District K Residents,
 
How are you? Your District K Team misses you and we hope you are all safe and healthy in your homes. Although we are apart please know we are still collectively thinking of you and working on your behalf.
 
This week Judge Lina Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner along with many other leaders announced the opening of an emergency medical shelter at NRG, in our district. This shelter is available to respond to an overflow from our hospital system and is fully equipped to handle 250 patients if needed. It is our hope that we will not need this additional bed space, but we are fortunate to have it set up just in case.
 
We have also been told by our federal partners that we should be able to increase the number of test administered at our 4 county and city testing sites this week. Each site can currently test up to 250 people per day and that number will increase to 500 per site per day. We need more tests to determine how effective our precautions are and when social restrictions can be relaxed or additional policies might need to be implemented. If you are experiencing symptoms please call 832-393-4220 to start your assessment process for testing from 9 am to 7 pm, Monday-Friday and 9 am to 3 pm on Saturdays.
 
The CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings especially where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as the grocery store or pharmacy. Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under 2 or anyone who has trouble breathing. I’ve seen some really nice cloth masks being made. If you have a cloth mask you love, send us a picture, we want to see your style.
 
Thank you all for complying with the “StayHome-WorkSafe” Order and doing your part to slow the progression of this novel coronavirus. We will continue to reach out to the seniors in the community to make sure their immediate needs are being met. The Houston Food Bank is working with the Power Center to start another food distribution site in our district. Once I get the final dates and times, I will send out another message. If you know of any seniors in the district with needs, please let us know.
 
I want to send a special “thanks” to our District K HOT Team and both management districts’ (Brays Oaks and 5 Corners) maintenance crews for continuing to keep our district clean. We are grateful for the work they do each day to combat illegal dumping and bandit signs in our community.
 
Stay encouraged, eat well, sleep well, get some exercise and watch out for each other. COVID-19 will not break our community spirit. In spite of it all, we still have so much to be grateful for. This too shall pass!
 
-Martha
 
 

It’s Budget Workshop Time

 
Our city budget is one of the most important policy instruments of our local government. Last week I joined my city council colleagues in the first set of budget presentations. We heard from HPD, HFD, Finance, the Mayor’s office and the Controller’s office. Each budget presentation is aired on HTV and public comments are welcome. Feel free to submit any budget concerns and questions to our office for consideration and I am happy to share or ask your question during the presentations. The remaining budget presentation schedule is attached. No action is taken during the workshops. There is no doubt that tough decisions lie ahead as we determine how the coronavirus pandemic will affect the city’s two largest streams of income, property and sales taxes.
 

Census 2020 Update

 
Last week District K led the way with the highest Census 2020 response rate of all city council districts, with 39%. This week, District E is leading with the highest response rate of 44.7% and has the highest district-wide response rate. District K is in a close second place with a 44.2% response rate. Houston as a whole is still trailing Harris County and Texas but we continue to have high hopes for next week. Please copy the District K flyer and send to your networks. Text our customized flyer out to you family members, neighbors and friends. We are making progress but there is still work to do to make sure every resident gets counted. If you have any suggestions or creative outlets, please share. Say YES to Census 2020!