Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones and her staff conducted a “virtual listening tour” session via a Zoom call for residents of the precinct on August 15. Briones held 12 in-person listening sessions throughout the precinct last year, including two at the Katy campus of Houston Community College, 22910 Colonial Parkway. She will hold four in-person sessions in 2024, with the next on September 14, and one additional virtual session.

Briones reiterated her department’s priorities as “good government,” infrastructure, education and opportunities, public health and justice and safety. In the area of justice and safety, one of Briones’ policy advisers provided a summary of the “Advancing Justice” package recently presented at commissioners court. The package will upgrade outdated technology in the courtrooms – some of which is more than ten years old -- and invest in critical courtroom needs and is designed to improve court appearance rates through expanding texts and other reminders to defendants as well as using the Community Assistance Referral Program. Case management will be streamlined through optimizing case management systems. The “Advancing Justice” plan will continue to reduce the court backlog through expansion of the court staff and associate judge program. Mental health services are also included in the plan.

In the area of “good government,” Briones noted that the precinct’s website is now available in 12 languages. She provided an update for “listening tours” for 2024 and announced that public town halls on the county budget, first done last year would continue this year with additional sessions planned in August. The county will vote on the budget on September 10 prior to the start of the county’s fiscal year on October 1.

Projects for health include a seven-point plan to save and strengthen HART (Holistic Assistance Response Team), a program that frees up time for law enforcement officers. Briones has championed the needs of nursing mothers, establishing three lactation pods in the county courthouse and updating Harris County policies for nursing employees. Through ACCESS Harris, the precinct has worked on programs for violence prevention, Black maternal health, Latino chronic disease, and a diabetes prevention program.

On education and economic opportunities, Briones spoke of the improvement in the awarding of Harris County contracts to M/WBEs from under nine per cent to over 27 percent currently, noting that there were educational programs underway to educate small businesses on how to do business with the county. She also described the precinct’s $10.9 million program for apprenticeships, a $6.2 million program focusing on domestic violence and a $4.2 million national partnership for naturalization services in Harris County.

Briones said that she had doubled the size of the precinct’s infrastructure team, and that the team has over 100 projects currently underway. Infrastructure projects in the Katy area included the East Katy Mobility project and “Sidewalks 4 Precinct 4,” a $20 million initiative which will build 50 miles of sidewalk, including some in the Mayde Creek area. Briones also announced that the “Places 4 People” project had partnered with other area entities such as cities, school districts and MUDs, to

launch $170 million for 32 projects in its first year, with $88 million coming from the county and $82 million contributed by partner organizations. On September 14, the final workshop for the “All in 4 East Katy Community Plan” will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Steve Radack Community Center at 18650 Clay Road in Houston.

Storm recovery efforts were also detailed. Following Hurricane Beryl, the precinct opened most community centers to serve as cooling centers; two centers also served as distribution centers, providing food, water and ice to over 6,100 residents. Road and bridge crews cleared over 25,000 cubic yards of debris, more than 1,840 truckloads. The precinct responded to over 3,000 service requests from area residents.

In the “question and answer” portion of the meeting, the first questions were for the FEMA representative regarding specialized equipment for the disabled, the FEMA application process and the filing of false claims. Other questions concerned the free classes offered at the precinct’s community centers, what the precinct is doing for residents of the precinct who live in the City of Houston rather than in the unincorporated areas, and the priorities for renovating county parks.