Shifty Sidewalk Ordinance Revision Effort Part Of Whitmire's Attack On Public Space

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Hearings over City of Houston Houston sidewalk ordinance revisions begin today. There will be four in-person meetings and four virtual. Here is the schedule of these hearings. They take place between October 22 and November 2. They are being held when many people are distracted by the election. I'm going to watch at least two of the virtual hearings and attend one of the in-person sessions.  

This is a matter for the Houston Democracy Project because Mayor Whitmire recently gutted the sidewalk ordinance with a memo rather than by a vote of Council. No democracy involved.

Three Councilmembers--Tiffany Thomas, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz & Ed Pollard--sought to change a provision in the law that requires developers to either build a sidewalk, or pay a fee to a city sidewalk construction fund when building a new house. They didn't have the votes for this bad idea. Instead, Mayor Whitmire worked it out for them by simply writing a memo allowing exemptions from the requirement to either build the sidewalk or pay up. Not very democratic at all.

Beyond the shifty way Mayor Whitmire watered-down the ordinance, this issue is a matter of democracy because sidewalks are an important place where people meet up and connect. Sidewalks are such an important place for protest, that Mayor Whitmire unsuccessfully tried in August to restrict the rights of Houstonians to protest on the sidewalk.      

Here is the schedule from the City Planning Commission about how the ordinance revision process will go:   

October 17: Planning Commission presentation. The public comment period opens.
November 7: Last day to submit advance comments on Let's Talk Houston
November 14: Planning Commission public hearing
December 2: Quality of Life Council Committee meeting
December 11: City Council meeting

As you can gather, the October 17th Planning Commission presentation already happened. Here is the link to watch the hearing. The presentation starts around the nine minute mark. Spoiler alert--The intent of the so-called revision seems to be all about killing the fee. Nothing about making life better for people or adding more sidewalks. Just ditching the fee. That's all it has ever been about.

​Mayor Whitmire has been attacking public space and its best uses since he took office. Pedestrian safety, nice sidewalks and safe streets for daily life and the First Amendment, are a distant second to freeway expansions, catering to neighborhood obstructionists & making up stories that local protestors are paid by Iran.

​It's a shame we are wasting four years of civic life with this guy as Mayor.  It's worse than even that though with Mayor Whitmire looking the other way at the prospect of mass deportations and authoritarians winning upcoming elections. The Mayor has narrow and odd concepts about quality of life and public safety. We can do way better.         

More about the sidewalk ordinance soon right here! I encourage you to comment and take part in the debate yourself.     

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
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The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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