In addition to the Metro vote, Council passed the budget yesterday.
In his fiscal 2009 plan, Mayor Bill White asked the council to approve a $105 million increase in spending for police, fire and emergency medical services. Included is money to fund seven cadet classes in an effort to expand the Houston Police Department to 5,194 classified officers by next summer, according to the spending plan.Council members passed amendments requiring additional anti-crime spending during the eight-hour debate. Police will get $1,225,000 more for overtime and $708,000 for hiring incentives, increases initiated by Councilwoman Melissa Noriega. At least $180,000 will be added to the budget for anti-gang initiatives.
The council also voted to add $270,000 for after-school programs and $50,000 to provide matching grants for neighborhood improvements.
"There's a record increase to public safety and a significant increase on initiatives on quality of life in our neighborhoods," White said, "and we did it unanimously."
The meeting, which ended at 9:20 p.m., allowed council members to draw attention to favored causes, even if they could not get the mayor to commit funding.
Instead, members tabled dozens of budget amendments in exchange for promises from White to study their pet projects. Among the ideas to be studied: expansion of curbside recycling, fines for those who falsify building permit applications, and culvert replacement in front of flood-prone homes owned by seniors and the disabled.
Just hours after council voted on an agreement with the Metropolitan Transit Authority for the light-rail system, Councilwoman Melissa Noriega offered an amendment to fund streetscape improvements around future rail stations.
"You must have some of these kinds of things to connect (the light rail) to a neighborhood," Noriega said. "Certainly, beautification is part of it, but functionality is really part of my primary concern. What we don't want is a box with people in it moving through a neighborhood."
Although no money was added to the 2009 budget, White said he would push for $6 million to be added to the capital improvement plan in the next two years.