‘We need interaction': Houston council members sworn in with promises of transparency amid fallout of surprise leadership resignations

In a standing-room only meeting, three new council members were sworn into the City of Houston council, while the election of a new mayor and deputy mayor were postponed until next Monday.

Instead, a motion was made to elect a chairman for the council and Councilman Mike Adams was selected to lead until the next special council meeting, which will be held on Monday, October 17.

The first course of action, Adams took was to delay the election of a new mayor and deputy mayor until a full city council was appointed and seated.

“According to Houston Municipal Code 2.04.035G, it requires a full council, and we do not have a full council to appoint those positions,” Adams stated when presenting the amendment to the agenda.

With the abrupt resignations last Friday of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, who were also council members, there are now 2 vacancies for the Houston City Council. Seats the city is seeking to fill quickly.

After seeking the advice from the city’s attorney and local government specialists, Adams made a motion to waive the requirements of the city code for council seat vacancies, allowing the council to accept the resignations and begin the process of moving forward.

Adams and the council also postponed an agenda item seeking to appoint a new member to the council after a previous member had vacated their seat earlier in the summer when they moved outside city limits.

Citing Houston Municipal Code, Adams asked to change the original agenda, which was to interview applicants and vote for a new member tonight, to simply interview and make a selection at the regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday.

Posting the application process earlier in the day, City Clerk Rebecca Rein informed residents interested in serving that applications will be taken until Friday, October 14.

On Monday, those two seats will be appointed and the council will then select a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

“I would like to see as many people apply. Please apply for these positions-your city needs you,” Adams said, a sentiment echoed throughout the meeting.

The moves were intended to ease the chaos surrounding former Mayor Virgie Thompson and former Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson’s resignations. To date, no reasons have been given and attempts to contact either person have gone unanswered.

Fulfilling procedural protocols, the members accepted the resignations of Thompson and Wilson, along with former City Treasurer Sally Schug.

The Canvass Board-certified results from last Tuesday’s City elections were then accepted and new city council members David Childs and Sandy McDonald were sworn in while current councilman Mike Adams was also sworn in following his reelection.

With the new council seated, members got down to the business of interviewing applicants to one empty council spot. All applicants agreed that among the priorities that need to be addressed are roads, code enforcement, transparency, public safety, and infrastructure.

“The city council should listen to the people of the City of Houston and always act in their best interest,” said Houston resident Jeff Brasel during his interview to the vacant spot, a statement met with much applause from the residents.

“Crime and streets are at the top of the (priority) list,” said Tony Kuse during his interview, who expressed frustration with previous council’s actions.

In a rare move, Councilman Carter Cole moved to suspend the rules of public comment, which normally give people 3 minutes each to speak, and instead introduced an open forum for the attendees to talk.

“I’d like to suspend the rules for 20 minutes to allow for more contact with the citizens,” said Cole. Having the time frame limited the chance of meeting running all the way until 11:00 pm, which is allowed under the Houston Municipal Code.

“I’m very proud of who we elected and I think they’re going to do a wonderful job,” said Rosemary Barnett, longtime Houston resident and President of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, who herself served as on the council and as Mayor.

Multiple residents took time to say that roads has a major issue that needs to be addressed, citing broken graders and mismanagement of priorities as causes for poor road conditions throughout Houston.

Others remarked on the full-capacity crowd that came out to the meeting and that this past election boasted its highest total amount of voters at 16.3%

“This is a huge number of people in this room, this is phenomenal. There’s a lot of knowledge in this room, too. A lot of people that have gotten involved in the past that are here again to get involved,” said Christian Hartley, before adding, “it is not enough to a consumer of governance. For us to succeed, people on this (audience) side of the gavel need to be more involved.”

Hartley also issued a challenge to the residents at the meeting to attend 1 more meeting before the end of the year.

“An active community prevents a reactive government.”

Still others commented on the previous administration as being “very toxic” and one that would not have allowed a moment like they were experiencing.

“Open up and listen. People are listening to each other, not listening to what you (the council) has to say and there’s no interaction. We need interaction,” said another attendee during the meeting, a statement met with huge applause.

As to the questions surrounding the circumstances that led to Thompson and Wilson quitting, the council had nothing to offer at this time.

“I know you probably have a ton of questions, and we are trying to navigate this. This has not been an easy way to get to where we are now. The community is at risk without leadership. We are operating on a lot of faith until Monday,” said Councilman Cole during closing comments.

“We expect things from you, to hold us accountable for the promises that we made. Promises of transparency and being above board at all times,” said Councilman Childs, who added that once they are able to get the city back on track and some new leadership reinstated, the council will get to work to the best of their ability.

After the meeting, Councilman Adams said he was pleased not only with the turnout at the meeting, but voter turnout last week, and hopes the momentum will continue

“I’ve been on for a year, and we’re lucky to get maybe 15 people to a meeting. Tonight was just amazing,” adding that he believes the people in Houston have spoken that they wanted a change and a council that will not do business as usual, but think outside the proverbial box.

“They want accomplishments, not excuses. It was resoundingly stated by the people.”

Adams is confident the city will get past the discourse created and, with a relatively brand new council coming in, he expects there to be continued calls for full accountability and a clearer understanding of the finances, as many residents remain suspicious of the departures and are demanding an audit of the city’s budget and spending.

“We have a process, and as a council, we can look to what we need to do to get our city back on track.”

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 13 at 6 pm at Houston City Hall.