructive disorder, heart disease and various cancers that make people vulnerable — are linked to industrial pollution. Now, public health researchers point to a study done on SARS, a virus closely related to COVID-19, which found that people who breathed polluted air were about twice as likely to die from the infection.

We have a highly problematic track record in Texas. This newest license to pollute is an extension of a bad loophole the Abbott administration created after the Hurricane Harvey floods when nearly half a billion gallons of corporate polluters’ abandoned industrial waste full of cancer-causing toxins flowed into waterways and homes on the Texas coast.

In recent years environmental groups have sued and won against three of the world’s largest oil companies for “upset emissions,” illegal amounts of benzene and other hazardous pollutants in the Houston area. Like Trump’s, Abbott’s order continues on that wrong track by allowing industrial polluters a free pass to forego protective practices, to disregard the public health in existing operations and to fail to clean up afterwards.

It is vital to assure that the public’s health is not compromised by toxic pollution, especially now when vulnerable populations are at a great risk of hospitalization and death. Both Trump and Abbott certainly need to engage governmental powers in the COVID-19 crisis to both protect the public health and to help people meet real, essential human needs — food, homes and health care. However, they should not use the crisis to jeopardize our future beyond the crisis with bad environmental policy. We must and can avoid worsening our ongoing background load of toxins.

Trump and Abbott must collaborate strongly now across the aisle to not only support the public health system, they must promote clean, sustainable and more resilient solutions moving forward.

To protect the public health and avoid further climate change disaster, Trump and Abbott must immediately reinstate protective, legally-required pollution controls. The teams of workers currently charged with implementing protective practices at existing plants must receive the best possible protective gear, training and just compensation for their work. All permitting of proposed polluting facilities must be put on hold until legally-required procedures are firmly established and followed. Then, Trump and Abbott, or whoever is elected next, must work as soon as possible to establish the highest standard practices of pollution prevention and implement long-term solutions — a transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy through renewable power that runs clean transportation, energy efficiency and a reduction of plastics production. We all need and want the healthiest possible people and planet.

Robin Schneider is the executive director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment.


A Green New Deal for Dallas? Activists Protest City’s New Climate Plan

Dallas Observer
By Lucas Manfield
Original article here

Corey Troiani announced the “people’s plan” in front of the Hall of State. Lucas Manfield, Dallas Observer

Protesters lined the steps of the Hall of State in Fair Park on Tuesday, holding a banner in front of attendees of the morning’s climate symposium: “This is not enough.”

It was in response to Dallas’ climate plan, which was released in draft form last month and is to be adopted by the City Council on Earth Day in April. Its proponents call it “viable and reasonable.” Its detractors say it isn’t enough to stop an impending crisis.

“The city’s current plan doesn’t reach even its own carbon emissions target,” said Hope Endrenyi, one of the protest’s organizers. “They need to take bolder action.”

Endrenyi is a local organizer for the Sunrise Movement, a national youth-led organization that seeks urgent action on climate change.

Mayor Eric Johnson has committed the city to meeting the goals set out by the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. That means eliminating emissions by 2050. To achieve this, Dallas set a 2030 reduction target of 43%.

But the city’s proposed solutions, activists point out, don’t even get halfway there. If all 90 “actions” listed in the plan are taken, the city will reduce emissions only 18% by the deadline.

Nine organizations, including the North Texas chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Veterans for Peace, have formed a coalition that is proposing an alternative “people’s climate action plan.” They offer alternative measures that didn’t make it into the city’s plan, from de-privatizing the electric grid to eliminating fares on DART.

They call it a Green New Deal for Dallas. They say the city doesn’t have a choice but to implement a far more aggressive plan if it wants to help mitigate rising temperatures, which scientists say will cause irreversible harm to people and the environment across the globe.

Councilman Omar Narvaez, chairman of the city’s new environmental subcommittee that is overseeing the rollout of the comprehensive climate plan, or CECAP, acknowledged the opposition in his speech to the symposium Tuesday.

“The CECAP is going to have things that everybody loves. There’s gonna be some things in there that we don’t like. There’s gonna be some places where we think — you all may think — that we’re falling short as a city,” he said.

Then, he promised Dallas would “become a global leader on environmental and sustainability issues.”

But activists already have reasons for doubt. Rita Beving of Public Citizen, which participated in “stakeholder sessions” with city officials but is not part of the coalition, said she was disappointed when she compared the result with plans from other cities.

“I very simply went to the Atlanta plan. I went to the Denver plan. I found at least six or seven new strategies that we could consider, like sub-metering buildings or mandating that rental properties do incremental energy efficiency improvements,” she said.

Her organization, Public Citizen, has been involved in climate planning in cities across Texas. It submitted detailed comments on the plan to city officials and suggested the city establish quantifiable goals to measure progress every few years, as well as commit to financing more of the plan’s proposals.

Beving pointed out that, as the plan is currently structured, there’s little way to tell which of the 90 proposals will have the biggest effect on greenhouse gas emissions and are therefore worth preferential investment.

She also echoed a demand included in the “people’s” plan that the city establish a dedicated oversight commission. The city eliminated its Dallas Environmental Commission, which fielded resident complaints about air or water quality, in 2010.

Corey Troiani, another protest organizer, criticized the plan’s development process. On behalf of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, he also participated in early community feedback sessions. City officials and the contractors they hired to produce the plan “were talking at us during those meetings,” he said.

“Hardly any of our input made it into the final draft.”


Austin authorizes short-term contracts to ensure trash, recycling will continue to be collected from city facilities

KVUE News Austin
By Bryce Newberry
Original article here

AUSTIN, Texas — On Saturday, Feb. 22, city leaders spent nearly an hour trying to figure out what to do with all the trash from city facilities. Now, two short-term contracts have been authorized to ensure that trash and recycling will continue to be collected from all Austin facilities.

At a city council meeting held on Feb. 20, the council was asked to approve an emergency contract extension with Waste Management. But that would mean trash would go to the Austin Community Landfill in northeast Austin, which the council hasn’t supported for years.

“The people who don’t have the opportunity to live in the highest opportunity parts of town are still having to deal with the whole city’s trash,” said Councilmember Natasha Harper-Madison, who represents the district where the landfill is located. “I know we have to put our trash somewhere, but we can do it in a way that doesn’t compromise people’s health and wellness and quality of life.”

The emergency contract was proposed by city staff for up to one year because the City’s current contract expires on Feb. 28. On the same day the contract was set to expire, the City of Austin authorized two short-term contracts that will ensure that trash and recycling will continue to be collected from all City of Austin facilities until a new long-term contract can be authorized by Council, KVUE’s Bryce Newberry confirmed.

Under the short-term contracts, trash and recycling will not go to the controversial Austin Community Landfill. Under the short-term contract with Texas Disposal Systems, waste will go to their landfill in Creedmoore, Texas. Under the contract with Central Waste and Recycling, waste will go to the same landfill in Creedmore or to the Williamson County Landfill in Hutto, Texas.

