Founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1837, Houston, Texas, United States is one of the fastest growing major cities in the United States and the largest without zoning laws. The city is the county seat of Harris County. A portion of southwest Houston extends into Fort Bend County and a small portion in the northeast extends into Montgomery County.
The city of Houston has a strong mayor–council government. The City's elected officials, serving concurrent two year terms, are: the mayor, the city controller and 14 members of the city council. Under the strong mayor-council government, the mayor serves as the executive officer of the city. As the city's chief administrator and official representative, the mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and for seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced.
As the result of a 1991 referendum in Houston, a mayor is elected for a two-year term, and can be elected to as many as three consecutive terms. City council members, who also have a three-term limit, are elected from nine districts in the city, along with five at-large council members, who represent the entire city. As of 2010, the mayor of Houston is Annise Parker, who is serving her first term.
The city council lineup was based on a U.S. Justice Department mandate which took effect in 1979. Under the current city charter, if the population in the Houston City Limits goes past 2.2 million residents, the current nine-member city council districts will be expanded with the addition of two city council districts.[1] The municipal elections held on November 8, 2011 now includes the newly-formed Districts J (located in the Greater Sharpstown area) and K (a section of Southwest Houston, Reliant Park, and Fort Bend County located within the Houston City Limits) where 2 candidates won over 50% of the vote. Houston is a home rule city and all municipal elections in the state of Texas are nonpartisan.
Many local lawmakers have been impacted by the city's term limits. Several former city officials—Anthony Hall, Rodney Ellis, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Sylvia Garcia, Martha Wong, Chris Bell, Annise Parker, and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs—chose to run for other elected positions once their terms expired or shortly before they were due to expire.
Former mayor Lee P. Brown denounced the term limits, saying they prevented incumbents from gaining enough experience in city government. A proposal to double the current two-year term of office has been debated—as of 2005, several candidates for the city council have brought up the issue of whether term limits should be amended or eliminated. Some elected officials from the Greater Houston area within the Texas Legislature—primarily Garnet Coleman and Sylvester Turner—have also spoken out against term limits. In 2010, a term limits review commission appointed by former Mayor Bill White called for amending the city charter on extending term limits where elected officials could serve two four-year terms; the proposal failed 8.18.10 after the Houston City Council voted 7-7.
Houston is considered to be a politically divided city whose balance of power often sways between Republicans and Democrats. The affluent western-central portions of Houston—such as River Oaks and the Memorial/Spring Branch area, as well as master planned communities of Kingwood and Clear Lake City—consistently vote Republican, while many of the inner city areas, Neartown, and Alief—are heavily Democratic. According to the 2005 Houston Area Survey, 68 percent of non-Hispanic whites in Harris County are declared or favor Republicans while 89 percent of non-Hispanic blacks in the area are declared or favor Democrats. About 62 percent Hispanics (of any race) in the area are declared or favor Democrats.[2]
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In 1912 the Government of Texas passed an amendment to the Texas Constitution that allowed the annexation of unincorporated areas. Since then the City of Houston annexed various properties.[3]
| Position | Name | First Elected | Areas Represented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Annise Parker | 2009 | City-wide |
| City Controller | Ronald Green | 2009 | City-wide |
| At-Large Position 1 | Stephen Costello | 2009 | City-wide |
| At-Large Position 2 | Sue Lovell | 2005 | City-wide |
| At-Large Position 3 | Melissa Noriega | 2007 | City-wide |
| At-Large Position 4 | Clarence Bradford | 2009 | City-wide |
| At-Large Position 5 | Jolanda "Jo" Jones | 2007 | City-wide |
| District A | Brenda Stardig | 2009 | Willowbrook, Carverdale, Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing, Greater Inwood (part), Acres Homes (part), Westbranch, Addicks/Park Ten (including the Addicks Reservoir), Spring Branch West, Langwood, Oak Forest/Garden Oaks, Lazy Brook/Timbergrove (part), Memorial (part), Washington Avenue/Memorial (part), Spring Shadows, Spring Branch Central, Spring Branch East (part), Greater Heights (part) |
| District B | Jarvis Johnson | 2005 | Greenspoint, Greater Inwood (part), Acres Homes (part), Hidden Valley, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Northside/Northline (part), Eastex/Jensen (part), East Little York / Homestead, Little York / Greenwood , Trinity / Houston Gardens, East Houston, Settegast, Kashmere Gardens (part), Fifth Ward (part), Denver Harbor/Port Houston (part), Pleasantville Area (part), Clinton Park/Tri-Community (part) |
