[0:10] >> good morning, everyone. It is nine '06 a.m. I would like to call the august 6, 2026 meeting of the
[0:16] harris county commissioners court to order. Commissioner garcia is on zoom, and commissioner garcia, go
[0:25] ahead. >> thank you good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome a dear friend to lead us in prayer this morning.
[0:32] I have had the distinct pleasure and honor and privilege to have
[0:38] worked alongside this gentleman for a number of years since my days on city council. I will tell you that if there is
[0:47] a way to describe consistent, constant, ever present, it is by
[0:54] simply saying the name pastor david smith.
[0:58] he presides with the new bethlehem missionary baptist
[1:02] church baptist church and he is going to help lead us in prayer this morning but let me share a little bit about this
[1:12] individual. Pastor smith has been presiding
[1:17] over new bethlehem missionary baptist church and helping to preach the gospel of jesus christ, leading with a
[1:25] kingdom focused vision inspired by proverbs chapter 29 verse 18
[1:32] when there is no vision the people perish. He has been doing that for 40 years.
[1:38] and I will tell you that the community is absolutely much
[1:44] better because of him. A proud houston native, pastor smith is a graduate of macarthur senior high school,
[1:52] general, attended the college of biblical studies and graduated from the southern reform college and seminary.
[1:59] he has devoted his life to serving both the church, the
[2:05] east jensen and northeast houston communities as the
[2:09] founder and president of the houston northeast community
[2:14] development corporation. He has championed initiatives that promote health and wellness, education advancement
[2:20] and economic empowerment for through his practical bible
[2:25] centred teaching, pastor smith encourages believers to deepen their faith and faithfully use their god given gifts to make a
[2:33] lasting difference in the lives of others pastor smith has been
[2:37] happily married to his beloved and beautiful wife linda, the
[2:41] first lady of the church for 41 years. Together they are blessed with three beautiful daughters, all
[2:48] who take after only the first lady.
[2:54] he has three granddaughters, two grandsons, his greatest desire
[2:58] is to leave a legacy marked by unwavering character, faithful
[3:03] commitment and a life that honors god pastor smith, thank you for being here. I hate that I am not in your
[3:10] immediate presence but just know that you are always top of mind for me and always appreciate the prayers and thoughts you send my
[3:17] way on any given day. Pastor smith, you have the
[3:22] podium. >> amen god bless you pierre good morning to everyone, to our county judge, to all of our
[3:27] commissioners, to the directors of these various departments and to the public, god bless you this morning.
[3:33] thank you for the opportunity to give the invocation this morning, commissioner garcia. Let us bow our heads for a
[3:39] moment of prayer. Most holy righteous and everlasting father we come to you this morning with an
[3:46] attitude of gratitude, thanking you because it was last night as we lied down in the very image of death.
[3:51] we were unconscious to the things going on around us, even though we may live in gated communities, we may have set our
[3:59] launch last night but it was your angels that you dispatched over us and you protected us and kept us from all hurt harm and
[4:07] danger. It was you who touched us this morning with your theme of love and you woke us up to see a
[4:11] brand new day. We thank you lord, that your mercy is new every morning and we thank you god that you gave
[4:17] us your only begotten son jesus christ who came down to a
[4:22] lost worth of sin, lived a sinless life but died a death on
[4:28] a cross at calvary. He died, was buried rose again,
[4:32] early sunday morning and declared our power, heaven and earth in his hands. After 40 days on this earth, he
[4:38] took a glory cloud back to heaven and he left us the holy
[4:43] spirit that speaks to us and guides us and reveals truth to
[4:48] us, discloses and we just come to say thank you. We realize that we have all seen and come short of your glory but
[4:54] we thank you that you are a prayer here in god and you are faithful in your just to forgive us of all unrighteousness so we
[5:01] come to say thank you dear god, now we come this morning, we
[5:06] come praying, we come praying for our county judge we come
[5:10] praying for our commissioners we come praying for every director that is here today, that lead our harris county.
[5:18] we thank you for the public, those who come to advocate,
[5:22] those who come to express and are representatives of various
[5:27] communities in harris county we come to say thank you. The word of god says in romans 13 that every soul is subject
[5:37] under the power and not only just a power here on earth but
[5:42] all powers on earth are subject unto the power of god and so god
[5:46] you have ordained these representatives, our commissioners, our county judge, all the directors and everyone
[5:52] who is in charge here you have ordained this day. You have ordained their positions and god, we are to
[5:59] line it with you. So we want to say thank you and we pray you will continue to get wisdom, that you will continue
[6:05] to give knowledge and that you would continue to give understanding. And sometimes we know that we
[6:10] may not agree on everything but father god, let us be able to compromise and let us remember who they are representing.
[6:17] they are representing the constituents of harris county. We say thank you, god, for all that you are doing and wherever
[6:25] I come short on this prayer, I know that you are able and
[6:29] faithful and loving to make up the difference. This we ask in your son name and they all said amen.
[6:39] >> amen. >> thank you, pastor. Let's recite the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag
[6:48] of the united states of america and to the republic for which it
[6:52] stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the texas flag; I pledge
[7:02] allegiance to thee, texas, one state under god, one and
[7:07] indivisible. I pledge allegiance to the flag
[7:22] >> okay, so some housekeeping. We have commissioner garcia
[7:32] virtually. If you don't mind when you need to speak to put the little hand icon.
[7:37] colleagues, if I don't see it please let me know. We will have speakers and then we will have corrections and we
[7:45] will go through the consent agenda process. I would like to respectfully request to take item 349 ahead
[7:54] of executive session. We have quite a few executive session items. Following executive session, we
[8:00] will break for lunch break after lunch, right at 1:30 p.m.,
[8:05] commissioner ellis request to take item 240.
[8:09] I know we have a tier that's going to be here at the time.
[8:13] then commissioner ellis requests to take items one and 313 together and then commissioner ramsey requests to take items
[8:22] five and 329 before we go into the remaining discussion list then we will go into the remaining items for discussion.
[8:29] how does that sound? Okay we will let all speakers
[8:37] address the court tiffany, if you could introduce the speakers. >> yes, ma'am.
[8:43] speaking on items two and 16, eve speaking on items two and
[8:51] 16. Esmeralda speaking on item five. You each have one minute. >> good morning commissioners
[9:07] court. My name is josette dowdell. I'm the area organizing director for esmie harris county and a
[9:16] supporter of harris county workers. We would like to thank all of the county offices that have
[9:21] worked together to implement the consultation policy.
[9:25] since march, there hasn't there has been significant participation with the harris county workers, and we
[9:32] appreciate the collaboration that has brought us to this point. From the workers perspective,
[9:36] the most important priority is to stay on track for the october first effective date. We support providing additional
[9:45] resources in the office of county administration, human
[9:50] resources and talent and the county attorney's office determined they are needed we understand that each harris
[9:57] county department has a designated grievance coordinator
[10:01] to help address many of these matters for maintaining the
[10:06] timeline demonstrates -- >> thank you, your time is up. >> I'm going to be careful to enforce the time limit with
[10:14] everybody. Thank you. >> thank you. >> I would like to donate my
[10:19] time to josette to finish her time. >> maintaining the timeline demonstrates the court's
[10:25] commitment to improving communication, strengthening the
[10:29] employee engagement and making this policy successful. Thank you for your leadership and your continued commitment to
[10:35] the harris county workers. We look forward to continuing working with this commissioner's court.
[10:43] thank you. >> thank you.
[10:50] thank you all so much. Thank you.
[11:01] >> esmeralda, crystal on item 115, kendall on item 126.
[11:06] you each have one minute. >> good morning. My name is esmeralda. I live in precinct one.
[11:13] I'm here demanding that commissioners stop funding surveillance like flock cameras. Flock cameras make us less safe,
[11:20] not more. They track our daily movement which puts us at risk with surveillance, violence and
[11:25] deportation. Flock cameras operate with no oversight and people have a right to know where these
[11:30] cameras are, what information they gather and who has access to it right now, there are no clear answers to these questions
[11:37] in harris county, we've seen harris county abuse flock data for personal reasons using a to stalk women.
[11:43] that is what happens when powerful surveillance tools have no accountability. Once our taxes fund these
[11:49] cameras, the data is entered into a nation wide network that any agency can access. For these reasons, I implore you
[11:57] to stop -- through funding green spaces, libraries and real places on the ground. Harris county should not fund a
[12:04] surveillance system that makes us less safe and less protective, especially for the immigrant families and the women
[12:09] that call this country home. >> :and thank you commissioners.
[12:20] I'm with the economy for working houston. I am proud to support the final passage of the worksite safety
[12:26] policy. This policy ensures that workers who build our city and keep it running are provided with safety
[12:32] protections that will ensure that they can do their job safely and with protection from retaliation.
[12:38] this policy also provides clarity for contractors to ensure that they understand what to expect and what standards are
[12:44] required. It lays out accountability measures that are fair, enforceable and designed to keep
[12:50] workers safe without being unnecessarily prohibitive. I want to express gratitude to the county staff who have worked
[12:55] on developing and implementing this policy and thank you all for keeping harris county workers safe on the job.
[13:06] >> thank you. >> shanice flax on item five.
[13:10] crystal casey on item 115. Cesar espinosa on item 240 and
[13:16] lynda morales on item 240. You each have one minute.
[13:21] >> hello, commissioners. I'm new economy for working
[13:25] houston. I'm here to encourage you today to make sure that working people and their needs are met with
[13:30] this new budget. Houstonians are working so hard to just pay their bills, to buy groceries, to take care of their
[13:38] kids making sure that you plan the budget according to our
[13:43] needs. People's needs for housing, health care, good jobs and the ability to live in harris county
[13:48] are how we keep our cities safe and secure so thank you.
[13:55] >> thank you. >> good morning.
[14:13] I'm with the gulf coast labor and -- is here to speak on 240 but support item number 2, the consultation policy and item
[14:23] number 126, I urge you to support agenda 240. This is not a vote against the law enforcement, it is not a
[14:31] vote on immigration policy, it is a vote for the public's right to know the truth through an independent, impartial review of
[14:38] a death that has shaken our community. If enforcement actions are carried out in vehicles that are
[14:45] not clearly identifiable as law enforcement and without lights or sirens that people commonly recognize, any driver
[14:52] could be confused or frightened. I also ask this court not to lose sight of the bigger picture that this body not forget that
[14:59] we must continue investing in immigration legal services.
[15:03] these funds are part of the same larger public commitment to justice, accountability, due process and legal representation
[15:12] for. >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you so much. >> good morning, my name is
[15:26] cesar espinosa and I'm executive director. Today I'm asking for the support in item number 240 to support
[15:34] and truly support a full and independent investigation on the
[15:41] murder that happened on the morning of july 7th in magnolia
[15:46] park. For those people who may be against it, put yourself in his shoes, literally and what would
[15:52] you do if unmarked, masked people in houston, texas,
[15:58] westchester brown jaka? Today, this morning, and I take
[16:02] this as a sign I found this memento cactus soccer ball that was given to us at the memorial of lorenzo, something that
[16:10] should have never existed because lorenzo should still be
[16:14] with us today. So keep this in mind as you move forward and the family, the community and the nation
[16:23] deserves transparency and accountability. >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you.
[16:29] >> chris mccarthy on item 240, sergio lira, item 240 and 354,
[16:36] jacob clements, item 241. You each have a minute to.
[16:46] >> good morning, my name is chris mccarthy, I'm congressman garcia's chief of staff first I want to express
[16:51] gratitude to everyone who assisted with the congressional field hearing last week. It was an exceptional effort by
[16:56] everyone, the judge's office, the county administrator and her team did a phenomenal job and the congresswoman -- secondly, I
[17:05] want to express her support for agenda item 240 for the funding
[17:10] for the investigation. Unfortunately, we have seen the federal government is not investigating in good faith and
[17:15] so right now we need to rely on harris county and our da to
[17:20] deliver justice for our community. She is fully supportive of this measure.
[17:24] she can't be here this morning but thank you commissioner ellis for bringing it up. We hope everyone will support it
[17:30] thank you. >> thank you so much. >> tell your boss I got a note. I know she was up early.
[17:37] she texted me at 6:00 a.m. Tell her I was awake and I knew you were coming. >> good morning, everyone I
[17:54] represent council 4967. I want to speak on the harris
[17:58] county program. I just want you to imagine ten whales going up a hill called economic prosperity.
[18:04] eight of the whales are white whales. Two of them in 2020 are smarter whales and they represent
[18:10] minority women, asians, african americans and latinos. Those two whales, if they stop going up that hill and someone
[18:17] suspends this program, those two small whales are going to roll back down the hill and we cannot allow that to happen.
[18:23] second of all, I want to thank commissioner ellis for your support in the sean tier investigation.
[18:28] is doing a fabulous job and he is doing an independent
[18:32] investigation. We stand here for justice for lorenzo and I want to help -- I. Want to thank you and all
[18:37] of you who voted last week on the resolution of antiice
[18:43] policies thank you and we are going to stay here until we find justice. Thank you.
[18:47] >> that is right. Thank you.
[18:57] >> this comes from precinct one a request for discussion and
[19:10] possible action on the economic impacts and the 2026 fifa world
[19:16] cup for harris county and harris county sports.
[19:21] it should be done. It should be discussed and
[19:29] action taken and unless you get a pay raise -- that's what I s
[19:37] say. The honorable tom ramsey, I have
[19:43] a yard sign and he wants me to give it to you so do you want to
[19:50] have a yard sign from ken pa paxton?
[19:59] >> thank you. >> next is regina duncan
[20:11] speaking virtually on item 135. You have one minute.
[20:15] >> thank you so much. Thank you so much. Hello, everybody and commissioner garcia.
[20:20] we are so grateful for the opportunity to work together again on this grant project. It is much needed.
[20:29] the current generator, sometimes it's getting harder to get equipment or material for it and we experienced surges out here
[20:37] so it's not just emergency basis so we are so grateful for that opportunity again and just want to say thank you.
[20:47] >> it's a pleasure, thank you for being here. >> yes, sir, thank you all. >> next is pre-west shama on
[20:58] item 254, lauren hodge on item 269 and alexis villarreal on
[21:03] item 326. Do you each have one minute.
[21:13] >> good morning, judge and commissioners. I am here to represent minority women businesses, which are
[21:20] mostly local houston businesses fear my farm is family owned and
[21:25] was founded 33 years ago here at the heart of houston.
[21:29] and wb programs have kept our business for three plus decades
[21:34] here taking these certifications away will hurt small businesses in a grave manner. These businesses as we all know
[21:42] are backboned off the economy. Small businesses like mine
[21:47] employ local houstonians. I would request you reassess the proposed agenda item. Thank you.
[21:54] >> ma'am, can you state your name for the record? >> I am priya sharma. >> thank you.
[22:04] >> good morning. I'm lauren hodge, an attorney speaking on item 269. We greatly appreciate the time
[22:11] that the commissioners this morning but after the request to be on the agenda for approval, the issuer was provided with
[22:18] additional information confirming the development is located within the city of houston city limits and as such
[22:25] the county's approval is not required. Thank you. >> good morning.
[22:35] my name is alexis and I'm here on behalf of mental health america of greater houston in support of agenda item 326 we
[22:43] are here to support the harris county public defender's office and their strong stewardship of public trust and dollars through
[22:50] meaningful partnerships with community based organizations like ours. Their work ensures that low
[22:56] income individuals have access to high quality legal representation and their partnerships allow them to
[23:01] provide a more holistic defense for their clients. Through our care connect program, we partner with the
[23:07] public defender's office to connect clients and their
[23:11] families to mental health and substance use services across a network of more than 900 providers statewide our
[23:18] bilingual helpline and pro bono counsel program ensures access
[23:22] to care regardless of ability to pay. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to holistic
[23:28] community based solutions and we look forward to continuing to grow this work together. Thank you.
[23:40] next on item 326, item 327 and 354.
[23:47] you each have one minute. >> good morning.
[23:55] thank you for being here. I am here representing magnificent houses. Thank you for the opportunity to
[24:00] speak about the importance of community partnerships and the
[24:04] value of the collaboration through memorandums of
[24:09] understandings and magnificent houses in the harris county public defender's office. At magnificent offices, we serve
[24:15] our community's most valuable residents including individuals experiencing homelessness, those facing barriers to stability and
[24:23] to many returning from incarceration. When individuals leave the justice system they often face
[24:29] impossible choices. With this mou, we are able to give multiple options and not be a.
[24:34] but a, in someone's life and future. Thank you for the opportunity. >> good morning, commissioners
[24:46] my name is cassandra fox known as chef kassi, even in the
[24:50] harris county space, as I was born and raised and still reside and proudly do business in the city of houston and harris
[24:56] county both. I'm a proud owner of chef cassie
[25:01] stable, a minority business enterprise. I stand before you today because people have believed in me and
[25:06] believed in my business and deserved the opportunity to compete equally. I was selected because many
[25:12] times small businesses deliver exceptional quality and also we
[25:16] are the executors and we are still hands on in our business.
[25:21] supplier diversity didn't guarantee me success but it did give me access to everything after that I earned on my own by
[25:28] building relationships in rooms just like this one. My business has worked with large companies like walmart
[25:35] across the great state of texas but now the conversation of removing that bridge before others come behind me is up for
[25:42] discussion. Protect supplier diversity. >> thank you, your time is up. >> good morning.
[25:57] my name is arletta sykes and I serve as the director for dale divergent and jail reentry at the harris institute for mental
[26:04] health I'm here today to show our support for the manage the
[26:09] sign council. The partnership between the mcc team and the harris centre is an example of how the criminal
[26:14] justice system and behavioral health services can work together to improve outcomes. Through this collaboration we
[26:21] are able to connect individuals with resources they need while continued justice involvement. The mcc team plays a vital role
[26:28] for advocating for their clients access to housing, treatment benefits and other services today, we are creating
[26:35] opportunities for stability, reducing recidivism and helping individuals successfully reintegrate into the community.
[26:41] thank you for your continued support of partnerships that strengthen our justice system and improve the lives of harris
[26:47] county residents that may be dealing with barriers and mental health. Thank you.
[26:55] >> thank you. >> veronica weaver rivers on
[26:59] item 354. Adriana davis on item 354 and brian jackson on item 354. You each have one minute for
[27:09] >> good morning. My name is veronica weaver
[27:21] rivers, speaking in support of supplier diversity. I am a new small business owner one year in, a professional
[27:28] -- a. Licensed professional engineer like commissioner ramsey and a disabled veteran who honorably served in the u.s.
[27:35] army for the counties and wbe program is supported by data in the disparity study. It is a tool that is rooted in
[27:43] facts and should inform fair policy decisions. I urge the court to protect this program so small minority women
[27:52] and disabled veteran business owners like myself can continue
[27:56] to participate in the market access opportunity and strengthen the local economy. Thank you.
[28:09] >> thank you. >> good morning, judge, commissioners and directors I am adriana davis, the founder and
[28:16] executive director of the harmony grace foundation.
[28:20] county nonprofit dedicated to supporting neonatal intensive care unit families and advancing maternal health.
[28:26] as a black woman leading a nonprofit, I know the importance of access to opportunity, it matters.
[28:34] programs like harris county and wb program help ensure organizations and businesses like mine have a fair chance to
[28:41] compete, grow, create jobs and expand impact. This program is about fairness, opportunity and building a
[28:48] stronger harris county where qualified nonprofit businesses
[28:52] can exceed -- can succeed. Thank you for your time and
[28:56] consideration. >> thank you.
[29:04] >> :honorable judge and honorable commissioners good to see you today my name is crystal casey with unicorn.
[29:11] I'm a local business owner third generation harris county resident. I strongly support ai and tech
[29:18] for permitting and I commend the court for moving these items forward. It's important to know that ai
[29:23] cannot fix a flawed system. Real improvement requires technology but specifically for the ahj, that both the applicant
[29:30] and reviewer are facing capabilities for permitting and plotting. From 22 to 24, we engage with a
[29:37] foreign owned company on the agenda item today. Their focus was primarily cad files, pdf processing took
[29:45] 24 hours. We were never able to upload actual plans and local officials requested performance data and
[29:50] none were ever provided so we moved on for as a third
[29:55] generation resident of precinct one who is deeply involved in permitting and planning, I felt it was important to speak up
[30:01] here at the end of the day it's in god's hands but we are called to share the knowledge we've been given.
[30:06] >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you.
[30:13] >> good morning, judge, commissioners. I'm brian jackson. I am a small business owner and
[30:17] I am here to express my support for the nw db program.
[30:23] I ask that you humbly take it upon yourself the difficult task of not only protecting the program but strengthening it.
[30:30] I have worked with the county since 2019. I have seen the progress that you have made with your
[30:36] political will and I ask that you take that political will and strengthen the program even further.
[30:43] thank you. >> next is terry rich in on item
[30:48] five, darnell joseph on item 354, milton thibodeau on item
[30:53] 354. You each have one minute. >> good morning. My name is terry chen, I'm the
[31:00] senior community organizer and resident of precinct one. The number 1 concern of our community members is the fear to
[31:05] move around our own hometown to simply be anywhere outside of the home in fear of deportation. You need to stop funding mass
[31:13] surveillance tech such as flock cameras which ice has been using with local law enforcement. You can put guardrails on
[31:19] companies that profit off of mass surveillance. They turn fear and death into a commodity.
[31:24] last I checked, surveillance cannot prevent crime, they just prevail at. Historically targeted
[31:30] communities such as black and brown people, immigrants, women and trans people are getting targeted and criminalized for
[31:36] living when we talk about what community keeps us safe, our community is what programs like heart, they want language access
[31:44] child care, food security, access to health care, good public transportation, affordable housing or
[31:49] protections from the next big hurricane. Please use our taxes to keep us safe by investing in our
[31:54] communities and stop flock spending. Thank you. >> thank you.
[32:08] >> good morning, court and judges. My name is darnell joseph. I'm president and ceo of a
[32:14] company called make steel fabrication. I'm here in support of the mwb program.
[32:19] it's very simple, if we are not in the room, if we don't have the conversations, we don't have the friends, we don't get that
[32:26] access. So in the effort of an mba program that at least allows us to be in the room when the
[32:32] conversations are being had. As an mba recently, I was able
[32:36] to hire several people because of the mba program and that's really what it's all about. We are audited and it's all
[32:46] because of the mba program and it's not something that you just
[32:51] give an mba. You still have to bond, you still have to make sure you can do the work and you still have
[32:56] to deliver the bottom line, it's very important to keep the mba
[33:00] program going because it allows other people that are not friends and not automatically in the room to be in the room.
[33:08] so I am in support of it. Thank you so much.
[33:13] >> thank you. >> good morning.
[33:24] I am milton thibodeau, president of the greater houston business
[33:29] procurement forum. I would like to thank county judge hidalgo and the county commission for giving me the
[33:35] opportunity to speak for just a bit about the harris county and wb program. As recent as this past may 26,
[33:45] we hosted doing business with harris county, which included
[33:49] many of the most active harris county departments in all of the
[33:53] major precincts. You have continued to perform,
[34:01] you never stop working in lightning and strengthening the
[34:06] program. As a result, I am in total
[34:11] support of the county's program and your continued efforts to
[34:17] enlighten, grow and develop the communities we live and serve.
[34:23] my sincere appreciation and thank you for your opportunity
[34:29] for. >> doctor ashley atkins on item 254. Lennart johnson on item 254.
[34:42] non-agenda speaker lopez -- you each have one minute to. >> good morning and thank you all for having me.
[34:46] I'm dr. Ashley atkins, president and ceo of the greater houston black chamber of commerce I'm here today to encourage the
[34:54] court's continued support of the program recent federal rulings
[34:58] attempted to dismantle this initiative across the region and it ignores an undeniable reality.
[35:04] disparities are real and they persist. Data from the city of houston study reveals that while mwb
[35:11] accounts for over 28% of city contracts, black firms capture a
[35:16] mere 5.5%. Most critically, this study identified significant disparities for black-owned
[35:21] businesses across all categories especially professional services
[35:26] without remedies like the mwb program, these barriers will
[35:31] widen. This program is not a preference, it is vital to the economic lifeline of many small
[35:36] businesses and the city of houston as a hole. For ghb c., our members and essentially all minority
[35:44] entrepreneurs in the city of houston -- >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you.
[35:56] >> good morning, judge, good morning, commissioners.
[36:01] education and line development -- education and mind development in its totality are the quintessential elements for
[36:08] all human prosperity. For without them, what can one
[36:12] do? We are part of a community and
[36:17] of course the mwb program is a part of the community and
[36:23] needed. I am the executive director of immanuel educational services and we have come up with a
[36:31] program that has developed a nonpartisan civic engagement
[36:36] education initiative designed to help residents better understand local government, public finance, civic responsibilities
[36:45] and opportunities for constructive community
[36:49] participation. So I am asking you all to help us help you help us. Thank you.
[36:57] >> can you please state your name for the record? >> bernard johnson. >> thank you.
[37:10] >> good morning, thank you for having me. I am an associate professor at the university of texas in the
[37:18] cancer centre. The reason I am visiting today is because I am part of a new initiative to collect
[37:23] researchers like me with local policy makers -- counties across
[37:29] the united states for the project covers any child and
[37:34] family policy challenge that you are facing in our county. Here is a bit of how it works. First I'm visiting to introduce
[37:42] myself today and after the meeting, I will send follow up emails describing the initiative and include a way to sign up to
[37:48] meet with me. I also ask you to forward it to
[37:54] others who do work-related to children and family agencies in our county. For those who respond I will
[37:59] have a short meeting to learn about the challenge in family policies you are focusing on and where you think research would
[38:06] be helpful. Based on that I will create a tailored research brief with relevant research and share it
[38:12] with you. >> thank you, your time is up.
[38:18] >> next is douglas hemmerich, non-agenda speaker, broderick
[38:25] butler and one more. You each have one minute.
[38:31] >> good morning. I'm here speaking about harris county animal control and harris county pets, harris county
[38:38] health. With their transparency, they have a tendency of hiding things. I've had an ongoing issue with them for four years with my pet
[38:45] bobcat. I know it is a very niche thing but I have since found there are many that have exotic animals
[38:52] like this I have requested emails and anything related to
[38:59] my case. Instead of freely giving them to me, they waited until the last minute and then sent it to ken
[39:06] paxton because they are trying to hide the fact that they have changed rules after the fact. The pamphlet said one thing, the
[39:13] affidavit said another thing. Was in my favor but they didn't like that. Somebodys ego.
[39:21] unfortunately, you can't have a regulation or rule that you can't abide by there's not an area in harris county.
[39:28] I paid for a survey showing t this.
[39:33] >> thank you. We will visit with you before you leave, sir. >> I live in precinct four.
[39:49] we bring to you today as houstonians an issue of our funds being wasted on alpr they do not keep us safe here if
[39:57] anything, it's the opposite. Unfortunately but not surprisingly there have been a number of incidents where
[40:04] law enforcement abuses a lp ahs to stop people specifically women or sending out tickets to the wrong people because the ai
[40:12] read a licence plate incorrectly. Our funds should be spent on pollution control because it's
[40:19] directly required -- requiring ai data centres to be built on our community, specifically black and brown communities,
[40:26] affording housing and living infrastructure. I urge you to not fund a lp in harris county.
[40:35] >> thank you. >> good morning, judge and
[40:43] commissioners my name is broderick butler and I'm a resident of northeast houston harris county.
[40:49] I wanted to sincerely thank the court for approving harris
[40:53] county district repairs to project p118 -- 09-00-x01 for
[41:00] the tributary that runs through my neighborhood of scenic woods. Repairs began two weeks ago and are expected to be completed in
[41:08] about nine months. In 2019, I stood before this court and asked that this project received the attention
[41:14] it deserves. Today I am grateful to return simply to say thank you. Your decisions show that the
[41:20] residents voices matter and the response government can make a real difference for these repairs will improve drainage,
[41:26] reduce flood risk and help protect the families of scenic wood and we celebrate this progress.
[41:32] I encourage you to continue investing in flood mitigation
[41:37] projects throughout the northeast harris county whereas my community still faces -- >> thank you, your time is up.
[41:44] >> thank you, sa. >> next is non-agenda speaker
[41:50] and -- stephen and noah, you each have one minute.
[41:59] >> good morning judge hidalgo, fellow commissioners my name is
[42:03] stephen fraga. I'm with teo's office products. We are a distributor of office supplies and related products in
[42:10] the houston area. We've been in business for 64 years. My father started the company
[42:15] along with my mother. We are in support of keeping the
[42:21] mwb program. Like many have said here, the program provides us opportunity. We still don't have -- we still
[42:27] have to be financially sound, we still have to run our company like a majority owned company. A lot of you folks have
[42:34] advocated for these programs at the state level your commissioner ellis, the hub program, what they've done to
[42:39] that is destroyed a lot of companies here it's very important that harris county does not follow what the city
[42:44] did and does not follow what the state did. We just need opportunity. We just need access and that's
[42:50] what these programs have offered us. Thank you very much. >> -- name is noah melendrez.
[43:04] I live on precinct one. Today on behalf -- I'm here on behalf of my friend brian. One of the county services I am
[43:12] most proud of is that we provide low cost mental health to all houstonians and not just the wealthy.
[43:16] I'm sure you agree that the counselors who do this work deserve all the support we can give them unfortunately, as
[43:24] wayne young was finishing his tenure as ceo, the board voted to give mr. Young a bonus while cutting benefits to counselors
[43:30] as well as attempting to disempower the union that represents counselors. I encourage you to look into the
[43:37] recent decisions the harris centre board made around this work if you agree our mental health professionals deserve
[43:43] better, I encourage you to ask the board to reverse their decision as they can as a show of respect and good faith to
[43:49] these workers. Since I have time, please cancel the flock contracts. Thank you.
[43:57] >> next is non-agenda speaker coretta brown. You have one minute. >> good morning, judge and
[44:09] commissioners my name is coretta brown and I am the founder -- we
[44:15] joined a coalition, harris county coalition to end cyberbullying. I'm here today because
[44:20] cyberbullying and online harassment are no longer just social issues they are public safety issues.
[44:26] everyday harris county residents are subjected to online threats,
[44:31] intimidation, impersonation -- and defamatory attacks that can destroy careers, damage mental health and in some cases lead to
[44:37] physical violence or suicide. While I fully support and
[44:41] respect the first amendment, some of these threats are not covered under the first amendment and so today I
[44:48] respectfully ask this court to direct the appropriate county department to study the creation of a dedicated cyber harassment
[44:56] investigation unit or to allocate investigators within the harris county district county attorney's
[45:01] office to receive and evaluate complaints involving potential
[45:06] criminal online conduct. >> thank you, your time is up
[45:12] here. >> that is all of the speakers,
[45:16] judge. >> thank you so much. Let me go over any corrections item for, oc request no action.
[45:34] 144, council precinct one request no action.
[45:38] 191, d.a. Request no action item 240 we need to add:bye bye
[45:45] commissioner precinct one commissioner precinct two, commissioner precinct four and the county judge.
[45:52] commissioner precinct one, two, three, four and county judge for action et cetera. 241 precinct one request no
[46:02] action. 333 purchasing request, no
[46:06] action. 342, we have a correction we need to replace the word estate with the word property so it
[46:13] says and the guest for real property broker services.
[46:22] and item 348, we need to replace the agenda caption so it reads
[46:28] request for approval to uphold the office of purchasing agent
[46:32] determination pure courteous and concluded that the evidence presented by the protester did not meet the burden of proof
[46:38] necessary to rescind the may 142026 award under the harris county protest and appeals procedures.
[46:46] specifically under the provision that alleges an error of law by the purchasing agent peer commissioners court
[46:51] determination of the appeal will be the final administrative action of harris county and shall exhaust all administrative
[46:57] remedies available to the firm. No further appeal will be permitted. Did I miss any corrections?
