Government
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & MELISSA ENAJE
New mayors elected in Bellaire, Houston Gus Pappas defeated Aaron Perry in the race for Bellaire mayor in the Dec. 9 runoff election, while John Whitmire won his race for Houston mayor against Sheila Jackson Lee. Zooming in Pappas formerly served on Bellaire City Council for eight years. He will be sworn in at at a January council meeting, replacing Mayor Andrew Fried- berg, who was term-limited. Whitmire has served as a Texas senator representing the Houston area for 40 years. He was sworn in on Jan. 1 and replaces former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was also term-limited. What else Seven seats on the Houston City Council were also decided during the Dec. 9 runoff election, including four at-large positions.
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.
WATER WORKS WAY
John Whitmire: 64.4% Sheila Jackson Lee: 35.6%
8
Bellaire mayor
K E H
T O N
P
Percentage of beds occupied Available space
N
Gus Pappas: 57.1% Aaron Perry: 42.9%
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 240 million gallons per day to be treated.
701 N. San Jacinto St.
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
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
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
BUFFALO SPEEDWAY 9733 Buffalo Speedway (713) 838-7486
HOLCOMBE 2314 W Holcombe Blvd (713) 669-1722
WESLAYAN 3902 Bissonnet (713) 218-8144
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