Charter, Meetings, Etc.

City Council

From the City Charter

ARTICLE V. OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS

Sec. 1.Governing Body. The governing body of the City of Houston, Texas, shall be the City Council. The City Council shall be composed of the Mayor and the number of Council Members hereinafter prescribed. (Added by amendment August 15, 1942; amended May 29, 1951, August 11, 1979) Sec. 2.Council Members. For terms of office for Council Members commencing in 1980, and continuing until such time as the number of Council Members is increased as provided below, there shall be fourteen Council Members designated as follows:

District Council Members
Council Member, District A
Council Member, District B
Council Member, District C
Council Member, District D
Council Member, District E
Council Member, District F
Council Member, District G
Council Member, District H
Council Member, District I

At-Large Council Members
Council Member, At-Large Position 1
Council Member, At-Large Position 2
Council Member, At-Large Position 3
Council Member, At-Large Position 4
Council Member, At-Large Position 5

If, upon any determination of the population of the City pursuant to this Charter, such population is determined to be 2,100,000 persons or more, then the number of Council Members for the regular terms next commencing and continuing thereafter shall increase from fourteen to sixteen. The two additional members shall be District Council Members designated as follows:

Council Member, District J
Council Member, District K

The number of Council Members shall not be decreased, notwithstanding any decrease in population. All references in this Charter to "Councilmen," "Commissioners" or "Aldermen" shall be construed to be references to "Council Members," and all references in this Charter to a "Councilman" shall be construed to be references to a "Council Member." The "members" of the City Council shall include the Mayor and all Council Members, each of whom shall be a "member" thereof. (Added by amendment August 11, 1979)

Meetings Information
City Council meetings are conducted each week on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesdays beginning at 9:00 a.m. Any citizen may speak before Council on a Tuesday beginning at 2:00 p.m. To reserve time to address City Council (up to three minutes), contact the City Secretary's Office (832.393.1100) prior to the commencement of the meeting. All Council meetings are open to the public.

Agenda Information
In accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, the agenda is posted for public information, at all times, for at least 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of the meeting on the bulletin board located at the rear entrance of the City Hall Annex, 900 Bagby. Copies of the agenda are available at no charge in the Office of the City Secretary in the City Hall Annex, Public Level. To receive the agenda by mail, send check or money order for $52 for a one year subscription, made payable to the City of Houston to the attention of the City Secretary, PO Box 1562, Houston, Texas 77251. To reserve time to appear before Council, call 713.247.1840 or come to the Office of the City Secretary, City Hall Annex, Public Level at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled public session shown on the agenda.

Typical Agenda Format
Tuesdays:
1:30 PM -- Roll Call , Adopt Minutes of Previous Meeting; 2:00 PM -- Public Comments (each speaker may reserve up to three minutes). 5:00 PM -- Recess

Wednesdays:
8:00 AM -- Reading of captions by the City Secretary. 9:00 AM -- Hearings, Mayor's Report, Consent Agenda, Matters Removed from Consent Agenda, Non-Consent Agenda, Matters Held, Matters to be Presented by Council Members (Pop-Off)