Both contracts start on Feb. 28 and will continue on a month-to-month basis for up to six months. The City will end the contracts once the city council starts a new long-term contract.

Several people previously spoke out against a contract extension with the Austin Community Landfill, which they claim has been a bad neighbor.

“We urge you to stand with us and forbid any City of Austin facility discards from going to this problem landfill,” said Robin Schneider of Texas Campaign for the Environment. “We want to make it clear that this city does not do business with bad actors.”


Pilots, activists urge Austin council to reject landfill expansion near airport

Austin American-Statesman
By Heather Osbourne

Amber England, an activist with Texas Campaign for the Environment, holds up a photo of turkey vultures eating at a landfill near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman

Pilots and environmental advocates on Thursday urged Austin city leaders to reject the expansion of a landfill near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, fearing an increased danger of jets colliding with vultures and other birds drawn to the site.

Jeffrey Jacoby, deputy director for Texas Campaign for the Environment, was one of a handful who appeared before the Austin City Council, saying the proposed expansion would “put in danger the flying public for the next 13 years.”

Jacoby was referring to estimates that the expansion of the landfill, which is less than a mile south of the airport’s west runway, would increase its lifespan by about 13 years. An official hearing regarding the expansion will be held at City Hall on March 26.

While the dump only accepts unwanted construction materials, Jacoby and other environmental advocates believe operators allow decaying organic waste to slip through its gates.

“It’s highly doubtful you would have turkey vultures frequenting the dump if there was not rotting waste,” Jacoby said.

Jacoby presented photos taken at the landfill over the past few weeks, which show several turkey vultures perched on top of the trash. Other photos show large birds flying near passenger planes.

Several council members on Thursday requested the issues raised by the pilots and activists be placed on the agenda for the Airport Advisory Commission’s next meeting.

Austin-Bergstrom is no stranger to bird strikes, but officials say no data directly links them to the nearby landfill. In December, the airport reported a total of 175 bird strikes had occurred within a 5-mile radius of the airport in 2019, about the same number as the year before.

The airport has its own wildlife management team, which documents bird sightings and strikes near the runways. The team also works to remove carcasses from nearby roads and at the landfill to reduce food available for those larger birds.

Mandy McClendon, communications manager for the airport, said airport officials already told the council that they have no objection to the expansion of the landfill and do not believe it would increase the risk of strikes.

However, some pilots who use the airport daily disagree. Jose Corona, owner of Austin Helicopter Tours and one of two pilots to speak against the landfill Thursday, told the council that bird sightings at Austin-Bergstrom are the worst he has seen at any airport in the past 20 years.

“My concern is that eventually they will take down an aircraft,” Corona said. “I’m hoping the city reconsiders that expansion.”

Members representing Texas Campaign for the Environment stand in support of a speaker Thursday at an Austin City Council meeting, where pilots and environmental activists raised their concerns about a pending expansion of a landfill just 3,250 feet from runways at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman

Opponents of Austin trash transfer station take their case to the state

Austin Monitor
By Mose Buchele
Original article here

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality held a public hearing Thursday night on a proposal to build a garbage transfer station in North Austin. The project is facing growing opposition from public officials, neighbors and environmental groups.

The Austin Community Landfill off U.S. Highway 290 is filling up fast. According to its owner, Waste Management, the landfill will be too full to store garbage in about five years, so it wants to build a way station to bring in garbage from local customers and haul it out to other landfills.

“The need to take out the trash is going to continue, and this transfer station will provide a viable solution for continued waste disposal,” the company said in a media statement on the project.

Residents who live nearby say that will worsen problems they’re already having with the landfill; for years, they have complained of foul smells, rodents and heavy traffic.

But as the landfill has grown, so has the community around it.

“Forty years ago, this landfill was not surrounded by homes on every point of the compass,” state Rep. Celia Israel, who represents the area in the Texas House, told KUT. “We’ve been dealing with horrible fumes. Many of us, on many nights, cannot sit outside.”

Environmental groups have also entered the debate, arguing that the transfer station runs counter to Austin’s goal of becoming a zero-waste city.

“Building out even more of this trash infrastructure, especially when you’re talking about a company that has not shown any interest in contributing positively to our zero-waste goals, is not in the best interest of Austin,” Jeff Jacoby, deputy director of Texas Campaign for the Environment, said.

To build the way station, Waste Management needs to get permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT. Photos by Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT.


Plan de empresa de recolección de basura genera oposición en este de Austin

Telemundo Austin
By Olivia Martinez
Artículo original aquí

El plan de Waste Management, la compañía de recolección de basura de transformar un basurero del este de Austin en una planta de transferencia de desechos está generado oposición de vecinos, líderes locales y ambientalistas.

La noche del jueves, La Comisión para la Calidad Ambiental de Texas junto con a la empresa solicitante realizaron una audiencia pública en la primaria Bluebonnet Trail para responder las inquietudes del público.

La junta contó con la participación de la legisladora estatal Celia Israel, quien representa a la zona.

“Mis vecinos que yo represento a ellos en el Capitolio quieren que se sigan con los planes que tenemos que van a cerrar en cinco años, punto y final”, dijo Israel quien vive a menos de una milla del vertedero de la calle Giles y la 290. “El olor del aire es muy feo hay noches que no se puede estar afuera cocinando o trabajando afuera”.

Muchos de los vecinos expresaron su oposición a la solicitud presentada por Waste Management el 27 de septiembre del año pasado a TCEQ para convertir el basurero en una planta para almacenar, procesar y transferir mil camionadas de residuos por día. La planta recibiría más de 669,000 toneladas de residuos cada año.

Originalmente, el vertedero debía cerrar en cinco años y varios grupos ambientalistas adviertieron sobre los efectos de la continuación de las operaciones en la población del sector.

“Si se les permite construir esta estación de basura, sus operaciones en este vecindario podrían continuar indefinidamente en el futuro”, dijo Jeffrey Jacoby, representante de Texas para el Medio Ambiente.

Durante la reunión, los funcionarios de la empresa de recolección de basura dijeron tener una solución para controlar las emanaciones.

“El recinto estará cerrado y dentro de un edificio y ése es un tipo de mitigación del olor. Es el paso número uno. La descarga, procesamiento y carga de los residuos en los vehículos se llevará a cabo en interiores”, dijo Scott Graves, representante de Geosyntec, compañía que colaboró en la presentación de la solicitud de Waste Management.

Un funcionario de TCEQ dijo que la agencia toma en cuenta factores como el polvo, olor, potencial de plagas, basura arrastrada por el viento, protección del agua superficial y control de acceso al considerar los permisos.

A raíz de la controversia, la comisión informó que extenderá el periodo para recibir las inquietudes de la población y se desconoce cuánto tardarán en tomar la decisión.


