Fiscal Responsibility & Accountability

Houston needs problem solvers to handle the city’s serious budget issues. As CEO of the Houston Area Women’s Center, Ellen balanced a 6-million dollar budget, and as a member of the Appropriations Committee in the Texas Legislature, helped craft a $182 billion biennium budget which unanimously passed the House. On Council, she has worked to find cost-effective solutions to Houston’s challenging budget issues.

Neighborhoods

As chair of the Houston City Council Quality of Life Committee, Ellen believes that part of the quality of life is preserving our historical environment. Houston has been in such a hurry to grow up and to grow into the fourth largest city in the United States that in our enthusiasm to show how modern we are we have torn down some of our very critical history. Ellen works to preserve some of Houston’s older and more stable neighborhoods along with some of its historical landmarks. Whether or not a neighborhood should be declared an historical district should be up to the residents of that neighborhood.

Public Safety

There is no question that the quality of life we enjoy in Houston depends largely on how safe we feel on the streets and in our own homes. Police officers and fire fighters do excellent work in protecting us and coming to our rescue when we need them.  However, in order to meet our city’s growing population, Houston needs to provide our first responders with sufficient resources to perform their duties. As a Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee member, Ellen works with the Houston Police Department, Houston Fire Department, Houston Emergency Center, EMS, Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security, and Municipal Courts to ensure that these departments receive the support they need.

Equity

All individuals should be treated with dignity – irrespective of race, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation and discrimination must not be tolerated. That’s why Ellen has worked her entire career to fight for human rights for all. She has worked with faith and business leaders to promote religious tolerance and advocated for same sex partner benefits at the city. Ellen also worked on legislation to end bullying in schools, to address health care rights of domestic partners, and to prevent employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. She also co-sponsored the bill which established the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission. At City Hall, Ellen fights for equal rights for all.