[47:05] >> judge, I think item 269 is no action as well.
[47:12] >> item 269, all right. Item 269 is no action.
[47:20] I'm just trying to figure out what that one is.
[47:26] those are family housing revenue bonds. Anything else? Okay.
[47:31] let's move on to the consent agenda.
[47:35] executive session items. Item two, I believe we have to
[47:40] go to executive session for. Is that right? >> yes, judge. >> okay, the consultation policy
[47:49] item 254, this is on the mwb program executive session.
[47:55] >> yes, judge. >> item 300 is on executive
[48:01] compensation for certain appointed officials. Commissioner ellis, do we need to go to executive session on
[48:07] that one? >> yes.
[48:12] >> 301, appointment of doctor kampani to lead the institute of
[48:17] forensic sciences. We need to go into executive session? >> I am supportive.
[48:22] >> you are good so we will put that on the consent agenda. Did the administrator say something?
[48:30] >> judge. >> yes, commissioner garcia?
[48:35] >> yes, judge, I just want to say that I to support the
[48:40] appointment of the doctor but I also want to thank him for his
[48:44] strength and leadership in this recent tragic event involving
[48:49] mr. Saldano. I appreciate his strength and
[48:57] steadiness to maintain independence in his important work. Thank you, doctor.
[49:02] >> I couldn't agree more. Thank you for saying that.
[49:09] >> that will show approved as presented.
[49:14] >> thank you, yes. Okay. Now let's keep going here. Item 302, county attorney on
[49:23] economic development options. We go to executive session on that. 303, data and cybersecurity
[49:29] needs, I'm guessing yes? >> yes.
[49:33] >> and then we have 323, that is on civil rights litigation?
[49:39] >> yes. >> 324, it is an approval with
[49:44] -- approval of an agreement. >> only if you have questions.
[49:49] >> does anyone have questions on 324?
[49:53] do we need to discuss in executive session? >> if the commissioner has questions, we have to do it in
[50:00] executive session. >> commissioner ramsey, I believe your microphone may be off here 351 is landscape
[50:10] consultants of texas versus harris county, texas.
[50:17] 354 and wb executive session 355, compensation for certain
[50:25] officials executive session. >> yes, judge. >> we have executive session 254, 300, 302, 303, 323, 324,
[50:40] 351, 354, 355. Regular agenda.
[50:45] item one, I know we would like to discuss and we would like to take items one and 313 together. They are both about selling
[50:54] real estate assets. Item three, puck.
[51:00] commissioner ramsey, would you like to discuss that? >> yes. >> item five, we will take with
[51:08] 329 and 349. They are all related to the county budget. >> can we add five so it will be
[51:16] five, 329 and 349. >> five, 329 and 349.
[51:22] item seven, commissioner briones?
[51:26] >> yes. >> item eight, commissioner ramsey and mobility budget. Item 14, commissioner ramsey.
[51:33] the paid mental health leave. Okay.
[51:38] item 15 requested by commissioner ramsey.
[51:44] hrt. >> yes. >> item 16, commissioner ramsey, we would take with item 18 as
[51:52] they relate to employee matters so then item 18 as well.
[51:58] item 115, commissioner ramsey. A I. Okay, 126, ramsey and brian is on worksite safety.
[52:06] >> yes, please. >> 130, commissioner ramsey on
[52:11] the food and beverage expenditures.
[52:15] 133, commissioner ramsey gift card on wellness on wheels
[52:20] 135 commissioner garcia, cvdgr. >> item 136 commissioner garcia
[52:28] in a local agreement with the city of port.
[52:33] 168, commissioner ramsey and brian is on an amicus brief.
[52:37] >> yes, please. >> 228, brian, this is on bear
[52:45] creek village subdivision. >> , please.
[52:50] >> 240, commissioner ellis. I know this is on the da
[52:55] investigation. 273, commissioner briones, energy efficiency fund. 274, commissioner briones, the
[53:02] harris county strategic plan and action. 289, commissioner briones update on the erp transformation
[53:11] strategy project. 291, commissioner briones, the access to care report and low cost clinic finder.
[53:19] 310, commissioner ramsey, this is on the regular court meeting
[53:23] for october sixth and turning october 15th business meeting
[53:28] into a regular court meeting. So we will put item 310 back on
[53:35] the consent agenda. 313 we will take with item one on real estate asset sales. 325 is flagged by commissioner
[53:46] ramsey on 17 positions for the county attorney.
[53:51] 326, precincts one and four, harris county public defender's
[53:55] office. 327 that's flagged by commissioner briones. 329 we will take with item five
[54:04] and then the other 15 and 329 and then 332, commissioner
[54:18] ramsey, this is on an agreement with cgl management group for
[54:25] 337, commissioner ellis, design, build and construction services
[54:29] for riverside pier 346, commissioner briones. North central texas council of governments, cooperative
[54:37] contract award for 349, commissioner ramsey and county judge on the 2026 tax rate. Let me go through the final list
[54:51] it is here, executive session items two, 254, 300, 302, 303,
[55:05] 323, 324, 351, 354, 355. Regular agenda items one, three,
[55:17] five, seven, eight, 14, 15, 16, 18, 115, 126, 130, 133, 135,
[55:38] 136, 168, 228, 240, 273, 274, 289, 291, 313, 325, 326, 327,
[56:01] 329, 332, 337, 346, 349, and that's it.
[56:08] did I miss anything? >> I have a question, ma'am, on
[56:13] item six. >> okay, item six.
[56:35] that is request possible action for accounts receivable?
[56:41] >> yes. >> anything else?
[56:47] >> judge, may I please ask that we take item seven up when we
[56:51] take up 30350 -- 355 because they are related.
[56:58] >> yes, item seven when we take 30355. Just a moment here. We don't have 300 right now.
[57:13] >> I believe that is in executive session. >> got it. Okay.
[57:17] so would you like to take that one in executive session or?
[57:22] >> just when we come out to make motions because they are inextricably linked in terms of posting notice et cetera.
[57:31] that's why -- you are looking at me. >> when are we -- when we are making motions.
[57:38] >> okay. So it will go with 355 and
[57:44] number 7. Okay.
[57:49] anything else? Okay.
[57:53] so then is there a motion for all of the items one through 356
[57:59] with the exception of items already voted on and discussion items just listed. >> second.
[58:05] >> motion by commissioner ellis, seconded by commissioner briones. All in favor any opposed motion
[58:11] carries unanimously. So we will begin the discussion
[58:24] and the discussion is item 349 and then we will go into
[58:31] executive session for ten items so that will probably take us
[58:35] through lunch. So let me thank the speakers for
[58:43] participating earlier. Item 349 is the early childhood
[59:05] education item. My motion would be to set a
[59:14] public hearing on august tenth, 2026, attending to consider for the harris county general fund the proposed 2026 tax rates per
[59:24] $100 of taxable value .3796 for maintenance and operations and
[59:30] 0.05538 for debt service for a total tax rate of 0.4934 which
[59:34] is greater than the voter approval rate for the purpose of maintaining a portion of critical harris county early
[59:42] childhood programing and other relevant departments to execute
[59:47] and publish all related notices as required by applicable law.
[59:55] so that would be, I just sort of wanted to set the scene for all
[1:00:01] of this. In 2022, we invested more than
[1:00:07] $149 million in federal american rescue plan funding for early childhood education programs we have served more than 97,000
[1:00:15] families and kids. Right now, there are more than
[1:00:19] 30,000 families on the wait-list for subsidized child care in harris county, meaning they need child care but can't afford it.
[1:00:31] so 30,000 families, an enormous number.
[1:00:46] then we ask why isn't there support from the state and some of the public schools and some other agencies so 30,000
[1:00:55] families and children on a wait list is even despite what
[1:01:01] already exist and despite the programs we already have.
[1:01:06] so 30,000 people is the population of towns like key west florida and it fills about half of 60,000 person football
[1:01:20] stadium. Going back here to the item, in
[1:01:24] harris county, the average family spends more on child care than they would pay for the cost of in state college tuition at a
[1:01:33] four year university. The average cost of one year of
[1:01:37] college tuition at a four year university is $8195 for the
[1:01:42] average family in harris county spends $11,000 per year on child
[1:01:49] care for one of the most impactful programs is early
[1:01:53] reach, which provided children with free high quality early childhood education who wouldn't have been able to afford early
[1:02:00] childhood care otherwise and allowed the parents to work who
[1:02:05] perhaps otherwise wouldn't have been able to do it. The program has been evaluated four times by brazelton
[1:02:14] touchpoints and independent evaluators so the program has
[1:02:18] been evaluated for times by an independent evaluator that we
[1:02:24] selected via an rfp process, a competitive process.
[1:02:28] they found that early reach has found child care more affordable
[1:02:32] that early reach has improved kids socio emotional development
[1:02:38] and that early reach is strengthening the early
[1:02:42] childhood workforce. Today, I am proposing letting
[1:02:47] the voters decide whether to continue funding our successful
[1:02:52] early childhood programs with a penny.
[1:03:02] -- a. Penny tax would be in addition to the tax bill of an average homeowner in harris county.
[1:03:08] so this is $10 per $100,000 of home value per year so actually,
[1:03:16] the average is around $250,000 so an average of $25 increase
[1:03:22] for the average taxpayer. This would generate
[1:03:29] $66.6 million to fund the early reach and other successful programs, including programs to improve the skills of the early
[1:03:37] childhood workforce and all of these early childhood education
[1:03:42] facilities are meeting the absolute highest standards.
[1:03:48] again, is not just a matter of having facilities that meet the standards, it's a matter of the children and families being able
[1:03:53] to afford this. $66.6 million pales in
[1:03:59] comparison with some other major investments that have been made without going to the voters. And this is the key thing that I
[1:04:10] am asking my colleagues to consider. Colleagues, I'm not asking you to vote for a tax increase for
[1:04:17] taxpayers. That's not what I'm asking for. I am asking you to let the voters decide whether they would
[1:04:25] like to pay a penny tax in order to fund early childhood
[1:04:32] education. The request is simply will you put this on the ballot to let voters decide?
[1:04:40] I believe that we should be willing to live with the verdict of the people of harris county. We do that when we put our names
[1:04:47] on the ballot and we should do that when we have items that are
[1:04:51] as important as this one. There are item -- other items we've passed without discussion that I've said we need to put on
[1:04:58] the ballot and this one I would like to give the constituents
[1:05:05] the opportunity to decide. A "yes" vote is not a vote to
[1:05:11] raise taxes, it is simply allowing the people of harris county to vote this november on whether or not they would like
[1:05:19] to pay a penny tax to continue early childhood education.
[1:05:24] it will help increase turnout. Already, a lot of people are going to come out this november. It is only fair for them to be
[1:05:32] able to vote because we all are already running this election so it's not going to be a negligible increase in the cost
[1:05:39] of running this election. Let us not fear our own
[1:05:47] constituents. There has been fear to put this before constituents since 2013. In 2013, a group of community
[1:05:55] leaders requested that this go before the public.
[1:06:01] the people sitting behind this dais refused to put this before the voters. This happened around this time
[1:06:06] last year. Let us not fear our own constituents. Let us live with the verdict of
[1:06:11] our constituents. Let us not vote for a tax
[1:06:16] increase in fact, we could advocate against it but let the
[1:06:21] voters decide. These programs are so worthy,
[1:06:28] and I have such faith in the people of this county and their
[1:06:33] judgment. My idea is simply to ask them if they are willing to pay a penny more to keep these programs
[1:06:41] going, around $26 a year for the average homeowner.
[1:06:47] on this issue and any issue, I am happy to live with the
[1:06:52] verdict of the people on harris county and certainly let's not
[1:06:58] default on the promise we made when we decided to support these programs and over the years have said we will continue to support
[1:07:08] these, we will ask the voters. There are parents, there are
[1:07:20] children who had a plan for their lives, whose services for
[1:07:25] early childhood kaku's ability to go to work, whose ability to put their kids in early childhood cactus as their -- my
[1:07:33] colleagues put their kids in early childhood is going to be cut short at the end of this year.
[1:07:41] already, if we vote for this, there will be a one year gap but this will allow us to at least be able to continue it in the
[1:07:49] future. All I am urging you to do is to
[1:07:54] simply make sure that we hear the people that we recognize
[1:08:02] that this is a worthy, successful evaluated and
[1:08:07] admirable cause, that unlike pretty much every other
[1:08:12] jurisdiction, republican or democrat that has passed an early childhood bonder, put it to the voters.
[1:08:19] we have a working program. Pretty much every other jurisdiction, I don't know of one that did it like us.
[1:08:25] first they put it to the voters and then they built the program. It was not clear that the program would be successful or
[1:08:31] not. Our program is already successful. Let us not kill the program, let
[1:08:37] us let the voters decide. That is my request.
[1:08:42] my request and plea to my colleagues.
[1:08:47] commissioner ramsey? >> thank you, judge.
[1:08:53] I think as we discussed taking issues to the voters, such as
[1:08:59] the early childhood program, obviously there is a clear need
[1:09:07] there, clearly there are dollars that would be needed to support
[1:09:12] it. As we said, 1 penny, that's $64 million in terms of what would be taken to the voters.
[1:09:19] I don't think you can talk about 349 cactus initiative, in terms
[1:09:24] of taking something to the voters without understanding
[1:09:28] where we are with the tax rate potential. We just had published, and it's been provided to us through a
[1:09:39] transmittal in agenda item 329 where we understand clearly what
[1:09:48] our likely tax rates. >> I motion -- motion by
[1:09:57] commissioner ramsey seconded by commissioner briones. Any opposed motion carries unanimously.
[1:10:04] >> we are currently, I'm going to use rough numbers, we are
[1:10:09] currently $0.62. Remember, every one of those
[1:10:13] pennies is $64 million we are at $0.62 is the current.
[1:10:18] if tax rates have been since 2019,
[1:10:23] they have been down as low as 58, 54 in that range.
[1:10:30] we are roughly 62 right now. Based on what we understand the
[1:10:39] budget and mr. Reynolds, thank you for what you do in making sure we understand what we are spending.
[1:10:46] so many times people operate in the dark because they don't know what they're spending, they don't know what the costs are.
[1:10:51] I think your office does a good job of maintaining the report and agenda item number 5 affirms that we are within
[1:10:59] 26 million give or take. Understand that 26 million
[1:11:04] within a budget of 3 billion. Mr. Ramos is reporting that
[1:11:10] level of detail, that level of understanding. It's not like we don't understand what our budget needs
[1:11:16] are today but we also know our projected budget needs going
[1:11:21] forward so just to give you a glimpse into your future
[1:11:27] tax rate that we will consider, we are not considering a tax rate today. As judge hidalgo referenced, we
[1:11:33] are only talking about taking one to the voters, should that be something we want to do. Please understand the tax rate
[1:11:41] that we will be considering in just a few short weeks is
[1:11:48] probably the greatest tax rate increase in the history of
[1:11:53] harris county. It will likely go to $0.62 up to
[1:11:59] probably into the 68-cent range. If the hospital district goes to
[1:12:05] their var, voter approved rate, that could be as high as $0.71
[1:12:12] per so we will discuss the merits of whether we do a voter
[1:12:17] approved rate, whether we do a voter approved rate for the general but I think mr. Ramos, your budget is based on the
[1:12:26] voter approved rate. Is that correct? >> for the general fund and flood control.
[1:12:31] >> and that's roughly $0.68? >> thereabouts. A little less depending what happens.
[1:12:38] >> but the hospital district, if it was a var, that is 72.
[1:12:44] they may go -- they are having discussions and this is
[1:12:49] premature in terms of really understanding what that number
[1:12:54] is. But clearly if we simply adopted what the state legislature would allow us to do in terms of var,
[1:13:01] it would be an increase of roughly 62 to 68, the largest increase since I have been on commissioners court for I think
[1:13:08] the largest increase that I can find in the history of the county in one year. So we are facing some pretty
[1:13:16] stiff headwinds. This is to find our statutory
[1:13:22] responsibilities I understand out of the $3 billion budget
[1:13:26] that we are anticipating, considering in the near future
[1:13:31] the $3 billion budget we are considering in the future, over
[1:13:37] 500 million of those are nonstatutory activities I'm not
[1:13:43] saying they are bad. I'm just saying we are having a
[1:13:48] bad -- a. Hard time finding our statutory responsibilities. What are some of those? The court system.
[1:13:54] every one of the entities involved in our court system, they are coming to us saying just to keep up, we are going to
[1:14:01] need a few extra dollars to do this and a few extra dollars to
[1:14:05] do that so we are going to have a very interesting next few
[1:14:11] weeks deciding what we are going to fund or not fund.
[1:14:16] but I can probably guarantee you based on the budget needs that
[1:14:20] are on there, if we just fund what we did last year with some
[1:14:26] few minor cuts, we are going to be at a very high tax rate, a
[1:14:32] very high increase for a given year and again, we are going to
[1:14:37] be having those discussions in the coming weeks. My recommendation is we go with a "no" new revenue rate.
[1:14:45] that's going to cause a lot more of a need to look at everything
[1:14:50] we do and how we do what we do here I am pointing those things
[1:14:56] out as we consider judge hidalgo's proposal to take
[1:15:00] it to the voters. I for one would not agree that
[1:15:05] this would be an item we would take to the voters. There would probably be others that could be but at this point
[1:15:12] I think we need to do our homework on our budget before we get to the tax rate. But no, we have some stiff
[1:15:19] headwinds on our tax rate co coming.
[1:15:26] >> commissioner ramsey, may I respond to some of that?
[1:15:31] I agree that we need to make sure that the discussions going
[1:15:37] forward, irrespective of this about the tax rates that are,
[1:15:43] take into consideration, what the voters, what we think the
[1:15:49] voters might like to see. Of course when we set the
[1:15:53] tax rate later on this year, we just set it. We don't have to approve it. We set it by virtue of the fact
[1:15:59] that we were elected and we decide. I am proud of the fact that every year since we took office
[1:16:06] the tax rate has been lower than it was under my predecessor. It has gone down every year. It went up one year and anyway,
[1:16:15] we have not decided what it will be this year I think that's a separate conversation. I think that what we have in
[1:16:22] front of us right now is are we willing to put this before the
[1:16:29] voters? Are we willing to let the voters decide? Are we willing to live with the
[1:16:33] verdict of the voters on this matter? And just to put this in perspective, there is another
[1:16:44] expense that I have been saying I would have liked for this to go to the voters and I talked to the folks, this big pay increase
[1:16:53] that we did. It was going to cost $300 million a year starting in a couple of years.
[1:16:58] right now it's every year that we are phasing it in. $300 million a year compared to early childhood would be 66.
[1:17:09] so $300 million a year cost $118 for the average household in
[1:17:15] harris county we did not go to the voters on that.
[1:17:19] I said let's go to the voters on that item. I will push back early childhood education, that was last year.
[1:17:26] we did not go to the voters on that. And that's why the vote is so tight.
[1:17:32] because instead of contributing to the justice system, to flood
[1:17:36] control, we made the unilateral decision.
[1:17:41] so I think there is certainly merit in what you are saying,
[1:17:46] commissioner. I just think it is two different things and if we are talking about needs, we made this
[1:17:53] unilateral decision to allocate $300 million a year to raises
[1:17:58] for a particular set of people and therefore to have to make
[1:18:03] the respective cuts or in the future have to figure out how we are going to pay for that, and we did not ask the voters.
[1:18:12] so this is simply a penny and I am pleading with you that we go
[1:18:19] to the voters. I think that you can certainly vote against it, you can certainly campaign against it
[1:18:27] but I think there is no excuse to not let the voters decide,
[1:18:31] especially when we've been discussing this since last year. We've known about the financial outlook of the county for
[1:18:39] several years. And again cactus does not have anything to do with the tax rate that we are going to set, that
[1:18:46] is a unilateral decision. This goes to the voters. I'm with you, that I don't want to see a high tax rate.
[1:18:55] I don't believe that it was wise to put $300 million of expenses
[1:18:59] without going to the voters and so it's hard for me to justify a
[1:19:04] tax increase in order to fund something that the voters did not agree to. This I am just asking for us to
[1:19:12] live with the verdict of the voters and therefore to be willing to ask the voters what they would like to let the
[1:19:20] voters decide. This is not a proposal to increase taxes cactus is a proposal to let the voters
[1:19:25] decide so that the children of harris county have the
[1:19:29] opportunity to have child care just as the children of the folks on this dais and people that work for us, behind us have
[1:19:37] the opportunity to put their children in early childhood
[1:19:42] education so that their children can have a strong start in life.
[1:19:47] commissioner ellis, did you have a comment? Commissioner ramsey? >> quickly, judge.
[1:19:54] thank you. The 2023 tax rate we adopted was $0.53 per the 2024 tax rate we adopted was $0.60 per the 2025
[1:20:04] tax rate we adopted was 0.62 $0.04.
[1:20:09] so the last two years have been significant increases in the
[1:20:14] tax rate and if we adopted the var including the hospital district this year, that would be $0.71.
[1:20:23] I'm just saying to put it in the context of where we are on a
[1:20:30] tax rate because in this time of affordability where you can't
[1:20:36] turn on the tv, that's what people want to talk about.
[1:20:40] for us to be considering a significant tax increase this
[1:20:46] year would be not listening to the folks that are out there.
[1:20:51] so just putting a number out there as we look forward to going through our budget discussions.
[1:20:57] these tax rates have not been agreed to at this point in terms of what we're going to do this year.
[1:21:01] we've got to work through our budget which is an appropriate thing to do but these are the numbers, these are the rates
[1:21:09] these are where we are and as a point of context.
[1:21:17] thank you. >> commissioner ellis. Just briefly, I commend your commitment to the notion of
[1:21:25] child care. I think all of us are committed to it. I do think that it would be good
[1:21:33] if other parties, the state in particular took an interest in
[1:21:38] the subject. At some point the federal government may take an interest in it, they have in the past
[1:21:43] where it would be good if other local units of government stepped up. But on the broader issue, I want
[1:21:49] to say how proud we should all be that with the federal money that came to us, we created unprecedented programs to really
[1:21:58] help take people out of poverty. I think that when we had the
[1:22:03] opportunity, we didn't do what many others around the state and the country did. They took the money to fill
[1:22:10] holes. Even when they did it, those were programs that would end. Even if they supplemented the
[1:22:15] budget, once the federal money went away, they had to figure out how to fill it up here so it was a good thing.
[1:22:21] you and all of us, I think ought to be proud peer commissioner ramsey, you as well, and your predecessors, for the things
[1:22:28] that we did when we had that money. And I made the comment when we did that, there were a lot of
[1:22:36] people who felt like we would raise expectations and what would we do when the money went away?
[1:22:43] one that I championed, and you supported, judge, was the
[1:22:48] guaranteed income program. I remember some commentators said what would you say to those people who don't win in the
[1:22:53] lottery? And my response was I never take the position of government I'm not going to help anybody
[1:22:58] because I can't help everybody, we could just turn off the lights and get out of here. When we have the opportunity, we
[1:23:05] put a large amount of money. I think housing, you were helpful, what was the largest category of the administrator,
[1:23:12] the largest category of what we put our federal money, the
[1:23:18] biden-harris money, do we put it in housing or child care? >> housing. >> what was number 2?
[1:23:23] >> child care. >> that's pretty significant because we didn't have to do that here so I hope, judge, you
[1:23:29] feel good. You championed that issue. I think at some point child care was largely we couldn't get the
[1:23:34] money out. It would be slightly larger but they were close to one another. Mr., well we owned this subject
[1:23:41] because I assume -- I. Assume this motion is not going to get a second pair for what it's worth, I made the motion twice
[1:23:46] to go to voters. I know the state was setting us up when we did that we've had unprecedented growth in this
[1:23:52] county, and it's going to keep growing. It's interesting, our colleagues, there's no cap on
[1:23:59] the sales tax at state. They keep slapping that up here but the most painful form of taxation is to ask people for
[1:24:08] money on their property. It's a big challenge. For what it's worth, I want that laid out here but just take us
[1:24:15] back down history lane so we know how we got to where we are here I am defining even if we agree, what we are dealing with
[1:24:21] is a structural deficit when I was a banker, if you had a
[1:24:25] shortfall five years in a row, used to be three years in a row, we say structural. But five years in a row, that is
[1:24:31] a structural deficit. And we are out of smoke and
[1:24:36] mirrors. If all this stuff passes, selling property, fire sale, everything you come up with, if
[1:24:42] all of the smoke and mirrors are gone, when we come back in the next cycle, we are still going to have that shortfall.
[1:24:50] these one time fixes are nice. I was a merchant in debt, I know about that business. Here's my sense of how we got to
[1:24:57] where we are. First, when the revenue cap passed, a couple of our colleagues for whatever reason
[1:25:03] disagreed they didn't come. We found out that language in the statute, four people have to be in a room so we ended up
[1:25:12] losing $100 million. >> that's compounded to $150 annually. >> it will never come back.
[1:25:17] >> correct. >> the second time it happened, we made the money up here. >> I know the one time shortfall
[1:25:25] of 95. >> I'm saying that commissioner ramsey because it wasn't you, it was before.
[1:25:31] so the 150, that continuous hole was still there.
[1:25:36] and then we made up a number of decisions, one being that we
[1:25:40] decided that we would -- once I saw with the votes, even if it
[1:25:47] was late I figured I'm going to take the heat. If you can't ask the voters for more money if it's for
[1:25:53] law enforcement, you think I'm going to get it for housing?
[1:25:57] I am no genius but if you did a little polling, I don't think
[1:26:02] housing or child care or a host of other issues would be nearly
[1:26:10] as universally supported enough to get at least get 50 plus one.
[1:26:15] but you know, we didn't do that so I have done it twice and I
[1:26:19] don't plan to ever do it again. I may change my mind but we've
[1:26:23] got to make tough decisions. I don't think any of us ought to feel bad over what we have done here when we had money coming
[1:26:32] from the federal government we could have done what the state did they just plug holes and then in a few areas where they
[1:26:41] were strong, partizan political support, in my judgment, they did go do new things but we did not do that so despite the fact
[1:26:50] that we can't continue a lot of those things that we started when we had the opportunity to make once in a lifetime
[1:26:59] opportunities to help pull people out of generational poverty in harris county, we did it.
[1:27:05] and for that, I am very proud. >> yes, commissioner garcia?
[1:27:12] >> thank you. And I just want to add my comments as well that I am proud of the work that we have done
[1:27:21] with our one time funding. We always knew and it was not
[1:27:30] the mission statement but it was in a statement that we would not
[1:27:34] be using this money or we would not be asking for money to
[1:27:42] continue these programs right off the bat but we needed to
[1:27:47] have evaluation. All that being said, in
[1:27:51] fairness, I wanted to understand my precinct. I want to understand if what I hear from my constituents is
[1:27:59] accurate and what I hear from my constituents on a daily basis is
[1:28:05] that affordability is still not within their reach they are still struggling. And so in fairness, I pulled my
[1:28:17] community regarding whether they would pay more property taxes for child care. And the answer was a resounding
[1:28:24] no. So my vote here today, not to
[1:28:28] support your motion, is not just because I don't want to do it
[1:28:33] but I have heard from my constituents that this is not
[1:28:38] the time to tax them more so for even a good program.
[1:28:45] so I thank you for the work that you've done but I think that the
[1:28:49] work that commissioner briones and I are doing with stakeholders will get us to a better place because I'm hopeful
[1:28:55] that the governor and the state will see the way we are
[1:29:01] constructing a strategic approach to addressing this important need will gain us the support of our much needed state
[1:29:11] partner to get this done for our local community.
[1:29:15] thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. And I do want to raise the point of affordability.
[1:29:20] the whole idea behind this is to make child care more affordable.
[1:29:24] that is the whole point. You may be able to afford child
[1:29:29] care but tens of thousands of families in harris county
[1:29:35] cannot. 30,000 families are on the wait-list they cannot afford to put their kids in school so that
[1:29:41] they can go to work and make more money. They cannot afford to give their children the start in life that
[1:29:48] you gave your children. And so this is an affordability
[1:29:53] proposal. If we are talking about affordability. And if we are talking about what
[1:29:57] the voters would like, let's go to the voters and ask them what they would like. I also pulled on this last year
[1:30:03] and I shared the poll and it was with an independent pollster that looks at ballot items both republican and democrat.
[1:30:11] we found that three quarters of people said child care was more
[1:30:16] important, and they wanted to vote on this. They wanted to have a say on it. So yes, we've had great programs
[1:30:22] and we can pat ourselves on the back for that I don't know if there's another program that helped 100,000 families.
[1:30:28] I don't know if there's another program evaluated four times but if there is, let's put that before the voters let's put this
[1:30:36] $300 million commitment before the voters.
[1:30:40] and I'd like commissioner ellis's point of the smoke and mirrors because what we will see after this and what we are
[1:30:46] seeing is this attempt to say we are going to try to get money
[1:30:51] from the state. We have been trying to get money from the state and let's see if we can develop a committee.
[1:30:59] we have had a committee for four years we've had the stakeholders, we've had the families, we've had the
[1:31:05] nonprofits, we've had the for profits. So all of that we have done but there is nothing that is being
[1:31:15] proposed that would raise or that would allow the voters to
[1:31:20] decide on whether or not child care should be more affordable,
[1:31:27] $60 million that would be collected for this. I don't see that in any proposal and I certainly do not see that
[1:31:32] coming from the state any time soon.
[1:31:36] we all know that they are not ones to send harris county
[1:31:41] money. So I'm so sorry that this is your position, really. My heart hurts about it.
[1:31:47] I don't have children but I know that people with children want the best start for their children.
[1:31:53] it makes me so sorry that you are willing to give the best start to your children but you're not willing to let the
[1:31:59] voters decide on whether they would like to see child care be
[1:32:03] more affordable I'm so sorry for what we are telling the people of harris county that we do not trust them.
[1:32:10] I am so sorry that the people of harris county will not have the
[1:32:15] opportunity to vote on whether they would like to see more
[1:32:19] affordable early childhood education. So the question before commissioners court is simple,
[1:32:25] do we trust the people of harris county enough to let them decide
[1:32:29] on whether or not they would like to see more affordable child care and we are not willing to let them decide.
[1:32:38] I honestly don't know the reason but I am afraid these are the
[1:32:44] kinds of decisions that turn people off from politics.
[1:32:48] let's move on to executive session. I am really very sorry that these are your choices.
[1:32:56] let's move on to executive session. Do I need to name the items? >> if you don't mind going
[1:33:04] through the list one more time. >> let's see.
[1:33:28] >> I was just looking at this other note.
[1:33:34] since we came into office, we reduced the tax rate under my
[1:33:38] predecessor was 0.62998. For us, it has been the same
[1:33:43] then 0.61 more than 0.599 then 0.581, .530, .530, .60.620.
[1:33:51] it's always been a lower tax rate than under my predecessor. But again, it's two different
[1:33:57] things. If we want to go to the voters to fix the budget, let's go to the voters on $300 million worth
[1:34:03] of raises. I'd like to see that. This is to let the voters decide.
[1:34:09] anyways, these are the executive session items item 220300 --
[1:34:17] 200, 302, 323, 324, 351, 354, 355, did I miss anything?
[1:34:26] >> that is all I have, judge. >> it is 10:40 a.m., we are
[1:34:33] going into executive session. I am very sorry that we are not letting the voters decide on whet
[1:34:42] >> alright.  So it's 1:19 and we're back from executive
[1:34:47] session so there is two topics we had quite a bit of discussion
[1:34:51] on so we'll discuss those after we return for lunch. Thosely tell two on the consultation policy and items 7,
[1:35:00] 300 and 355 on compensation for appointed official, so we'll get
[1:35:05] to those later. As far as other executive session items, item 254 is no action, item 302, no action.