Dallas Apartment Recycling Law Takes Effect

NBC News DFW
By Ken Kalthoff
Original article and video here

A 2018 law that requires landlords to make trash recycling available for tenants of apartments with eight units or more took effect Wednesday.

More than half of Dallas residents live in rental apartments, so the law affects most of the population and a large volume of Dallas trash.

Kevin Richardson with the Texas Campaign for the Environment said he is concerned that the law his group helped pass will not be enforced.

“The new apartment recycling rule is a major step toward universal recycling in the city of Dallas, however, we want to make sure residents know who to contact if their apartment complex is not providing a recycling program in compliance with the law,” Richardson said.

Tenants can call 311 or use the Dallas 311 app to file a complaint for enforcement.

Dallas adopted a goal of “Zero Waste” in 2013 to reduce the cost of dumping trash in a landfill and improve the environment.

“In order to achieve Zero Waste, we have to have good recycling policies and we have to have good production policies so we don’t produce things that are designed to become waste,” said Richardson.

For years, Dallas recycling has been available for residents of single-family homes and many apartment complexes offered it voluntarily.

As of January 1, landlords are required to provide a recycling program and inform tenants about it.

“They’ve never talked to me about it, never,” said Jesus Mendez, a Northwest Dallas apartment tenant. “It would be good for everybody, yea, for the environment.”

Richardson said large commercial buildings and businesses are another large source of recyclable waste but the City of Dallas has not adopted rules for commercial property recycling.

Most other large Texas cities adopted apartment recycling years ago. Fort Worth did so in 2014.


Proposed landfill expansion could attract more birds near Austin’s airport, environmental group says

KVUE News Austin
By Sammy Turner & Luis de Leon
Original article here

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) held a public meeting on Thursday to discuss the proposed expansion of a landfill near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS).

An attorney with TCEQ said the comments could be part of a process where they intake the comments and consider them as part of the application process.

The application is by Texas Regional Landfill Company LP, who owns the property. Thursday’s meeting was for public comment on the proposed expansion.

According to the presentation given at the meeting, the expansion, if approved, would increase the size of the landfill and extend its operating life by close to 13 years. Representatives at the meeting were unable to comment on the proposal.

Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting pollution, argues the Travis County Landfill (TCL) is operating in a way that is attracting birds, causing hazards to air traffic.

“The problem is birds and planes obviously don’t mix,” said Jeffrey Jacoby, the deputy director for Texas Campaign for the Environment. “We just don’t need this additional landfill capacity for this type of landfill.”

TCE said the proposed expansion would increase its size by 36 acres and extend its height by 29 feet, which is only 13 feet from the flight path.

The organization claims birds, including buzzards and hawks, frequent the site and can be a dangerous hazard to the nearby airport.

The City of Austin Aviation Department stated it didn’t object to the expansion last year, according to TCE. However, TCE said the Texas Aviation Association formally objected to the expansion, citing photo and video evidence.

However, representatives with the applicant of the proposed expansion explained in their presentation the landfill does not attract birds and the expansion is environmentally sound.

All the wildlife strikes at any airport in the country for any specified date range can be found online. According to one of the airport’s wildlife management biologists, there were 175 bird strikes as of December 17, which is one more than in 2018 total. More information from Austin Resource Recovery can be found on the city’s website.

There is no word yet on when the next step could occur, but it could be a few months down the road, according to an attorney with TCEQ.


Good News and Bad News for Neighbors of Austin Community Landfill

Austin Chronicle
By Lindsay Stafford Mader
Original article here

Austin Community Landfill in December 2018 (Photo by John Anderson)

After months of worrying that Austin’s most controversial landfill might soon be growing, neighbors and activists had been calling a recent vote by the Travis County Commissioners Court a huge win that would ensure the facility’s closure. But, days later, they found out that global corporation Waste Management is now planning to instead build a transfer station at its Austin Community Landfill near Highway 290 and Springdale Road, possibly perpetuating concerns for decades longer.

The community’s good news came in September, when the commissioners unanimously approved a new section of the county code that prohibits new landfills or landfill operations except for at three locations where facilities are already operating under permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or other locations with a TCEQ permit application pending as of Sept. 17. While WM’s ACL in Northeast Austin is permitted and thus exempted, the code amendment further prohibits processing and disposal “outside of the currently authorized area or in excess of the currently authorized capacity.” WM had been considering expanding the ACL, but because it hadn’t yet filed a TCEQ application for the plan, the siting ordinance prevents any such growth.

WM has called the ordinance amendment “very targeted” and “unfair.” Steve Jacobs, WM’s director of disposal operations in Tex­as and Oklahoma, told the Chronicle that the county wasn’t transparent – it posted notice of the vote two weeks beforehand as required, but didn’t consult with operators – and that the ordinance shouldn’t exempt currently non-permitted tracts owned by rival landfill Texas Disposal Sys­tems. “Waste Management believes all waste industry regulations should be applied equally across the county,” says Jacobs.

According to County Judge Sarah Eck­hardt, state statute gives counties little regulatory authority over solid waste, “but this is our effort to use whatever authority we do have to handle it appropriately.” It’s said that Commissioner Jeff Travillion of Precinct 1, where the ACL is located, spearheaded the effort.

Neighbors of the ACL, nearby business owners, and the Texas Campaign for the Environment celebrated the court’s decision, as they had strongly opposed an expansion because of frequent nuisance odors, trash truck traffic, and industrial waste buried on the site in the early 1970s. TCE Deputy Director Jeffrey Jacoby says they initially thought grassroots activism and the commissioners’ action had “killed this landfill.”

Then, just a week after the ordinance passed, WM sent its transfer station registration application to TCEQ. It’s unclear if the company developed the almost 300-page document during the four weeks after the commissioners posted notice of the upcoming vote, or if WM had been quietly working on it for months. Now TCE and neighbors anxiously await clarity on what this means. The transfer station “presents numerous problems for the community – the truck traffic and the odors in particular,” says Jacoby. “Their track record for operating the ACL is such that we have no confidence this would be anything other than a continued blight on the community.”

According to WM’s registration application, the transfer station would be built within the ACL’s “permitted boundaries” when the landfill is nearing full capacity or in the process of closing. It would consist of a 10-acre area near the entrance at Giles Road, where about 600 smaller trucks would unload trash onto a concrete slab each day. Then, larger trailers would load up the trash and drive it to other counties’ landfills for long-term disposal – effectively going against Eckhardt’s vision to not “export our garbage to others.”

In 2018, the ACL accepted an average of about 2,700 tons of trash and about 500 trash trucks a day; this transfer station would receive up to 5,880 tons per day and send off only 3,200 tons, meaning up to 2,600 tons could be stored each day. This trash would be at the station – sitting on the concrete, unburied – for a maximum of 48 hours, or 72 hours on weekends and holidays. Though previous estimates have put the landfill’s remaining life at about six years, WM’s application includes waste acceptance amounts for the transfer station beginning as early as 2020.

