Here’s what you need to know about the District H candidates

HOUSTON VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the November elections.

Michelle Stearns

Born and raised in the Near Northside, Michelle Stearns is co-owner of the Joseph House Community Outreach Center, which distributes essential items, such as food, to community members.

The City of Stearns budget, affordable housing and infrastructure are top priorities. He also wants to improve parks, lighting and streets.

“The concerns have been the same: We have been neglected, overlooked, underserved, and Joseph House has stepped into that area and filled some of the needs of constituents, like jobs,” Stearns said.

sonia rivera

Sonia Rivera, who previously ran for At-Large 5, said she has worked with youth in anti-drug and anti-gang programs for homeless youth.

He cited crime and flood mitigation as the district’s top needs. Rivera said he will prioritize projects for low-income residents, improving infrastructure and addressing quality of life issues. He wants to improve the transparency of city projects, especially for flood mitigation.

“I am running because I know I have the knowledge and experience to handle the issues facing the city of Houston right now. I have been in the community for over 25 years and have worked with all populations.” Rivera said.

Cynthia Reyes Revilla

Cynthia Reyes-Revilla, a Northside resident and real estate broker, highlighted her work with nonprofit organizations and community members. form PTO and mentoring programs for students.

“One of the most important things I have always been passionate about is using local policies and laws to help improve communities,” Reyes-Revilla said. “That’s what they’re there for.”

He said his top priorities include better recruiting and inventory for the fire and police departments. He said he would also prioritize workforce development for small businesses and improvements to streets, sidewalks and drainage. Reyes-Revilla ran for District H in 2019 and for the Democratic primary election for Texas House District 148 in 2020.

Mark McGee

Mark McGee, an accountant who lives in Woodland Heights, said his top three problems are parking on narrow streets, flooding and addition of police officers.

He said streets clogged with parked cars could cause problems for fire trucks and ambulances. He said requiring a driveway long enough to park your car could be addressed through the permitting process. He also supports spay and neuter stray dogs and a strategic collection of heavy garbage for one or two months to stop illegal dumping.

“I’m from Houston, born and raised, I’ve lived in District H for 14 years and I feel like it needs some help,” McGee said. “I feel like I’m the best candidate to listen to people and be the liaison between city council and voters.”

mariocastillo

Mario Castillo, born and raised in the district, is executive director of the nonprofit Your Houston. He said he was District H chief of staff from January to July 2016, during which he and Cisneros “had a difference in philosophies” about how much freedom a chief of staff has and Cisneros fired him.. Castillo worked for Houston Health and was a board member of the Hardy/Near Northside Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.

Castillo, a member of the police department’s training advisory board, called public safety his “number one campaign priority” at a candidate forum on Sept. 26. He sees safety issues encompassing petty crime, illegal dumping and stray animals. He also aims to prioritize infrastructure and improve residents’ health by partnering with public or private entities for mobile health clinics.

“I’m running for City Council because I feel like the district is at an inflection point in terms of looking at all the opportunities that are coming to District H and should be coming to District H,” Castillo said.

Main topics

Bike lanes and city street construction: Bike lanes remain a divisive issue as neighborhoods like Norhill and Glen Park expect North Main Street to lose vehicle lanes to bike lanes. Most candidates said there needed to be better and more consistent communication. from the city about the city’s upcoming projects. McGee said he opposed converting vehicle lanes to bike lanes.

Crime: The candidates shared in a October 11 Candidate Forum their tactics for tackling crime.

Stearns wants to see more HPD officers in the district and bring police agencies together. She believes that people seeing police officers more often can reduce the crime rate.

Rivera wants to see greater collaboration between law enforcement agencies and create a community and police task force to identify crime hotspots.

Reyes-Revilla wants to improve communication, boost hiring and better equip the police department through the potential use of district service funds that can be used at the discretion of the District H council member.

McGee said better communication and awareness is needed between authorities and the public.

Castillo wants to create a patrol to address lower-level quality of life violations that he says often go unanswered. The patrol would be the same as the one District J utilizes district service funds that board members may use at their discretion.. He also wants to use technology, such as Flock cameras that read license plate numbers.

FLOCK CHAMBERS: What to know from defenders and critics

Flood: Part of the district’s northwest (approximately between I-45, 610, Whitney Street, and Yale Street) and northeast (east of Lockwood Drive and south of Clinton Drive) are especially vulnerable, with between 53% and 65% and 52% of the properties, respectively. risk of flooding in the next 30 years, according to FloodFactor data.

Stearns wants clean ditches as a monthly priority and work with local partners and businesses to prevent flooding.

Rivera said the ditches need a widespread cleanup effort and called for greater transparency and monitoring for ongoing flood mitigation projects.

Reyes-Revilla wants to work with local developers and partners to address flooding and bring investment to at-risk areas.

McGee said that for new homes built on the edge of a lot and having water running directly from the roof to the concrete, the water pools on the street and could potentially impact surrounding homes. He wants to clean ditches and get developers to plan and pay for flood mitigation through the permitting process.

Castillo said the city has to work with other local entities like the county to mitigate flooding. He talked about Proposition B, which aims to give Houston greater proportional voting power on a regional governing board what’s wrong with it a role in allocating federal funds for flood mitigation. He also said he would make sure the city maintained the district’s ditches.

The city earlier this year. Responsibility for maintaining open drainage ditches was shifted away from property owners..