[1:35:17] and 303, I don't know if you got the motion from director but
[1:35:25] that's okay if not. I can come back to 303.
[1:35:31] 323, no action. 324, as presented.
[1:35:44] 354, no action. And 355 is one of the ones that we'll discuss later. >> judge I have the motions for
[1:35:51] 303. >> what are they? >> on item 303 a motion to direct services to move forward
[1:35:58] with a threat analysis of the u.s. Manage network. That's a motion one on that? >> second.
[1:36:06] >> alright. Motion by commissioner briones.
[1:36:12] motion carries unanimously. >> then there was a second motion on it just a motion to direct universal services to
[1:36:19] provide an update of any findings and action plan if any is required >> moved.
[1:36:25] >> second. >> motion by commissioner ellis and second by commissioner briones all in favor?
[1:36:31] any opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Okay so you got those? >> yes but I believe there is a
[1:36:38] motion that needs to be made for 324. As present but can we take a vote on it?
[1:36:44] >> so motion by commissioner ellis on 324s. There a second? That's a d church and
[1:36:51] associations. >> second by commissioner briones. All in favor? Any opposed. Motion carries.
[1:36:58] unanimously. When we come back we can determine whether to discuss these the executive session ones
[1:37:04] we didn't finish or the order that we had earlier but for now
[1:37:09] it's 122 and we'll break for lunch. >> when we come back we'll take the d.a.'s item.
[1:37:17] >> the d.a., yeah, he'll send as number two so I told him after
[1:37:22] 2:30 so we'll >> alright.
[1:37:30] it's 2:36 and we're back. Continuing.
[1:37:36] I know we had executive session items we wanted to discuss but I
[1:37:41] think that I bloelieve he's sti here so I suggest we turn to
[1:37:47] that item first and I'll allow commissioner ellis to present it. >> thank you judge.
[1:37:52] and colleagues. Judge, in addition to, if I can
[1:37:57] read the motion and make a few comments I'd like to hear from
[1:38:02] her son who's here as well if he'd like to speak.
[1:38:06] if not, it's okay and we'll hear from da then.
[1:38:10] so the fatal shooting of ms. Salgado really captured the
[1:38:16] attention of most people in houston, harris county and around the nation and the world. The district attorney made the
[1:38:24] decision he wanted to do his own independent investigation.
[1:38:29] I called him to congratulate him and made the comment to him that I would do anything that I could to make sure he had the
[1:38:36] resources that he needed to conduct it, and then it was my
[1:38:43] suggestion press conference to make that comment. Obviously I couldn't talk to but one of you also I didn't call
[1:38:49] any. Sometimes I tell you I forget.
[1:38:53] sometimes I forget who I spoke. To rarely will I call on you on
[1:38:59] something because I forget from time-to-time but that was something about that case. I think in part a reaction of
[1:39:08] his two son who is had been quite visible throughout this
[1:39:13] tragedy that really touched me. We couldn't come up with funding
[1:39:19] every time there was an incident but some cases I think rise to
[1:39:25] that level of significance where they really touch one soul and certain ly did that with me. I think this is good public
[1:39:34] safety measure because law enforcement people, like you
[1:39:41] commissioner garcia, I've heard you say many times that to do your job you had to have confidence of the people that
[1:39:49] were protecting because when an act of violence or some crime
[1:39:55] ha happens you have to rely on the public to have confidence in what you do because we couldn't
[1:40:01] afford to put a police officer on every corner and when people
[1:40:05] lose that confidence, I think it costs us a lot more money in the
[1:40:10] public sector in the long run to deal with law enforcement issues. I personally think what's going
[1:40:16] on with ice around this country is a tragedy.
[1:40:21] having been african-american for 72 years even in a neighborhood
[1:40:26] that I live in always have felt the need to tell my son in
[1:40:30] particular, when he goes out, if something happens, how to react
[1:40:35] and I'd like so say in this country in 2026 that still
[1:40:43] shouldn't have to happen. What has happened ice now I even
[1:40:48] worry sometimes when my wife goes out.
[1:40:53] I don't mind revealing it but she carries her passport because
[1:40:58] sometimes people don't know what her ethnicity is and she's very
[1:41:02] proud of her ethnicity and really sort of go off the deep
[1:41:09] end if somebody does not know she's of african ancestry but it
[1:41:14] shouldn't be like that in this country in particular. This is a community of immigrants.
[1:41:20] sometimes I jokingly point out that everybody here is an
[1:41:26] immigrant other than the ancestors of those an african
[1:41:30] who is were forced into this country but I'm a pretty good student of history and I know who occupied this land before
[1:41:38] the alan brothers showed up, before the employ a soar owes
[1:41:45] showed up. But it is a simple motion. Motion to allocate $2.5 million over three years the district
[1:41:53] attorney's office for labor, overtime, outside counsel and
[1:41:57] software in coordination with the county attorney's office for
[1:42:02] - >> thank you. The purposes of investigating a shooting and killing by an
[1:42:08] immigration and customs enforcement ice officer.
[1:42:14] ms. Salgado was 52 years old when he was kill in the historic
[1:42:19] east end on july 7th, 2026. After being pursued by federal
[1:42:25] agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to
[1:42:31] their latest job site. He'd been there for over three
[1:42:37] decades and raised a family. Built homes and he helped build
[1:42:42] this great texas economy and as someone who is a descendant of
[1:42:49] african slaves who were the original developers of western
[1:42:56] civilization not just here but in europe, as well, knowing that
[1:43:00] we would be nowhere without our immigrant workers in texas.
[1:43:08] we are fortunate to have a nation to the south of us that
[1:43:13] has a much younger population that places around the world who
[1:43:19] wish that's a they have an asian population they have neighbor
[1:43:23] was younger population who would play a in the economy so it's an
[1:43:29] important motion and thank you commissioner garcia for seconding it and with that I'll turn it to the da if that's
[1:43:37] appropriate. >> garcia and ramsey would like to speak. Would you like to speak after the da speak? >> I'm happy to go after him and
[1:43:46] he put his hand up first so I'll go after both of them. >> alright. >> yeah.
[1:43:53] we'll wait for the d.a.. His time is precious. >> go ahead. >> thank you also much for
[1:44:00] having me. Commissioner ellis thank you for voicing your support the day of this tragedy and continuing by
[1:44:10] this motion. I've heard from most of the
[1:44:15] people on the court and the support is truly felt.
[1:44:21] this is a critical motion. This money is important for this
[1:44:29] investigation. We're full. We're fully staffed because of this court in the day in and day
[1:44:36] out business of ministering justice in what is soon the
[1:44:41] second largest county in the united states. This isn't unique case. This is one that if we believe
[1:44:50] charges are appropriate and file charges, we fully anticipate
[1:44:55] having to fight against the federal government.
[1:44:59] this is not something that as you said commissioner we would do in every case but this is a case of significance.
[1:45:09] the way we have set out this money is over three years and it
[1:45:13] does not go into the d.a.'s office general fund. Every time that I have come before this body and asked for
[1:45:20] money, it is with a direct reason for it. I'm not in the business nor will I ever be to come in front of
[1:45:27] this office or this body and ask just for money to grow.
[1:45:33] this will be specifically laid out in the ways that it is laid
[1:45:37] out for us to come back and keep this body informed as we utilize
[1:45:43] the money. If at the end of our investigation we deem that there are no criminal charges that are
[1:45:49] appropriate to be filed then we won't use the vast majority of
[1:45:53] this. If, however, it is a case where
[1:45:57] we file it and need to go forward, having the fore site to
[1:46:01] already be ready to go forward with that funding is the only
[1:46:06] way that we're going to be successful in an investigation
[1:46:11] and prosecution so with that I'm going to stop talking and answer any questions you all have but again thank you also much.
[1:46:17] >> thank you. Commissioner fernandez y garcia and then commissioner briones and then ramsey and ellis.
[1:46:24] >> thank you. Commissioner ellis thank you for the item and district attorney thank you for your work.
[1:46:32] I want to say to the family, I apologize I can't be there in
[1:46:38] person but I just wanted to say to you that we shouldn't be
[1:46:43] doing the federal government's job. We shouldn't be the ones waiting to determine weather or not
[1:46:58] we're getting accurate or factual information. This is a change of events. When I was sheriff and we had
[1:47:07] incidents that would take place involving our federal partners they were always very quick to call and brief and share and
[1:47:18] communicate. Unfortunately that is not the case and that's why if we can't depend on them to provide us
[1:47:29] facts and provide us an insight to any challenges, concerns,
[1:47:37] real investigations that they may be coming across, then we have to depend on our ability to do whatever we can locally, and
[1:47:48] while your office is willing to stand up and help us come to or
[1:47:58] be able to work to find some degree of insight and truth,
[1:48:05] then I applaud you for your willingness to do that. I know it's uncomfortable for you, but I applaud your
[1:48:11] willingness to do it. It's the right thing to do.
[1:48:16] district attorney, I applaud you for doing that.
[1:48:20] and we're going to do what we need to do that while we have a
[1:48:26] local ability to find truth and evidence then that's what we
[1:48:32] have to do when we cannot depend on our federal partners to do
[1:48:39] that. And so, district attorney, I just want to thank you. I saw your staff out there
[1:48:46] talking to people, communicating folks, you know, writing
[1:48:51] information down, canvassing the community, so I really really do
[1:48:55] applaud the work that I saw your team doing in real time to help
[1:49:02] collect any valuable evidence that we can come across. So I'm looking forward to some conclusion whether definite or
[1:49:11] not. I'm looking to some conclusion that your agencies may help us with, and especially help the
[1:49:17] family with. They are the ones that deserve clarity. They are the ones that deserve
[1:49:24] facts. They are the ones that deserve the truth and so thank you for your willingness to do this and
[1:49:30] I'm happy to second the motion. >> thank you.
[1:49:35] commissioner, and just briefly before we move on I want to recognize sal ga da who is here. So his son and so we are behind
[1:49:48] you. We respect your father and we are behind you and each of us represents so many more people
[1:49:55] so I just want to pass on some additional courage and love from those of us here. Alright.
[1:50:05] commissioner briones? >> yes. Likewise,, thank you commissioner ellis and team for bringing forth this item.
[1:50:11] I will proudly support it and thank you for stepping up and
[1:50:16] leading this independent investigation, and commissioner
[1:50:22] I echo everything you said. The federal government should be the one leading and owning up to the entire set of evidence but
[1:50:31] tomorrow will be a month, and we still don't have answers and
[1:50:40] senior lawrence was and the community and the country
[1:50:45] deserves answers and accountability and thank you for leading this charge and I'll support it and to echo the
[1:50:52] comments made, we honor you and your family and we are
[1:50:58] incredibly sorry for the pain and the loss and the suffering that you and your family are having to endure.
[1:51:06] I have been so moved every time I hear you speak and I think about your dad and I wish I had, had the opportunity to know him.
[1:51:15] to me your dad represents generations of my family that
[1:51:22] came to this country and generation of so many not just
[1:51:26] here in harris county but across this country. He came here to pursue the "american dream" for you and
[1:51:32] your brothers and raised you here and give you the education. You're an educator pouring into youth and literally he was
[1:51:42] building the "american dream" for other families through this work as a construction worker, and I think of that sacrifice
[1:51:50] and service that he made for your family and for our
[1:51:55] community. And now to have our federal government not want to own it's work.
[1:52:06] so I'm so proud to live in houston, harris county and I'm
[1:52:10] so grateful that the people have given us the opportunity to serve where we can take action and invest the funds to have an
[1:52:18] independent investigation because this is about justice. This is about truth and transparency and to what the
[1:52:24] d.a. Said, once the evidence is assessed there is nothing but
[1:52:30] without assessing the evidence and without that accountability and as a lawyer and former judge, I mean to me the rule of
[1:52:37] law is non-negotiable for everybody and governments should
[1:52:41] be leading by the power of it's example. All levels of government, so I'm very proud to live in harris
[1:52:49] county and to be able to take this vote today because to me what happened and tomorrow will be a month, I just think of the
[1:52:58] horror you've had to live this month and I'm so sorry my heartbreaks for you. A month later here in local
[1:53:05] government because we need to address what I believe is
[1:53:10] un-american. And unconstitutional and only the evidence will tell and that is what we're doing in this
[1:53:16] credible rigorous, independent investigation and I proudly support it and I thank you for stepping up.
[1:53:25] >> commissioner ramsey and then commissioner ellis. >> commissioner ellis thank you for bringing this to the court.
[1:53:34] thank you for quickly not hesitating but jumping into the
[1:53:42] fray. Many things were not comfortable and to lorenzo's family, you need answers.
[1:53:49] that is the least we owe you. We owe you much more than that
[1:53:54] but we owe you answers and in the spirit of governor abbott
[1:53:59] bringing in the texas rangers and I know you'll be working with them, as well, to find answers to what is clearly a
[1:54:12] tragedy. It's one that I think has given all of us pause in terms of what we're doing, but more
[1:54:20] importantly, how we're doing it. So, we grieve with your family.
[1:54:25] this 2.5 million is a small token of what we need to do to
[1:54:30] try to provide the answers. Provide the support for the
[1:54:35] family in the coming weeks and da, thank you for your very
[1:54:41] specific plan, not your generic plan or your political plan, but
[1:54:46] your very specific 2-3 year plan, your budget. You are going to review that and so I celebrate that part of it
[1:54:55] and again, this is a first step of many that I think we in
[1:55:05] government in harris county will take to try to get the family
[1:55:09] some answers. Thank you. >> commissioner ellis? >> just quickly, to commissioner
[1:55:14] garcia I want to commend you. I just remember I did call, I
[1:55:19] called you doing the window we had along commission meeting and you were headed out of town and we didn't catch one another but
[1:55:26] I know it was in your precinct. County attorney thank you. I did
[1:55:30] call you as we were working through this but thank you for your help and to renaldo, you know you and your brother that I
[1:55:40] heard speak publicly, I haven't heard the third one, but I
[1:55:45] really do believe for those of us and I know you are a people of faith and we see our ancestors again and your dad
[1:55:53] would be just so proud of you three young men so thank you for
[1:55:57] the way you have conducted yourself and we feel your pain.
[1:56:02] okay. I'll make the motion. Thank you. >> alright.  So we have a motion by commissioner ellis and seconded by commissioner garcia.
[1:56:08] all in favor? Any opposed? Alright. Thank you so much colleagues.
[1:56:15] harris county commissioner court passes this motion unanimously. Thank you. >> thank you.
[1:56:26] >> I'll say one last thing I know da earlier you were talking about how helpful the reports from community have been, so I
[1:56:33] just want to, you know, first thank so many members of the
[1:56:38] public that have reached out to the district attorney's office to share what evidence they have and I want to also request that
[1:56:46] the community continue helping our da and his investigators so
[1:56:50] I looked at the form myself. You don't have to put your name.
[1:56:54] you don't have to put your phone number. Just your e-mail and I understand some people may be
[1:57:00] reticent but the district attorney's office is not the federal government. They are not, they are going to
[1:57:07] be very careful with the information but I just want
[1:57:12] folks to know that we need to continue receiving those report, so we'll have that. I know it's on the da's website
[1:57:19] and that will be on mine and try to put it on the home page of the county. Did you want to add anything?
[1:57:25] >> thank you. You should probably butt put the minute clock on me and buzz me. That is such an important caveat
[1:57:34] to this, that portal is completely secure. We are not sharing information about anyone that is giving us
[1:57:43] information with any other partners. The information that is gleaned from it, absolutely we're
[1:57:48] working as collaboratively as we can but your identity at the
[1:57:53] outset will be protected from anyone else regardless and I
[1:57:58] said it earlier but the outpouring and the rallying of
[1:58:05] houston for the salgado family here is just continues to
[1:58:10] reenforce why I love my hometown and seeing what we've done in this investigation has gone much quicker because of the
[1:58:19] community, so thank you also much for this vote and the faith
[1:58:24] and trust that you have in this investigation and we will make you proud. >> thank you.
[1:58:30] we'll keep going and we'll find answers. Thank you so much. Alright.  So let's go back to
[1:58:36] the items that we had pending from executive session. So why don't we go to the various compensation items.
[1:58:45] commissioner briones I know you would like to make several motions on there. >> yes to I'm going to make them
[1:58:51] related to item 7, 300 and 355. These pertain to our constables
[1:59:01] and fire marshal. So county attorney's office I'll
[1:59:05] read seven and then stop for a voten those. Would you like me to read them in totality?
[1:59:10] >> no. Commissioner if you can do them individually so the clerk can keep track of them.
[1:59:15] >> okay. >> thank you. Item seven, this is a three part motion.
[1:59:23] move to direct omb to include in the draft fiscal year 2027
[1:59:29] budget a proposed salary for each elected constable of
[1:59:38] $305,000. Second part, move to direct hrt
[1:59:42] to circulate notice of the proposed elected official
[1:59:46] salaries for fiscal year 2027 in accordance with local government
[1:59:51] code chapter 152 subchapter-b. And the third motion within
[1:59:56] number seven, move to direct the county clerk in conjunction with
[2:00:00] the district clerk to prepare randomized lists of individuals
[2:00:04] eligible to serve as public members of the salary grievance
[2:00:10] committee. Those are the three from seven.
[2:00:17] >> second >> yes, commissioner ellis?
[2:00:22] >> so I have a motion, as well. That I want to add to it. Maybe it should be a friendly amendment and we'll probably
[2:00:29] vote on it first instead of separately and I move to direct
[2:00:33] omb to do in the budget a proposed salary of $205,000 for
[2:00:40] the county attorney, district attorney, district clerk, county
[2:00:44] clerk and the tax assessor. I think it's only fair if we
[2:00:49] were to make a decision to raise the salaries for the constables
[2:00:53] that we also do it for the other county-wide elected officials.
[2:00:57] leave us out and we've had issues with one other office.
[2:01:02] sign off on it's a friendly, I offer that's a motion
[2:01:08] >> so is it okay if we vote separately. I'd like to vote on the part about the additional raises for
[2:01:14] the constable, so if we could vote on that first part. Do we need to repeat the motion? >> you don't need to repeat them
[2:01:25] but you can take them one at a time. There's four separate motions, one is a constable motion.
[2:01:31] >> commissioner brandon's, read the motion. Was there a second? >> there was a second by
[2:01:36] commissioner ramsey. So on that one, the constable's
[2:01:41] in 2024, their salary was $133,000, these are eight
[2:01:48] elected constables and then there was a 9.2% increase up to
[2:01:53] 144,000 and later in 2024. And that was a 17.8% increase.
[2:02:01] and then we go into 2025, we have a 46.1% increase and now
[2:02:07] that is a 17.3% increase. So the constables were making
[2:02:13] $133,000. And the proposal on the table is for them to each be making $305,000.
[2:02:19] we have talked about this before, it is more than the vice president of the united states makes, it is more
[2:02:28] than a lot of big positions with much larger -- more than
[2:02:36] astronauts make. And so I am against that,
[2:02:41] especially given the county budget situation.
[2:02:45] I recognize that this needs to match the increases that we are giving to other politically influential elected officials.
[2:02:53] but when we did that we knew that we didn't have funds for these enormous raises. So I know that the community was
[2:02:59] just up in arms when we gave -- I. Think it was a 60% pay
[2:03:04] raise to the toll road director. I still don't understand where that came from or how it's justified.
[2:03:09] and I think the community ought to know that -- how much total is the percentage from the first -- from 2024 to today?
[2:03:17] anyways, it is an unbelievable number. Percentage wise, that we are giving to these politically
[2:03:25] influential elected officials. So on that 1i wanted to make that comment and I wanted to register my no vote.
[2:03:32] is there anyone in favor of that?
[2:03:36] >> so I want to pass on this, which is why I want to vote. I will be against it, unless we do it for the district attorney,
[2:03:43] district clerk. Which is why I prefer to vote on the amendment first and then I can make a decision.
[2:03:49] >> I hear you. And on that point, if we look at
[2:03:56] the folks -- so it is a 129.3% increase in the salary of the
[2:04:03] constable's. So that is when the community looks at our work and I think it's disillusioned by politics.
[2:04:11] so commissioner ellis, I hear you and maybe you can help us untangle this, because on your proposal, which I appreciate,
[2:04:18] commissioner ellis, I go back to who are the lowest paid.
[2:04:23] I think that is a great idea at the same time.
[2:04:28] if you look at the head of the children's assessment center,
[2:04:33] which deals with children that have been sexually abused. The head of the juvenile probation department which deals
[2:04:38] with children that are in the justice system and need to be
[2:04:45] rehabilitated. And the veterans department, the
[2:04:49] research for children and adults, working with seniors, working with foster kids. Those are the department heads
[2:04:56] that are making orders of magnitude less than the department heads we have increased funding for.
[2:05:03] so I would like to make a substitute motion to that one,
[2:05:09] that says to direct hr to review all appointed department head
[2:05:13] salaries to be in alignment with the 2024 department head salary
[2:05:18] study, 50th percentile recommendation and for omb to include these salaries in the draft fiscal year 2027 budget.
[2:05:25] a lot of the salaries the court has voted for I believe are opposed -- are beyond the percentile of.
[2:05:31] I know none of us likes this 2022 salary -- 2024 salary
[2:05:36] study, but that is how these other massive salaries were selected. So I think it is only fair for
[2:05:41] folks who take care of children and veterans and the elderly and
[2:05:47] have departments bigger than a lot of these folks to be able to
[2:05:53] make -- to see a salary increase. >> so on that item, that pertains to the appointed
[2:06:02] officials item. So right now we are on the item related to number 7, which is elected -- we can vote on, we
[2:06:12] just have to wait until we get to that item. So what is on the floor right now is a four part -- four
[2:06:21] separate motions related to -- >> well now it is commissioner ellis item. But to me it is all tied.
[2:06:27] I think it is weird to give an elected official 129% increase.
[2:06:32] >> all I'm saying is that right now there is a separate item for elected officials -- >> let's vote on that one then
[2:06:37] let's vote on yours. Did you catch that motion,
[2:06:42] james? >> we voted on three -- >> we have not voted on the other three.
[2:06:46] >> here's what I will do, I will withdraw my motion to get out of here and just pass on it I will see what happens and I can go
[2:06:52] back and change it. >> right now the motion on the floor is the first motion which is to raise the constable salary
[2:07:00] to 305,000. >> all in favor? >> I will pass. >> any opposed?
[2:07:06] I am against 129.3% salary increase for politically
[2:07:13] influential elected officials between 2024 and 2026. What is the next motion? >> this one you announced a vote
[2:07:20] on it. >> that is 41. 3-1, one abstention, thank you. >> and that vote carried for the
[2:07:29] three different sub motions under item seven, correct?
[2:07:33] >> no that one was just the first motion. The second one are the two administrative motions.
[2:07:38] >> let me read the two corresponding administrative ones. Move to direct hr to circulate
[2:07:44] notice of the proposed elected official salaries for
[2:07:49] fiscal year 2027 in accordance with local government code chapter 152 subchapter b. >> second.
[2:07:56] >> we have a motion by the commissioner and seconded, any
[2:08:02] comments? Okay.
[2:08:07] so commissioner, I'm so sorry but I had to stop for a quick question. Which one is this one?
[2:08:12] >> the second part of item seven, moved to a direct hr to
[2:08:16] circulate notice of the proposed elected official salaries for fiscal year 2027 in accordance with local government code
[2:08:24] chapter 152 subchapter b. >> this is an administrative requirement in order to make any changes to elected official
[2:08:32] salaries. >> I disagree with 129.3% salary increase in two years so I think I will just abstain on that one.
[2:08:39] did we already mention the motion and second? All in favor? Garcia is for it.
[2:08:47] I will abstain. And then commissioner ellis, did you catch the motion? We have two abstentions and
[2:08:54] three are for it. What is the next motion?
[2:08:59] >> this is the third part of item seven. Move to direct the county clerk, in conjunction with the district
[2:09:05] clerk, to prepare a randomized list of individuals eligible to serve as public members of the salary grievance committee.
[2:09:12] again, another procedural requirement. >> second. >> motion by commissioner?
[2:09:19] seconded by commissioner ramsey. And then perhaps just for the
[2:09:24] public, the grievance committee, if you could just go over it
[2:09:30] briefly. >> go ahead. >> you want me to walk through the whole process?
[2:09:38] this is procedural, we have the grievance committee regardless of what their salaries are changed or not.
[2:09:45] >> the grievance committee. That is just going to happen. Okay. Is that for everybody or just
[2:09:50] the elected officials? >> any elected official can have a grievance, regardless -- >> that's what the district
[2:09:57] clerk did and the board determines whether or not they're going to get an increase. And of course commissioners court has also decided to do
[2:10:04] that. So there's a motion and a second, all in favor any opposed?
[2:10:11] I also will. So this is 3-0.
[2:10:15] the motion passes. So I know you like reading the motions, commissioner briones, what is the next one?
[2:10:22] >> the next is mine. >> commissioner ellis is next.
[2:10:27] I will direct them to include in the draft fiscal year 2027 budget a proposed salary of $305,000 for each of these
[2:10:37] offices, the county attorney, district attorney, district
[2:10:41] clerk, county clerk and tax collector, the cost will be
[2:10:47] $681,000 a year. And I make that motion. >> I will second that. >> I would like to do a friendly
[2:10:53] amendment to that one. To ensure that all appointed
[2:10:58] department head salaries are at least at the 2024 department
[2:11:04] head salary studies 50th percentile recommendation. So I think yours might be -- is certainly not below that,
[2:11:10] commissioner ellis and I'm okay to vote for that. But I want to make sure that these departments have been left
[2:11:16] behind that deal with the most vulnerable, are at least in the
[2:11:22] 50th percentile of recommendation. Can I make that? >> I think the company that we
[2:11:28] get to those offices appointed, the department heads, this is just for elected officials. >> that's right.
[2:11:34] >> I get it. I just think that discrepancy is
[2:11:40] unfair. So just for that reason, commissioner, and I echo -- I. Think you mentioned this
[2:11:46] earlier many times, because these studies have been so
[2:11:51] delayed and you have been really pushing for everything to be
[2:11:57] fair and for the entire bureaucracy, I think I will sort of use one of your phrases, which is that we have done -- it
[2:12:05] has come back, we have talked about it, these guys have always been left behind. >> judge, if I can recommend
[2:12:12] something. It might make more sense to just vote on this as a separate one and then if you want to tie the
[2:12:17] appointed and elected together, that would be an additional
[2:12:21] motion. I think we just make this process cleaner and easier to understand if that's okay.
[2:12:27] >> sure. Commissioner ellis made the motion, who had the second? >> briones.
[2:12:34] and I want to stress that these elected offices ought to take this money out of their existing budgets.
[2:12:42] this is not additional money. So let them do it out of their existing budgets and if they don't want to take it, don't
[2:12:48] take it. They can let their successor take it if they choose to do so. >> all right.
[2:12:54] motion and second all in favor? Any opposed?
[2:13:00] I think I will abstain on that one.
[2:13:06] and I know -- I. Agree commissioner ellis, we don't have the funds. But we can give $300 million to
[2:13:14] some and then others who are asking for the budget, these smaller -- not smaller but less properly funded departments that
[2:13:22] deal with the veterans and the elderly and the children, they
[2:13:26] certainly -- I. Don't see how they could take from their salary. I work with them from their
[2:13:32] budget to pay for the salaries. I'm not sure that I agree with
[2:13:37] that part. I know the votes don't make a difference so I'm also making a comment for that reason.
[2:13:41] this will pass 4-0 and I will abstain. >> thank you, judge. Before we move on, commissioner
[2:13:47] ellis when you say you pass, do you mean you abstain? >> I pass on this one. >> earlier you abstained.
[2:13:56] going back to the constable's -- >> if this passes, I make a
[2:14:00] motion to change my vote. Has this passed for the district
[2:14:04] clerk, county clerk? For and one abstention? Okay, then I will go back and ask for unanimous consent.
[2:14:13] I'm just being consistent. >> yes, and all previous three
[2:14:21] motions. >> can I get a raise? Just joking! [laughs] >> judge on the first one, you voted no.
[2:14:29] >> yes, no. No 129% raise.
[2:14:33] so what is next -- >> 300.
[2:14:37] that motion is just one, move to direct omb to include in the
[2:14:41] draft fiscal year, 2027 budget, a proposed salary for the fire
[2:14:46] marshal of $305,000. >> second. >> which one is that again? >> item 300.
[2:14:52] and then it will relate to item 355, which I will move to in a
[2:14:58] second. >> so the motion by commissioner briones, second by ramsey. Any discussion?
[2:15:09] so can I discuss the earlier item here? >> this is a discussion around it, judge.
[2:15:17] >> why is it that the children's assessment center, the resources
[2:15:24] for children and adults, juvenile probation and the
[2:15:28] veterans department, why do they make so much less money than
[2:15:33] other folks? At what point did we increase everyone else's and not theirs? Because they were not increased
[2:15:37] by the same order of magnitude. >> I believe there is a
[2:15:43] different county administrator and I wasn't overseeing that process, but my understanding is that because those folks report
[2:15:48] to boards, they were left off of the original study and then added later. >> I mean, I think if we --
[2:15:57] would you say that was sort of an oversight? >> I don't think it is my place to -- I. Think the original
[2:16:05] motion was for the departments of reported directly to the county administrator, I don't think it is my place to
[2:16:11] question. >> I will say -- yeah, I mean I
[2:16:17] think we can look at the size of the workforce.
[2:16:23] let's take juvenile probation. We have given such pay increases to the detention officers in the jail.
[2:16:29] what about making sure that the folks that take care of the children in the children's facilities are properly
[2:16:35] compensated so that they can do a good job?
[2:16:39] we just forget these -- I. Think the fact that they report to a board doesn't mean that they shouldn't get a salary increase.
[2:16:46] of course the board -- and I serve on one of them -- we have a limited budget that commissioners court assigns.
[2:16:53] so we are already dealing with the officers that aren't even
[2:17:01] paid properly. So I would just go back to my -- I. Would just go back to the suggestion I have here in the
[2:17:11] note that if the korn ferry recommendation was implemented
[2:17:17] for juvenile probation director we're making $353,000 if you
[2:17:23] follow the same calculations that they followed. So I would request that we please ask hr to review all
[2:17:33] appointed department head salaries to be in alignment or you could even say the board appointed department heads -- an
[2:17:43] appointed oversight salaries to be in alignment with 2024 salary
[2:17:49] study to take on and for omb to include these proposed salaries in the draft fiscal year 2027 budget.
[2:17:56] if we are going to bring increases for these other electeds. >> I think the commissioner has
[2:18:01] his hand up. >> yes? >> do you finally got there. My motion was going to be let's
[2:18:09] just include the board appointed directors to have their salaries
[2:18:17] reviewed and corrected. When I served on the same board
[2:18:24] for probation, it was a matter of advocacy. Someone should have spoken up at the right time.
[2:18:30] but I think we finally got there with your request.
[2:18:35] >> all right, thank you commissioner garcia. Is there a second for my motion? I think commissioner garcia's
[2:18:43] motion was cleaner than mine, frankly. Which one makes the most sense? >> I am highly supportive of
[2:18:49] making sure that we are being fair and equitable to all departments, whether elected, appointment, board, no board.
[2:18:56] and given that we had the korn ferry study and we had the gallagher pay equity study, now we have different studies.
[2:19:02] and so if we can generalize the language so that hr are looking
[2:19:07] at the various studies, compensation data and making
[2:19:11] recommendations given that we have more data than the initial
[2:19:16] study. >> I will take it as a friendly amendment. >> yes commissioner ellis?