Jacoby says the community still has a few tools left to fight it. The county code contains a provision regulating how close trash facilities can be to things like churches and residences, and the transfer station seems to violate that. Then, he adds, the city of Austin recently decided to keep part of the ACL within its full-purpose city limits in hopes that it could apply zoning authority if needed. “I think the neighbors recognize the significance of the county’s actions but they’re also very disappointed that Waste Manage­ment has filed this registration,” Jacoby says. “People are both cautiously optimistic and very concerned.”


Houston Mayoral Candidate Questionnaire

TCE Blog
Brittani Flowers, Gulf Coast Program Director

Houston’s CEER and HOME coalitions issued a joint questionnaire to all Mayoral candidates and published all responses. (See original response documents here.) CEER also held a Mayoral forum on environmental justice and published several videos of the event here, here and here.

Environmental Equity and Resiliency:

Environmental Equity addresses the built and natural environment. It is not limited to parkland, or the preservation of natural resources like bayous or prairies, but whether a community has access to the same safe drinking water, the same walkability to schools, the same clean air, and the same open or natural park spaces as other communities. As a city, Houston has a long history of segregation by race and class, along with numerous superfund sites, on-going pollution issues with its own infrastructure, and a lack of resources to adequately protect resources like air, water, and land.

1. What is your top environmental concern for the City and as mayor, what can your office do to address it? (Air pollution, water pollution, trash, flooding, etc.)

Candidate Baker:
Flooding: Perform more preventative maintenance and repairs to existing storm sewer lines and drainage ditches. Increase green infrastructure for the purpose of absorbing and filtering excess flood water as well as create more detention ponds. Use monies collected for drainage fees appropriately.

Candidate Broze:
I am concerned about the lack of action on local environmental disasters related to the refineries across Houston. Despite refinery fires becoming a regular feature of our city the current leadership is not addressing the concern. As part of my Hemp Houston plan I am calling for incentivizing local oil and gas companies to invest in hemp for fuel research (as well as other alt fuel sources). I am also calling for ending contracts with companies responsible for environmental degradation.

Candidate Houijami:
My most important step is to inform and educate All Houstonians about the climate change and How to reduce Greenhouse Gases to combat not just air pollution but the Pollution in General. By using energy more wisely —-> Helps reduce the demand for fossil fuels —> Reduces global warming. I will create Grants and Financial Rewards for Businesses and General Public:
– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
– Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning.
– Replace Your Light Bulbs.
– Drive Less and Drive Smart.
– Buy Energy-Efficient Products.
– Use Less Hot Water.
– Use the “Off” Switch on Electricity Usage.
– Plant a Tree.
– Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company.
– Encourage Others to Conserve.

Candidate King:
Flooding is Houston’s #1 environmental concern. The current mayor has said we are no better prepared for the next flood than we were when Harvey hit. That is inexcusable. My seven-point flood plan provides workable solutions. It begins with stopping the diversion of drainage fees to non-drainage projects.

Mayor Turner:
There are many. Harvey recovery and flood mitigation are pressing. We are working hard given the lack of funding, though after two years, federal funds are finally coming online. In the long term, the related issue of climate change is paramount. I am excited about our upcoming Climate Action Plan.

2. What tools would you utilize as a mayor to ensure environmental cleanup of degraded land sites as well as reverse the documented pattern of siting landfills, recycling centers, and industrial facilities in low-income and minority neighborhoods?

Candidate Baker:
My thoughts are similar to point 6 in your action plan which is to take a regional approach. Increase recycling opportunities, maximize diversion of harmful materials to minimize effects on communities. Clean them up. Build away from these communities. Get help from private sector.

Candidate Broze:
I would use my voice and my office to lobby for environmental issues. Although any Mayor can come in and create new bureaucracy and ordinances, I am interested in motivating the people of Houston into taking an active role in protecting our communities from being targeted for environmental racism. Landfills, recycling centers and industrial centers should not be hoisted upon low income communities of color.

Candidate Houijami:
The most important steps I will take to improve recycling waste in Houston:
1- Educate the Community
2- Add Recycling Bins in Public Spaces
3- Engage New Homeowners & Businesses
4- Implement Volume-based Waste Disposal
5- More Focus on Efficiency Collection Techniques
6- Elected Officials must be more engaged to Set goals and report on recycling achievements and benefits residents and businesses

Candidate King:
Using the mayor’s bully pulpit and access to available permitting and regulatory remedies, I will work to stop that type of unequal treatment.

Mayor Turner:
Enforcement of local health and safety laws is key, as well as documenting and publicizing the dangers to help local communities organize. At the city our powers are severely and unfairly constrained by hostile federal and state governments and now local and statewide revenue caps.

3. As mayor, what are the first three steps you will take to implement the proposed Houston Climate Action Plan?

Candidate Baker:
At this point all that’s left is to review it with all stakeholders, approve it, be transparent to public as we go-live.

Candidate Broze:
Again, I am interested to see how any plans for addressing environmental concerns can be implemented with as much community involvement as possible. I would be interested in hosting open climate townhalls around Houston to hear the concerns of the people and see how we can address the environment in a way that respects all community members – rich and poor alike.

Candidate Houijami:
– Educate the Community
– More Focus on Efficiency Collection Techniques
– More engaged to Set goals and report on recycling achievements and benefits residents and businesses

Candidate King:
1. Increase the city’s fleet of electric vehicles
2. Increase tree planting
3. Increase permanent green space and detention around flood prone areas

Mayor Turner:
Adopting the plan is a huge first step for Houston, which remains the world’s oil and gas capital.  Transitioning to electric vehicles – We lost much of our municipal electric fleet to Harvey. Reducing vehicle miles traveled – pass the METRO Proposition this November. Get started quickly on  optimization strategies.

4. Do you think it appropriate to increase the City’s budget line item for environmental enforcement? Do you think that enforcement should be housed in the legal department or in public health?

Candidate Baker:
Yes. Health with the support of law enforcement; especially in lieu of so many recent accidents and the need to follow up on corrective action requirements.

Candidate Broze:
I think concrete environmental plans and agendas must be discussed with public input before increasing any amount of funding. I think enforcement should be in public health.

Candidate Houijami:
I will make funds available to hire and train environmental enforcement officers. The job of these environmental enforcement officers is to educate the citizens of their community about illegal dumping, as well as to catch and prosecute those people that are illegally dumping solid waste. I think it shoul be housed in Public Health & Human Services.

Candidate King:
While I believe we need stronger environmental enforcement, I will be utilizing zero-based budgeting and requiring justification for every expense. Until that process is complete, I am not willing to assign an incremental increase to any line item. The legal and health departments need to coordinate and collaborate on enforcement.

Mayor Turner:
We absolutely need more funding for environmental enforcement. But I won’t make promises I cannot keep, given that our city is operating under its onerous voter-imposed revenue cap and now faces an additional state revenue cap. I am open to a discussion about the best department to manage this.

