CITY&COUNTY
Updates on important issues facing local entities
Houston Livable Places Action Committee discusses plans for 2022 The Houston Livable Places Action Committee made progress in 2021 on e orts by the city of Houston to create and act on a framework to make the city more walkable and a ordable. In a meeting held Dec. 14, the committee discussed plans for future residential development, including the desire for continuous shaded sidewalks and parking separate from residences. The committee also encourages additional public transportation, including available rail and bus networks around Houston. The rst meeting of 2022 is slated for Jan. 11. OTHER CITY STORIES TO FOLLOWIN2022
TOP CITY STORY TO WATCH IN 2022
Houston’s police reforme orts continue in 2022 HOUSTON It has been over a year since the city of Houston began a comprehensive e ort to reform how its police department operates, a BY SHAWN ARRAJJ O N E Y E A R I N The city of Houston received a list of 104 recommended reforms for its police department Sept. 30, 2020.
Union could also yield a new contract in 2022. There is no set deadline for when talks need to be nalized, and an evergreen provision in the existing contract—approved in 2018—allows it to continue frommonth to month while providing o cers a 2% raise annually. Nick Hudson, a policy and advo- cacy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the existing police union contract is still a major barrier to accountability in Houston. In contract negotiations in 2020, the ACLU pushed for two main changes Hudson said still need to be made—the 48-hour rule allowing o cers to review evidence against them in a misconduct allegation before making a statement and the 180-day rule preventing the Houston Police Department from disciplining o cers involved in misconduct that occurred more than
Completed In progress
process that involves looking at over- sight, community policing and power dynamics within the department. Of 104 recommended reforms produced by a city task force Sept. 30, 2020, the city had completed 71 of them and 33 were in progress as of late 2021, according to information provided by city o cials to Commu- nity Impact Newspaper . Among the remaining items are expanding the types of calls mental health counsel- ors respond to and piloting a “mobile storefront” concept in which o cers park in di erent neighborhoods, interact with residents and listen to their input. Contract negotiations between the city and the Houston Police O cers’
90-day checklist
6-12-month checklist
65 total items
28 total items
1-year and beyond checklist 11 total items
2022meeting schedule Meetings are open to the public and held via Microsoft Teams.
SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTON COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
six months prior. “The most important things are making sure the union contract changes so you can actually inves- tigate and discipline o cers and do things that constrain their ability to unnecessarily arrest people,” he said.
Sept. 6 Oct. 4 Nov. 15 Dec. 20
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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