[2:19:26] >> for those of you all by commissioner garcia is so much younger than me, you probably have heard this saying, but when
[2:19:31] I was a kid and we'd eat a nice dinner on juneteenth that said
[2:19:36] your eyes are bigger than your stomach. So I would suggest we are not accused of having eyes bigger
[2:19:43] than our stomachs. We get some sense of the dollar amount we are talking about. The pay raise for constable's
[2:19:51] cannot be forced to come out of their current budgets. You can't do that under state law.
[2:19:57] you can encourage them to take it out, but you can't do that.
[2:20:02] I've mentioned $681,000 that we spend for the one, two, three,
[2:20:07] four, five elected officials that I was talking about. So I am fine with the motion, but I think what we did use
[2:20:15] those other things from my past, sometimes they say you go hog
[2:20:19] wild. I think when we were given these department heads pay raises, we kind of went a little hog wild.
[2:20:26] and it needs to be reined in a little bit. And I'm very -- cognizant of the fact that people have a
[2:20:33] structural deficit. And you don't want to say it, but I'll say it. In the smoke and mirrors are
[2:20:39] over with. Mr. Ramos, any smoke and mirrors after this next cycle? >> I am currently out.
[2:20:48] >> I would just say we ought to be cognizant of what we are spending before we spend it. That appears not to be the
[2:20:56] appetite. So going to the voters and I can
[2:21:00] understand that. Most folks I talk to, everyone will tell me what they want and they'll say we'll raise your
[2:21:05] taxes to pay for it, no. Take it from somewhere else.
[2:21:10] so I just say be cautious, that is not a good thing to have a
[2:21:15] structural deficit. At some point that impacts the quality of our bonds and a host of other issues if it is an
[2:21:22] instance where it is a lot easier to spend money than it is to figure out where it is coming from.
[2:21:28] >> I think the motion, if I understand it, is the county
[2:21:33] administrator will evaluate these in light of our current --
[2:21:38] >> that's correct. >> so we will evaluate it.
[2:21:43] your eyes are bigger than our stomach comment, will hold true. I know the county administrator --
[2:21:50] >> you'll remember that? >> just to be clear on that one,
[2:21:54] are we evaluating all of them in relation to the budget?
[2:21:59] or just the -- >> all of them. >> or just the board ones? >> I want to make sure the board
[2:22:05] ones are included. Because the others have already
[2:22:10] been included and evaluated. This is a very separate item.
[2:22:18] >> sorry judge, can commissioner garcia or you reread the motion? I don't think it was sent around.
[2:22:25] can you reread that motion so it is being substituted right now and we will go back to the motion -- the motion that I
[2:22:31] already read? >> that commissioner briones did already. Go ahead commissioner, sorry.
[2:22:37] >> the motion is to evaluate the salaries of all board appointed
[2:22:45] and overseen directors and to bring the recommendations back
[2:22:49] to commissioners court. I think that is the motion.
[2:22:57] >> all right. So this -- go ahead commissioner. >> and with the amendment that
[2:23:04] commissioner briones wanted to add. >> second. >> I'm sorry, is there a date
[2:23:09] associated with that? >> september eighth is fine.
[2:23:15] >> second. >> motion and a second, all in favor? Any opposed?
[2:23:20] motion carries unanimously. >> I will just make a request, I
[2:23:25] will force it to vote so we can get out of here. When you put that item on the agenda, my request comes back
[2:23:31] with recommendations on department heads as well. And if you can't do it, I would just add an item to the agenda
[2:23:37] just to make sure our eyes are not bigger than our stomachs and we don't go hog wild again. >> and hog wild, commissioner
[2:23:47] ellis, I think it was your motion that pushed for the
[2:23:57] director of equity. And we are working with it. >> oh that motion was done years ago.
[2:24:03] and all of these department heads preempted all of that. But that had been around for years.
[2:24:09] it was around a long time. I'm proud to have made that one.
[2:24:15] >> to go back to the first motion under 300, moved to
[2:24:20] direct them to include in the draft fiscal year 2027 budget, a
[2:24:24] proposed salary for the fire marshal of $305,000.
[2:24:29] >> second. >> motion by commissioner briones, second by commissioner ramsey.
[2:24:33] any other discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? I will abstain just out of
[2:24:41] consistency. Motion carries 4-0. So the next is 355, which is related to what we have been
[2:24:49] discussing. Moved to approve the agreements, releasing claims with the eight elected constables and the fire
[2:24:54] marshal. >> second. >> so that is a motion and a second.
[2:25:01] and just so that folks are clear, this is because there was
[2:25:06] a big res, $300 million worth of raises or some big percentage
[2:25:13] raises to the sheriff. So then we need to give the same level to the other law enforcement, is that right?
[2:25:25] I don't know if that is a county attorney question or
[2:25:29] administrator question. >> judge, I'm sorry. Can you reread it? >> there is this motion that
[2:25:36] says something about the constables and the fire marshal and I am just confirming that the reason we are giving these
[2:25:44] raises right now, the 129% raise to the constables in two years
[2:25:50] is because there were these big raises earlier and we knew that
[2:25:54] the statute meant that we had to up everything by the same. But maybe I am misremembering. >> part of it is because of the
[2:26:05] pay equity parity bill that was passed.
[2:26:09] >> so that is the bill we knew about. If we will raise for one law enforcement agency, we will
[2:26:14] raise for all of them. >> that is correct, judge. >> just to make clear that connection, right?
[2:26:21] because the $300 million -- the cost of the downtown building,
[2:26:29] the galleria building, this ties back.
[2:26:35] so I'm going to say no to this, because it is just all a big mess in my mind. >> judge, just to clarify in the
[2:26:42] record, I'm sorry, it is not necessarily required under state law. But I don't want to necessarily
[2:26:48] also go back into the negotiation process and the
[2:26:53] particulars as to why this is important, but it was recommended and agreed to. >> so it is not a requirement.
[2:27:00] so all in favor? Any opposed?
[2:27:05] unopposed motion carries 4-1. Any other motions that you would like to read? >> that wraps it up.
[2:27:13] thank you, county attorney team and thank you to our constables and our fire marshal and everyone who helped.
[2:27:21] >> yes, agreed. And absolutely thank you to all of these folks. So that was on this topic.
[2:27:31] I know that folks wanted to discuss the mwb topic as well,
[2:27:35] but we are done with that one. The other one was the buildings -- >> it is a consultation policy.
[2:27:42] >> that's the one it was, thank you. So let's discuss the consultation policy,
[2:27:49] commissioner ellis. >> I think those are the motions that were recommended by the county administrator's office.
[2:28:01] this is 216 and 218. >> I'm sorry, do you want --
[2:28:06] some of you had questions about policy. Does anyone want to do any more questions or do you want to talk
[2:28:12] about the motions? >> at some point we need to
[2:28:16] discuss the policy and changes to the draft, to the language,
[2:28:20] correct? >> I know we have some motions. >> but you have slides for that, right administrator?
[2:28:26] >> I have slides for reference and I can help. >> I just think commissioner ramsey, if it's okay, when we
[2:28:33] make changes to the document, I think it would make things easier for all of us for the slide to be up so we don't get
[2:28:40] confused where we are. The question is if folks would like to start with policy questions or if folks would like to start with the language. >> I would go with the
[2:28:50] amendments you all worked out for us. >> sure, we can pull them up. So the policy was approved
[2:29:04] march 19th, 2026. And then they convened with the county attorney's office and hr to review the language and
[2:29:10] make sure we can walk through what potential implementation
[2:29:15] looked like. So what is in these slides and the red line versions are these adjustments, they are not policy
[2:29:21] changes. We have been working with your staff over the past couple of months as well to share it with
[2:29:29] them. You can go on to slide three,
[2:29:33] tiffany. So these are just key definitions that are used repeatedly that were already in
[2:29:39] it as of march 19th. And the main body that would be
[2:29:45] a priority for that comes up are eligible employees. And hrt is working and is nearly final on county employees that
[2:29:52] would be eligible under this agreement.
[2:29:57] slide four. This is noting one change where the officer is already on the management team, they were on as
[2:30:05] a non-voting member and we adjusted to make sure they were a voting member of the management team, which is the
[2:30:12] county personnel representatives. Item slide five shows the departments that were listed as
[2:30:20] march 19th. I think we discussed removing
[2:30:24] the fmo per guidance that we have received. And so we have moved to make that adjustment.
[2:30:32] slide six, that starts following along with your actual document. We list the page number on the actual full agreement.
[2:30:39] and this is just a clarification of voting representation for the
[2:30:48] chief people officer. Slide next.
[2:30:55] same thing. It is just a clarification.
[2:31:00] these are just clarifications, not changing the intent of the
[2:31:06] subsection. Page 3 -- slide eight, page 3
[2:31:11] further defines and the county attorney may want to chime in, they may want to further define a grievance.
[2:31:15] I don't know if you want to add -- >> this is consistent with the statute that compels the county
[2:31:21] to have a grievance procedure. >> slide nine.
[2:31:29] slide nine was just one clarification, making sure they are under the jurisdiction of harris county of course.
[2:31:36] slide ten, page 6. Just a reference, a one change.
[2:31:43] slide 11, which is on page 7 of the full agreement is about
[2:31:49] compliance with existing county policies. And our facility, how they can access county facilities.
[2:32:00] slide 12, which is on page 7 of the main agreement is to standardize terminology that is used throughout the document.
[2:32:09] slide 13, which is on page 8, section 4.6, is consistent
[2:32:14] language and facility access and is existing county policy and
[2:32:20] changes. Slide 14, then in the main agreement it will be page 9. The county attorney may want to
[2:32:27] comment about the code. >> again, this is to make the
[2:32:31] language and the policy consistent with the language in the government code. >> slide 15, which shows up in
[2:32:41] the main agreement on page 9, is for clarity.
[2:32:45] and then compliance on privacy for employees.
[2:32:54] slide 16 and page 9 through ten, overall on section five of the
[2:33:01] main agreement. Repeats clarification on facility and ensures department heads have authority on employee
[2:33:07] overtime and comp time. And it emphasizes what the
[2:33:11] county's current grievance procedures are, which are the ones currently in the policy and procedures manual.
[2:33:20] slide 17 is just an additional clarification related to
[2:33:24] employee -- new employee orientation.
[2:33:31] slide 18, page 10 in the main agreement, the county attorney
[2:33:35] may want to comment, it is about tpi compliance.
[2:33:41] no comment? Okay. Slide 19, page 10 is the same authority related to comp and
[2:33:52] overtimes. And slide 20, which is page 11 in the main agreement, county attorney edition on the
[2:34:00] government code. Those are the edits the group
[2:34:09] made. And we are asking for approval. >> I will move approval of those items, do I need to call them
[2:34:17] individually? I will make a motion to approve those items laid out by the county administrator.
[2:34:24] >> can we have some discussion before we -- some amendments to
[2:34:29] these as well, right? >> those are our edits in
[2:34:36] proposal, if you have additional amendments, feel free. >> what about the fire marshal? >> yes, we have that as a
[2:34:46] proposed option. >> that is one of her motions to take the fire marshal out. >> the motion said I understood
[2:34:56] that were going to be made and we are going to vote on these
[2:35:01] separately, and not in a group, it sounds like we are trying to vote on it -- >> I will run back through them.
[2:35:08] >> are you talking about the fire marshal and when the court
[2:35:13] office can opt in or out? Are you referring to those? >> I've got three motions I will be making.
[2:35:19] there's three other motions, one related to the fire marshal, the
[2:35:24] fire marshal's administrative staff is another.
[2:35:28] and then there is language in the policy with the consultation
[2:35:33] team once formed to take development of a grievance policy that allows for grievance for discipline and discharge.
[2:35:44] as a priority first act of this grievance will act on a later
[2:35:49] vote. We are saying we are setting up
[2:35:53] a grievance system separate from we are going to turn over these
[2:35:58] responsibilities of grievance related to discipline and grievance related to discharge to this third party.
[2:36:08] and that is to be voted on, separate from this.
[2:36:13] >> but the fire marshal we have already removed because that was discussed in executive. >> I think commissioner ramsey
[2:36:21] is right. Motion one is what the county
[2:36:27] administrator will refer to, which is to propose the
[2:36:31] amendments framework, henceforth referred to as the consultation
[2:36:36] policy. That is the administrative changes that were made. Subsequent to that there were
[2:36:40] another set of potential changes of which one of them is a motion
[2:36:46] to amend the consultation policy, to remove the fire marshal's office from section 2.9.
[2:36:53] which is what you are referring to. And I know commissioner ramsey has some motions as well.
[2:37:01] >> I want to vote -- >> on each one individually? >> I want to remove the fire marshal.
[2:37:06] I vote yes for that. But I do not agree with the
[2:37:13] language associated with the grievance policy.
[2:37:18] and that is a separate motion. We talked about this last week,
[2:37:24] right? >> yes. >> could you pull up the relevant slide to what commissioner ramsey is -- so that way he can -- go ahead,
[2:37:34] commissioner. >> make your motion. >> as I understand, oh see a motion section 2.11 vote to
[2:37:43] exclude harris county fire marshal's office, law enforcement personnel from the policy.
[2:37:48] and we are going to vote on t that.
[2:37:53] and then also, the harris county fire marshal personnel.
[2:38:01] that would be the second motion. The third motion is section 5.1
[2:38:08] point a, include language and policy that directs in consultation team to take development of a grievance
[2:38:15] policy that allows for grievance and discipline and discharge.
[2:38:21] I do not agree that we should be turning grievance over to
[2:38:27] unelected, bureaucrat, third party folks. We need to retain that responsibility within hr.
[2:38:36] so as I understood, provided to me yesterday, that is the motion
[2:38:40] we were going to consider and that was the motion we will talk about the vote on. >> yes, we can.
[2:38:48] it is in the appendix. >> but we weren't going to vote
[2:38:53] on the entire, one time -- somebody read a powerpoint that you can't even read the words on.
[2:38:59] we are not going to do that, we will vote on specific motions.
[2:39:03] as I understand those are the three motions related to changes
[2:39:08] in the policy. >> those were the three
[2:39:13] remaining decisions, yes. And then you can make motions how you choose on those. So we can bring up the appendix
[2:39:22] where it shows that listed. We can bring up the slides so
[2:39:27] everyone can look at that? Slide 24.
[2:39:44] >> so do we remove the employees -- >> you can just remove the fire marshal as a whole and then you
[2:39:49] would need a separate -- >> that is what the county attorney's office was suggesting, right?
[2:39:59] >> you will make that motion? Related to and the fire
[2:40:08] marshal's office and administrative staff.
[2:40:14] >> I think the proper scope would be to remove the entire
[2:40:18] department. >> that covers everyone, that covers what he is saying. Just remove the fire marshal's
[2:40:25] office in total, that covers everybody you are talking about,
[2:40:29] right? >> we are bringing it right now. That's different from what you described yesterday. But that sounds good. >> it would simply read as a
[2:40:39] motion to amend the consultation policy to remove the fire marshal's office from section 2.9.
[2:40:49] >> second. >> commissioner ramsey, is that all right? >> yes.
[2:40:53] >> motion made by commissioner ramsey. >> commissioner ramsey has a motion seconded by commissioner
[2:40:58] garcia, all in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously.
[2:41:03] >> and now the other thing unresolved is the creation of
[2:41:07] this grievance policy. Related to discipline and
[2:41:15] discharge. And it is being advocated to include language in the policy the consultation team once
[2:41:21] formed to take development of a grievance policy that allows for
[2:41:29] grievance of discipline and discharge. And I do not agree with that. I don't think we should be
[2:41:36] turning that over to the third party. And the other motion related to that is what about our employees
[2:41:46] that are not eligible? Not eligible. We have two policy manuals in terms of grievance.
[2:41:55] I do not support that amendment related to a grievance.
[2:41:59] someone else will have to make that motion, I don't agree with
[2:42:04] that. >> so section 5.18 is already
[2:42:11] written into policy. >> we approved it on march 19th.
[2:42:17] >> that wasn't what was described, it was said in
[2:42:21] section 5.1 point a, including language in the policy that directs the consultation team once formed, that allows for
[2:42:32] grievance of discipline and discharge. So you're saying it's already in there.
[2:42:37] >> it was submitted march 19th and then voted on already having that language. >> how was that separated out to
[2:42:44] me? >> it was separated through the review, staff, you and others had questions.
[2:42:48] we separated them out in case -- like we are doing right now, you all can discuss it further. >> I would make a motion that we
[2:42:57] not include that in the new policy. >> so you would think it would be to remove grievance of
[2:43:04] discipline and discharge. >> yes. >> let me just ask the county attorney's office.
[2:43:08] I'm told that the city of austin permits employees to file grievances with support from a representative attorney,
[2:43:15] consultation agent with the municipal civil services
[2:43:19] commission. The reason we put it in there is
[2:43:24] because until we have put a structure in place of the consultation team, once it is created, then you have more
[2:43:29] clarity around this position. But what is your thought on
[2:43:34] this? >> what I want to clarify is already the county has a statutory consultation to apply
[2:43:41] a grievance procedure and we do that.
[2:43:45] the consultation policy that was adopted in the spring allows for
[2:43:49] the procedure for a consultation agent and management agents to
[2:43:54] discuss a proposed two commissioners court, the scope
[2:43:58] and parameter of including discipline and discharge in our existing grievance procedures. As items that can be challenged
[2:44:07] through grievance procedures. So notwithstanding the language that is in the policy today, this matter will come back
[2:44:14] before commissioners court as the policy stands, a
[2:44:18] recommendation will come back to commissioners court as to how to
[2:44:23] and whether to include discipline and discharge and what that will look like in our existing --
[2:44:29] >>   we already have a grievance process. Why do we need another one reference, called out and this
[2:44:38] consultation, quote, unquote, agreement? >> it is true that our current grievance procedure does not
[2:44:44] allow employees to challenge any disciplinary actions for their
[2:44:49] terminations and discharge. >> hold on a second.
[2:44:59] county attorney, there is a grievance process because we --
[2:45:06] I know that at least once, maybe twice since I have been here, we
[2:45:12] have had an employee come and complain directly to court about
[2:45:18] some action, I can't remember what it was. But we have had that. Is there not some process in
[2:45:26] place? >> we do have a grievance process and it does culminate in commissioners court review.
[2:45:33] but the occasion you are calling commissioner, it was not related to employees discipline or discharge, it was the
[2:45:38] application of county policy for that person's employment.
[2:45:43] that is the scope of our grievance procedure today but discipline and discharge are not.
[2:45:50] >> thank you. >> I think it was harris health that I was thinking about. >> the one that I'm recalling is
[2:45:59] pollution. >> pollution control. >> essentially we already have a grievance process.
[2:46:06] my motion would be to remove that from the consultation teams
[2:46:17] policy or whatever you call it. >> remove the grievances and
[2:46:21] discharge from the consultation team. Is that a second? Any more discussion?
[2:46:29] the motion fails for a lack of a second. >> the next motion is to create a second harris county personnel
[2:46:39] policy and procedures manual designated for eligible
[2:46:45] employees of noneligible employees would adhere to the
[2:46:49] existing manual. So we would essentially need two
[2:46:54] manuals of, one for those in the union and those that aren't in the union. Because not everybody will be in
[2:47:00] the union. >> so let me ask, if I may
[2:47:05] commissioner, did we address that on march 19th, in the
[2:47:10] policy? >> the policy does not speak to splitting the systems, no. >> it could be the impact of
[2:47:17] this. Of this motion. >> it ultimately will depend on what -- if you will split the
[2:47:25] handbooks, it will depend on what you include, which is in the discretion of commissioners, what terms you include in each
[2:47:33] handbook. >> I know we will be the first county to handle policy like this.
[2:47:38] but in terms of the entities that have policies like the city of austin, how do they handle that?
[2:47:45] neil, if you know. >> I'm sorry, I don't know.
[2:47:49] >> maybe chief raleigh, would you like to come up and share
[2:47:53] your perspective? >> sure.
[2:47:59] we have been looking into this and trying to figure it out as we work our way through and learn, I don't know about
[2:48:05] answering the question about austin but we can certainly figure that out. It seems possible that we can deal with it all within one policy and procedures manual if
[2:48:14] we indicate that one protocol serves those who are covered by
[2:48:19] the consultation agreement and one protocol serves as those who are not, regarding grievances. If things evolve in their
[2:48:27] different policies that are impacted over time, then we may have to do two. >> again, we are putting this
[2:48:36] together with bubblegum. We should have all of this
[2:48:41] organized and prepared and we don't know what we don't know. So clearly there is going to be some people that are eligible
[2:48:47] and some people that are not going to be eligible. They need to be addressed. And today we are not fully
[2:48:55] understanding how that is going to be.
[2:48:59] thank you to our director that that is what we could do.
[2:49:04] and I guess that is what I am asking that we do. It sounds like we are in a rush to get this thing done and we
[2:49:12] are trying to identify all the issues that are on the table.
[2:49:17] this will be one. It will be eligible, you will have non-eligible, you have to know how to deal with them.
[2:49:22] >> I want to add commissioner, that any employee can avail themselves of our existing grievance procedure, whether
[2:49:28] they have a union affiliation or not. And under the existing grievance procedure, any employee can have
[2:49:33] a representative of their choosing. So even excluded employees would still avail themselves of that
[2:49:41] process. >> but that needs to be -- we are introducing a whole new group of folks within our
[2:49:49] personnel policy to be dealt with, according to this
[2:49:55] consultation policy. So I do think that there is a need to clearly communicate what and how we will be dealing with
[2:50:04] these individuals. That is why I made the motion.
[2:50:09] >> commissioner, it sounds reasonable to me -- I'm just trying to gauge if we've got to decide that today.
[2:50:17] I came up with this policy along with commissioner briones, I
[2:50:21] know that the plan is started on october first.
[2:50:25] but if administration comes back to me and says we are not ready on october first and maybe folks will be upset, but as the guy
[2:50:33] who put it out here, if we are not ready, I would say to wait and they can get as angry as they want to get, but we are the
[2:50:40] first to do it, I want to make sure it is done right. >> we hadn't slowed down any safety policy, we were ready on
[2:50:48] that, we hadn't slowed down on minimum wage and we moved forward on that. I think we set these dates and
[2:50:54] we are just not ready. But there are some issues here.
[2:51:00] I don't want to go ahead and take 2 minutes, commissioner, going through the concerns I've got.
[2:51:06] I've got two more motions that can be ignored if you want to.
[2:51:11] but we have learned more since this policy was approved, we have heard from departments, elected offices, employees
[2:51:17] across here in the county, what we are hearing is not excitement from the employees out there, it is concern.
[2:51:25] concerns about increased administrative burden at a time that we really can't afford to add these kinds of costs,
[2:51:32] additional costs, questions about how this process is carried out. Take time to fully understand
[2:51:38] the second and the third and the impacts of this policy.
[2:51:43] no one is doing it. But we will implement a policy that we don't fully understand and don't fully understand the
[2:51:50] impacts on our people and everything else. But we will be the first. And we can hopefully get an
[2:51:56] award for that. But we need to get it right for this 17, 20,000 people that work in the county.
[2:52:04] the organizing process is a concern, I've got reports of
[2:52:09] organizers violating county policies, overstating the membership numbers, making promises they may not be able to
[2:52:17] keep, benton county work sites, pressure employees that volunteer and organize events, obtaining employees home
[2:52:24] addresses. Really? Obtaining employees home addresses? I don't think that is legal. I do not think that is right.
[2:52:32] even if it is legal. And even appearing in employees
[2:52:38] homes. I don't think this is right. Some of these may not be a concern to some, but they are
[2:52:44] definitely a concern to me. Is this the right time?
[2:52:51] obviously from a financial standpoint, taxpayers spent
[2:52:56] roughly 1.5 million on the study on implementing the pay equity study. We have talked about that.
[2:53:01] that has been an $80 million impact. That has been baked into next year's -- next year's budget.
[2:53:13] I'm not sure whether there is a big appetite from the employees in terms of what they would want.
[2:53:18] I would also like to know how many eligible employees have actually signed up. That is like a basic metric we
[2:53:25] are looking at, I guess we are getting those numbers of when they tie it up. The policy that was adopted in
[2:53:37] march identified 5% as gauging a lot of interest.
[2:53:43] so that gives one particular union an opportunity to move
[2:53:50] forward in a kind of enhanced fashion, 5%.
[2:53:56] when they get to be 20%, that means that they are selected in
[2:54:05] so many ways. 20%. In most elections, you've got a majority.
[2:54:12] and it's interesting that after five years, replacing the
[2:54:17] existing consultant agent requires support from 50% of
[2:54:21] eligible employees. So to get the contract, you've
[2:54:26] got to have 20%. To keep the contract, you've got
[2:54:30] to get to 50. This is just laughable how this
[2:54:36] thing has come about. I have concerns about the
[2:54:41] process. We have heard that a fscm has
[2:54:45] spent nearly two years developing this policy.
[2:54:50] I think they wrote the policy, I think they wrote it.
[2:54:56] if you were working through purchasing on doing anything, we
[2:55:01] don't let the people being considered to be selected write
[2:55:06] the rfp on how to get selected. But that is exactly what we did
[2:55:12] here. I think what's true is every potential union given the same opportunity, to help write our
[2:55:21] policy. That is not a question of being against unions, this is a question of fairness.
[2:55:27] it hasn't been fair, up to this point.
[2:55:31] it has been heavily weighted towards afscme.
[2:55:39] and we at least ought to be aware where the process and how
[2:55:47] the process went through. So I guess whatever afscme
[2:55:56] wants, afscme gets. That is what we are voting on today. Whether it is a grievance
[2:56:02] committee, let's give it to them. They need one. I don't agree with that.
[2:56:08] I am not agreeing to turn over our responsibilities related to
[2:56:13] it. My other two motions to be
[2:56:19] considered, no one seconded the motion related to at least
[2:56:25] writing a policy manual in our current hr policies that
[2:56:31] addresses the issues of eligible and non-eligible. We've got two categories of people.
[2:56:37] my other motion would be a motion to change the language of this policy to allow for the commissioner court to opt out at
[2:56:44] any time after implementation. Why wouldn't we be able to opt
[2:56:49] out at any time after implementation? Right now you are giving a specific day.
[2:56:56] one day. You are in, october first, or
[2:57:00] you are out october first. My third motion is if
[2:57:06] commissioners court offices opt out, they maintain the ability
[2:57:10] to fill their seat on the nine person management representative
[2:57:15] team. Just because I don't agree with it, just because I am not in support of how this is being
[2:57:23] done, should not mean I give up my right as harris county
[2:57:29] commissioner, to participate in the process. So those are my three motions. I think they are appropriate in
[2:57:38] light of what we don't know and in light of where we are headed
[2:57:44] with this. November first implementation.
[2:57:49] so I am concerned, I put those three motions out there. I think it is pretty clear it doesn't seem fair to me that
[2:57:57] those of us which, at this point, looks like I'm going to be opting out because of all of the concerns I have just listed.
[2:58:06] but I don't know enough, frankly at this point, all of the
[2:58:10] details of how this is going to work. I might want to opt in at some point.
[2:58:16] but you are forcing people, I think, to make a decision far in advance of when they have enough information to make the dec
[2:58:25] decision. >> so commissioner, I will go after you. >> I just want to make a couple
[2:58:34] comments. Afscme stands for the american federation of state county municipal employees.
[2:58:40] it is the largest public sector employee trade union in the
[2:58:48] country. 1.3 million workers and retirees in health care, corrections, sanitation, public safety and
[2:58:53] child care and was founded in 1932 with 3500 chapters across
[2:59:00] the country. The court adopted a consultation
[2:59:05] policy on march 19th, 2026. It would make harris county the first county in texas to create this type of consultation
[2:59:13] policy. It does not give them the right to organize a union. The reason I was interested in
[2:59:19] the subject is because some of our employees are able to go
[2:59:26] organize and under state laws they can have a union and they have been pretty effective in getting the attention of
[2:59:33] commissioners court, historically.
[2:59:37] you made reference to the pay equity study, mr. Ramos, was that three years ago when I first put that on agenda?
[2:59:44] what's your guess? Three, four years ago? >> it was three and took about a year to get a bid out.
[2:59:50] >> three years ago I put it on the agenda, took a year to go and find somebody to come back with it.
[2:59:56] we have done that historically for our other great county
[3:00:01] employees, all of them more important. But they have been able to come in and make that case for
[3:00:07] benefits and quite frankly, I was interested in the subject
[3:00:12] because I thought that we needed some help when these issues come
[3:00:17] up. Health care benefits, could be left to any one of our five individual offices that go
[3:00:23] trying to collect people to go in and make the case. We need somebody speaking for these workers.
[3:00:30] when we decided to do that pay, we didn't go through a big comprehensive study, whoever dug up whatever that group was, came
[3:00:36] in here real quick. Just as I jokingly said, we went
[3:00:41] hog wild. But for these other employees,
[3:00:45] who catch the early bus, as I like to say, that is not
[3:00:50] happening. That is why I pushed for the consultation policy. Starting with when we did it
[3:00:58] with some of the workers over at the harris center.
[3:01:04] and that was cwa, communication workers of america.
[3:01:09] so this may not be perfect, some of you are concerns may be
[3:01:16] legitimate. And look, with me it's not the politics, if the unions get mad, get mad.
[3:01:22] I'm the one that when cwa came to me, they wanted me to write a letter about some employees concerns.
[3:01:27] if we need to work on this and implement it january first, I'm
[3:01:32] not trying to do it seat of the pants at this table.
[3:01:36] we had a process, a union colleague there were a big part
[3:01:41] of it on coming up with what we had. We had a working group for folks who were interested in
[3:01:46] participating in the process to come up with it and while this policy may not be perfect, we needed somebody to make the
[3:01:54] case. Colleagues, for these other employees. It went an inordinate amount of
[3:01:58] time before we did simple colas. How do we go with no colas in
[3:02:03] this county? >> I'm not 100% sure,
[3:02:08] commissioner. >> I mean we made progress, I'm just saying these other employees need a voice.
[3:02:13] I get it, I've told them it. Somebody out there, at some
[3:02:19] point under the new rules we have to operate under with state law, it is not just a matter of everybody coming here and trying
[3:02:25] to move the seats around on the titanic. For any labor folks it's easy to come in and say I want this, I
[3:02:32] want that. But we have to pay for it. And they had to play a role in that as well.
[3:02:37] I'm just telling you, these employees, the ones who catch
[3:02:41] the early bus need a seat at the table, just like our other
[3:02:46] friends. In law enforcement. Who have a pretty good seat at the table.
[3:02:51] as evidenced by how they can go to the state and make changes. So it is not perfect, we need to do something.
[3:02:58] and it was the best that we could come up with. And with that said, if someone raises an issue, I agree with
[3:03:06] them. But we ought to see if they want to go and change some of the stuff that we have.
[3:03:11] I don't mind telling my friends at labor, you know that, no strings on my back. I put my record up against a
[3:03:17] whole lot of them who have been as effective as I have been on
[3:03:22] these decades that I have been in public life. But there needs to be some balance here.
[3:03:28] an end that does not exist right now.
[3:03:37] >> commissioner? >> thank you doctor and thank you to the county attorney team for your partnership and to
[3:03:44] administrator carter. I am proud to continue with what
[3:03:49] commissioner ellis is saying. We have taken various actions to make sure we are showing up for our harris county employees.
[3:03:55] whether it was raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour,
[3:04:00] completing this pay equity study and now implementing those adjustments for equitable pay. I see this as another step to
[3:04:06] make sure that we are showing up for harris county workers, just the way that they show up for our community every single day.
[3:04:14] our folks who were taking care of our parks and roads and helping us after disasters and beyond.
[3:04:21] I agree and the coo, you have all seen how type a I am about
[3:04:26] everything. I agree that we need to do the right thing and we need to do the thing right.
[3:04:30] we need to be as thoughtful about the implementation as possible and then keep iterating, keep improving and we
[3:04:38] need to do something, right? To administrator carter's point, we passed this in march, we are seeing things that need to be
[3:04:44] clarified and updated. That is what we are doing here today. Making that improvement.
