You Can Contact Houston City Council Over Weekend To Support Yes Vote On Ice Ordinance & Reject Police Union Control Of City

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​I'm signed up to speak at Houston City Council for public comment next Tuesday, 4/14.

I'm not certain what I'm going to say. But I know I'm going to clearly thank Salinas, Kamin & Pollard for leading on the ICE ordinance. (Above you see the 3/19 press conference announcing the ICE ordinance.)

We can't ask these folks to stick their necks out--Whether bluster or not, the Attorney General of Texas is saying they could lose their seats over this--and then not back them up. 

The groups that endorsed the ordinance--Some moved to neutral after the one provision was struck by the city attorney. I disagreed with that move.--need to have the flexibility and ability to defend hard-won gains at Council.

The non-safety traffic stop issue still needs to be addressed. You see the extent of the push back just to this watered-down ordinance. Any hope of getting to non-safety traffic stops will require defending what was just obtained. The nine votes to end City of Houston non-safety traffic stops are not there today.

You can e-mail Houston City Council over the weekend. Thank the Democrats who voted yes--it was all of them--and Republican Ramirez as well. Tell Council that HPD needs to enforce the ordinance & that elected officials run city government rather than HPD, the police union and Paul Bettencourt.

The work ahead is ours. We need to show up for others doing the right thing and we need to show up for ourselves.

The next action is when your organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence.
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Here is information on following and interacting with Houston City Council--
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Public comment time at Houston City Council is each Tuesday at 2 PM with the exception once each month when it is at 5:00 PM. Here is how you can speak at Council and here is how to contact your councilmember.  The earlier before the session you sign up, the higher up on the speaker's list you'll be. You must register to speak by 3 PM the day before. 

The agenda session to conduct Council business is each Wednesday at 9 AM. The agenda is posted in advance. Council can be watched live on HTV Houston Television and past sessions are available at any time on the HTV feed on Facebook. Here is the link to past sessions of Council. Here are maps of Council districts so you can see who represents you. 

Here is contact information for Mayor Whitmire & Council--

Mayor Whitmire—832-393-1000 [email protected] 

Democrats: 
At-Large-Alejandra Salinas 832-393-3012  [email protected]
At-Large-Sallie Alcorn 832-393-3017  [email protected]
District B-Tarsha Jackson 832-393-3009  [email protected]
District C-Abbie Kamin 832-393-3004  [email protected]
District D-Carolyn Evans-Shabazz 832-393-3001 [email protected]
District F-Tiffany Thomas 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District H-Mario Castillo 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District I-Joaquin Martinez 832-393-3011 [email protected]
District J-Edward Pollard 832-393-3015  [email protected]
District K-Martha Castex-Tatum 832-393-3016  [email protected]

Republicans: 
At-Large-Julian Ramirez 832-393-3014 [email protected]
At-Large-Willie Davis 832-393-3013 [email protected] 
At-Large-Twila Carter 832-393-3005 [email protected]
District A-Amy Peck 832-393-3010 [email protected]
District E-Fred Flickinger 832-393-3008 [email protected] 
District G-Mary Nan Huffman 832-393-3007 [email protected] ​​​
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