5. Within CEER’s 8-point plan, which priority is most meaningful to you and why?

Candidate Baker:
Embrace Resiliency. Obviously we will continue to flood and grow in population. Being proactive will help us prevent a lot of future damage. Ensuring that future public investments reflects the array of risks we face is key and also important for the city we leave for generations to come.

Candidate Broze:
I am most interested in the points made around air, land and water. Americans are consistently exposed to chemicals, pesticides, and other contaminants through our water, air, and the soil. These are critical areas to begin addressing how to limit these exposures.

Candidate Houijami:
Affordable housing. The fundamental cause of homelessness is the widening housing affordability gap. My approach to reducing homelessness is to prevent it + to ensure that formerly homeless families and individuals can maintain housing stability.

My political philosophy’s main focus is “Building Strong families–> leads to Strong Communities–> leads to Strong City–> leads to Strong State and that leads to Strong Nation” regardless of age, gender, religion, no religion, sexual orientation, economic status, ethnic background or race, Just Houstonians and Americans.

–> My 1st key of my plan of action for affordable housing for the majority of Houston: “Creation of the mortgage payment assistant program (MPAP)” for middle-class and low income working Houstonians. It will pay up to %45 of the total mortgage monthly payments, it will stabilize the financial situation of more than 100,000 Houstonians families and give them a fair share, an opportunity to stand against gentrification & Inequality. I will bring the developers, financial institutions and the City of Houston to create affordable condos, strong bricks for under $35000, and homes < $100K. Many countries they did it, example of Morocco.

Candidate King:
#4 speaks to me most immediately because we have to do something about flooding, or it will damage our ability to continue to attract new businesses and residents.

Mayor Turner:
Many of the plan’s priorities are meaningful to me. As mayor, I would have to say embracing resiliency is the most foundational, because many of the other priorities cannot be realized in its absence.

Flooding and Transportation Infrastructure:

We know that Houston will never stop flooding. We also know that federal funding for flood mitigation is often required to be spent in the areas that have the highest property values, creating a reverse incentive to spend additional capital dollars in areas that have already received investment in the past. The two watersheds which, according to the SSPEED center, had the most residential flooding were Greens watershed and Brays watershed and there are no United States Army Corps of Engineers projects slated for those watersheds. Continuing development will likely create additional flooding problems in those watersheds.

1. How do you propose to protect and expand the riparian corridors and the existing natural flood control ability of the land within City limits?

Candidate Baker:
Continue to work with the Riparian Corridor Protection Initiative. Purchase adjacent land and use existing land to improve essential riparian vegetation and the quality of water flow is key to many Houston waterways. Education and community partnership is key to its success as well.

Candidate Broze:
My Hemp Houston plan calls for planting native plants, as well as Hemp in and around water ways to help reduce flooding and erosion. We need to discourage so much building – residential and commercial – and preserve as many green spaces as possible.

Candidate Houijami:
We have 3 types of flooding:
1- Storm surge flooding comes with hurricanes. it’s very predictable —> The National Hurricane Center publishes maps of the Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH).

2- River flooding is what causes our bayous to overflow —> determined by the upstream flow, and partly determined by the amount of rain falling in and near the city.

3- Sheet flow —> Sheet flow is what causes street flooding. It is running into the bayous is what leads to river flooding.

In my plan of Action:
1- Improving the storm drainage system’s capability to handle sheet flow and reducing the amount and speed in which water is added into the system.

2- My most important step is to inform and educate All Houstonians about the climate change and How to reduce Greenhouse Gases to combat not just air pollution but the Pollution in General who play a big role in our flooding problems. By using energy more wisely —-> Helps reduce the demand for fossil fuels —> Reduces global warming.

3- I will create Grants and Financial Rewards for Businesses and General Public:
– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
– Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning.
– Replace Your Light Bulbs.
– Drive Less and Drive Smart.
– Buy Energy-Efficient Products.
– Use Less Hot Water.
– Use the “Off” Switch on Electricity Usage.
– Plant a Tree.
– Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company.
– Encourage Others to Conserve.

4- We must also invest on better green infrastructure to help reduce flooding in our city. With natural surfaces both absorbs more rainfall, and slows the speed in which water flows into the storm drainage system, instead of concrete.

5- There are major capacity issues with regard to the Barker’s and Addick’s reservoirs and there are issues with the strength of the levees. I want use new technologies to build more levees high capacity and stronger.

Candidate King:
I want to use more of the Harvey housing dollars to buy out flood prone structures and permanently dedicate them as green space and detention. I want to do the same with drainage fee monies.

Mayor Turner:
We are implementing new standards for development in floodplains and expanding the regulated area from the 100-year floodplain to the 50-year floodplain. Our out-of-date floodplain maps are in the process of being updated. In many cases, bridges that have impeded the natural flow of water are being upgraded.

2. What are some of the tools you believe the mayor of Houston could use to address flooding in the Greens and Brays watershed outside of simply coordinating with Harris County Flood Control District? In other words, what will you do with the City budget to address these on-going watershed issues within city limits?

Candidate Baker:
I review whats allotted to the Public Works Department already and be sure to prioritize this matter and add more funding as needed. This is a matter of high priority, it is not a decision to be made by the Public Works Director alone.

Candidate Broze:
Again, we need more green space in Houston, less building, and better management of the funds that are available.

Candidate Houijami:
– I will create Grants and Financial Rewards for Businesses and General Public:
– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
– Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning.
– Replace Your Light Bulbs.
– Drive Less and Drive Smart.
– Buy Energy-Efficient Products.
– Use Less Hot Water.
– Use the “Off” Switch on Electricity Usage.
– Plant a Tree.
– Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company.
– Encourage Others to Conserve.
– We must also invest on better green infrastructure to help reduce flooding in our city. with natural surfaces both absorbs more rainfall, and slows the speed in which water flows into the storm drainage system, instead of concrete.
– There are major capacity issues with regard to the Barker’s and Addick’s reservoirs and there are issues with the strength of the levees. I want Use new technologies to build more levees high capacity and stronger.

Candidate King:
I will stop the diversion of drainage fees to non-drainage projects. In addition, we will prioritize improving conveyance and detention, ramp up purchases of vacant land for green space, increase funding for buyouts and build higher while being smart about it. Read more about my flood plan at billkingblog.com.

Mayor Turner:
To the extent possible, we are removing barriers to progress. For example, the city has taken
out a $43 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board, which it will advance to the
Harris County Flood Control District for widening Brays Bayou and replacing bridges.

3. How will you ensure that the City’s Resiliency and Climate Actions plans are fully incorporated into transportation planning for projects like the I45 expansion, the Vision Zero Initiative, and METRONext?

Candidate Baker:
This project is huge with many moving parts and are receiving mixed, mostly concerned, confused and negative, public reaction. I would take a step back and review closely how these projects will impact both plans. Then make he necessary adjustments as needed.