[3:04:49] and as we continue learning we will continue making
[3:04:53] improvements. So I appreciate y'all quarterbacking this and the goal here is to give our workers a
[3:05:03] chance to more easily express their views, their concerns,
[3:05:08] their ideas. This is to give our workers a voice and a greater seat at the table.
[3:05:13] on several things -- one of your motions, commissioner ramsey, I do want to support that you can opt in or out at any time.
[3:05:21] and I hope that you will opt in once these operational items are
[3:05:26] ironed out. And so on that one, I would second that motion. In terms of a manual, having one
[3:05:34] manual creates more clarity and you can have specific provisions
[3:05:39] clearly called out if there are different processes or anything that needs to be flagged. But for the most part, there is
[3:05:48] one manual here in harris county. And there are processes that are open to all employees.
[3:05:55] so for that, I think one manual will create clarity and will be more complicated if it is to. And if we learned later in
[3:06:01] months or years that we need to, we can pivot accordingly.
[3:06:06] so in summary, thank you and to the point about doing the right
[3:06:11] thing and doing the thing right, just to confirm, the
[3:06:16] implementation date is octo october first. Can you talk us through the steps being taken to make sure
[3:06:23] that we can implement as thoughtfully and excellently as
[3:06:28] possible? >> administrators, do you want to take that? >> I will let her start it.
[3:06:33] >> it is true that oca and the county attorney have been
[3:06:38] working fast and furious. But also methodically to do it right. And that we have identified
[3:06:44] those issues as the administrator went through earlier that we wanted to get clarity in the existing
[3:06:49] document. So we believe we have set the stage to be able to effectively put it out on october first.
[3:06:57] >> thank you. >> what you should add as part of that is addressing staffing capacity which is also on the
[3:07:04] agenda. >> so for hrt for example, we know that with the inclusion of additional elements that can be
[3:07:11] grieved to include disappointment that we expect a
[3:07:17] significant increase. And we have asked for additional
[3:07:21] investigators and relations experts so to to your point, we can be sure we are doing everything right consistently
[3:07:29] with how much we have done. And then we also have other
[3:07:33] things to add. >> I will make the motion again
[3:07:42] 22nd, motion to change the language of this policy to allow for commissioners court offices to opt out at any time
[3:07:50] afterwards. >> can you put opt in not opt out? >> opt in or opt out.
[3:07:56] >> I will second that one. >> so there is a motion on the
[3:08:02] table, second by commissioner briones. Any other discussion? Commissioner ellis?
[3:08:08] all in favor? Any opposed?
[3:08:12] I am in favor, motion carries unanimously. >> other motion was if commissioners court offices opt
[3:08:19] out, they maintain the ability to fill their seat on the nine person management representatives.
[3:08:26] >> I am also okay with that one. I think in case they want to opt
[3:08:35] in later, we can look at that. >> again, I am 1 of 5 court
[3:08:39] members responsible for employees in harris county. And even though I may not be a part of the union, I may have
[3:08:56] employees or other -- I think it would be a part of my responsibility to at least offer comment.
[3:09:04] obviously mine would be the minority voice in a room.
[3:09:08] but to make anything better, you better have a minority voice in a room that can give an opinion that is hearing from folks that
[3:09:14] may have a different opinion than you. The people I am talking to are not union people.
[3:09:20] the people I am talking to are employees of harris county.
[3:09:28] so the workers in harris county are the ones talking to me about
[3:09:32] their concerns. And the reason I have made more of a big deal about this today is my representative on these
[3:09:40] discussions have been totally ignored.
[3:09:44] any issues commissioner related to this over a. Of time when we bring these issues up, it is just ignored
[3:09:51] and moved on. It would be helpful if everybody
[3:09:56] would listen when we are bringing it up. And again, at the end of the day we may not agree on the next
[3:10:01] steps or not agree on the process, but we at least ought to pay attention because I think a lot of the issues that we are
[3:10:09] talking about here need to be. So again, that motion -- if
[3:10:14] commissioners court offices opt out, they maintain the ability to fill their seat on the nine person management
[3:10:20] representatives team. >> commissioner, for
[3:10:25] clarification, the county attorney's office, the policy right now says an eight person management team.
[3:10:31] you have not voted yet to create a nine person management team.
[3:10:36] so your motion does not need the language of nine person at this time. >> this management team?
[3:10:41] >> yes. >> so commissioner ellis --
[3:10:48] >> from the legal department, you see any other problems with that? Any policies you have looked at at other places? Consultation policies?
[3:10:55] >> I don't see any legal concern.
[3:11:00] >> motion by commissioner ramsey, I'm happy to second it.
[3:11:04] all in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. >> thank you for that part of
[3:11:11] it. And again, obviously we are all working to the legislative folks.
[3:11:18] they are in session next year, hopefully all this is as it should be, thank you. >> a series of other motions, I
[3:11:28] do them or you do them, I think we need to go, okay?
[3:11:32] one is, I'm getting tired of this, I could go with a nap
[3:11:37] around here. One is a motion to approve a proposal of amendments to the consultation framework hensworth
[3:11:42] -- henceforth as a consultation policy, why don't we do those,
[3:11:48] administrator? My first one is motion to approve the proposed members of the consultation framework as
[3:11:53] referred to as the consultation policy, is that what you did?
[3:11:57] >> that is needed. >> I make that motion.
[3:12:02] >> second. >> should we vote on each of them? No?
[3:12:07] keep going. Okay, if you disagree please speak up. >> I can go through all of them.
[3:12:15] the second one, go ahead. >> go ahead commissioner. >> a motion to direct office county administration and
[3:12:21] office of management budget to incorporate the county attorney's office, service enhancement request related to
[3:12:26] the consultation policy of $332,560 into the draft
[3:12:32] fiscal year budget, 2027? >> second. >> motion to direct to incorporate the oca budget
[3:12:40] related to the consultation policy of $183,928 into the
[3:12:46] draft fiscal year 2027 budget? >> second.
[3:12:50] >> motion to put human resources talents and budget requests to the consultation policies recommended by the office
[3:12:54] of county administration in the fiscal review request form for
[3:13:00] item 18? >> second. >> motion to direct the omb to incorporate h budget requests
[3:13:07] related to the consultation policy draft fiscal year budget
[3:13:12] with authorization to reduce the funding amount related on whether and what consultation agent may be designated?
[3:13:22] >> second. >> that is my last one. So I move all of those. >> all of those motions by
[3:13:28] commissioner ellis, seconded by commissioner briones. All in favor? Any opposed?
[3:13:35] motion carries, 4-1. >> I have a couple friendly
[3:13:40] amendments you had. >> I was simply going to ask if we could please do item 326 next because we have the judge chief
[3:13:47] public defender draper here and then if we could do 327, we have
[3:13:53] director brown. >> so we will do items related to the public defender's office and welcome to the chief public
[3:13:59] defender. Thank you. >> what number was that? >> thank you team.
[3:14:07] 326. >> 326 and you wanted to see that one with 327, right? >> 327 after.
[3:14:13] one was public defender, one was not.
[3:14:18] >> welcome chief draper. >> thank you very much.
[3:14:22] I think we have a slide deck that we have submitted. So that could also be brought up.
[3:14:30] the hour is late and so I will be brief. Do not be alarmed by the 32 slides that we have submitted,
[3:14:37] we will do a very accelerated version of this. Many of us have spoken about these items already.
[3:14:43] I want to start by thanking this commissioners court and the county judge for your support of this office and the
[3:14:49] defense as a whole here at harris county, it is very much appreciated. I would also like to take a
[3:14:54] brief moment to thank my team. I have an outstanding executive
[3:14:58] leadership team as well as my entire office. I work with some phenomenal professionals, there at the
[3:15:04] public defender's office so to the extent any of them are watching, I want to take a moment to thank them for their
[3:15:10] hard work. There has been a lot of movement a lot of pilots, a lot of policy changes and our office has
[3:15:16] really leaned into those changes to execute the mission of
[3:15:20] expanding our services. So I want to take a moment to thank them for that. We will jump right into this.
[3:15:27] as you are all well aware, march 19th I came before this
[3:15:33] court, we discussed the state of defense in harris county and this court asked me to return today with a comprehensive
[3:15:41] strategic plan about how this office would grow to meet the task of representing at least 50% of the people here in
[3:15:50] harris county, indigent folks accused of crimes. So we have come back today with that comprehensive plan, hence
[3:15:57] the 32 slides and the accompanying report. We will just jump right into it. If we can go to the next slide?
[3:16:05] and I will breeze through some of these that are just some
[3:16:10] explanations. You can move forward.
[3:16:15] all right. So I think it is important to note that the court's mandate was to grow to accept at least
[3:16:21] 50% of the appointments here in harris county. We have been asked to come back with a 3-five-year plan.
[3:16:28] so this plan here includes a few iterations, ranging from 3-5
[3:16:34] years. It is important to note that this plan is aggressive, very aggressive.
[3:16:40] and this plan is substantive and dynamic, meaning that it changes
[3:16:46] with changing conditions. For example, if we see higher case filings that could alter some of these calculations.
[3:16:54] or if funding is affected and we are not able to hire at the same rate that likewise could affect the rate of this growth.
[3:17:01] next slide, please. We are looking at this growth
[3:17:07] from basically three different pillars. One focusing on depth, which means focusing on what we
[3:17:13] already do very well. But we want to continue to strengthen that. That is representing people
[3:17:19] accused of crimes here in harris county at the highest level. And in a client centered and
[3:17:25] holistic way. So we want to make sure that as we grow that level of representation is not
[3:17:31] compromised. The second pillar of this plan is breadth. So making sure that we take that
[3:17:36] skill set and applying it to more people here in harris county, which is what the court has asked.
[3:17:41] so essentially scaling that across all of our existing
[3:17:46] practice areas and also including adding practice areas, meaning capital defense. That was also the mandate from
[3:17:53] the court. So we will be talking about what it looks like to expand into new practice areas.
[3:18:00] and the third pillar is holistic. As we provide these services, it is important that we provide a
[3:18:06] holistic model of service so that we reduce the chances that people re-encounter the criminal legal system.
[3:18:12] that is our contribution to public safety. So we want to make sure that we continue to provide those
[3:18:18] services in our representation. Next slide, please.
[3:18:26] really quickly we want you all to know that this strategic plan of course is consistent with the county's overall strategic plan,
[3:18:32] which is to of course move away from its overreliance on the
[3:18:37] private bar as well as to make harris county a safer and more
[3:18:42] just county, hence our holistic approach.
[3:18:48] next slide, please. And you can actually move to the next slide. We will focus primarily on the
[3:18:53] breadth portion of this. Meaning taking the services that we already do and scaling that. And so in looking at the breadth
[3:19:01] portion of this, you can skip to the next slide.
[3:19:05] we are looking -- the framework is in two ways.
[3:19:11] expanding our existing services so we want to look at a target of getting to 50% by the end of fiscal year 2031.
[3:19:21] and in calculating whether or not we are meeting that goal, we want to make sure we are all working from the same
[3:19:27] measurement. So we want to establish a measurement for how you see the percentage of our share.
[3:19:35] and I think this is also later in the presentation, I want to take a moment to shout out the office of court administration,
[3:19:42] they have been very helpful with us in figuring out a good and
[3:19:46] accurate way to calculate our percentage of the case share. It is currently calculated by appointment, right?
[3:19:53] so there are multiple appointments in one case with the private bar. That gets counted multiple
[3:20:00] times. Instead, when we get appointed to a case, it gets counted once. So it has a way of
[3:20:05] overinflating, in some cases, the private bar's share of
[3:20:10] appointments. So we will now be working to also calculate our case share by the percentage of cases.
[3:20:18] so one case will be looking at who gets appointed and that way
[3:20:23] over inflate the private bar's percentage of the case share
[3:20:27] cactus that make sense to everyone? >> chief, I know that commissioner ellis and
[3:20:33] commissioner garcia have their hands up, I just want to give an opportunity to see if you guys want to -- let her finish?
[3:20:39] okay. Commissioner garcia, do you want to stop for a moment to ask a question?
[3:20:45] >> no, ma'am. You finish your presentation. >> I will continue. If at any moment you do have a
[3:20:50] question, please stop me. So we are looking at the one
[3:20:56] part of expanding our current services and I already mentioned that the second part of this expansion includes getting into
[3:21:04] case types that we don't currently do, which is capital cases. So we will talk about both of
[3:21:09] those in this presentation. Next slide, please.
[3:21:14] so I want to talk about where we currently are in our case here. And I think this slide is really important.
[3:21:20] not only to give us a lay of the land and where we are now, but to really highlight the work that has been done in the last
[3:21:26] several years. And in particular, the last 12 months. We've seen a lot of growth.
[3:21:31] currently our office handles 100% of the bail hearings. We are essentially the only lawyers that represent people at
[3:21:37] their initial appearance at the joint processing center at their bail hearings. We also currently handle
[3:21:45] approximately 48% of cases. So we are nearly half there. We also handle 49% of juvenile cases.
[3:21:50] so we are nearly half there. In the misdemeanor courts, we
[3:21:56] currently represent 32% of people appointed counsel. This time last year we were at 16%.
[3:22:02] that is a pretty big jump in the last 12 months.
[3:22:06] and we are excited about that accelerated growth. And we are currently at 50% in felony courts.
[3:22:12] so that of course is the place with the most opportunity. And we will talk a little bit about how we plan to get there
[3:22:18] for that. I have already spoken about the updated methodology about how we calculate our case share.
[3:22:24] so no need to go over that. But I think this particular slide highlights the momentum that we have at this point.
[3:22:30] and we are asking the court to continue to support that
[3:22:36] momentum. Next slide. So this slide is where it gets a little bit complicated.
[3:22:44] my very sharp team, they love the numbers. So we crunch it a lot of different ways.
[3:22:49] so you will see these models in pie graphs, line graphs,
[3:22:54] whatever we think may appeal to the way people receive information. So I appreciate them for doing
[3:22:59] that. But what I really want to highlight is that we have scenario one, scenario two and
[3:23:05] scenario three for how you would get to a 50% case share.
[3:23:09] in the next three years. All of these are extraordinarily
[3:23:16] aggressive. So I need to preface it with that. And the first scenario, scenario
[3:23:22] one, which is essentially mirroring our ask this year for the budget, it really is a three year plan that assumes all
[3:23:31] things are perfect. That we get all of our budget, that we have all types of law students leaving law school that
[3:23:37] want to be public defenders, that we are able to track lateral hires. That case filings stay stagnant,
[3:23:43] that the courts appoint us at the rate that they should. So as harris county is well aware, perfect conditions are
[3:23:50] yet to be seen in harris county. I just want to preface it with
[3:23:54] that. We also have scenario two and scenario three and the changes in these scenarios account for
[3:24:00] some of those changes. So if we have a slower hiring rate or if case filings go up in any way.
[3:24:08] our budget ask is consistent with scenario one.
[3:24:13] with a caveat that I would argue that since we never have perfect conditions, that the three year time frame is not a realistic
[3:24:21] time frame. So I would say that scenario one
[3:24:26] plus a five year timeline is what is really more of a realistic and responsible way to grow as well as still a very
[3:24:35] aggressive plan. I would like to point out at
[3:24:40] this point -- we have seen some growth in all of our areas and I have to shout out some of our partners that have been helpful
[3:24:45] in this year with some of the growth that we have already seen. In our misdemeanor courts, the
[3:24:51] judges have really leaned in to working with our office, the
[3:24:57] office of managed design counsel to make sure that indigent defense is where it should be. So we have seen significant --
[3:25:03] >> is there a motion -- >> continuing until we finish the item. >> motion, seconded to continue
[3:25:08] until we finish the item, all in favor any opposed? The motion carries unanimously, go ahead.
[3:25:13] >> I will move quickly. So we have seen a lot of growth there. But I want to highlight that
[3:25:19] that is really a result of the judges leaning into what is
[3:25:25] necessary and working with my office. So we have seen a lot of improvement in that area.
[3:25:30] I think what you will hear is that we have seen a decrease in calls, but that is also accompanied with an increase in
[3:25:37] our ability to get a larger percentage of the case share. In our felony courts, we have received support from oca and
[3:25:47] adding what we call a sunday drop, we have not traditionally been appointed cases from the weekend, we now do that, which
[3:25:55] averages nearly about 80-85 additional cases each week. We currently don't even have the capacity to accept all of those,
[3:26:02] but we are trying to get there. But that has been a really big help. That is a change we made in the
[3:26:07] last month and we have already seen at least a two percentage increase in just that month. Additionally, we have expanded
[3:26:15] our misdemeanor mental health defense to felony and three
[3:26:19] courts, we are about to add a fourth that is also helping to increase our percentage of the case share in felony courts.
[3:26:29] next slide, please. It is a little bit of an easier target for misdemeanor. We are well on our way, we went
[3:26:37] from 16 to 32%. So I do think that a three year time frame for getting to 50% is more realistic.
[3:26:43] we just have the wind at our back. We have automation, we have judicial support, we have the
[3:26:49] mac. So we do think that the conditions are right there with the appropriate funding that we
[3:26:53] can get to that 50% within the three year time frame.
[3:27:01] next slide, please. I'm going to breeze past a few of these because several of these show the same information
[3:27:07] but in a different way. So you can see here it talks about what it looks like to see this growth in scenario one and
[3:27:16] how it would look for the felony and misdemeanor cases getting to
[3:27:21] 50%. Next slide, please. Same for this slide. For felonies, this shows
[3:27:29] scenario one versus scenario three. So you can see getting to 50% by the end of fy25, versus the end
[3:27:35] of getting to it by fy23. Which is our suggestion.
[3:27:41] next slide, please. Just a glimpse at how we look at
[3:27:48] our budget forecasting. So most of what we think about is our capacity. What lawyers do we need, support
[3:27:55] staff, any funds we need to support our efforts. That is primarily what guides our budget decisions.
[3:28:02] also case assignments. Any pilots.
[3:28:07] this is how we've been using our existing budget to pilot these things and we are planning to do so in the upcoming year.
[3:28:14] and also external factors that our office has to adjust to.
[3:28:25] next slide, please. This allows you to get a glimpse
[3:28:32] of our fy27 ask. You can see the ask here, you
[3:28:38] can see 79 felony attorneys and we are asking to add 22 who go
[3:28:45] into felony division as well as 35 attorneys for our program
[3:28:50] that go into the misdemeanor and bail divisions. And so the second chart there kind of gives an idea there of
[3:28:58] scenario one scenario two scenario three. With our ask being more akin to scenario one.
[3:29:07] next slide, please. All right, the moment you have all been waiting for. We have had several
[3:29:16] conversations with people about adding capital representation to
[3:29:21] our office. So we want to address that.
[3:29:27] you mentioned this in our conversations with commissioner garcia, we want to spend fy27 really assessing what that looks
[3:29:33] like. What is the current state of capital representation, what is the cost, what is the most
[3:29:39] effective way for us to affect that representation as well as
[3:29:43] that cost? It is also important to note that it would be more than this court supporting it from a
[3:29:49] budget standpoint. It would be more than me having lawyers in my office ready to do that work.
[3:29:57] the capital list is, for lack of a better term, controlled by the
[3:30:03] 11th judicial district. Judge susan brown decides who is on that list. So we need to work with the
[3:30:09] courts with judge brown to be added to that list.
[3:30:13] so it is a longer conversation, there are lots of things there
[3:30:17] that need to happen before we are able to commit to taking
[3:30:22] capital cases. But what we can commit to is making sure that we do an appropriate assessment this year
[3:30:27] and coming back to this court with a recommendation in 28 that
[3:30:32] will likely accompany of course, a budget ask to get into that
[3:30:36] area of practice. I will stop for a second there. Are there any questions related to capital cases?
[3:30:44] >> commissioner garcia? >> yes. Chief, I couldn't be more grateful to you for your work
[3:30:51] over all. Just in hitting the ground running as our public defender. But I do want to absolutely say
[3:31:00] thank you for your thoughtfulness in working to build this new capacity within your office.
[3:31:07] I see it from a couple of vantage points. One is that there have been individuals in our custody that
[3:31:16] have been charged with capital offenses and have been there for
[3:31:24] years. Because they're hired or assigned counsel just wasn't working to get the job done.
[3:31:32] so that coupled with the fact that this is one of our more
[3:31:36] costly areas when we have folks get assigned defendants, I think
[3:31:43] that is also a effective part of your career, a career path for
[3:31:50] your office. So I was just anxiously waiting
[3:31:55] as I went through your report, waiting to see where the capital
[3:32:01] capacity was going to be discussed and I was so excited when I saw it. So I just want to say thank you.
[3:32:07] and that harris county is absolutely much better because of your work as our public defender.
[3:32:12] thank you so very much. And I will be ready to help
[3:32:19] support your work, because we are absolutely moving in the right direction, thank you very much.
[3:32:24] >> thank you, I appreciate that. I will fast forward really quickly to the depth portion of this and what the depth focus is
[3:32:29] on is just making sure that we are able to maintain the people that we have. We want to make sure we are
[3:32:34] taking care of the folks that we have because it doesn't help for us to grow. And if people are jumping out of
[3:32:39] the back door, I have already mentioned we have very talented professionals that work there at the harris county public
[3:32:45] defender's office. So this portion will be focused on making sure that we have pay parity, which the county has
[3:32:51] been really good about supporting us and we want to make sure that they have manageable workloads, that they
[3:32:56] have the appropriate training and supervision. And the resources that they need to do this work.
[3:33:02] so I would be remiss to submit a plan that does not include
[3:33:07] making sure that we support our existing group of professionals so that we don't lose them. And so you will see throughout
[3:33:14] the depth portion what that looks like. We have been taking a look at other offices to see how they
[3:33:21] retain, recruit, we have been recruiting students from all over the country, 18 different schools for this incoming class
[3:33:28] and we want to continue to do this nationwide recruiting effort. So if you take a look here, you
[3:33:33] can kind of see what we have been doing. But I think it speaks for itself.
[3:33:39] so I will save us all some time there. We can skip right to the holistic portion, which talks
[3:33:46] about our holistic work. A few slides down. And I just want to point out a few things about our holistic
[3:33:55] division. This fiscal year we have supported 1559 clients and connecting them with housing,
[3:34:01] treatment or supportive services. We have worked with our misdemeanor court judges and
[3:34:06] their fresh start program to ensure that people conceal their record after they have completed the conditions of their case.
[3:34:13] we have a huge supreme court win out of our holistic division
[3:34:19] where the opinion noted this county s support of a holistic
[3:34:24] indigent defense program. So we have had a very successful year and our holistic division, I have no doubt it will have an
[3:34:31] impact on public safety. I think that concludes most of
[3:34:36] what I wanted to speak with you all about. I wanted to give a few minutes for any questions, if anyone
[3:34:43] should have any. >> commissioner ellis and then
[3:34:49] commissioner briones. >> I want to thank you, judge.
[3:34:53] it says a lot about you that you would walk off the bench to take
[3:34:59] this position. It's your passion, I know the first thing you did when you got out of law school was be a
[3:35:06] public defender. And it really says a lot about you that you give up the independence of running your
[3:35:12] courtroom to come and be with the wonderful five of us.
[3:35:16] it really does say a lot about you. That office was handling 6% of cases, if my memory serves me
[3:35:24] right. You went back to 2018, you show 6.7. But when I got in in 2017, was
[3:35:30] handling 6% of the cases. And to be where you are now at
[3:35:35] 22% of the cases is phenomenal. It was 72,000 cases in 2018 and
[3:35:47] 91,000. And we made that commitment, that goal to get up to 50% unanimously, it's going to get a
[3:35:57] bipartisan vote. It said a lot about us. So at the appropriate time I will make a motion to keep that
[3:36:05] 50% in place. And I will read it now, I think
[3:36:10] I sent it around, I will move the public defender's office, in accordance with its august sixth, 2026 strategic
[3:36:17] plan, increase this capacity, take at least 50% of defense
[3:36:23] case appointments by 2031 as the office expands, it should ensure that best practices are met, including workload standards,
[3:36:31] training, provision for holistic services, recruitment and retention efforts. And I will stress -- I. Was
[3:36:38] joking earlier about our eyes being bigger than our stomachs.
[3:36:42] commissioner ramsey, we need your help. Particularly your help because we need to go back in and reform
[3:36:49] that defense act passed in 2001. Because this would be revenue
[3:36:54] neutral. We can get there if we stop that other big item that drops a big hole in this budget.
[3:37:02] when the judges come in and by law we have to pay it.
[3:37:09] and the quality of representation that people get when it's at a public defender's office is so much better than
[3:37:15] those court appointed lawyers, just a whole notion just reeks
[3:37:20] of a foul odor, the idea of a judge picking the lawyer to
[3:37:27] represent somebody accused of a crime in that courtroom. Nobody in their right mind would ever think the judge ought to
[3:37:34] pick the prosecutor, that is just not the way you get the
[3:37:39] justice. But commissioner ramsey, I'm waiting on you. I will do everything I can when
[3:37:43] we pass that fair defense. Stated the $113 billion biannual
[3:37:50] budget is much bigger now, but it is the first time the state put any money in indigent defense.
[3:37:56] it is a constitutional requirement. But we have to foot the bill. State just putting a nickel in
[3:38:04] in the general fund. And that bill comes from the f
[3:38:10] fee. It's a fee on people that want their day in court. And they were just using it,
[3:38:16] smoke and mirrors to balance the budget. So I swept the fund and put the money somewhere.
[3:38:22] it was just sitting there not being used. But that's an awful way to fund indigent defense, off the backs
[3:38:28] of people going into the system that want their day in court. I hope they make that change and it's an appropriate time to move
[3:38:34] the motion. >> I will second it.
[3:38:39] >> commissioner briones, ramsey and garcia.
[3:38:43] >> chief draper, and this last year, to see what you and your team have accomplished is deeply energizing and I have profound
[3:38:52] gratitude, thank you. Several things.
[3:38:57] first, I would love to hear just very briefly, in terms of
[3:39:01] outcome measures. So as we continue to grow, the amount of representation, how are we tracking exactly the
[3:39:12] outcome measures? Because to me it's clear as day, we get higher quality at lower cost with the public defender
[3:39:17] office, how are you tracking that? >> this office has a long history -- even though we are a
[3:39:22] young office, we have a history of tracking our outcomes. So we will continue to do that. We have phenomenal data analysts
[3:39:30] on our team who track time to disposition, length of time in
[3:39:37] jail, acquittals, dismissals, all of the things. We track those types of things and our office, in addition we
[3:39:42] will be adding more formalized evaluation process to make sure
[3:39:48] that it's not a moving target. Lawyers know what is expected of them and have an opportunity to achieve those goals.
[3:39:55] but we have regularly tracked that we generally put it out by
[3:39:59] report. But we have that information at the ready. >> and particularly, thank you
[3:40:04] for the holistic approach with which you do defense.
[3:40:08] to piggyback on what commissioner ellis was saying, we are waiting on the final draft from the auditor.
[3:40:14] but we requested yet another report, itemizing the private
[3:40:19] counsel that had been appointed. And there is usually around a
[3:40:24] dozen each year that make more than a million or right about a million. So we are paying more for less
[3:40:29] and they don't have the case caps. And that is deeply problematic from a quality of justice and
[3:40:34] deeply problematic from a fiduciary perspective and a
[3:40:39] planning perspective. So I cannot wait for us to hit this at least 50%. And I just appreciate the
[3:40:47] quality with which you represent these individuals. So my question is, just to confirm, my understanding is
[3:40:56] they are working to commissioner ellis's point in this bipartisanship, commissioner ramsey, that we will need when
[3:41:02] we have these private attorneys that I know one in particular,
[3:41:08] vouchered 1000 felony cases in fy24.
[3:41:13] 1000. And we need tons of improvement as to when the vouchers are due and this continuous oversight
[3:41:20] and transparency. We have many streams of work and progress that are indigent defense here in harris county
[3:41:26] and I look forward to executing all of the different levers. But my question to you is, could you please just, so that
[3:41:32] everyone is level set in terms of the case cap at your office, can you please remind us of that?
[3:41:39] >> sure. For felonies, our attorneys are kept at 128 cases and for misdemeanors it is 226.
[3:41:47] that is consistent with the standards that have been working for us thus far. >> and for clarity, we will get
[3:41:53] into it more when we have the final updated report from the auditor, but to be clear, these private attorneys who are being
[3:42:01] appointed, they are not subject to this case cap, correct? >> that is correct. >> and we have no insight to all
[3:42:07] of the other cases they are handling in other counties, and their own private practices, et cetera?
[3:42:15] correct? And   that is deeply problematic. Any thoughts?
[3:42:19] >> I make no secret to that. It is in the best interest of
[3:42:25] the county of people accused of crimes to have people with reasonable case laws. Because what is a fantastic
[3:42:31] lawyer can quickly become not a fantastic lawyer. And a terrible lawyer when they are overloaded.
[3:42:38] so I have a lot of interest in making sure that all attorneys
[3:42:42] are handling cases in an appropriate way. >> thank you for everything you do to provide quality defense
[3:42:48] and I cannot wait to hit 2031 and like the commissioner, I
[3:42:53] cannot wait to add the capital component as well that is so needed. And I thank you for your service
[3:42:58] and count me in 100%. >> thank you.
[3:43:03] >> thank you. >> commissioner ellis?
[3:43:07] commissioner ramsey and then commissioner garcia?
[3:43:13] >> thank you for -- I know you may be surprised on what I am about to say, thank you for the powerpoint.
[3:43:19] >> you're welcome. >> I normally don't think anybody for any kind of powerpoint but facts matter.
[3:43:26] and the most important thing than anything bipartisan, is
[3:43:31] being organized. And you are going to make that case really well. What we have now, unfortunately
[3:43:39] in harris county, is chaos. It is not any particular
[3:43:44] person's fault. But we find ourselves with an overloaded court system. People are spending far too much
[3:43:51] time in jail. I think one of the things I read
[3:43:56] in the constitution was a speedy trial. We are not doing a very good job on a speedy trial side of
[3:44:04] things. The people I visited with on occasion in the county jail, some of them have been there far
[3:44:09] too long. The court will decide their guilt or their innocence but no one should have to sit in jail
[3:44:16] as long as some of these folks have had to sit in jail.
[3:44:20] I think you were the key to making that more effective in
[3:44:25] terms of representation, the court, get the process moving. I know you were spending time with judges.
[3:44:32] and they are telling that there is a better way.
[3:44:36] I echo the concerns that commissioner briones has with
[3:44:43] the public sector. I was consulted for many years. I think there is a place for folks to come in from the public
[3:44:50] private sector and provide support. We shouldn't be running it. And at this point, I think
[3:45:00] mr. Ramos and I are extremely optimistic in terms of if we can
[3:45:05] get the courts organized at the dare I say it judges organized
[3:45:12] and how they invoice for attorney's fees, the process
[3:45:16] according to attorney's fees, we need to start tracking the number of cases that an attorney is handling.
[3:45:24] I know that if I was working for harris county doing engineering
[3:45:29] work, and I had 25 assignments at one time, using the same
[3:45:34] project manager, I would probably fire them.
[3:45:40] because there is enough effort to monitor what people do. It is very difficult to monitor the level of effort and the
[3:45:49] quality of effort that they do. So you are going to find a great
[3:45:55] bit of support, bipartisan support in trying to accomplish what you are doing. I think we've just got to keep
[3:46:03] our eye on the speedy trial part, keep our eye on the waste
[3:46:09] that is the nature of court appointed attorneys. Not saying any one of them necessarily wake up to do bad
[3:46:18] things, but when you are spending that much money over that. Of time, there is something I
[3:46:23] think that we can do better. Thank you chief.
