Running head: CITY COUNCIL MEETING REPORT 1
City Council Meeting Report
University of Texas at Arlington
CITY COUNCIL MEETING REPORT 2
City Council Meeting Report
Overview/Introduction of Meeting
I viewed the recorded version of the Houston City Council Meeting that was held on
March 31, 2020 during the COVID-19 public health crisis. This was my first time watching the
Houston City Council Meeting and it was very informative, interesting and well-organized. I
choose this particular meeting because I was interested in hearing about some of the residents
concerns and the actions taken place by Mayor Sylvester Turner and the City Council Members
in regards to the COVID-19. The Houston City Council is structured by the Mayor, Controller,
eleven District Council Members and five AT-Large Council Members. The turnout was not
large because of the group restrictions due to COVID-19; however, there were two speakers who
each discussed matters that COVID-19 has impacted in a negative way.
Agenda and Meeting Discussion
The meeting agenda included presentations (no presentations will be made), invocation
and pledge of allegiance, roll call and adopt minutes of previous minutes, public speakers, recess,
reconvene, the Mayor’s report, consent agenda, miscellaneous, accept work, purchasing and
tabulation of BIDS, ordinances, consideration of matters removed from consent agenda, non-
consent agenda, non-consent miscellaneous and matters to be presented by council members.
The first speaker was Hany Khalil an Executive Director at the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor
Federation who spoke about the impact that COVID-19 has on the health, employment and
finances of Houston working families. Mr. Khalil asked for the council to create a more
aggressive labor plan to protect working families by using the COVID-19 funds for sanitation
supplies, medical care and hotel rooms for workers when needed. First, he asked the council to
mandate public and private employers to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all
CITY COUNCIL MEETING REPORT 3
essential employees, provide firefighters with janitorial services to clean stations and trucks, city
inspectors to receive adequate sanitizers and allow airport workers to park close to terminals.
Secondly, he asked the council to stop evictions without additional fees and lastly all utilities
such as electrical, gas and phone services to remain on during the pandemic. In response to Mr.
Khalil’s concerns, Mayor Sylvester Turner reassured him that all of the necessary steps were
taken to ensure that all employees were being provided PPE, sanitizers, airport workers could
park closer, there would be no evictions during the pandemic and the Public Utilities
Commissioner is in control of extending those utilities.
The second speaker was Christopher Busby who spoke about the impact that COVID-19
has on renters and the affect it will have on their credit report if reported to the credit bureau. Mr.
Busby suggested a rent freeze and forgiveness solution to help renters during this pandemic since
a lot of people are out of work. Mayor Turner reassured him that the city is working with
landlords, mangers and apartment complex owners to avoid evictions and to work with families.
Mayor Turner also suggested that the council plans on looking into the credit reporting issue, so
that families who are unable to pay rent are not being reported to the credit bureaus. Council
Member Pollard suggested to Mr. Busby and to renters to talk to their landlords. Council
Member Pollard stated that most renters are required to pay first and last month rent upfront;
however, they can take the last month rent and apply it to their current rent. Council Member
Pollard also suggested that the renters use their security deposits to put towards their current rent
and to set up payment plans to pay off their balance overtime.
Advocacy Strategies
The advocates are using strategies to effectively communicate their positions by making
personal statements, researching the issues, using information such as surveys, facts, evidence,
CITY COUNCIL MEETING REPORT 4
asking for additional time, capturing their attention, organizing their points, recommending
suggestions and showing appreciation for the actions already taken by the mayor and the council.
These strategies are very important in effectively communicating their positions because the
primary goal is to help make a difference and to bring about change. I enjoyed the overall
performance of both speakers as well as the strategies used to state their viewpoints.
Personal Advocacy
The social issue I would address at a future meeting is to make the COVID-19 testing
free to everyone with or without symptoms. I chose this particular issue because as of now there
is not an expiration date to when this pandemic will be over. It is very critical for everyone to be
tested because this can stop the spreading of the virus and provide accurate data. The tests are
very limited; therefore, some places are offering them for free with symptoms, while others are
charging $150 or charging the insurance companies. For example, an individual can have the
virus, but not show the symptoms; therefore, this individual will not be able to get tested. This
will cause the virus to spread because the individual is around the people who live in the
household and can pass it down to them. The strategies I would use to persuade the elected
officials is by telling a story, researching the cause, use evidence to support my viewpoint,
recommend suggestions and to show how it would help the city as a whole.
Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways
In conclusion, the key takeaways are to be prepared, know the information, time the
speech and prepare for questions. Both of the speakers were very prepared, they knew the
information, prepared for questions, but did not time their speech. Overall, I enjoyed completing
this assignment because it gave me the opportunity to do something I have never done.