Candidate Broze:
I don’t support the 1-45 expansion and I don’t support Metro’s plans. I support the stated goals of Vision Zero – reducing deaths – however, I would like to revisit the plan as a whole and see what steps might not be necessary and what other steps may be needed.

Candidate Houijami:
Many factors contribute to safe mobility –> including roadway design, speeds, behaviors, technology, and policies. It is time for Houston –> to sets clear goals to achieve the shared goal of zero fatalities and severe injuries. Those components are very important in a vision zero action plan:

–> Prioritize safety in the Capital Improvement Plan + Safety awareness campaign.
Street Design Changes
Safety awareness campaign
Publish crash and safety data regularly
Enhance street lighting
Prioritize safety in the Capital Improvement Plan
Enhance training for Houston police officers
Bikeway mileage goals, identify the high injury network

Other:
1) Political Commitment
2) Multi-Disciplinary Leadership
3) Action Plan
4) Equity
5) Cooperation and Collaboration
6) Systems-Based Approach
7) Data-Driven
8) Community Engagement data-Driven
9) Transparency

Candidate King:
I sat on the state transportation policy council for ten years. The city has limited control over their actions, but I am uniquely qualified to advocate for the best plans and will do so as mayor. I will control METRO board appointees and will ensure they represent the city’s needs.

Mayor Turner:
With very limited tools to control land use, it takes leadership: working with Democrats and
Republicans at all levels of government and engaging stakeholders to create public pressure.
We are moving as funds are available. One example: Our Safe Streets initiative that is
identifying and repairing Houston’s most dangerous intersections.

Affordable Housing:

There are many options to expand affordable housing: developer incentives that require that a proportion of units are affordable, better leveraging of federal housing funds to get more units per dollar in partnership with others, use of state and local bond and development incentives (e.g., 380 agreements), Limited Equity Corporations, or land banking to name a few.

1. In your own words, describe the role the City plays in affordable housing specifically for families earning below average median income, and how you as mayor of the third largest city in the nation would engage in that role?

Candidate Baker:
The City’s Department of Housing and Community Development helps citizens navigate through different programs to obtain affordable housing, offer down-payment assistance, education, etc. As Mayor, I would continue these programs also evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department to make improvements with our customer service and processing times.

Candidate Broze:
I do not think this is an area the city government should be involved in. I believe the answer is better education on entrepreneurship opportunities, vocational training, etc. The city needs to stop working with developers who have no interest in maintaining the traditions of many of Houston’s historic neighborhoods.

Candidate Houijami:
–> My 1st key of my plan of action for affordable housing for the majority of Houston: “Creation of the mortgage payment assistant program (MPAP)” for middle-class and low income working Houstonians. It will pay up to %45 of the total mortgage monthly payments, it will stabilize the financial situation of more than 100,000 Houstonians families and give them a fair share, an opportunity to stand against gentrification & inequality. I will bring the developers, Financial institutions and the City of Houston to create Affordable condos, strong bricks for under $35000, and Homes < $100K. Many countries they did it, example of Morocco.

Candidate King:
Single-family residential homes are the basic building blocks of any community and our affordable housing efforts should emphasize access to multi-family and SFRs. I have long advocated that the city’s substantial inventory of abandoned properties be invested in a
homestead program to provide equity for families to acquire homes.

Mayor Turner:
We are prioritizing the use of Harvey Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to support the expanded availability of affordable housing in Houston for low- and moderate-income Houstonians. Apart from Harvey, our Complete Communities program includes affordable housing construction coupled with actions to discourage gentrification.

2. Understanding Hurricane Harvey funds have already been allocated, and many Houstonians are still not properly housed, what is your plan for leveraging other funding sources and economic incentives (i.e. 380 agreements, tax abatements, TIRZ, etc.) to increase quality affordable housing stock throughout the City?

Candidate Baker:
The Harvey funding project has been a nightmare. When electing I would double down on getting the funds in the hands of the citizens; many who have been waiting a long time. This would be a great opportunity to use TIRZ more effectively namely in impoverished areas that have been overlooked.

Candidate Broze:
I do not believe this is the role of the local government. Still, the funds that were set aside to help Harvey victims have not made it in the hands of Houstonians in need. We need to revisit the funds and do a full audit to understand what went wrong.

Candidate Houijami:
I will bring the developers, Financial institutions and the City of Houston to create affordable condos, strong bricks for under $35000, and Homes < $100K. Many countries they did it, example of Morocco.

Candidate King:
Before we seek out new sources of funding, we must first make sure the dollars already awarded are being spent effectively and efficiently. That is not happening right now. In addition, more of the money already awarded needs to be spent on buyouts.

Mayor Turner:
As I mentioned above, our Complete Communities initiative is moving forward with affordable housing expansion, particularly along transit corridors. We are moving to hold TIRZs more accountable to meet affordable housing funding mandates, and locking in long-term affordable housing stock through an innovative land trust program.

3. Today, a household earning the median (and below) income in Houston cannot afford the median housing costs in Houston. What is your plan to reduce displacement in gentrifying areas while also expanding affordable housing choices in well-resourced areas?

Candidate Baker:
Gentrification displacement can be addressed by not increasing property taxes for existing residence. I will expand on such programs as the LARA and work with our community partners to expand affordable housing choices.

Candidate Broze:
I do not think the government should be involved in this area.

Candidate Houijami:
–> My 1st key of my plan of action for affordable housing for the majority of Houston: “Creation of the mortgage payment assistant program (MPAP)” for middle-class and low income working Houstonians. It will pay up to %45 of the total mortgage monthly payments, it will stabilize the financial situation of more than 100,000 Houstonians families and give them a fair share, an opportunity to stand against gentrification & inequality. I will bring the developers, Financial institutions and the City of Houston to create Affordable condos, strong bricks for under $35000, and Homes < $100K. Many countries they did it, example of Morocco.

Candidate King:
I am concerned about the amount of affordable housing money that currently goes to developers, consultants, design professionals and financiers, many of whom are also major contributors to city election campaigns. My focus would be toward assuring more of the available federal dollars end up building homes and not paying fees.

Mayor Turner:
We need to do both. Early in my first term, I engaged in a spirited debate with HUD over
moving low-income families into “opportunity neighborhoods.” I support these efforts but they must be coupled with investment in long under-served neighborhoods. That was the impetus for creating our Complete Communities initiative.

4. What policies or initiatives will you implement to ensure more development of affordable housing along or in close proximity to frequent public transportation lines?

Candidate Baker:
I would advocate for and be a mediator between Metro and developers to make sure public transportation is available in such areas. Citizens have suffered because having no transportation disrupts education and employment needs and responsibilities.

Candidate Broze:
Discourage and stop providing incentives to the developers who are building townhomes right next to each other and gentrifying communities around Houston.