[3:46:28] I look forward to this getting better every year. >> thank you. >> commissioner garcia?
[3:46:36] >> thank you again for your work. I wanted to number 1, just hear it from you, I know what's
[3:46:47] happening. But aside from capital, it's to make sure that we are growing or at least maintaining our
[3:46:57] immigration specialization capacity within your team.
[3:47:07] and I didn't see that spelled out but I know that it is
[3:47:12] happening. So can I just have you comment on that? >> sure.
[3:47:17] that is an ever increasing important part of our office, given all that is happening right now.
[3:47:22] people are in desperate need of making sure that they understand their exposure where it relates to their status here in this
[3:47:32] country. So we have an immigration division, that division currently does not provide
[3:47:37] direct representation, what they do provide is advice related to
[3:47:43] how a criminal case may affect their status. We provide that not only to attorneys within our office, we
[3:47:50] also provide that advice to private attorneys who submit a
[3:47:54] referral and have a question. So we do provide that as well to the private bar. In this particular fiscal year,
[3:48:01] we did not make an ask as you have heard, this is a tough year. So we did try and although a big
[3:48:07] ask, it is still a conservative ask based on all of the things that we need. So in this particular year, we
[3:48:12] did not have a specific ask to grow that division.
[3:48:17] but to your point it is well taken, we do need to make sure we keep pace and that we are able to continue to provide that
[3:48:23] very necessary advice to people accused of crimes.
[3:48:34] >> chief, just brief on this one. And I don't know if this is necessarily a question for you,
[3:48:40] I think it might be. But on the fact that we -- that
[3:48:44] there are still so many cases where the attorney is -- there
[3:48:52] are still so many attorneys that the county pays an enormous amount of money to. And on the other hand, we have
[3:48:59] this budget deficit and we know that is an area where as we improve indigent defense through the public defender's office, we
[3:49:05] are going to save some money. I see your piece of this, or
[3:49:10] your efforts here as being perhaps a piece of that goal.
[3:49:15] and I'm just wondering, what the other parts of that goal are. In other words, this is in your hands and it is in our hands to
[3:49:23] the extent that we support you and that we support you with the county budget, which I am committed to doing.
[3:49:29] but what else could we be doing independently of funding your office and your efforts in order to change that?
[3:49:37] >> this is a really large question.
[3:49:41] and I will try to answer it in some succinct ways. I do think that -- some people have asked when will we start to
[3:49:48] see some savings? What I can tell you is when you will start to see us take a larger percentage of cases.
[3:49:54] or when you can start to see us accepting fewer vouchers because we are handling those cases. There is not the same level of
[3:50:02] oversight in a felony case for what is happening with those
[3:50:08] vouchers. So I encourage you all to continue to work with our courts and we are doing the same and
[3:50:12] the other office is doing the same to try and get some support
[3:50:18] there for the private bar. Because I do think that is where we are going to start to see some efforts for efficiency
[3:50:27] purposes. I think if you look at the misdemeanor model, where the public defender works in tandem
[3:50:32] and there is no way to circumvent it because we have now automated it, the system works.
[3:50:38] you cannot go around it. So while there have been bumps in the road in building that, every important change is.
[3:50:46] but that is where we are going to see savings, that is where we are going to see better representation, that is where we
[3:50:51] will see quality and oversight and accountability. So I would say to really focus on how we get more support and
[3:51:00] oversight for the private bar. And the other area I am not in
[3:51:06] the business of necessarily championing every one, but there
[3:51:11] are some cross shared goals, is what I would say with some of our other stakeholders. We have some bottleneck
[3:51:17] happening at the jpc, so we are very supportive of pretrial services and making sure that they are supported in the way
[3:51:22] that they need to be there so that people are not housed there
[3:51:27] for longer than necessary. And the same for the ask about
[3:51:31] magistrates. That has been an ongoing issue, even dating back during my time in the judiciary and I do think
[3:51:37] that those salaries are no longer competitive enough to do what we need to do here in the county.
[3:51:43] so those are some areas that our office is invested in making
[3:51:48] sure that those areas are supported as well. So that the system works as well as it can for the people who
[3:51:54] have to encounter it. >> and maybe -- I. Don't know if you have this off the top of your head, director ramos or
[3:52:02] even chief, the amounts of the paper that I know did something on this, some of these attorneys that the judges select, they are
[3:52:11] getting paid -- it's like -- am I right, it's upwards of a million dollars in some cases? Or did that get corrected?
[3:52:19] >> that is correct, there are some attorneys that are at a million dollar plus. But we also don't know how much
[3:52:25] they have in private clients. >> right. So that is almost like -- that is just us, right?
[3:52:34] and so I do think -- we were talking earlier about a
[3:52:40] particular legal case being unique. And I think that there is some -- some tangential parallel here
[3:52:54] and that a million dollars for attorneys that are representing
[3:52:59] people whose freedom is at stake, who might not have done
[3:53:04] what is being said they did and then us having to pay that amount of money when we are facing a structural deficit, it
[3:53:12] just seems like something that we really should tackle more in
[3:53:17] earnest. So I am just wondering if jay or
[3:53:21] team, if there is anything in here that we can use this opportunity to make a motion or direct that the folks that are
[3:53:29] working on the criminal justice issues, really dig in on this.
[3:53:34] and what we as a commissioners court can do. And I would say perhaps ahead of the budget discussions, is this
[3:53:42] a way to find savings? Or something we can start now that will produce savings next year.
[3:53:50] because not only is it really just wrong and wasteful, but it
[3:53:56] also is a low-hanging fruit when we are in a tough financial
[3:54:02] position. So is that possible? Are you already working together on that?
[3:54:06] what can we do? >> I would say there's a lot of work with the stakeholders to try and come up with some
[3:54:13] solutions here. What I will say is that I think a really important step is investing in the space.
[3:54:18] because as you have all identified, this bill has to get
[3:54:22] paid. Is a constitutionally required cost. So we are going to pay it
[3:54:27] regardless, because it is required. So to invest here allows you to be able to predict your cost
[3:54:35] from year to year, instead of the surprise bill. Right now when you think about representing 22% of the
[3:54:44] population. But if we are properly funded over the next several years as we have laid out in our
[3:54:49] strategic plan, then we could be at 50%. That way you don't have as big of a guess.
[3:54:55] there will still be some, we need to focus on how we get oversight of the other side. But I think this is a huge step
[3:55:03] in the right direction, to make sure that you sink your money
[3:55:07] into the predictable cost. And I will just say, I have to
[3:55:13] add that we appreciate the support, we appreciate the runway. But that runway depends on the
[3:55:19] support. The budgetary support. If the budgetary support isn't there for whatever reason, we just can't do it in a particular year.
[3:55:26] then that means that slows the growth. So these projections are based on plans to grow and hire.
[3:55:33] so I want to make that caveat. >> quick question on that point.
[3:55:39] I am hearing you that to the extent that we support you, we are also kind of taking from that problematic system and
[3:55:46] giving it to a system that is much more transparent and to the
[3:55:50] extent that we are able to provide some oversight over that, then that is great as well.
[3:55:57] what about -- what about us decreasing or limiting the
[3:56:05] ability of cases to go through that problematic path? Is that at all a possibility? >> what I will say to that is
[3:56:15] that the way it is set up in misdemeanor court right now is the best example of that. When somebody qualifies for
[3:56:22] counsel, the courts decide that they will be appointed counsel and then they are out. It is automated at that point.
[3:56:28] >> in commissioners court we couldn't decide that. That was incredible work by you and other judges when you were
[3:56:34] there. But is there something the court can decide on? >> you all cannot control that.
[3:56:40] that will need to be the stakeholders involved in the criminal legal system. And those conversations are
[3:56:45] being had. I don't want to misrepresent that. But those conversations are being had. But those conversations are
[3:56:50] going to have to manifest into action for us to really start to
[3:56:55] see the progress that we have seen in misdemeanor courts. >> it takes a lot of courage to tie up the hands and I hope the
[3:57:04] judges -- add their fabulous -- they also do this.
[3:57:09] that's what I had. But I echo the comments, I think this is great, I'm really excited.
[3:57:15] and the public defender's office is stronger and stronger. More people will want to come intern and work there so it is
[3:57:21] all just a really positive cycle. So yes. >> thank you.
[3:57:28] >> thank you chief. We have motions, commissioner ellis and I have a couple motions and he asked me to read
[3:57:36] his. Motion that the public defender's office in accordance with its august sixth, 2026
[3:57:43] strategic plan increase its capacity to take at least 50% of
[3:57:48] indigent defense case appointments by 2031, as the
[3:57:52] office expands, it should ensure that best practices are met,
[3:57:57] including workloads standards, training, provision of holistic
[3:58:01] services, recruitment and retention efforts.
[3:58:08] >> second. >> commissioner I. Just read.
[3:58:13] so there is a motion by commissioner briones, seconded by commissioner ramsey, all in favor?
[3:58:19] any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. >> there's one more. We'll be so exciting in 2031,
[3:58:24] chief draper, that will be the 20th anniversary. And it will be your five year anniversary as our chief public
[3:58:32] defender. And the second motion is motion to direct, please, the harris county public defender's
[3:58:38] office and the office of managed assigned counsel we will hear from next, to please provide an annual update on their strategic
[3:58:45] plans to commissioners court by august 15th of each year, every
[3:58:50] year through 2031. >> motion by commissioner,
[3:58:54] seconded. All in favor? Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously.
[3:59:01] >> thanks again, phenomenal work. >> thank you all for your time and your support.
[3:59:07] >> thank you. >> director brown?
[3:59:13] >> good afternoon commissioners. Commissioners court,.ca, director carter, office of management and budget.
[3:59:25] >> go ahead, thank you. >> thank you for this opportunity to present our five year strategic plan for the
[3:59:31] office of manage assigned counsel. My name is portia brown and I want to take just a quick moment
[3:59:36] to thank our staff. We are a small staff, but we are lean and we are mean and we are getting work done.
[3:59:43] additionally, I also want to thank our appointed panel attorneys that are in the courthouse every single day,
[3:59:48] fighting for their clients. We have grown our list to 225
[3:59:52] attorneys, as well as 40 investigators and every single day they are out there being efficient and effective.
[4:00:00] additionally, I want to make sure to thank some of our partners that came and spoke today on behalf of the mac
[4:00:06] earlier during public comment. Specifically the harris center,
[4:00:11] directors sykes and jones came here and discussed how great it is that we have holistic resources for some of those
[4:00:16] private attorneys in the misdemeanor courts. So we are very thankful to our county partners as well as our
[4:00:22] community partners. Next slide.
[4:00:27] a few things today that I want to go over. I know we are close to 5:00, I want to make sure we hit on our
[4:00:34] strategic initiatives as well as some of our metrics and our timeline. Next
[4:00:42] >> the way we see it at mac, is by 2031, our vision, we, along
[4:00:48] with our harris county stakeholders, will elevate the defense to be on par with state averages, as well as to the
[4:00:55] highest level of service efficiency among comparable programs nationwide. And we have our guiding
[4:00:59] principles. Something I want to make sure to note, it is client to center representation.
[4:01:05] that's those holistic services you used to get someone a social worker. To get them an investigator.
[4:01:10] to make sure they have that advisable opinion. As well as accountability when it comes to the work we are
[4:01:17] doing. And additionally stakeholder engagement. Next line.
[4:01:24] so, our initiatives that we planned out for the next years
[4:01:29] directly reflect back to the ones that harris county have
[4:01:33] established. For example, reducing reliance on court aborted council, expanding the effectiveness of the efficiency of mac-pdo, as well as revamping the holistic
[4:01:42] point system and revamping those services. Let's discuss a few of those initiatives that relate erectly
[4:01:47] back to the mac. Next slide.
[4:01:51] first, and the thing that I am most excited for, as a 10-year public defender, is to talk about expanding our training
[4:01:59] levels for those 225 attorneys. And as we plan to expand our
[4:02:03] list, we want to make sure that not only are our-- are our
[4:02:09] attorneys trained, but also the investigators. Additionally, we are moving towards-- excuse me.
[4:02:14] we are moving in to including valuations for attorneys.
[4:02:20] and so, in that process, we plan on reaching out to the
[4:02:24] judiciary. Working with focus groups within the local bar, as well as our advisory board.
[4:02:29] so we want to make sure we have the best of the best when it
[4:02:34] comes to attorneys in harris county.
[4:02:39] secondly, when it comes to initiative number 3, broadening access, we want to look at language access.
[4:02:43] we want to make sure we have social workers that speak
[4:02:48] spanish and other languages. In addition to that, we want to
[4:02:52] decrease our turnaround time when we do get those requests for attorneys. Meaning that when you request a
[4:02:58] social worker on monday, we want to make sure that you don't have to reset your case. You don't have to keep people in
[4:03:04] jail for and additional day. And we have a quick turnaround on the services so folks can get what they need, come back to
[4:03:12] court, and also hopefully not come back again. Third, I want to highlight our enhancement of the appointment
[4:03:19] and review system, as well as internal audits. I know audits are an exciting thing to talk about.
[4:03:24] but I have to say that it has been wonderful, because we had tremendous assistance from the district court staff,
[4:03:33] administrators, who have been working with our office to streamline things. They have been helping with our
[4:03:39] appointment system and our voucher review system. So we are thankful to the district court offices.
[4:03:44] I would also like to note and highlight that our misdemeanor
[4:03:48] attorney appointment-- appointment system delivers fair and unbiased appointments. And it's been doing so the last
[4:03:53] five years in spirit with the defense act. I would be remiss to not note that everything we plan to do in
[4:04:01] the next five years is a part of our overall justice ecosystem.
[4:04:05] meaning, when you affect one part, it affect something else.
[4:04:11] -- it affects something else. I want to echo what chief draper
[4:04:16] said. Number 1, when it comes to developers for the district court staff administration that help us improve our systems to make sure that we provide
[4:04:23] unbiased appointments, we want to make sure that that also happens. That if there-- that there are
[4:04:29] service officers that need to have more staff who-- so that they can do the financial affidavit, so our clients are
[4:04:35] not delay in getting to court and getting processed out. That's important as well. And additionally with the
[4:04:41] magistrate just sit-- judges, that is important to ensure we
[4:04:46] are processing quickly and efficiently-- efficiently. Next slide. So I want to talk a little bit
[4:04:52] about mac-pdo, and what we call the model system in the misdemeanor courts. So, over time, currently in
[4:04:58] july, the mac has increased their share to 34%.
[4:05:04] and what we have seen is that over the last couple of months, we have been able to look at what are the technology
[4:05:11] improvements that need to happen to ensure that this happens as seen look-- seamlessly as possible.
[4:05:16] but one of the things that mac needs to make sure we can get clients to their attorneys as fast as possible.
[4:05:21] whether that be public defenders or mac attorneys. So that is why, in a few slides, you will hear me as for and
[4:05:28] assignment specialist, that is someone that does that appointment process and ensures that those cases that are
[4:05:33] typically automated that get to the attorney, the ones that
[4:05:37] cannot be, the manual system, those are happening at just as fast of a rate, so that we can ensure we are as efficient with
[4:05:43] our time as possible. And I also want to make sure to
[4:05:49] note here that when it comes to the mac-pdo and reaching parity
[4:05:55] with our mac appointed assignments in the near future, that kind of system is going to equal out to be a fixed cost for
[4:06:05] the pdo, the mac being an additional cost, and the mac will serve as a shock absorber for additional cases.
[4:06:12] let's say you have an attorney from the pdo, who has reached their caseload max. The mac can come in.
[4:06:20] maybe at specialized our spanish kate-- speaking. And they will be a shock absorber, based on supply and
[4:06:25] demand. And that is another reason why this system is ideal. Next slide.
[4:06:35] I want to talk a little bit about hours-- holistic services.
[4:06:45] since 2024, our social services have gone up 47%.
[4:06:49] our investigative services have gone up to 50 percent, and our immigration services have increased by 6% thus far.
[4:06:56] whenever we are doing any kind of this work, it is important to
[4:07:00] look at the supply and demand. That way we can ensure that, number 1, we are making sure that our attorneys have
[4:07:06] everything they need and the tools they need, and we can ensure that service delivery happens as fast as possible.
[4:07:12] you will hear me say that frequently in this presentation. Because every time an attorney has to wait, that's a court
[4:07:18] reset. Another date in jail. Another dollar that harris county does not need to
[4:07:22] spend. And so, another thing that is important is that our social services, we try to rely upon
[4:07:30] other county partners and community partners as much as we can so that 1 dollar in harris county can be spent
[4:07:35] multiple ways, and with different departments.
[4:07:39] for example, we rely upon our connections with county partners
[4:07:43] like public health. Harris center. Harris county rides, and our community partners like the
[4:07:47] beacon and the coalition for homelessness. Next slide. So let us look at effectiveness.
[4:07:57] thus far, since 2022, the mac has been able to keep a steady
[4:08:02] rate of dismissals at 68%. And so, the effectiveness that
[4:08:07] we looked at as a mac office is going to be measured by increase
[4:08:11] and-- in dismissed cases, holding all the variables the
[4:08:15] same. And secondly, we make sure to look at disposition time. So previously noted, there was a
[4:08:20] lot of questions about how long does it take for a case to get
[4:08:25] resolved. We also review that. And since 2022 we have seen a reduction to 44%.
[4:08:30] next slide. Let's look at efficiency.
[4:08:38] on efficiency, since q3 in 2025 year to date we have seen a one
[4:08:42] million-dollar reduction in total cost, and we have seen
[4:08:47] decreases in three of our four high cost voucher categories.
[4:08:52] in this graph you will see that we have broken down the top ten
[4:08:56] voucher categories for misdemeanor cases only. But it is still very important-- important information we can use
[4:09:03] moving forward. At the end of the day, when we are looking at performance for attorneys, we look at
[4:09:11] effectiveness and efficiency. So that efficiency is average cost per case compared to state and nationwide standards.
[4:09:17] next slide. So the next five years.
[4:09:26] and we have presented this slide before because it creates a road map on our goal to get to the national gold standard for mac
[4:09:34] offices. So we want to make sure we have the strongest foundation possible.
[4:09:40] this year we are focusing on stakeholder engagement, our attorney evaluation system, and looking at new and innovative
[4:09:46] kpi's. Next year we are moving in to a structured feedback system where we can get responses from all 16
[4:09:54] words, as well as targeted staffing expansions that help us
[4:09:59] continue for effectiveness and efficiency.
[4:10:03] and in year three, we are expanding our holistic capacity. We want to make sure we have language access for social
[4:10:09] services. And lastly, we want to make sure that our fh-- officinalis and-- efficient and effectiveness is
[4:10:19] up to 10%. That's a high goal, but I hope we can get there. Next slide, I want to highlight
[4:10:30] for the commissioners court some of our high impact ser's.
[4:10:35] the largest are a wide's. And we believe that's that person connecting the client with the cases.
[4:10:41] and addressing some of the manual cases that need to be appointed because the public to pender-- public defenders
[4:10:47] offices act is at capacity or we have to make sure that clients get to eternity's-- attorneys. And second, a resource attorney.
[4:10:54] that is someone that will help us evaluate our attorneys to make sure they are effective and efficient.
[4:11:10] >> I think we should continue this discussion. >> all in favor? Any opposed?
[4:11:16] motion carried. >> and those resources, we hope the capacity is large enough so that they can second chair.
[4:11:23] so instead of having to pay for second chair attorneys, we will be able to provide so our attorneys are supported.
[4:11:29] in the future we want to make sure that we do highlight that
[4:11:33] we plan to request a bilingual social worker in the future.
[4:11:41] enclosing, the mac strategic plan delivers measurable improvements in quality, timeliness, efficiency and
[4:11:46] equity. With your continued support we can achieve the national gold standard envision for
[4:11:52] harris county and improve outcomes for those who depend on this defense. Thank you very much.
[4:11:58] I am available for question. >> thank you. Commissioner briones. >> director brown.
[4:12:04] thank you for the project to have led. This is deeply energizing. We are so lucky to have you at
[4:12:08] the helm of our mac. And chief draper at the helm of
[4:12:13] our pdo office. Thank you for being so thorough and clear. My question, something that has
[4:12:18] been weighing on me, is how the local rules were changed before
[4:12:26] you took your position? I have great respect for a
[4:12:33] judiciary, and I have great respect for the mac, and the
[4:12:38] fundamental need for it to have it's independence. And I know that you have been incredibly collaborative with
[4:12:42] the judiciary. And have been trying to work through. So my question is-- without
[4:12:49] further commentary, have those local rules, which I believe
[4:12:53] undermine the independence of the mac, have those been
[4:12:58] amended? >> so, they have not been amended completely. We have been working with the
[4:13:05] judiciary often. Weekly. Almost daily meetings with the judges and as a group to address
[4:13:11] individual rules one at a time. So we are also addressing the total local rules there and they are open and leaning in.
[4:13:19] and we are having discussions. And they are discussions that
[4:13:24] are based on actual information exchange and collaboration. Which is ideal. Because there maybe things that
[4:13:29] we want to see as a mac office included in their defense plan.
[4:13:35] so that has been one benefit. We can get our commentary and say, hey, we know you feel this way on a plan of operations, but
[4:13:42] let us see what else we can do to effect meaningful change for
[4:13:47] both systems. So we are not there yet completely. But we are taking it one by one.
[4:13:52] and I have had really good progress.
[4:13:56] >> again, that is because of your leadership, and I appreciate it. And find those win-win's.
[4:14:05] I'm all for collaboration and communication. And approaching everything in a great spirit of partnership.
[4:14:12] 100%. And some of that language is just deeply problematic with regards to the independence.
[4:14:16] so I know you are working through thing by thing. To me, that is contrary to the very essence of what a mac is.
[4:14:25] and I know we have been in discussions.
[4:14:31] but I am all into do anything that we need to do to make sure that you are able to truly run the briones-- the mac with the
[4:14:39] independence that it needs. And I know everything you have done, and everything you will do.
[4:14:45] and I look forward to 2031. >> thank you so much. Looking forward to it too. >> anybody else?
[4:14:52] commissioner garcia. >> thank you. Thank you so much for your work. I just want to say, thank you
[4:15:02] for taking through the specialization of immigration
[4:15:08] attorneys that need to be thought of. Over the years I have heard of so many cases being made more
[4:15:15] complicated and harder to represent because the wrong attorney got involved in a case that needed someone with some
[4:15:26] degree of specialty. So I appreciate the work that you are doing there. And I had an appointment to the
[4:15:35] mac. And he has since stepped down. If you could, and you don't have to do it today.
[4:15:43] if you could, please send out the qualifications that are
[4:15:49] required for folks to serve on the board, and they commissioner
[4:15:55] to help you and any vacancies that you might have as well.
[4:16:00] >> will do. >> thank you.
[4:16:06] and I just want to thank you. Commissioner-- from here until
[4:16:15] now, and commissioner ellis took this on way before, but it's impressive and heartening. Thank you so much.
[4:16:23] >> thank you. >> thank you. Good job. >> thank you, dr. Brown.
[4:16:29] >> I kind of wanted to clap when you guys were done. You and chief draper. It's really wonderful.
[4:16:34] thank you so much. >> is there any action on this item? Thank you.
[4:16:41] >> so, then we are looking at the-- we are looking at the
[4:16:47] real estate assets. >> back to one.
[4:16:53] >> number 1, judge . >> and that one has 313 as well. They go together. And commissioner ellis is the
[4:17:00] one who wanted to talk about it? >> was this one that I pulled?
[4:17:19] I let it go. You have all beat me down. I am tired. >> just let it go.
[4:17:24] all right. That is one and...  And 313.
[4:17:32] so we will just have no action online? >> we are requesting action. You can take no action.
[4:17:44] >> all push that one through. >> what is presented. Is there a motion? >> I would like some comments
[4:17:49] before we get there. I know this is not steps.
[4:17:57] is 313 the committee? >> I think so.
[4:18:02] >> 313 as hybrid sites. Item one is surplus property for
[4:18:09] the general fund fy27 budget. >> where are you trying to set
[4:18:14] up the committee? >> it is 313. The process to identify assets and to recommend to
[4:18:20] commissioners court...  Made up of designated commissioners
[4:18:29] courts members to identify-- >> the lca motion is motion to direct oca, oce, omb, to convene a surplus property workgroup
[4:18:41] with court staff as voting members to identify high value
[4:18:47] underutilize real estate assets to recommend to commissioners court for the usurp-- surplus property sale by september
[4:18:57] 17th, fiscal year 27 general budget. >> short-term committee, ending that date.
[4:19:04] >> she has read my mind again. The only comment I would have
[4:19:11] here, rather than have a committee, short-term as it is,
[4:19:17] oca, ocd, oab, to me it would make more sense for the commissioner whose precinct the property is in to work with the
[4:19:27] director of omb, and the county administrator, a three-person
[4:19:34] committee, to make decisions on what is done.
[4:19:39] that gets a decision-maker in a room with other decision-makers and they are making decisions. I think if we set up a working
[4:19:46] group we are going to be working on that from now until kingdom come. >> I second that motion.
[4:19:56] you don't need us to set up a working group. If you want to make sure we get out the dime-- some of the stuff
[4:20:02] on the list we cannot sell anyway. One that franco is using, I am still using.
[4:20:08] that's not going anywhere. >> that's why this precinct is
[4:20:15] going to be that committee-- for documents a property, is going to be the commissioner, the county administrator, and
[4:20:22] our budget officer getting in a room and making a decision. >> we can do that. The only downside is if the
[4:20:28] commissioner were to decide no, I don't want to sell any property on my committee and we don't get the $25 million number
[4:20:36] that is currently a placeholder in the budget, then we are going to have a-- have to identify somebody else.
[4:20:45] >> we paid a consultant money to identify property. Is that correct? >> yes, sir,.
[4:20:50] >> okay. We have someone that is out there saying we think this would be good property to cell.
[4:20:56] so all I am saying is that we already paid a consultant.
[4:21:00] on expert. More than an expert than anybody in these departments to provide that menu of these options.
[4:21:08] >> your model is much more linear, but we are not able to get-- if we are not able to get that 25 million, I would have to
[4:21:15] come back. >> so I would say that might happen, but not-- put it on the agenda and say the commission
[4:21:20] voted no. One is that property they bought
[4:21:24] out they are-- what's the name of that? Pyrmont. -- pine montt.
[4:21:31] and I take the heat for housing. People are still mad at me
[4:21:40] because I put affordable housing out there because it's something they need. Their mad at me because I put a
[4:21:45] storage facility out there. For them to throw stuff away.
[4:21:50] but just bring it back if it is a problem. And we paid a consultant they full 500,000, 300,000?
[4:22:01] >> last. All get you the exact number.
[4:22:06] >> all do this quick motion. Motion-- we don't need a space
[4:22:12] planning committee. Just make sure if you serve plus
[4:22:17] property that it's now being used by the county department.
[4:22:22] resolve that with the precinct, and we certainly can't go sale where the old jail was. That's where the courthouse will
[4:22:28] go one day. So they want to retain it for
[4:22:33] get-- they want to retain it to get a commission.
[4:22:40] >> I hear each commissioner having a say on this. But maybe some of these could have served or surveyed
[4:22:45] countywide purpose. So I would also like to be involved. Will it come to court
[4:22:50] ultimately? >> ultimately it would need to
[4:22:55] come to court. >> $25 million, they all have to come to court. If you get $25 million, I'll buy
[4:23:01] you a rib dinner. I know a bit about balancing
[4:23:06] budget. >> one of your staffers from the state said you guys have italian suits.
[4:23:12] so we can talk about dinner. >> don't talk about my suit.
[4:23:18] it looks good though, doesn't it?
[4:23:22] >> yeah. Anyway. I-- I don't love it. >> you can put it together and
[4:23:27] it will be part of the budget briefings that we do now. >> and just so you know, I will be asking what we will be using
[4:23:33] it for if we were not selling it.
[4:23:38] so, yes. Anyway. Do we need a motion there? >> ramsey, I will second your
[4:23:45] motion. >> all right. >> motion by commissioner ramsey.
[4:23:50] >> could you repeated. >> motion to create a three-member working group with county administrator
[4:23:57] director ramos, was standing commissioners in the third seat
[4:24:01] rotating as identified by the real estate asset.
[4:24:06] >> if the commission doesn't show up, put it on the agenda to be approved. >> second.
[4:24:12] >> can I have a nonvoting staff member or something. Would you object-- object to that?
[4:24:16] okay. Thank you. >> so we are going to add-- >> a nonvoting staff member from
[4:24:23] the judges office. >> thank you.
[4:24:33] we have a motion, a second. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries.
[4:24:40] >> you have two other motion. >> was that item one or item 313. >> just to be clear, you will
[4:24:48] bring all these recommendations to court by when? We can target the goal we. >> given the time sensitivity
[4:24:54] and the with fact that we need this funding in fiscal year 27,
[4:25:01] we should have the list done by september 28th. Far before the budget, ideally. >> thank you.
[4:25:06] I know you will do better th than...  I have great faith.
[4:25:13] >> you know which ones are controversial and which ones are not. >> thank you.
[4:25:22] >> are there any on 313? >> administrator carter, could
[4:25:32] do very quickly please recap the difference between what we just talked about versus hybrid? >> sure.
[4:25:42] and basically when putting assets together in 2024, there
[4:25:49] was a yield which was to sell for some revenue, maybe the
[4:25:53] highest, and the hybrid, which had strong committee benefit,
[4:26:00] housing, part, trail and potential small business incubators on land and have other uses.
[4:26:06] so this is to restart that process because there was a pause. And come back with a plan not to
[4:26:12] select every address and figure out what we are going to put on
[4:26:17] that land, but to restart it because there was a long pause
[4:26:22] and there has been no forward motion on that part of the-- how
[4:26:27] we could reimagine certain parcels of land.
[4:26:34] >> a p-a-w. >> yes.
[4:26:43] >> so do we have a motion for that one. >> is that approved as presented? Administrator carter? >> yes.
[4:26:53] >> thank you, director kostas. >> I moved 313 to move as
[4:27:00] presented. >> all in favor we any opposed?
[4:27:05] the motion carried unanimously. Thank you.
[4:27:09] >> administrator you are going to be sure these are sharp meetings and not many of them. >> director kostas will.
[4:27:17] >> thank you. >> okay.
[4:27:21] so we have item three on pcn, commissioner ramsey, flagged
[4:27:26] that one-- flagged that one. Strategic hiring consumptions
[4:27:35] for pcns and nonrelated departments.
[4:27:41] three commissioners. >> so we are moving right along.
[4:27:47] >> motion by commissioner ellis. Second by commissioner briones.
[4:27:52] all in favor? Opposed? Motion carried unanimously. Five goes with 329.
[4:28:04] >> I think we've covered this. Are you good?
[4:28:09] I read done you earlier. >> do you need any action on either of these? >> no, judge.
[4:28:16] >> so, item five is nonaction, and item 329 is no action.
[4:28:21] then item eight, the mobility budget and funding plan,
[4:28:27] commissioner ramsey? >> I think the item's discussion
[4:28:37] of possible action to prove fiscal year 27 mobility budget and funding plan for office county engineer, and I
[4:28:46] think the motion for that-- >> commissioner, I got it.
[4:28:58] motion to fully fund the oed's mobility budget at 24.9 million. And direct oh mds to budget transfers from the
[4:29:07] preallegations to oce to make the funds available at the outset cleared 27 to be used for eligible projects under section
[4:29:15] 284 dodd 031, transportation hub. >> did you add 44.9? >> motion by commissioner
[4:29:26] ramsey. Second by commissioner garcia. I see commissioner garcia's hand up. Go-ahead. >> you are good.
