The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, with the most recent election being held in 2019 and the next being held in 2023 (all positions, along with that of the Mayor who is elected separately, are up for re-election at the same time). Council Members are limited to two terms of four years. Under the current city charter, if the population in the city limits went past 2.1 million residents, the previous nine-member city council districts would be expanded with the addition of two city council districts. Since the threshold was passed, the city created two new districts.
The Council works with the mayor in a strong mayor-council model. The City Council monitors the performance of city agencies, confirm the mayor's appointments, and makes land use decisions as well as legislating on a variety of other issues.
The Mayor chairs meetings of City Council and has a vote in the proceedings in all cases. In the event of the Mayor's absence, the Mayor Pro-Tem, a member of the Council chosen for the position by the mayor, presides over Council meetings. Should both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem be unavailable, the Vice Mayor Pro-Tem, chosen for the position by fellow Council Members, will preside.
City Council and the Administrative Office of City Council (AOCC), a division of the Finance Department which serves administrative duties for the council, are housed in the City Hall Annex in Downtown Houston.
History
Between the Reconstruction and the enacting of court-ordered city council redistricting in the 1970s, none of the city council members were black. Until 1972 all of the members of the city council were white.
Members
Houston City Council Member Larry Green, who represented District K since 2012, was found dead in his home on March 6, 2018. Martha Castex-Tatum won a special election to fill Green’s vacated seat on May 5, 2018 and assumed office on May 16, 2018. As of 2019, 5 seats were up for grabs which were the At Large positions 4 and 5, and Districts B, C, and J seats. At Large position 5, and council districts B, C, and J had term-limited council members who were serving out their third and final term in office under the pre-2016 three 2 year terms allowed by the city charter.
Districts
As of 2011 the City of Houston has eleven city council districts, A through K.
The current City Council Districts were announced in 2011. District J and K were newly added. As of 2011, the populations of four districts (in terms of overall population and voting age population) are majority Hispanic, the populations of three districts are majority White, two districts have a majority African-American population, and one is close to being majority African American. Of the districts, one has a significant Asian American population. Both new districts are in Southwest Houston.
District A
District A serves areas in northwestern Houston. District A includes communities north of Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway), including Spring Branch. As of 2012 thousands of South Korean people live within District A.
As of 2012, according to Rice University political scientist Bob Stein, voters in District A tend to be older people, conservative, and White American, and many follow the Tea Party movement. The voting base is such despite the presence of large Hispanic neighborhoods within District A. In the 2011 election voters favored Tea Party candidate Helena Brown over the incumbent, Brenda Stardig, because Stardig supported a "rain tax," passed in 2010, that taxed churches.
District B
District B serves areas in northern Houston and northeast Houston. Chris Moran of the Houston Chronicle said that the district "is considered an African-American stronghold." Most residents belong to racial and ethnic minorities.
Areas within the district boundaries include Acres Homes, the Fifth Ward, and George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The Houston Chronicle said that District B's constituency "has been shortchanged historically on municipal services and economic development." A lot of illegal dumping occurs within the district. The newspaper added that the district has "a resilient community spirit." Kristen Mack of the Houston Chronicle said in 2005 that the district, prior to the 2011 redistricting, "is plagued by unkempt lots, clogged ditches and substandard streets."