Candidate Houijami:
The Kinder Institute Houston Area survey reported traffic as the “biggest problem facing people in the Houston area today.” Affordable, convenient, and safe mobility options help Houston remain economically competitive, environmentally responsible, and resilient in the face of disaster. Currently the Texas Department of Transportation is planning to build a $10 billion highway project known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project or I-45 expansion. The project seeks to redirect our downtown highway network, including I-45, 610 N, I-69, and 288.

An estimated 1 Million Houston-area residents need more affordable transportation options for all. Several high-demand areas including parts of west and southwest Houston and much of the east side of Harris County, as well as pockets of need in places like Spring Branch and Greenspoint. To keep up with our population growth, we will need more federal and state funding. My Strategy will focus on improving:

– Increase 24/7 service – more routes, increased frequency, and longer operating hours.
– Improved coordination among modes – buses, trains, and airports.
– Transit Priority – bus lanes, queue-jumper lanes, bus-priority traffic signals, and other measures that reduce delay to transit vehicles. Grade separation so transit is not delayed by cross-streets and traffic congestion.
– Reallocate Road Space to transit and walking.
– Comfort improvements, such as reduced crowding, better seats and cleaner vehicles.
– Improved Stops and Stations, including shelter (enclosed waiting areas, with heating in winter and cooling in summer), seating, Wayfinding and other Navigation Tools, washrooms,
refreshments, Internet services, and other convenience and comfort features.
-Lower fares and discounts, and more convenient fare payment (such as electronic “smart cards”).
– Improved rider information and Marketing programs, including real-time information on transit vehicle arrival.
-Transit Oriented Development and Smart Growth, which result in land use patterns more suitable for transit transportation.
– Pedestrian and Cycling Improvements that improve access around transit stops.
– Bike and Transit Integration (bike racks on buses, bike routes and Bicycle Parking near transit stops).
– Universal Design of vehicles, stations and pedestrian facilities to accommodate people with disabilities and other special needs.
– Park & Ride facilities.
– Reform transport Regulations and Organizations to increase transit service efficiency and
responsiveness.
– Improved Security for transit users and pedestrians.
– Multi-Modal Access Guides, which includes maps, schedules, contact numbers and other information on how to reach a particular destination by public transit.
– Services targeting particular travel needs, such as express commuter buses, Special Event service, and various types of Shuttle Services.
– We need also, to encourage businesses and employers to offer an affordable Group transportation or ride shared for their employees to get to work, and back to home.

Candidate King:
We can increase affordable housing options with better management of the considerable amount of dollars we already receive for this. We need to be careful about making investments around traditional public transportation because of the incredible technological disruption on the horizon.

Mayor Turner:
Increasing affordable housing near transit is one of the priorities in our Complete Communities initiative. For example, Avenue CDC has constructed several affordable housing communities near transit in the Near Northside.

5. Should the City have an emergency management plan in place, and available beds identified for longer term rental, for future storms?

Candidate Baker:
Yes. As a former first- responder for the City of Houston, I know how important it is to have a fully comprehensive plan in place for future storms to include evacuation, restoration, recovery, housing, reimbursement funding, aid, etc.

Candidate Broze:
Yes, an emergency management plan is necessary. However, we need to accept the reality that
Houston is an increasingly unsustainable place to live. If the climate continues in the current direction we should expect flooding to continue and worsen. Plans need to be made to encourage people to stop moving to Houston and develop a strategy for helping those who are already here.

Candidate Houijami:
Yes, I will put in place my own plan B.

Candidate King:
Among my first actions will be to assemble a commission to determine what went right and wrong during Harvey. This should have already happened. It hasn’t. Under my watch, we will have a definitive response and recovery plan that will be available to the public on the City’s website.

Mayor Turner:
The city has an emergency management plan in place and we’ve been making improvements based on the lessons we learned from Harvey. The Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security is working in coordination with the Police Department, Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Information Technology, and Health Department.

Transparency:

1. If you are elected, please describe three actions you will take to ensure transparency in the City’s budget process and its priorities in spending beyond the annual CIP meetings held throughout the districts?

Candidate Baker:
1. Provide copies of finalize budget and updates to all Super Neighborhood Alliances. 2. Use TV, Radio, and social media to keep the public informed. 3. Make information readily available to all registered voters and potential registered voters.

Candidate Broze:
Make the budget and the budgeting process a public event, where community members can have full access to the budget and provide input.

Candidate Houijami:
– Solution to lower the abuse of power by the Mayor as a Position —> : “Creation of a General Manager of the city of Houston. He’s not going to be elected but appointed, hired. And If he doesn’t do his job, he gets fired.” —> %35 Power to Mayor + %35 Power to City Council + %30 Power To City General Manager.
– I will implement a performance measurement system for All the departments of the city of Houston, to improve transparency and ethical practices, especially on how the budget is been spent.
– An internal Audit to all the departments to be done every 6 months.

Candidate King:
1. I will restore to the budget document more than 200 pages of information deleted by Turner.
2. Every contract will be posted on the city website.
3. The Monthly Financial Report will list contracts from the previous month that fell below
the $50,000 threshold requiring council approval.

Mayor Turner:
After Harvey walloped our city budget, we are moving to address the structural budget imbalance with a zero-based budgeting model – requiring every expense to be justified. We have also revamped our Build Houston Forward infrastructure program website with more information for the public and more changes are on the way.

Job Creation and Workforce Development:

The Houston Chronicle recently reported that “net migration” to Harris County (and the City of Houston) has been negative for the last three years, meaning more people are leaving than coming. This creates a labor shortage and slows economic development, but also provides an opportunity to reinvest and “in-fill” the city to provide a more attractive quality of life. To do this, however, skilled labor will be required and continued opportunity to encourage advancement and training within city limits may be necessary.

1. Please describe in your own words key elements that are needed to construct a city-wide workforce development program and key partnerships you think would be necessary to ensure young Houstonians can find jobs locally within 10 years.

Candidate Baker:
The key would be workforce out-reach. As a former recruiter for the City of Houston, being present in neighborhoods and on college campuses proved to be very effective in hiring Houston’s youth. I would also develop more partnerships with the private sector to carry out such assignment.

Candidate Broze:
I do not believe in central planning. The I do not believe in central planning to this degree. I think we need to encourage personal responsibility and encourage young Houstonians to get educated and skilled in areas where this is a demand for jobs.

Candidate Houijami:
– My main Strategy is Empowering Youth through Entrepreneurship in Houston, Funding and financing remain one of the top concerns of young entrepreneurs, who, in spite of their attractive business ideas, cannot take the plunge because of lack of resources and proper business mentoring. I want create the “Young Entrepreneurs Start-up Special Loan with %25 Grant include” up to $25,000 for age 18 to 29 years old. I want make it easier for youths to start a business and expand their own jobs. Young Entrepreneurs can make a fundamental contribution to the socio-economic development by redoubling their efforts. It has also a social impact by lowering crimes among Young people. Small Busines Admimistration (SBA), Financial Institutions and City Of Houston to will develop innovative partnerships and business models, mentorship and traineeship programs for Houstonians Youths to make my program happens!