| District C | Anne Clutterbuck | 2005 | Woodlake/Briarmeadow (part), Uptown/Post Oak (part), Sharpstown (part), Gulfton (part), University Place, Braeburn (part), Meyerland, Braeswood Place, Texas Medical Center (part), Fondren Southwest (part), Westbury, Willow Meadows/Willowbend, Fondren Gardens, Greenway Plaza/Upper Kirby |
| District D | Wanda Adams | 2007 | Neartown, Texas Medical Center (part), Reliant Park, South Main, Central Southwest, Fort Bend county portion, Midtown, Binz, Third Ward (part), OST/South Union, Sunnyside, South Park (part), South Acres/Crestmont Park (part), Minnetex (part), MacGregor |
| District E | Mike Sullivan | 2007 | Kingwood (including Montgomery County portion), Lake Houston, North Shore (part), South Park (part), Meadowbrook/Allendale (part), South Acres/Crestmont Park (part), Minnetex (part), Hobby Airport (part), Edgebrook, South Belt/Ellington Field, Clear Lake City, Johnson Space Center |
| District F | Al Hoang | 2009 | Alief, Sharpstown (part), Gulfton (part), Westwood, Braeburn (part), Fondren Southwest (part) |
| District G | Oliver Pennington | 2009 | Memorial (part), Eldridge/West Oaks (including the Barker Reservoir), Briar Forest, Westchase, Woodlake/Briar Meadow (part), Uptown/Post Oak (part), Washington Ave./Memorial (part), Afton Oaks/River Oaks |
| District H | Ed Gonzalez | 2009 | Independence Heights, Lazy Brook/Timbergrove (part), Houston Heights, Washington Avenue/Memorial (part), Northside/Northline (part), Eastex/Jensen (part), Northside Village, Kashmere Gardens (part), Fifth Ward (part), Downtown (part), Second Ward (part), Eastwood (part), Spring Branch East (part), Cottage Grove, Greater Heights (part) |
| District I | James Rodriguez | 2007 | El Dorado/Oates Prairie, Hunterwood, Denver Harbor/Port Houston (part), Pleasantville Area (part), North Shore (part), Clinton Park/Tri-Community (part), Fourth Ward, Downtown (part), Second Ward (part), Eastwood (part), Harrisburg-Manchester/Magnolia Park, Third Ward (part), Gulfgate/Pine Valley, Pecan Park, Golfcrest, Park Place, Meadowbrook/Allendale (part), Hobby Airport (part), Magnolia Park, Lawndale/Wayside |
During the administration of Lee P. Brown, starting in the year 2000 the City of Houston began grouping areas into "super neighborhoods." Communities with similar identities, infrastructures, and physical features were grouped into super neighborhoods.[4]
The City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department was created by a city ordinance on March 15, 1916. When it was created it had two parks, Hermann Park and Sam Houston Park. As of 2010 the department maintains about 350 developed parks and 200 esplanades and greenspaces inside and outside of the City of Houston.[5][6]
The Houston Airport System manages three airports in the Houston city limits: George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, and Ellington Airport.
The Texas Department of Transportation operates the Houston District Office in Houston.[7]
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Region III Parole Division headquarters in Houston. The Houston VI district parole office is located on the grounds of the headquarters. The Houston I, Houston II, Houston III, Houston IV, and Houston VII are located in other places in Houston. The Houston V district parole office is in Pasadena.[8] The agency also operates the Joe Kegans Unit state jail facility in Downtown Houston.[9]
The Huntsville Unit in Huntsville serves as the designated regional release center for prisoners arriving in the Houston area.[10] Throughout the history of the Texas Prison System 90% of male prisoners, regardless of where they were being released, were sent to the unit for the final portions of their sentences before being released. Starting in September 2010 the TDCJ instead began to use regional release centers for male prisoners.[11] Female prisoners throughout Texas who are not state jail prisoners or substance abuse felony punishment facility residents are released from the Christina Crain Unit in Gatesville.[10]
The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) operates the Houston District Office in Greater Sharpstown, Houston.[12][13] The closest TYC correctional facility to Houston is the Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility in unincorporated Jefferson County, near Beaumont.[12][14] The TYC announced that the Al Price facility will close by August 31, 2011.[15]
The United States Postal Service's main post office facility is the 16-acre (6.5 ha) Houston Post Office at 401 Franklin Street in Downtown Houston.[16] In February 2009 the U.S. Postal Service announced that it was going to sell the Houston Post Office. The party buying the facility is required to build a replacement facility.[17] The postal service operates station branches in other parts of Houston.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Houston Field Office and the Houston office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are in Greenspoint and in Houston.[18] An ICE Special Agent in Charge (SAC) principal field office is also in Houston.[19] The Houston Contract Detention Facility, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America on behalf of ICE, is located in Houston.[20]
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Houston Branch is located in the Fourth Ward of Houston.[21][22]
Houston is represented in the United States Congress by U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Representatives Kevin Brady, John Culberson, Al Green, Gene Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Michael McCaul, Pete Olson, Ron Paul, and Ted Poe.[23]
