Government
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & MELISSA ENAJE
Whitmire wins Houston mayoral runoff election John Whitmire won the race for Houston mayor against Sheila Jackson Lee in the Dec. 9 runoff election, while seven candidates were also elected to Houston City Council. Zooming in Whitmire has served as a Texas senator represent- ing the Houston area for 40 years. He was sworn in during a Jan. 1 ceremony, replacing Sylvester Turner, who was term-limited. Three incumbents up for election in council run- offs—Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Mary Nan Huffman and Letitia Plummer—were all re-elected. Huffman represents District G on council, which covers River Oaks and the Memorial area. Four new faces also joined council in January, including Mario Castillo in District H, which covers parts of the Heights, Washington Corridor and Northside/Northline communities.
Harris County approves $11.3M jail contract Harris County Commissioners Court approved an $11.3 million contract to outsource a number of county inmates to a private correctional facility in Mississippi at a November meeting. The details Harris County Administrator Diana Ramirez led a November presentation to address challenges within the jail, including the department’s monthly initiative to provide updates, analyses, data and staff-level actions at Commissioners
911 network’s $55.6M budget approved Harris County and Houston officials approved on Oct. 31 the Greater Harris County 911 Emergency Network’s $55.6 million budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The network processes emergency calls within Harris and Fort Bend counties. The breakdown The budget includes a 3%-5% salary increase for the GHC 911 staff as well as increased pay and health insurance costs. • $28.6 million in call center operation costs, including call center employees • $7.6 million for network services • $6.2 million for the 289 staff salaries • $4.8 million in contract services • $8.4 million in other general expenses
Harris County inmate population snapshot, November 2023 Inmate populations reached above 90% of jail capacity at these six Texas and Louisiana facilities.
Winner
Houston mayor
WATER WORKS BLVD.
John Whitmire: 64.4% Sheila Jackson Lee: 35.6%
WATER WORKS WAY
8
Houston City Council District H
K E H
T O N
P
Percentage of beds occupied Available space
Mario Castillo: 63.9% Cynthia Reyes Revilla: 36.1%
N
700 N. San Jacinto St. Occupancy at Harris County jail facilities 711 N. San Jacinto St.
Houston cuts ribbon on new water plant Officials with the city of Houston gath- ered Dec. 11 to cut the ribbon on a roughly $1.8 billion expansion project at the city’s Northeast Water Purification Plant. The details Phase 1 is near completion and will allow 80 million additional gallons of water per day to be treated. Phase 2 will be completed in 2025 and will allow another 320 million gallons per day to be treated.
Julian Ramirez: 50.1% Melanie Miles: 49.9% Houston City Council At-Large No. 1 Willie Davis: 55.1% Nick Hellyar: 44.9% Houston City Council At-Large No. 2 Twila Carter: 51% Richard Cantu: 49% Houston City Council At-Large No. 3 Letitia Plummer: 52.8% Roy Morales: 47.2% Houston City Council At-Large No. 4
701 N. San Jacinto St.
92%
93%
91%
Occupancy at non-Houston facilities (contract jails)
Court meetings. By the numbers
Jefferson County (Beaumont, TX)
La Salle Correction Center (Louisiana)
Dalby Correctional Facility (Post, TX)
Harris County’s 9,300-plus inmate population is housed throughout detention centers in Texas and Louisiana, not including the number of inmates who will be transferred to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi.
95%
99%
100%
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY CLERK/COMMUNITY IMPACT NOTE: DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, RESULTS ARE ONLY SHOWN FOR THE MOST RELEVANT SIX OF THE EIGHT ELECTIONS
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
HOUSTON SUPERSTORE 2410 Smith Street (713) 526-8787
WESTCOTT AND MEMORIAL 5818 Memorial Dr (713) 861-4161
SHEPHERD 1900 S Shepherd (713) 529-4849
Powered by FlippingBook