This Week: Safer Streets Initiative Announced; Council to Vote on Firefighter Layoffs; Houston Art Car Parade

Safer Streets Initiative Announced

Mayor Pro Tem Cohen and Mayor Turner discussed plans with community leaders for the new Safer Streets Initiative at a press conference at the intersection of Shepherd Dr. and W. 10th St. The site of the recent tragic hit-and-run deaths of Houstonians Lesha Adams and Jesus Perez will receive an upgraded crosswalk, including ramps, as well as a pedestrian-activated crosswalk light. Further pedestrian upgrades, with an emphasis on accessibility, will be implemented throughout the city with the assistance of a new dashboard to track deadly crashes involving people with disabilities and those walking or biking.

Council to Vote on Firefighter Layoffs

Council continues to discuss options to pay for Prop B, the controversial measure approved by the voters to mandate “pay parity” for Houston’s fire and police departments on the basis of job title/classification and seniority.

Per Controller Chris Brown, the measure is estimated to cost $100,000,000.00 annually, the equivalent of about a 29% raise across the board for firefighters. For context, this is more than the entire General Fund budgets for all of the following City departments, combined: Neighborhoods, Libraries, Housing, the Mayor’s Office, all Council offices, Finance, Business Opportunity, and Human Resources. The Prop B petition, written by the Houston Professional Fire Fighter’s Association union, did not include a funding source for the raises.

Fire Department Chief Pena has reported that, by implementing education parity requirements for those who would receive pay parity raises, the cost of Prop B is brought down to $80,000,000.00 annually.

To pay for these raises, Mayor Turner has proposed a 3 1/2 year phase-in, which would reduce the number of layoffs required to fill the deficit created by Prop B. He shared a proposal with the HPFFA union and met with their president, Patrick “Marty” Lancton, on Friday morning to discuss terms.

Mr. Lancon has previously rejected a proposal to implement the raises over a five year period, which would eliminate the need for any layoffs or cuts to City services. Mr. Lancton did not share specific criticism of the five-year plan beyond questioning whether the plan included both base and incentive pay, which Mayor Turner has confirmed that it does. (Please see rows 3, 4, 7, and 8 in the above linked proposal, which show the incremental and cumulative annual costs for both base and incentive pay in the new proposal.)

While both Mayor Turner and Mayor Pro Tem Cohen favor a five-year implementation because there would be no layoffs, a three and a half year phase-in is being offered as a compromise solution, since it would lead to less layoffs than no phase-in at all.

If the raises are not phased in and must be implemented all at once, Prop B will necessitate extensive layoffs and steep cuts to City services like parks and libraries. The layoffs will include:

• laying off 220 firefighters
• laying off 67 unseated cadets
• eliminating 91 currently vacant positions within the Houston Fire Department
• laying off 47 municipal works from the Parks, Health, and Library departments
• eliminating 67 currently vacant positions within those departments

In a presentation on April 9th to the Public Safety Committee, Chief Pena shared that, by restructuring his department to be more efficient, he can achieve his department’s portion of the layoffs while maintaining current public safety standards.

Council is expected to vote on the layoffs of the 220 firefighters on Wednesday, April 17th.

If the Fire Fighter’s Association will approve Mayor Turner’s plan to phase in the raises over  three and a half years, far fewer layoffs will be needed.

What’s Happening in the District

Today, Saturday, April 13th, the 32nd Annual Houston Art Car Parade will take place in District C. This iconic event is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting 300,000 local, national, and international visitors. Over 250 art cars will participate, including a Stevie Ray Vaughn-themed entry entitled ‘Pride and Joy’ from the students at District C’s Heights High School! All-day festivities include beverage stations, food trucks, live music, and kid’s creative stations. The parade will begin at 2PM at the intersection of Bagby St at Dallas St, loop around City Hall, and continue down Allen Parkway.