[4:29:32] I was just making sure to support the item. >> thank you. Motion by ramsey. Second by garcia. [indiscernible]
[4:29:42] >> go-ahead. >> the other thing we need to
[4:29:47] add is that the precinct has been fully informed that be for the transfer occurs, what the money will be spent for.
[4:29:54] I think that's consistent, we need to know what this money is
[4:30:00] spent on. >> commissioner ramsey, I'm glad
[4:30:06] you are saying that, because that's also been my point in why
[4:30:11] I made the changes to the investment policy.
[4:30:15] whenever we are doing a mobility transfer, it needs to come to court before anyone decides it should be put in investment.
[4:30:23] >> for example, I am just now finding out where the money was spent for fiscal year '26 from the county engineer's office.
[4:30:33] so, august 2026 is not the find out-- not the time to find out
[4:30:41] where your money is being spent. We need to know in october of 2026 what the money will be spent for in 2027.
[4:30:50] and, director, I don't think-- it should be pretty straightforward. If I understand the plan.
[4:31:02] >> commissioner, absolutely, we will provide you the information. You already have the information
[4:31:07] for the spending and where the division is going and what were doing. So if you need additional information we are happy to provide it.
[4:31:14] >> it's projects are going to be done. >> absolutely. >> okay.
[4:31:20] so it's just as director ramos has read. And the precinct has been fully informed before october 1st
[4:31:29] 2026. >> commissioner, one more caveat, a lot of the times the projects get initiated in the
[4:31:35] middle of the fiscal year. So we will not be able to tell
[4:31:39] you what projects, because the money is still in your bank
[4:31:44] account for what projects we are working on today.
[4:31:49] so free talk about staffing resources, right now there are some does it-- dedicated staffs for your precinct, for example
[4:31:57] the capital projects. You have 24 staff dedicated to
[4:32:02] you. 200 staff dedicated to commissioner ellis. A lot of the staff are moving
[4:32:08] from one place to another place when the job is there. When you do a permit and an expansion-- inspection for
[4:32:13] example. So we don't know when the inspection will be required when the permit goes end.
[4:32:18] so we can give you in general what the volume we do, and how we do, how we do last year. But it would be difficult for us
[4:32:25] to tell you we will be working for this particular project. Because we don't even know what projects you guys are going to
[4:32:33] issue. >> I guess my only point is, because, properly this money needs to be properly accounted
[4:32:42] for, and being sure that it is spent on transportation related
[4:32:46] projects. The documentation needs to be there. I am willing to work with
[4:32:52] the county engineer's office with the details. But the conversation needs to be had on october 1st, 2026, not
[4:32:59] august the 27th. >> understood.
[4:33:04] >> so, can we just approved as presented? >> I have a question. >> commissioner briones.
[4:33:11] >> I am very supportive of the motion and I could not agree more. Every single dollar mobility
[4:33:18] fund must be used for the eligible projects under section
[4:33:26] 284.0331 under the transportation code. And I appreciate the collaboration between all the
[4:33:31] departments. The progress has been excellent in terms of coding, recording, et cetera.
[4:33:37] my question to you, and mainly to commissioner ramsey.
[4:33:42] it says to execute budget transfers from the precinct mobility allocations, I remain deeply committed to the mobility
[4:33:50] formula. Commissioner ramsey, that you designed and we past unanimously in 2025.
[4:33:56] the mobility formula? >> I'm familiar.
[4:34:02] >> so from the precinct's mobility allocations, to be clear, is that transfer in accordance with that formula, or
[4:34:10] did you envision-- >> the emotion has been made to
[4:34:15] fully find oce fiscal year 27 mobility budget at 44.09 million
[4:34:19] per precinct. >> divided between the precinct.
[4:34:26] >> divided between the precincts. So I wanted to confirm-- >> last year it was an even
[4:34:33] contribution by each precinct. That's how we would do it unless
[4:34:38] otherwise obstructed. >> I think that's how we always
[4:34:42] do it. >> but then we switched to a funding formula. I want to be consistent and
[4:34:47] transparent and in accordance so there is not later confusion.
[4:34:52] so my question is, when we use the words, precincts, mobility,
[4:35:00] allocations to oc, I understand the totality.
[4:35:05] and now that we have this formula, are we going to do it via the formula, or for this it's okay to default back?
[4:35:12] I want to make sure we are on the same page.
[4:35:16] >> is the issue how would we do it proportionate?
[4:35:21] is that we were suggesting? >> if the question is the 44.09,
[4:35:29] that the precinct place a higher percentage on the transfer
[4:35:36] because I have more roads to complete, in theory I guess that
[4:35:41] looks good. In practice I'm not sure it is.
[4:35:54] number 1 your talent director would be reminded he is supposed
[4:36:00] to spend a more proportionate time doing projects in precinct
[4:36:04] three. If we are going to do that, my expectation has just gone up 30%.
[4:36:09] >> I just want to make sure we are on the same page, commissioner ramsey. So it is a question to you.
[4:36:16] I remain committed to the formula in terms of the allocation. What mobility dollars each
[4:36:20] precinct gets is based on road miles, condition, the formula
[4:36:25] designed and that you past unanimously. So I want clarity and with the cost associated, how are we
[4:36:34] framing it? I don't want light between us when we go together and make sure we are on the same page
[4:36:38] with regard to the mobility dollars. So I want to make sure to ask you what your preference was and
[4:36:46] interpretation of this language of the motion, which I find unclear. >> and again, the thought would
[4:36:53] be that each precinct would need about the same amount of help
[4:36:59] from the county engineer's office. And if it is anticipated that commissioner ellis--
[4:37:06] >> who gets the least amount of money. So you have to do as much work on the least amount.
[4:37:12] are you doing that on somebody who gets more? I'm just asking a question. >> if, in fact, that's how we
[4:37:18] are going to do it, then the doctor would be waking up
[4:37:24] preparing to do a lot less of your precinct than my precinct.
[4:37:28] >> he's going to have a whole lot less money to spend in my precinct. But if you can do more work with
[4:37:32] less money I'm for it. If you give me more roads and
[4:37:36] less money I'm for it. >> I think the needs and the precinct in terms of signals are set.
[4:37:41] >> but if it may help, we have done economic-- economic
[4:37:47] analysis to see how much needs to be spent, and there is a
[4:37:51] significant variance from one precinct to another precinct.
[4:38:00] it depends on the project. If you do 100 million in your
[4:38:05] precinct this year and 100 million next year, of course
[4:38:09] you're providing support. And in the recent allocations,
[4:38:18] our project looked fairly even. Not exactly to the.. But there's not a significant amount of variance.
[4:38:28] >> so last year the 180 million in mobility, the actor transfer to mobility was dover in accordance with doctrine.
[4:38:35] to the deal. And last year the commissioners
[4:38:41] funded roughly $36 million to the commissioners court that was divided equally. So the court wants to do
[4:38:46] something other than that, we would need a motion here. Which is part of the reason we put this item on.
[4:38:52] so-- we are going to continue to do it that way.
[4:38:56] and others will do it that way unless directed otherwise.
[4:39:02] >> I have a final comment. >> go ahead commissioner garcia. And commissioner briones. >> thank you.
[4:39:09] thank you dr. Ramon for your work. And I guess, commissioner briones and I are trying to get
[4:39:13] to the same place. Commissioner ramsey.
[4:39:17] we adopted a formula and I wanted to make sure we are being consistent with how mobility is being separated.
[4:39:28] >> it is all about the amount of effort that the county engineer's office will put forth in each precinct.
[4:39:36] you just heard the county engineer say he put forth about the same effort in all four precincts.
[4:39:45] now with the county engineer going forward, we need him to do 2% of his effort in precinct three.
[4:39:50] 20% precinct one. And 25% precinct six.
[4:39:58] four and two, that's where we can tell him. It's about providing direction to the county engineer.
[4:40:03] where he spends his time and his money.
[4:40:09] >> you think you would do roughly a fourth of each precinct this coming year as well.
[4:40:15] >> that, commissioner I do think is going to be-- >> I would suggest let it go for now.
[4:40:20] but assuming it changes. But leave it as is.
[4:40:24] >> commissioner garcia, did you put your hand up again? >> I apologize. I did have a more question.
[4:40:30] I know you're talking about mobility. We pulled 325-- can we hold 325 for discussion?
[4:40:37] >> it's bold. >> thank you.
[4:40:45] >> I am completely fine doing the 25% split with regard to
[4:40:49] these transfers. And committed to falling-- are
[4:40:55] you okay? >> yes.
[4:40:59] >> I didn't know if you are choking. The formula remains intact and committed to for the allocation
[4:41:06] of mobility. It's 100%. Correct? >> the interesting thing,
[4:41:11] according to form, precincts two and four is the same whether you do it equally or proportionately they won person in the room
[4:41:21] that's going to be last-- if we want them spending more time in
[4:41:29] three then one, we can do that. But right now it's equally
[4:41:33] split. And it made the most sense. >> I'm fine with equally split. For us it's not about the number
[4:41:39] in precinct four. It's about consistency and
[4:41:43] making sure being transparent with all of our partners here and across the county, and with the state and the city.
[4:41:53] >> this is the deal you worked on. So I'll live with it. I have a seat at the table.
[4:42:01] >> the formula was passed unanimously. We were all here in 2025 for the mobility formula.
[4:42:08] so these annual oac expenses, what we are voting on, is to keep the precedent of the four way split.
[4:42:16] >> it's one of those threes that turns into five. I'm just saying now. >> is there a motion?
[4:42:30] >> I second the motion that commissioner ramsey made. >> as presented? Is that what I'm hearing?
[4:42:36] >> yes. >> the one I read with the
[4:42:41] addition of commissioner ramsey. >> do you have that? Or do we need to read it again. >> it's what daniel read, plus,
[4:42:53] director raman will advise each precinct on what projects will be done there on october 1st each year.
[4:42:59] >> there is a motion by commissioner ramsey. I can't member who made the second.
[4:43:05] >> I did. >> commissioner garcia has a second. All in favor.
[4:43:09] any opposed? Motion carried unanimously. Now we move on to item 14. Commissioner ramsey flagged this
[4:43:17] one. It's the mental health leave item. >> I would make the motion--
[4:43:30] using 24 hours of accrued sick leave for mental health for
[4:43:35] psychological well-being, we have a pretty healthy sickleave. I wouldn't add to that. My motion would be option one,
[4:43:45] use 24 hours of accrued sick leave for mental health.
[4:43:50] >> motion by commissioner ramsey, second by commissioner garcia. All in favor?
[4:43:55] any opposed? Motion carried unanimously. Thank you, colleagues. Item 15.
[4:44:00] by commissioner ramsey. A proposal for oca reporting,
[4:44:10] human resources personnel. >> director, I think as we look
[4:44:16] at hr,-- hr staff scattered throughout the county, this is
[4:44:24] an attempt for lack of a better word, for consolidation of those
[4:44:30] individuals. >> that is correct, commissioner. >> I like the potential for more
[4:44:37] efficiency. That is the objective. The potential savings are-- I think you had that number.
[4:44:49] >> we put-- what we put in the potential language was 250,000.
[4:44:54] but we believe we can obtain a lot more than that and that is consistent with what was identified in the bcg work done
[4:45:02] august 24. It's a different approach somewhat they laid out. But consistent thinking.
[4:45:06] >> it's a good idea. Thank you. >> commissioner garcia? >> thank you.
[4:45:12] director, I want to propose a bit of a change on this, only
[4:45:20] from the standpoint that there are jobs around the county, and then there are very technical jobs around the county.
[4:45:31] and the ones that tend to be technical in nature tend to be
[4:45:36] in our big organizations, which include the county engineering
[4:45:41] department, the control district, the tollroad, public
[4:45:49] health, pollution control, and universal services.
[4:45:54] and what I would propose to my colleagues is that we allow this
[4:46:01] consolidation to move forward with the smaller organizations.
[4:46:07] there is going to be some learning taking place.
[4:46:16] my concern is just because were talking about how much work is being done in our respective precincts, I need the work done
[4:46:23] sooner rather than later. So I want to make sure that our
[4:46:30] organizations have the ability to get the personnel onboard that they need and as quickly as they can.
[4:46:37] they become very efficient at it. I fit most of these departments have a short vacancy rate.
[4:46:50] so my preference is to separate those six departments and allow
[4:46:56] this process to move forward. Learn from it, and see if we can
[4:47:00] adopt it in a meaningful way for the six big organizations.
[4:47:06] my motion is to separate out the departments that I mentioned.
[4:47:11] >> I second that, commissioner garcia.
[4:47:17] >> motion by commissioner garcia, second by commissioner
[4:47:22] briones. Will this create the same unequal treatment we have going on with the salary?
[4:47:27] I'm not sure we should pick favorites?
[4:47:32] >> if I may comment, and respectfully, commissioner garcia, I appreciate your point. We have some backup, I know it's
[4:47:38] late b brief, I see the merit to your recommendation,
[4:47:43] commissioner. I don't respectfully believe it will be successful if we approach it that way.
[4:47:49] but a couple of slides I'd like to show you. And we can fast-forward. Next slide, please.
[4:47:57] keep going. One more.
[4:48:03] okay. You are right in that the resources are low. This is the slide I wanted to
[4:48:07] show you. August of 2024. I don't know the current state. You can see that for the three
[4:48:14] support functions highlighted here, that most of our sets
[4:48:25] don't have as much resourcing out in the different departments as we do. And I think there is a reason
[4:48:33] for that and I think that's because their economies scale
[4:48:41] efficiencies, processes and performances can be obtained when you bring them together. But you are right. There are some that tend to have their own sheriff's office, for
[4:48:49] example. And there are very good reasons. So we do contemplate we can move-- we can move forward a few
[4:48:57] slides. >> back on that one, I'm not catching that chart. Real quick.
[4:49:01] and I know it's late. >> if you look at the left-hand
[4:49:06] side, it shows you human resources, and it shows by some
[4:49:10] of our counties. The green bullets are harris county. And it shows you while we do have central hr, we have an hr dispersed all throughout all of
[4:49:19] those departments with the green. Whereas our peers set only has additional hr with subsets where
[4:49:26] the dark blue dots are. >> okay. Got it. >> if you move forward a few
[4:49:34] slides, please. All highlight what the proposal is. It's right here.
[4:49:39] forgive me. One more back.
[4:49:44] one marbach, please. Thank you very much. The proposal initially, and we would work very closely with
[4:49:51] departments to ensure that we get this right, but it
[4:49:55] contemplates what you're saying, commissioner garcia, that some departments do need in bedded hr and they need it in a very tight
[4:50:04] partnership to make sure they understand the complexities and the unique requirements. But currently we do have that,
[4:50:10] and you can see on shared services, centers of expertise.
[4:50:18] that's talent development, talent acquisition. Compensation, et cetera. And finally shared services.
[4:50:26] in any model we would contemplate that there needs to be in bedded resources that support those large and complex
[4:50:33] departments. What would change here, to your question, judge, his we would have a resource pool of hr that
[4:50:41] could help everyone and we could promulgate the best practices and some of these large departments and what there able
[4:50:45] to do. Like developments and items like
[4:50:50] that throughout all the organizations if we can share resources. Initially we would keep them in
[4:50:58] place and come back in march and explain after having worked with the departments. Raking it down how we would
[4:51:05] achieve this over what period of time. But that is when we do anticipate it.
[4:51:15] better digital tools. Process improvements, best practice adoption, that would benefit everyone.
[4:51:21] there is a slide about three or four ahead.
[4:51:25] keep going. Keep going.
[4:51:31] I think about two more. Right here.
[4:51:40] this lays out the implementation road map we would consider. And it starts with shifting resources like the april
[4:51:46] directive asks us to look at. Switching the resources to a hard-line reporting ration-- relationship in to hr about
[4:51:55] maintaining that dotted line relationship to the current departments and keeping them in place and not moving anyone
[4:52:00] until we had a buildout aligned plan. >> commissioner briones? >> this is a very helpful slide.
[4:52:08] for small, I share your commitment to wanting us to be more consistent and cohesive and really harness resources and
[4:52:16] better leverage them and create the multiplier effect. Absolutely. And, I share commissioner
[4:52:25] garcia's concern, with all due respect, you come in and you had to pick up a lot. But whether we look at the
[4:52:32] implementation and how the pay equity study was done and implemented, the retiree benefits, we can go down the
[4:52:39] list in execution-- execution is an area where we need a lot of
[4:52:45] improvement. End. This arguably would assist so that things are implemented
[4:52:53] better. And this transition given the
[4:52:57] nuance of the more complex departments, the larger
[4:53:02] departments, less specialized skills, et cetera, I think there's a great way to look at this that minimizes the strain
[4:53:09] in the transition. And just maximizes efficiencies rather than creating inefficiencies.
[4:53:16] and my worry was getting all the feedback from departments who
[4:53:22] were very bothered with the pay equity results and the level of work needed to do that one project for the entire county.
[4:53:29] I worry about the executing with excellence and implementation
[4:53:36] piece of this. So I wanted to get your candid thoughts. On if there is a way to further
[4:53:42] staircase or create clarity. We obviously want to maximize
[4:53:48] efficiencies and create economies of scale. Not set it back, but is there a sweet spot?
[4:53:53] and is it just coming back with an update? Could you be more clear in what you see as the opportunity and
[4:54:00] what you see as the risks in implementation, and how we can
[4:54:05] solve for them? >> absolutely, commissioner.
[4:54:12] and I appreciate they are always thinking about the end. I tried to do that as well and emulate that as well.
[4:54:17] I feel the partnership with departments will be essential. And frankly that's a reason that I think that clarity, as we go
[4:54:24] in to fy27, there will be this alignment that will help us go in with clear eyes. That this is the plan, let us
[4:54:30] work together to move forward. We are fully committed to making sure that we create service-level agreements.
[4:54:36] that we create governance so that there is-- we are
[4:54:41] explaining customer satisfaction and experience. And what I'd like to do is take a baseline right off the bat.
[4:54:47] find out where are things. Find these different departments and the customer satisfaction is a lazy alluded to.
[4:54:55] how quickly are you feeling roles, what else is important to you and how are you performing today so we have that baseline
[4:55:02] that we are always gaging ourselves against an holding ourselves accountable against. So I think laying that out in a
[4:55:09] timely fashion, you alluded to the retiree, pharma benefits on
[4:55:15] the compensation pay equity study. I think we've learned a lot about better project-management,
[4:55:19] better planning, and to yield better executions.
[4:55:24] you are right about those. Neither was executed very well. But we have learned and improved as we have gone along.
[4:55:33] >> director, thank you for your comments.
[4:55:39] and I think you're going to eventually get me there.
[4:55:46] but the only model I have to go by is the city of houston. They have consolidated and decentralized.
[4:55:56] they have consolidated and decentralized. Consolidated and decentralized. Every time they've decentralized
[4:56:00] it's because their technical departments end up needing--
[4:56:06] they get constrained and they need adjustments.
[4:56:11] so let's just get a portion of this executed and then have a
[4:56:20] more-- a broader conversation with these bigger departments.
[4:56:25] just to make sure that there is full understanding and
[4:56:32] appreciation about how to make it work.
[4:56:41] >> it sounds like if I'm hearing correctly that we are all in
[4:56:46] agreement of go and bring it back and reevaluate. And at that point, if we still think that-- whether we now
[4:56:55] agree they should all be the same or whether some departments
[4:56:59] need something different-- can we just agreed to go forth until the next phase. And we are not deciding
[4:57:06] anything. >> I'm being completely candid. The only risk I see as these departments are under sorest.
[4:57:18] >> but we can revisit the question of does there need to be any kind of separation of the larger departments.
[4:57:25] and that gives you time to talk to commissioners that are not sure about it. And for the commissioners to think about it. I have a tendency to-- with what
[4:57:39] you guys recommend. And also, if my memory serves me right, some of the grievances that were raised, I don't know
[4:57:45] that you were-- I don't know that we can hold you responsible for that. I think you've been doing a
[4:57:56] good job. And my instinct is to say-- but often times a think something is a good idea and it turns out not
[4:58:02] to be. So I think it's valid to say-- I
[4:58:07] don't think we need to commit to what I'm calling special treatment, but I think it's okay to revisit, like commissioner
[4:58:13] garcia said. So what would you like us to approve today? >> my motion is as stands.
[4:58:22] I think I would like to just get the beginning of the process
[4:58:29] started. But let there be a conversation with the big organizations before it becomes potentially
[4:58:37] disruptive to try to deal with the entire county all at once.
[4:58:44] that is my concern. I don't want to disrupt the
[4:58:49] important work. I know mission control is working to fill some positions. And I think there are still some
[4:59:00] in public health. So I want to make sure that those organizations that have very dynamic work are allowed to
[4:59:06] continue while they have a conversation on what to expect
[4:59:11] out of this process. >> administrator carter, it seems like you want to say something.
[4:59:19] >> respectfully starting small, I do not think it will work. They won't be able to make a pir budget and they won't have the
[4:59:25] flexibility of vacancies. I'm happy to have her come back
[4:59:30] another time and not have a motion. But I think that would cause more confusion.
[4:59:35] because most that are left already rely on them and may
[4:59:40] have half an fte allocated to hr.
[4:59:46] >> then I will work with no action on this today.
[4:59:54] >> I would say, if these larger departments think this will be a
[4:59:58] problem for them, please come and state that case. Because I don't think that one member of court needs to speak
[5:00:06] for all these departments when the expert here is advocating
[5:00:13] for something. Once this comes back, if this continues to be a sense of we need to treat certain
[5:00:20] departments differently, I will say that I'm going to ask that those department heads come up and explain why they believe
[5:00:26] that this will be a problem for them, and why they believe that this should or should not be done.
[5:00:31] and that way, I think we just need to hear from them.
[5:00:39] >> director, it's a good idea. I think the questions that commissioner garcia has asked related to what you are going to
[5:00:46] embed in these departments and what are you not going to embed. What resources? Those are good questions.
[5:00:53] I know that was going to be a part of what you were going to answer. So probably do that bit of
[5:01:01] homework. Missionary work, if you will. With each one of the departments to see what-- in fact there
[5:01:08] maybe some that agree with you. Why don't you take this, and you
[5:01:12] take that, and you might agree with that, you might not. But in any case there ought to be a good conversation within
[5:01:19] these major departments on what we are going to do are not.
[5:01:24] >> agreed. So no action on the item?
[5:01:29] >> all right. Thank you. So, let's move on to item 16. That is to mr. Ramsey requested
[5:01:41] taking 16 and 18 together. These are hr investigator
[5:01:46] positions. >> we did that. >> we did? We passed all those?
[5:01:52] >> I voted no. >> got it.
[5:01:57] rego to 115 on the aip check platform. That was commissioner ramsey. >> the concern I have here is
[5:02:07] this rfp. >> commissioner, we didn't do
[5:02:14] item 16 or 18. >> we didn't?
[5:02:19] >> we did a motion on 18, for sure. They took it as part of two. >> so 16 is a request for
[5:02:29] approval of amendments to the personnel policies and procedures. Did we do that already?
[5:02:35] all right. Who needs to present on that one? >> as presented.
[5:02:44] >> I move it. >> motion is presented, all in
[5:02:49] favor? Any opposed?
[5:02:53] motion carried unanimously-- excuse me. 4-1. Commissioner ramsey again--
[5:03:00] against. Item 18. Request for approval three. Charter positions and labor
[5:03:04] relations liaison... [indiscernible]
[5:03:10] motion by commissioner ellis? Second by commissioner garcia. All in favor? Any opposed?
[5:03:17] motion carries 4-1. With ramsey opposed.
[5:03:22] we move on to 115. Supplemental funding for aip
[5:03:27] check program. Requested by commissioner ramsey. >> we need to talk about it.
[5:03:35] >> there is a motion by commissioner ellis. Seconded by commissioner garcia. >> my concern is how this was
[5:03:42] done. It was done in a quick and rapid way. Was there an rfp process
[5:03:48] associated with it? I have looked at the rfp
[5:03:53] process. I have concerns about how that was done. I'm not sure that we got a lot
[5:04:01] of clarity. And it's not necessarily the person or the engineer. I know all three of them to some
[5:04:10] degree have been involved. But there is enough of a concern
[5:04:16] on this selection process that I would ask that we take no action
[5:04:21] until we can get questions answered.
[5:04:29] >> commissioner, the... [indiscernible] >> it afternoon, commissioner, kim williams.
[5:04:37] harris county. For this particular solicitation, it follows one of the solicitation approaches we
[5:04:43] often take. It was done on a cooperative. And there are other cooperatives on the agenda today.
[5:04:50] we use them frequently. We did a request for offer. So this particular scope of work went out to the four vendors on
[5:04:57] that co-op. And they all had a chance to respond to that bid. And that bid was evaluated by
[5:05:03] universal services and engineering. So it follows a normal practice that we often follow.
[5:05:09] so I guess if you could help me with what the question is?
[5:05:14] >> the question is I think there were probably other vendors too that were not on the buy board. But were having conversations
[5:05:21] with-- I think the county engineer's office, maybe
[5:05:28] universal services. That brought experience and
[5:05:32] expertise. And were not a part of it.
[5:05:37] if you are satisfied that we've checked all the boxes and the people that you've selected are capable, I, again, we spent a
[5:05:46] lot of time today talking about small businesses and their
[5:05:50] involvement. But sometimes small businesses get precluded because we don't include.
[5:05:55] and they are not involved in buy boards and other things, maybe because they've never been told how to do that.
[5:06:02] >> point well taken. We work very hard to have an inclusive procurement process, and we have conversations with
[5:06:08] vendors leading up to these activities. However, because of the size and volume of this particular work,
[5:06:14] we did want to find experience vendors because we are
[5:06:18] implementing a new program. So, based on the scope that was
[5:06:24] agreed on between engineering and with universal services, the
[5:06:29] minimum was seven years of experience.
[5:06:34] so we did think that the solicitation, that the co-op provided gave us the firm robust experience to deliver the
[5:06:42] project. >> harris county experience?
[5:06:46] >> not necessarily harris county. This is a national co-op. >> again, there are very
[5:06:52] experienced people in our planning process. These are universally done the same.
[5:06:58] I don't know if planning is any more complicated in any other county as it is complicated in harris county.
[5:07:05] >> I would clarify, there is a difference between services for the permitting process and creating the system.
[5:07:13] this is not for that permitting service. It's for the system that would do the project.
[5:07:19] so this is different from providing those services.
[5:07:24] >> commissioner, if I may add one thing, I value your opinion
[5:07:29] in terms of having local resources. So during the implementation process, we did extensive
[5:07:33] outreach to make sure that local knowledge and the process has
[5:07:37] been transferred in to this. The city of boston has not
[5:07:43] implemented these. We have good contact with the folks who have done it before. So we will be watching to
[5:07:49] understand their experience, how they did it. As you know, the city of austin has a lot more regulations and
[5:07:53] we do. So we will be looking very closely to make sure processes have been embedded in the side
[5:07:58] of that. >> please go ahead.
[5:08:05] >> thank you. Dr., and miss williams,
[5:08:11] thank you for your work. I have been very anxious to see this item get put on the agenda. So thank you for working through
[5:08:17] all of that you have done. I noticed the folks using this
[5:08:26] particular firm includes the city of austin, as you mentioned, doctor. But it also includes los
[5:08:33] angeles county. Did I see that correctly? >> that is correct. The city of los angeles as well.
[5:08:41] >> maybe not harris county specific experience, but
[5:08:45] definitely complicated county experience is what these folks
[5:08:52] are bringing. So I am anxious to move this item forward. >> my colleagues have already
[5:09:02] asked some other questions. Which is to be crystal clear, this item 113 corresponds to 346?
[5:09:08] is that correct? One quick second.
[5:09:15] to reconfirm, purchasing agent williams, everything within this
[5:09:19] process was customary and by the book?
[5:09:26] >> yes. >> thank you for highlighting the other jurisdictions in which they do work. I think that's a helpful data point.
[5:09:35] in terms of-- I know we've been eagerly waiting for this.
[5:09:39] but for the plats and permits we get so many calls about delays.
[5:09:44] so I can't wait to see the efficiency that will be responsibly deployed so we can get better at moving projects
[5:09:48] along for the people. My understanding, and this is a
[5:09:54] question, dr., would you confirm current estimates are at this ai system would process roughly 32,000 residential permits,
[5:10:01] 26,000 commercial permits and 450 pl 80 applications this
[5:10:07] year? Which leads me to my next
[5:10:14] question. When will this ai system be implemented and active? >> commissioner, our goal is
[5:10:21] buying new year we will have the residential permitting and everything done. For the commercial, I would
[5:10:28] think one more quarter. >> you 22027.
[5:10:33] >> and another thing we have to do is extensively test and do
[5:10:37] the calibration ahead of time. Because we have a lot of
[5:10:42] handouts with our office and development committee with different jurisdictions. We want to make sure that
[5:10:51] everybody gets an opportunity to provide their feedback before we go live. >> thank you.
[5:10:57] you answered my next question which is on beta testing and going live. Lastly on this concept that I
[5:11:01] know we are committed to with regard to inclusive procurement,
[5:11:06] making sure that we have workshops that are publicly available, local businesses, wbe, small business, et cetera.
[5:11:15] learn how to become a part, to bid to be on co-ops for the
[5:11:21] future. I know there are so many different co-ops regionally and nationally. So the more information we could put out there to help our local
[5:11:29] businesses, the better. And based on all the confirmations you have given us, I am in favor of these two
[5:11:37] items. But purchasing agent williams, are you going to say something? >> I agree completely.
[5:11:42] this is a lesson learned in terms of getting info out.
[5:11:47] these co-ops are a valuable procurement tool that we use often. >> it maybe this next phase
[5:11:53] maybe more appropriate involvement of local folks.
[5:11:58] you bring in someone with that national platform experience,
[5:12:05] partnered up with some local firms that maybe have some
[5:12:09] experience unique to harris county. So maybe we can talk, dr. Going forward, about the
[5:12:17] implementation, particularly by december. You will probably need a little help.
[5:12:21] >> commissioner all take you up on that offer. >> thank you for what you both do.
[5:12:26] >> thank you. >> I move on both items as presented. >> second.
[5:12:33] >> both items being-- >> 115 and 346.
[5:12:37] >> I thought we already-- we did not. Motion by commissioner garcia on both items as presented.
[5:12:43] seconded by commissioner briones. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carried unanimously. 126, requested by precinct three
[5:12:52] and four. About the worksite safety policy. Commissioner briones?
[5:13:04] >> sure. Thank you. I have a few quick questions. I believe deeply in our worksite
[5:13:09] safety policy. I look forward to making sure
[5:13:13] any and all workers on county projects are kept as safe as possible. Everyone deserves to get home
[5:13:19] safely to their families. And based on the updates we have been receiving, I have a few quick questions.
[5:13:27] namely how many of the worksite safety positions have been filled across this area. Flood control district de oh,
[5:13:34] and the county engineer? >> currently 21 positions have
[5:13:38] been filled. There is still 24 that are
[5:13:42] actively in process. >> 21 out of 24?
[5:13:48] thank you. So how many eligible projects do we anticipate advertising for bid between now and the end of
[5:13:53] the calendar year that would fall under this worksite safety
[5:13:57] policy? >> we are estimating about 91.
[5:14:01] >> for the calendar year? Thank you. My last question is in terms of worksite safety committee,
[5:14:09] making sure we are continuously learning and improving, how exactly is del engaging this committee and what will be the
[5:14:17] regular cadence of engagement? >> --
[5:14:24] >> the worksite safety committee has been meeting since january on a monthly basis. Between february and may we've
[5:14:32] been about seven different times. On top-- met about seven different times.
[5:14:36] following that, we are meeting monthly through october and we will transition from there. >> thank you for the level of
[5:14:44] engagement you have done and continue doing.
[5:14:49] and we are very committed to implementing this with excellence. To year earlier points. We want to do the right thing and do it right.
