CITY& COUNTY
News from Harris County & the city of Jersey Village
Livestreams can be accessed via websites. Jersey Village City Council will meet at 7 p.m. on Dec. 21. 713-466-2100 www.jerseyvillagetx.com Harris County Commissioners Court will meet at 10 a.m. on Dec. 15. 713-698-1102 www.harriscountytx.gov MEETINGSWE COVER they were expecting to discuss the process of replacing Shah at a Dec. 1 meeting of the Harris County Commissioners Court. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said residents should not expect any lapse in services. HARRIS COUNTY Umair Shah, executive director of the county’s Public Health Department, announced he would be stepping down Dec. 18 to serve as secretary of health for the state of Washington. County o cials said CITY HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY Harris County is moving forward with two new initiatives that will put $2.5 million into programs meant to help immigrants with legal services. In a 3-2 vote Nov. 10, the court approved $2 million in funding for an Immigrant Legal Services Fund and $500,000 to help immigrant crime victims obtain visas that allow them to interact with law enforcement without fear of deportation. HARRIS COUNTY Approximately $14.7 million in assistance programs will soon be available to Harris County residents for early- childhood education during the coronavirus pandemic. In an Oct. 27 meeting, county commissioners put $4.7 million to help fund support services such as after-school programs, distance learning and child care for essential workers. The county will also spearhead an e ort to establish a $10 million Early Childhood Impact Fund.
Hidalgowarnsof coronavirus resurgence inannual countyaddress
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
HARRIS COUNTY With her second year in o ce coming to a close, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo made her second State of the County address Nov. 12 in a conversation with H E B President Scott McClelland. The conversation largely revolved around the coronavirus pandemic. Hidalgo said the county has seen a 40% increase in new COVID-19 cases over the course of November along with a rise in hospitalizations and testing positivity. The pandemic is far from over, she said. “We are headed in the wrong direction,” Hidalgo said. “My concern is this is the result of half-measures by the state and federal government so far, and something has to change.” Although work on a vaccine is moving forward, Hidalgo said it will not immediately become widely available to the general public. In the meantime, she said she hopes a more comprehensive strategy will emerge
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo made her second State of the County address Nov. 12 in a conversation with H E B President Scott McClelland hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership. (Courtesy Greater Houston Partnership)
next year in o ce, setting the stage for a major investment. Although those plans had to be scaled back this year, Hidalgo said the county was still able to make what she called a “seed investment” of $10 million to kick-start the initiative. “We are elding applications for three to four programs that we are going to fund and incubate and hopefully bring in additional invest- ments,” she said.
to prevent the spread of the virus at the federal level. Hidalgo criticized how the state has had to close and reopen businesses several times, describing it as a “ping- pong e ect” that is “based on no data in particular.” She said she feared another round of closures with cases starting to rise. In her 2019 State of the County address, Hidalgo said early-childhood education would be a priority in her
Commission proposes tweak to city charter related to election termrules
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
time they serve leading up to the next election counts as a full term. The second proposed change would require council members to resign from o ce if they qualify and intend to run for another municipal o ce. Council members serving on posi- tions 2 and 3—the two positions that are elected alongside the mayor in odd-numbered years—cannot run for mayor without having to also give up their council seat, regardless of if they win or lose. Council members elected
in even-numbered years do not face the same barrier, Commission Chair Sheri Sheppard said. “This puts both cycles on equal footing,” Sheppard said. Changes to the city charter require citizen approval, and none of the proposed changes would be o cial unless approved by city voters. The ballot language for each change will be drafted by city sta and come back to the council for approval at a later date.
JERSEY VILLAGE An ongoing review in the city of Jersey Village has yielded two proposed changes to the city’s charter that would a ect how City Council terms are handled when council members step down. One update would allow a new council member to be appointed to a council position without it counting as an o cial term in o ce. Currently, when someone is appointed to a coun- cil position between elections, the
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CY FAIR EDITION • DECEMBER 2020
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