In the other hand, I will implement action plans targeting youth employment. I will establish enterprise incubation programmes and infrastructure projects that hire and train young people. I will also incentivize education institutions and private operators to do the same. Enouraging Employers to create entry-level job opportunities, implement school-to-work apprenticeships and on-the-job training programmes, as well as support young entrepreneurs through mentoring. Also Educational institutions can incorporate entrepreneurship into the curriculum and work with employers to ensure they offer students the appropriate training.

– Minimum wage in the United States currently stands at $7.25 per hour for most employees include young people, you can not survive with this income.I believe The stress of poverty can also burden the mind, causing us to make worse decisions and ignore our health, also committing crimes. So a minimum wage of at least $11.11 is an antidepressant. It is a sleep aid. A diet. A stress reliever. It is a contraceptive, preventing teenage pregnancy. It prevents premature death. It shields children from neglect and most importantly a positive impact on people’s well-being and happiness.

Candidate King:
We need to work with high schools, community colleges/universities to create curriculum and programs to train workers in the skill sets needed today and tomorrow. In addition, we must make sure we have the infrastructure in place to be attractive to startups. This should include a robust angel investor network.

Mayor Turner:
We are working in partnership with tech giants like Microsoft and our educational institutions to increase STEM education, digital coursework and job skills for young Houstonians. I am also extremely proud that our Hire Houston Youth program has grown from 450 summer jobs to more than 11,000 this year.

2. Do you see local hire as a priority for workforce development? Why or why not?

Candidate Baker:
Yes, when we hire locally we keep the monies in the local economy. We also strengthen families, build stronger communities which makes our city that much stronger. We’ll also reduce homelessness.

Candidate Broze:
Hiring Houstonians who live in proximity to the workplace could reduce the need for long commutes and reduce strains on infrastructure. I support local hire as a priority for City government. The city should not intervene in hiring practices of local businesses.

Candidate Houijami:
I want to bring —>> “Driver License to All undocumented Working Families From All Races & Ethnicities in Houston WITH NO CRIMINAL RECORDS”

I- Benefits Our Economy:
– Driver’s license application fees will generate revenue
– Grow businesses and stimulate economies, and we all know the majority who works in the
construction.
– Boost the auto insurance and auto sales industries.
– Unlicensed, uninsured drivers cause damage claims that cost other policyholders. More licensed and insured drivers will reduce the number of accidents and lower insurance rates for all.

II- Makes our Houston safer:
– States can maintain accurate records including the names and addresses of all state residents.
– First responders and health care providers will be better able to determine the identity of victims and patients.
– State resources can be directed to more crucial priorities if courts and jails are less congested by issues arising from driving without a license or insurance, such as civil violations, criminal charges, and jail time.

III- Improves public safety on our roads:
– Taking driver’s tests and properly register with the state’s motor vehicle agency.
– knowing the rules of the road and understanding of traffic regulations.
– Obtaining auto insurance, reducing the cost of accidents involving uninsured motorists and potentially lowering insurance rates for everyone.
– Less likely to flee the scene of an accident.
– Identifying motorists and accessing accurate traffic records ensure public safety.

IV- strengthens families.
– How you feel to get behind the wheel of a vehicle knowing if you get pulled over for any reason it will lead you to deportation? —-> You’d be afraid to go to work or visit the doctor or take your kids to school or…..
– Driving is essential to hold a job to provide basic life necessities for ANY family, such as food, shelter, and medical care
-Undocumented families can participate more fully in society without the constant fear of being stopped by the police.

V- Our social teaching = WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS:
– Individuals must work to provide for their families and contribute to society
– We must respect every human being, regardless of immigration status, and acknowledging the dignity of their efforts to work in order to provide for themselves and their families.

Candidate King:
It is always better to hire locally because it provides jobs for residents and the income earned by those workers stays in the community, helping to fuel the economy.

Mayor Turner:
Local hire is an important part of workforce development. It must be combined with job training and, for those who have been chronically unemployed or underemployed, support services that help workers keep and succeed in their jobs once they have been hired.

Worker Protections:

The HOME Coalition fully supports the Better Builder Program created by one of our member organizations. The Better Builder Program creates good jobs in the construction industry by establishing minimum standards on construction sites. These standards include a living wage for all construction workers, OSHA 10-hour safety training for all workers, workers compensation coverage, local hiring goals to place workers in approved skills training programs, and independent on-site monitoring to ensure these standards are met.

1. Would you support incorporating these standards as minimum requirements in the City? Please explain why or why not.

Candidate Baker:
Yes. This would decrease our unemployment rate, reduce homelessness, and also allow room for those felons seeking a second chance to find employment all of these ideas will help keep our local economy strong.

Candidate Broze:
I don’t know what exactly is meant by a living wage – such a term is completely subjective. However, I do support independent on site monitoring to ensure standards are being met.

Candidate Houijami:
Yes, I did sign it at AFL.CIO.COPE.

Candidate King:
In general, I support the Better Building standards, however, the scope of this question extends to numerous different legal situations. Whether I would support the standards in any particular case in the future would be subject to a definition of those standards and the applicable situation.

Mayor Turner:
I was instrumental in the adoption of these standards and know them well. Part of the reason
we could achieve these standards is that they came with a funding source. I support continuing and expanding this program in principle, but we must be realistic about our current budget constraints.

2. Many government entities have passed fair contracting (often referred to as responsible bidder ordinances) or best value contracting to level the playing field between construction entities. Explain how you would work towards better transparency in all city bids.

Candidate Baker:
Ending our pay to play style of giving contracts. Re-evaluating the entire bidding process and make sure that any perception of corruption is eradicated. Forming an independent committee to have oversight of the bidding process.

Candidate Broze:
I support responsible bidder ordinances in contracting. I especially like the idea of an ordinance which includes proof of participation in an apprenticeship training program, proof of certificates of insurance, and compliance with all local, state, and federal laws.

Candidate Houijami Answer:
By lowering the power of the mayor to give contracts to his big donors.

My speech part(1) with Mayor Mr Turner and other mayoral candidates at garden oaks and super neighborhood 12 Mayoral Candidates Forum.

I- I presented My Plan Of Action = Solution to lower the abuse of power by the Mayor as a Position —> : “Creation of a General Manager of the city of Houston. He’s not going to be elected but appointed, hired. And If he doesn’t do his job, he gets fired.” —> %35 Power to Mayor + %35 Power to City Council + %30 Power To City General Manager.

Candidate King:
Contracts will be awarded based on the lowest responsive bid. It is more cost-effective and eliminates subjectivity that allows rewarding of campaign contributors. Once a contract is awarded, all documents related to the award, except those which cannot be released by law, will be posted on the city website.

Mayor Turner:
We are in discussions with the Labor community about adopting an ordinance of this type.