[5:14:56] so keep us posted how we can best support you. Because safety is nonnegotiable. Thank you.
[5:15:03] >> with the hiring of 40 plus people.
[5:15:07] >> total of 46. >> clearly getting 46 onboard in
[5:15:16] a directed, managed program, how is that going?
[5:15:20] >> I can talk about it. 21 out of 46 positions are
[5:15:26] filled. So for the de oh, we filled four
[5:15:33] positions fully trained. And the other one, one position is filled out of 12. Total, 4 out of 7.
[5:15:41] engineering is 12 out of 23. And they prioritize hiring
[5:15:48] through these factors. >> for engineering it's 19.
[5:15:56] >> so those are-- are they monitors?
[5:16:00] or inspectors? >> for the de '08 three monitors
[5:16:06] and an analyst. They are trained and we are working with training to the inspectors.
[5:16:13] specifically we are programming e comply.
[5:16:19] the module that we are going to train all the inspectors on making sure that they are fully trained, knowing how to fill out
[5:16:27] the forms in the system. Mark, you can talk a bit about
[5:16:31] the training? >> yes. I want to let you know for worksite safety we've introduced
[5:16:38] the executive manual which is a version one right now.
[5:16:43] a 547 page comprehensive manual that will be used universally between infrastructure departments and the de oh.
[5:16:51] it has standard operating procedures. Workflows. The unified inspection forms that have been in-- approved by the infrastructure departments
[5:16:59] as part of the training process. That zero we are going.
[5:17:03] so whichever amendments come up will be put into the new manual.
[5:17:11] >> and the infrastructure workgroup, we talked about this. The infrastructure department is coordinating their training and
[5:17:16] we will get them together as well. But they are kind of leading their training and working with
[5:17:23] the... >> it sounds like we have monitors and dr. -- the doctor and his group have more
[5:17:27] inspector types? >> the infrastructure department
[5:17:32] has in specters. >> okay.
[5:17:36] thank you. >> commissioner ramsey?
[5:17:40] yes, commissioner briones, to drive anything else? >> move as presented, administrator carter.
[5:17:49] >> yes. Move it as presented. >> motion by commissioner mac. Seconded by commissioner alice.
[5:17:56] all in favor? Any opposed?
[5:18:01] sorry, was at a no? Motion carries four to one.
[5:18:05] 130, flagged by commissioner ramsey.
[5:18:10] >> moved. Spec-- >> second. >> moved by commissioner alice. Second by commissioner garcia. All in favor?
[5:18:17] opposed? Motion carries 4-1 with commissioner ramsey opposed. Commissioner ramsey?
[5:18:24] moved by commissioner garcia, second by commissioner alice. All in favor? Any opposed?
[5:18:29] motion carries. 135, flagged by commissioner
[5:18:36] garcia. >> yes, thank you. On this one, I am excited to move this item forward.
[5:18:42] it is an infrastructure upgrade that reflects my revived-- revived to thrive initiative to bring safer more resilient
[5:18:49] neighborhoods. And replacing this item--
[5:18:54] specifically replacing three outdated diesel generators with natural gas units in cloverleaf facilities.
[5:19:02] that would serve roughly 20,000 low to moderate income residents
[5:19:07] in the area. So today's item advances a
[5:19:13] agreement with harris county water control and improvement in district number 36. This is what the young lady
[5:19:19] spoke to earlier. They have installed new
[5:19:25] generators and protective grounding systems. And the current diesel units are past their use of life.
[5:19:33] creating risks to pumps and sensitive electronic equipment during outages. This project ties directly to
[5:19:41] the hurricane beryl and other events when our facilities endured nearly a weeklong power outage.
[5:19:47] natural gas provides a continuous fuel source without emergency refueling. Performs reliably in extreme
[5:19:56] cold where diesel may solidify. And reduces the likelihood of
[5:20:01] boiled water notices and sewage and brainstorm events.
[5:20:11] this investment is almost 1,000,005.
[5:20:15] revive to thrive. Making critical water and sewer infrastructure more resilient, strengthening global
[5:20:21] partnerships and protecting the health and safety of families across precinct two. I'm excited to move this item is
[5:20:28] presented. >> second. >> motion by commissioner garcia, second by commissioner
[5:20:33] briones. All right. All in favor? Any opposed?
[5:20:38] motion carries unanimously. Good work, commissioner garcia. 136. Commissioner garcia.
[5:20:47] >> yes. This is an item on a partnership agreement. As we all know, strong
[5:20:53] partnerships, especially at the local level can help put us deliver better services to our residents.
[5:21:00] today's agreement is with the city of port.
[5:21:04] which continues a successful transit partnership that expands transportation options for people in la porte.
[5:21:12] over the next year this service is expected to provide nearly
[5:21:17] 9000 passenger trips, helping residents get to and from work,
[5:21:21] school, medical appointments, and other important destinations. Reliable transportation makes a
[5:21:27] real difference for working families, seniors, people with disabilities, and investments like this help to keep our
[5:21:34] communities connected while making it easier and more affordable for residents to access the services and
[5:21:40] opportunities that they need. So I want to thank mayor rick hilton and the city of la porte for their continued partnership.
[5:21:49] and I'll look forward on building on the program and
[5:21:53] finding more opportunities to work together to make services much more affordable for our working families.
[5:22:00] I move on this item as presented. >> second. What an awesome partnership,
[5:22:05] commissioner. >> motion by commissioner garcia. Seconded by commissioner briones. All in favor?
[5:22:12] any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Item 136. Thank you, commissioner garcia.
[5:22:17] item 168. It is on an amicus brief.
[5:22:24] >>  county attorney came in, if I can ask you a few quick questions. County attorney, if you can
[5:22:32] provide us a brief overview of this case? >> thank you, judging commissioners.
[5:22:38] with the item before you I'm respectfully requesting authorization to file as amicus in a very important public
[5:22:44] safety case which is now pending before the circuit.
[5:22:50] we would be filing in support of our state's right under the texas penal code to restrict firearms in sensitive locations
[5:23:00] like bars, schools, professional sporting events, as well as
[5:23:05] racetracks. Texans and local businesses have relied on these protections for decades.
[5:23:10] unfortunately the plaintiffs in this case are seeking to strike protections down at sensitive locations, needlessly
[5:23:18] endangering residents, alleging on grounds of constitutionality.
[5:23:25] that these rules under state law are unconstitutional.
[5:23:30] notably, I will point out, judge pitman, who issued the lower court ruling in this case back and is a trump appointee,
[5:23:37] firmly disagreed, and held that state laws are constitutional.
[5:23:42] and his-- in his opinion, he noted that ken paxton, "the
[5:23:48] attorney general of texas declined to defend the merits of the legislature's duly enacted laws."
[5:23:53] so the court had to appoint outside lawyers to make sure that their estates-- their estates own statute was
[5:24:00] defended. Those attorneys did prevail. But this makes it all the more important that we file to convey
[5:24:07] our governmental interest in protecting residents and
[5:24:13] businesses, as well as local law enforcement.
[5:24:18] again, judge pitman firmly upheld the right of our state to have reasonable laws like this rooted in our country's history
[5:24:23] that allows places like the rodeo, a baseball game, or a bar
[5:24:32] to restrict our firearms. And an amicus to the circuit
[5:24:36] will stand behind the laws of this texas legislature, and judge pitman's decision to uphold them.
[5:24:43] >> thank you county attorney kamen.
[5:24:48] commissioner garcia has his hand up.
[5:24:53] >> commissioner garcia. >> thank you, county attorney. Thank you for your presentation and thank you for your quick
[5:24:59] work on some important issues. You said something that caught my attention. And I just wanted to get some
[5:25:04] clarity on it. Did you say that the texas attorney general did not want to represent on this particular
[5:25:16] issue? >> that is correct.
[5:25:21] paxton may not want to defend texas, but here in harris county, we will stand up for the rule of law.
[5:25:28] we will make arguments related to public safety and law enforcement, as well as critical economic points about
[5:25:33] what this can do to diminish economic generation for
[5:25:41] important entities. And it is anticipated that the
[5:25:46] rodeo, the astros and the dynamo will be filing as amicus.
[5:25:51] >> thank you for that responds. And it looks like that between you and our district attorney we are having to do the state and
[5:25:58] federal governments job. Thank you for what you are doing. >> thank you.
[5:26:03] >> I have a motion. Are there other or comments?
[5:26:08] >> all right. Is the motion as presented?
[5:26:13] >> county attorney, move as presented-- or read the authorization to file? >> move as presented.
[5:26:19] >> move as presented. >> thank you. >> motion by commissioner..., second by commissioner ellis.
[5:26:29] all in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. This was flagged by commissioner
[5:26:36] briones. It's about bear creek village subdivision. >> this is an exciting project
[5:26:42] that I am so grateful for the collaboration. We are moving forward with this key project.
[5:26:49] and it's incredibly important. Especially in the bear creek
[5:26:55] village. Bear creek village experienced some of the most intense flooding impacts after harvey,
[5:27:01] and generally. During harvey, more than 1300
[5:27:07] homes took on water during harvey.
[5:27:12] and hundreds more flooded during numerous other storms.
[5:27:16] so this fall we will get to work and these critical improvements
[5:27:20] that will improve drainage across bear creek village because we know it's just a matter of when the next storm
[5:27:25] will hit. And these improvements specifically will include large storm sewers, regraded streets
[5:27:33] and new surface drainage paths. And this particular portion of
[5:27:38] the project is going to help reduce flood risk for a
[5:27:42] substantial number of homes. So when they hold bear creek
[5:27:50] project is complete, 2300 homes will be better protected during the next storm. I think all the harris county
[5:27:57] team members who have made today possible, to be able to move forward with this segment, I look forward to make sure that
[5:28:07] we are delivering this protection to our harris county family. As such, I move item 228 as
[5:28:17] presented. >> motion to move the item as presented. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.
[5:28:24] good job commissioner briones. Item 243. Commissioner briones on the r reef.
[5:28:37] >> 273? >> revolving energy efficiency fundus be-- >> very briefly.
[5:28:42] we have 3 minutes to hear about the steeply energizing-- no pun intended, project we are making with the reef program.
[5:28:48] that would be great. >> our reef is self-sustaining--
[5:28:54] reef is a self-sustaining model. Over the past three years has
[5:29:00] generated 3.6 million in savings unfunded 3.8 million in energy efficiency projects, labor and training.
[5:29:07] and the county is 40% gs hg reduction goal.
[5:29:11] thank you to the director and the office of sustainability and
[5:29:16] the team for the great work. They have partnered with engineering as well, and I want to give them kudos.
[5:29:25] >> thank you, director, and thank you county administrator. It's wonderful to see this progress, as we look into our
[5:29:30] climate action plan to reduce the county's own admissions by
[5:29:34] 40% by 2030. Thank you for the progress. >> thank you. Very exciting.
[5:29:42] transmittal. We accept the transmittal.
[5:29:46] 274 is the quarter q3 update. Harris county strategic plan.
[5:29:55] >> and this too, county administrator carter, would you briefly share some of the highlights in the progress we
[5:30:01] are making towards our harris county strategic plan? >> I won't pull up the slides, but there are slides.
[5:30:09] the strategic plan, we are 21 months in.
[5:30:14] 81% of our strategic initiatives are accurately underway and are
[5:30:20] making meaningful progress. And that's up 6% from quarter
[5:30:25] two. All of our fy26 priorities are on track. And the compensation in pay
[5:30:30] equity is great progress. And of course our housing plan.
[5:30:35] big wins that included the new jail dashboard. D6. The division zero dashboard. The data is being refreshed more frequently.
[5:30:42] on the safety side, 60% of felony cases have been exposed
[5:30:46] within 180 days as of june 2026. Our average decrease to 139 days
[5:30:54] at 21% reduction compared to the same period last year.
[5:30:58] our public health has been in coordination with advancing efforts across many organizations in the region, and
[5:31:05] purchasing equipment. But they are also working on sustainable procurement with internal stakeholders.
[5:31:11] anything else you want me to highlight?
[5:31:15] also we are working on fy27 plants with all departments in the strategic plan. Thank you.
[5:31:22] >> great progress, team. Thank you for your leadership.
[5:31:27] >> thank you, guys. We accept the transmittal. 289 transmittal. A universal services update to
[5:31:37] the strategy project. >> if we could just congratulate
[5:31:43] you and your team again, you named one of-- were named one of the most 100 most innovative technology organizations by cfo
[5:31:51] magazine. Thank you for the progress you are driving. With regards to the erp, if you
[5:31:55] could remind us where we have been, where we are, and where we are going, and what the value add will be for the county, and
[5:32:03] how we can better support you to make this a reality and execute it with excellence. >> thank you, commissioner
[5:32:12] briones. Be received from the commissioners...  Execute...  We have a slide, we are not going
[5:32:19] to go through it. But-- we are now going to go through the slide and I will make a few points I want to
[5:32:25] make. Commissioner you asked in february 2026 you asked us to proceed working closely on next
[5:32:30] steps to modernize our peoplesoft environment and to
[5:32:35] bring efficiencies into. Looking at the systems we have,
[5:32:39] and looking at how we can bring it all together to generate returns on investment. So we did a thorough
[5:32:48] collaboration with all the departments. So I do want to start by saying thank you to your offices,
[5:32:55] because there was a great deal of participation from all of your offices. And from all the departments
[5:33:01] that we reached out. And our reach was pretty wide.
[5:33:05] we reach out to every single department. We made an effort to bring everyone to the table to get
[5:33:10] their feedback. So I'm joined today by our
[5:33:15] project managers to provide the quick update to the commission.
[5:33:20] it's not going to be a long one. It will be a quick one.
[5:33:24] >> thank you. >> thank you, guys.
[5:33:35] >> thank you court, for allowing me to be here. My name is clint bailey, I'm t the...  As I said, we are going
[5:33:43] to talk about what we have done and where we are heading. So, the core theme for this whole initiative has been around
[5:33:52] the fact that the counties erp system is aging.
[5:33:57] and some of the results of an aging erp system that we have found is that there are a lot of manual processes.
[5:34:03] there are off-line workarounds and disparaged systems.
[5:34:08] the county, to be clear, the county departments are able to
[5:34:12] still complete their work. But with these types of challenges you can over time have inconsistent data across
[5:34:20] the county. Reduced efficiency, and a higher workload on the staff, and greater difficulty when you try
[5:34:28] to standardize processes. Therefore this initiative was
[5:34:34] launched and our directives were to establish a clearly defined
[5:34:40] erp strategy, which we will go over briefly. Which would also enable us to do a compliant and defensible
[5:34:48] vendor selection process. With that we completed an rfi,
[5:34:55] request for information process, to allow us to gather
[5:35:00] information of what modern erp systems are offering today. We conducted demos from the vendors who replied to that and
[5:35:06] invited all the county departments to participate. As a result that we gathered feedback from the county
[5:35:12] members, which is going to inform our process and make our
[5:35:18] rfp process that much more meaningful and drive that for us. Then our erp strategy
[5:35:23] initiatives, which our partners helped us with. And alternate to brine here in a moment.
[5:35:29] we held three executive level workshops which allowed us to really define the strategy, holes and guiding principles and
[5:35:38] establish a vision statement. And we held 15 capability
[5:35:43] workshops that include members from across the county departments, in order to allow us to gather the details we
[5:35:49] needed to move in to the rfp. So the vision statement, I will
[5:35:55] read it to you, it's in the slide deck. It is to enable a unified modern erp environment that is
[5:36:03] simplified and standardizes how the county operates, empowers
[5:36:08] employees with intuitive tools, timely information, and provides a flexible foundation to support efficient, data driven
[5:36:16] decision-making and evolving service needs. So the strategy we took here, as we said, was one of
[5:36:25] collaboration, not isolation. So that will continue as we go
[5:36:31] through the rfp and on in to the implementation, because we've
[5:36:35] established a governance structure that we will implement for that. Without alternate over to brian.
[5:36:44] >> good afternoon, members of the commissioners court. My name is brian chee. And I'm one of the erp subject
[5:36:49] matter experts. From the team working with
[5:36:56] harris county. I have been with gartner for more than 15 years. And I am one of the senior
[5:37:00] practitioners in our applications.
[5:37:07] we don't have the slide that I will be discussing, but as clint mentioned, we have been conducting 15 capability
[5:37:15] workshops. And that runs the gambit of departments that will be part of the overall erp scope.
[5:37:20] and that scope is what is shown in the model represented on slide six. Encompassing finance and
[5:37:28] accounting, budget management, procurement, asset management, and human capital management. On the following slide, on slide
[5:37:37] seven, as part of the work that we have done already, we studied
[5:37:42] the four main ways that public-sector organizations similar in size, complexity and needs to harris county, the
[5:37:52] approach for implementing a large system like an erp. In our evaluation of these four approaches, we believe that the
[5:38:01] one most aligned with the county's needs is the capability
[5:38:05] aced release model. This is a best practice--
[5:38:11] capability based release model. This is a best practice that allows the erp to release and a model work that is easily
[5:38:18] managed and in a controlled way that provides good balance between implementation risk, budget risk and organizational
[5:38:25] readiness. The specific implementation approach will ultimately be proposed by the erp software
[5:38:32] vendor and system integrators selected.
[5:38:37] but the framework establishes the most balanced direction for a county. If I move forward to slide nine,
[5:38:47] which shows the representative high level multiyear road map for how harris county can move forward with the erp
[5:38:54] transformation process, and this road map follows industry best
[5:39:00] practices. There are multiple key activities that are underway at the same time.
[5:39:06] to lay the groundwork for a successful erp project. We are voting the foundation. We are preparing the teams.
[5:39:14] we are aligning governance, and ensuring that technology and
[5:39:19] data are ready as well. Once an erp platform systems
[5:39:25] integrator is selected, we will transition in to implementation and ongoing support. The timing of each of these
[5:39:33] steps will depend on organization readiness, the chosen vendor, and the departments involved.
[5:39:39] but the project is already proceeding, and with our current focus right now on preparation and readiness.
[5:39:45] on a final note about the selection of the erp platform and systems integrator, we want to preserve the integrity of the
[5:39:54] process, so we will be very careful not to influence any
[5:40:00] numbers or vendors, as there will be an rfp process to select the platform and systems integrated.
[5:40:07] without, thank you for giving me the time to present in front of you. And now I will pass it back to
[5:40:13] you. >> thank you so much. This will make things more simplified, streamlined,
[5:40:19] efficient and innovative. And more cohesion across the county. Very quickly, when do you
[5:40:24] anticipate releasing the rfp, how long will it open, and how long do expect for an update in court?
[5:40:30] >> thank you for that question. Commissioner, we are working on the scope of work. Our goal is to get the scope of
[5:40:37] work back to departments by september so they can review and provide us an approval. As soon as we have an approval,
[5:40:43] we will work with the purchasing department to get the rfp
[5:40:49] released. As early as september or october. That is when we see the rfp being released. From the timeline, we are trying
[5:40:56] to make it as soon as possible. That is the goal. Because the implementation is going to take some time.
[5:41:02] so we have some prep work to do. Selecting the tool, and the
[5:41:07] implementer is going to help us pick up the process of-- drying
[5:41:12] up the process. So we are working with the
[5:41:16] purchasing department very closely, and along with our primary stakeholders to move it as fast as possible.
[5:41:26] though we are trying to make it as quickly as possible, generally what we have seen is that it takes approximately six
[5:41:33] months. And we have also talked to the purchasing agent, and I believe we are in agreement that it
[5:41:38] could take up to six months. >> thank you for all the
[5:41:44] stakeholder engagement and leading what will be a transformative project. Thank you.
[5:41:51] >> commissioner garcia and commissioner ramsey? >> thank you. Director, thank you for your work on this. You know I've been chirping
[5:41:58] about this for quite some time. So I'm excited that there is more progress being made on this.
[5:42:06] I have been shy about the fact-- I've not been shy about the fact that I believed that we needed to implement people soft, that
[5:42:18] there is a lot of value that harris county lost.
[5:42:27] I use b2 g as an example. We could have had that module working for us a long time ago. A lot of money was wasted.
[5:42:38] so part of that process was that we did not have a real plan and
[5:42:48] vision and road map to get it implemented.
[5:42:52] so I want to ask you, is there time for you to put together an
[5:43:02] overall vision and strategic road map for the implementation
[5:43:06] of this? >> commissioner, thank you for
[5:43:11] that question. We didn't bring up the slide deck because we don't have the time to go through all the
[5:43:17] slides, but the slide includes a road map there. Commissioner. The slide number.
[5:43:30] slide number 9 draws up the road map. We have embarked on the journey. We have embarked on the change
[5:43:36] management. We are prepping up the department. So the work has started on this particular project, commissioner.
[5:43:43] and to the point about people soft, that is one of the reasons why we are doing so much prep work.
[5:43:49] because what we learn from the departments was that they did not feel that they were part of the people soft implementation.
[5:43:55] that was one of the biggest lessons learned from that
[5:43:59] project implementation. So we are starting off with making them a part of this project.
[5:44:05] and also the business processes. To the point that you make, commissioner, that there were opportunities lost.
[5:44:11] we want to start off at looking at all the opportunities that exist in our space so that they are looked at in scope
[5:44:18] accordingly. >> my question is do you need a motion to solidify the erp vision statement approved meant?
[5:44:30] >> yes. What we wanted from the court today with this presentation was to get--
[5:44:38] >> this is a transmittal. So doesn't require emotion. You you can just director. >> good.
[5:44:44] so let me offer this direction. That the universal services
[5:44:49] return to commissioners court on the 17th meeting with an item
[5:44:56] requesting formal approval of the erp vision statement.
[5:45:05] >> thank you, commissioner. >> thank you. >> thank you also much for your great work. >> I have a quick question. When you bring that road map,
[5:45:13] can there be a date? Asap is not a date.
[5:45:18] so if we could have a date on the road map? Even-- and I would hate to use the word "best guess."
[5:45:28] but we should be close enough based on everything we are doing now to come back with specific dates.
[5:45:36] >> yes, sir. We can come up with a tentative date to the point you made. It depends on the tool we
[5:45:42] procure as well as the implementation partner. And also there is a level of discipline that will be required
[5:45:47] as we go through this project. >> I feel like discipline is
[5:45:53] improved when you are working towards a specific date. >> yes. We will come up with tentative
[5:45:58] dates when we bring the plan. >> all right.
[5:46:05] the next one is public health transmittal. 2026, access to care report. >> director barton and team,
[5:46:15] thank you for your work on this. Can you share some of the highlights based on this collaboration with the city of
[5:46:21] houston health department? And any highlights in terms of
[5:46:27] actions that we should be thinking about for the future would be much appreciated. >> happy to.
[5:46:34] I am leo barton. Harris county director of public health. And it's too hard for too many people to access the charon coverage they deserve.
[5:46:41] our team has worked very hard in collaboration with the houston health department over the last few months, and our director of
[5:46:47] planning and innovation is here together with the doctor from the health department to tell you more about our findings and
[5:46:53] commitments. And they have promised a speed run. >> speed run.
[5:46:58] >> we will get through this quickly. Hello, everybody. Good evening. My name is brandon. I serve as the director for
[5:47:04] planning of-- and innovation for harris county public health. And I'm jointure by my colleagues.
[5:47:10] both teams have worked closely together over the past year to develop develop the access to care report.
[5:47:15] and we have been very prime for this this year. Because on the next slide, in 2024, we conducted a community
[5:47:24] health assessment, which we then used to inform our community health improvement plan. That community health
[5:47:30] improvement plan is governed by a steering committee of our partners. And it identified three priority
[5:47:35] issues for a community of which health insurance and community
[5:47:39] care and access is one of those priority issues. And the next slide shows the more than 20 partners in our
[5:47:47] local public health system who helped us to shape the report. These are the organizations that helped us prioritize the most
[5:47:55] meaningful findings, and opportunities for action that are included in the report as well.
[5:48:00] as we move to the next slide, you will see that the barriers
[5:48:05] to care that exist across a continuum, first it's very
[5:48:10] difficult for many of our community members to afford the care that they need, which impacts the decision of whether
[5:48:16] they seek care at all. Next, when someone does choose to seek care, it can be difficult for them to find the
[5:48:23] care they need to. Often because health care resources can be unevenly distributed.
[5:48:30] or may not provide the specific services that they need near them. Lastly when a community members
[5:48:36] in the exam room, the type of care they receive, the fact of
[5:48:41] is that care provided in language, and with the cultural values that they resonate with, those factors influence whether
[5:48:49] that individual trusts the health care system men chooses to continue with treatment. So those things are likely
[5:48:55] familiar, because they represent barriers that are persistent in our community for a long time. But what is new, is the shared
[5:49:02] commitment we have made to address these issues, and to talk about those on going to pass to dr. Shelton for the
[5:49:08] collective work that we are going to be doing.
[5:49:13] >> thank you for allowing us to be here today. Next slide, please. There are four basic areas that
[5:49:18] we are going to share commitments as a response of the
[5:49:22] barriers. The first one of course is both health departments and other areas to coordinate benefits
[5:49:29] enrollment. And this helps to increase
[5:49:33] enrollment, annual isaiah not the public, identify programs. Also, our next one is to a shared commitment to improve
[5:49:39] service delivery. And we want to make sure that we
[5:49:44] are seeing... There we have illustrated by the harris county and our city health department, having a
[5:49:50] mobile unit that works together. Because again, a lot of our
[5:49:55] populations that we do serve actually come to both areas for services. Then we have a shared policy
[5:50:02] agenda. And this is basically, we want to make sure that one of the items that came out in the
[5:50:08] report was the community health workers. And we want to make sure to have something sustainable for
[5:50:13] reimbursement. And resources for navigation to help our community to access care.
[5:50:19] lastly, share data, and our commitment.
[5:50:26] what we are going to be doing, both health departments are accredited. His--'s for started starting
[5:50:34] this fall will have a joint community health initiative that will be taking place. For the next two years.
[5:50:39] and following that, a joint community health improvement plan. Thank you.
[5:50:45] >> thank you so much. Welcome. >> so, moving to the next slide, one of the commitments that
[5:50:52] dr. Shelton just mentioned was never-- better navigation of our existing resources. So I project we are excited
[5:50:57] about that moves that forward is a low-cost identifier. There are resources all over the county, but finding them is
[5:51:03] another matter. And this is a simple and six-- accessible way for community health workers and community
[5:51:10] members to find accessible and relative care near them. Right now it includes critic from harris county public
[5:51:16] health. Houston health department. The harris center, and harris health. And we are on boarding community clinics and other places to find
[5:51:24] care. For our final slide, we just want to encourage everybody to find the report on our website.
[5:51:31] it is located on the joint harris county public health, houston health data and reporting website.
[5:51:37] we also have an upcoming webinar this tuesday, august 11th, where we will dig in further on the findings in the subsequent
[5:51:44] actions, and we would really like to invite everyone to attend as well. I want to say thank you to
[5:51:51] dr. Shelton and the houston health department team. They've been incredible partners over the past year.
[5:51:55] I want to say thank you to our doctors for showing what
[5:52:01] collaborative leadership looks like between two major systems. And I want to say thank you to the great team who joined behind
[5:52:08] me. The office of planning and innovation. They dug in and did the work and applied the high standards that got us to where we are today.
[5:52:14] thank you to them. Thank you for letting us talk about access to care. >> okay.
[5:52:22] we approved the transmittal. Next--
[5:52:28] >> I did have something for the folk. >> sorry, go-ahead, commissioner garcia.
[5:52:33] >> director barton, will you be sharing some of the findings
[5:52:39] that were found by my team in terms of the difficulty getting
[5:52:46] registered for services, or getting registered in to the
[5:52:53] public care systems? >> yes.
[5:52:57] and making that benefits enrollment here is one of our commitments. >> wonderful.
[5:53:03] the city is looking at making sure that their systems are as refined as ours? >> yes.
[5:53:16] we are working closely with that. >> wonderful. Thank you. >> thank you for the collaboration and leadership.
[5:53:24] >> thank you. Now we have item 325. Requested by commissioner ramsey on positions for the county
[5:53:33] attorney. >> I think commissioner garcia has got-- >> commissioner garcia. >> some motions on that. >> thank you.
[5:53:51] my motion is going to be pretty simple. It's going to be to move 15 positions as presented with no
[5:54:03] general fund or mobility fund in pack. And the second motion will be to approve two positions funded
[5:54:10] through the budget enhancement authorized under item two.
[5:54:16] >> second. >> motion by commissioner garcia, second by commissioner briones. All in favor? Any opposed?
[5:54:21] motion carries. Four to zero.
[5:54:29] anything else on that? Thank you, county attorney for your work. Next, 329, flagged by
[5:54:36] commissioner ramsey. It was supposed to go with item five. But I'm bringing it back up and
[5:54:40] it's transmittal. >> I think we covered that
[5:54:44] pretty well. >> I think we did to. So we accept the transmittal. And then we go 332.
[5:54:50] flagged by commissioner ramsey. Agreement with cgl management
[5:54:57] group. Additional services and professional services to provide a feasibility study for glp.
[5:55:04] >> is a motion on that create motion by commissioner garcia. Second by commissioner briones. All in favor?
[5:55:11] any opposed? Motion carries three to one. 337. Flagged by commissioner ellis.
[5:55:18] it is on an agreement for design build construction services for the riverside hospital. The health and safety complex.
[5:55:26] >> we can just move that is accepted. We can do a separate motion, but the contract has been
[5:55:31] distributed. >> so we are good. Do we need to do anything? >> no.
[5:55:37] just approved as presented. >> moved. >> motion by commissioner garcia, second by commissioner
[5:55:42] briones. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carried unanimously.
[5:55:47] anything else? Questions? A county-- county clerk? Administrator?
[5:55:53] it is 6:54 p.m.-- >> oh, judge. I have one last item. >> okay.
[5:55:59] >> item 340. This is the revitalization of
[5:56:05] denver harbor park. This is part of our revive to
[5:56:11] thrive initiative. And I'm so excited because this is now finally the second phase of the denver harbor park
[5:56:20] improvements. We've been working with the city for way too long to get this project done.
[5:56:27] but I'm glad we are finally at this particular point.
[5:56:32] this item will be to award the architectural package contract, which is funded by precinct two to the lowest bidder, b&d
[5:56:42] contractors, appropriated for approximately 1,000,000.3.
[5:56:48] it includes a concession stand, rest room, breezeway, and solar
[5:56:52] lighting. The design of the concession stand was presented to and selected by the community during
[5:56:57] a public meeting held in march of last year.
[5:57:01] the chosen decide was inspired by the vibrant colors and
[5:57:10] patterns of latin fabrics. The phase one package included
[5:57:17] constructing one concrete walking trail, installing benches, and reconstructing the west parking lot, completing
[5:57:23] civil site work, such as drainage and grading. The work was completed in november last year with a
[5:57:31] precinct two contribution of another 1.3 million.
[5:57:35] harris county precinct two in partnership with the city of houston is contributing more than 2.6 million towards
[5:57:42] improvements of this particular park. This project reflects our commitment to communities
[5:57:49] throughout precinct two, but as well as those inside the city of houston. And I want to thank my team.
[5:57:56] my engineering team. They have been working so hard on this. It has had a lot of slippery
[5:58:02] moments. Working through some complicated
[5:58:07] issues involving the city and the state. But I'm so excited we are finally at this point.
[5:58:13] and hopefully we will have a much more smoother roadway to
[5:58:18] getting it completed then we have with a previous project.
[5:58:23] so talk about getting permitting issues fixed.
[5:58:27] this is the city's-- this was a challenge for the city.
[5:58:41] >> congratulations. It's awesome. >> I move it as presented. >> second.
[5:58:46] congrats. >> thank you. I think we voted for it already. >> it was approved on the
[5:58:51] consent agenda. >> I'll try