Our Work

Robert’s work and leadership can be seen throughout District I, the area he represented as a Houston City Councilmember. His focus on quality of life issues, prioritizing infrastructure needs, green space enhancements and supporting public safety initiatives, have helped move District I forward. Just a few of the things Robert has been able to accomplish working with residents, community and city leaders:

Public Safety

• Allocated funding for police overtime initiatives throughout the district to crack down on neighborhood nuisances, illegal activity, drugs and prostitution.
• Drafted amendments to strengthen the city’s encampment and aggressive panhandling ordinances.
• Worked with police to develop a program to target criminal activity at bars and cantinas, and shut down an underground club.
• Provided $150,000 in district service dollars to partially fund additions at the HFD fire academy, purchase life-saving tools, and worked with council to advance the acquisition of new fire vehicles, equipment, and upgrades at several fire stations.
• Purchased new surveillance cameras to monitor and crack down on illegal dumping.

Infrastructure

• Invested over $3.5 million from the district service fund to complete neighborhood projects including sidewalk and roadway repairs.
• Supported the expansion of the Gulfgate and Harrisburg reinvestment zones so even more of our tax dollars stay in our community and are invested on infrastructure.
• Directed infrastructure dollars to better maintain off-road ditches and improve the flow of water from day-to-day storm events.
• Developed a preliminary proposal to mitigate structural flooding in the Greens Bayou watershed in the northeast part of the district.
• Worked with local partners to better leverage public dollars and complete important roadway projects such as the (upcoming) Park Place Blvd. project, Broadway reconstruction, and others.

Green Spaces

• Championed green spaces by funding new amenities, needed repairs to walking trails and enhancements at neighborhood parks, built new hike/bike trail segments across the district and canoe launches along Brays Bayou.
• Secured long-term partnerships and private funding to restore historic Gus Wortham Park Golf Course and create Houston’s first Botanic Garden in District I.
• Developed partnerships and leveraged funding to build new dog parks in Fonde and EaDo.
• Worked with sports groups to enhance and increase the number of sports fields in our community, including new football field at Gragg Park, and new Youth Futsal courts at Milby and Ingrando parks.
• Allocated funding for a master plan for Mason Park which was developed with broad community support and input.

Quality of Life

• Worked with civic groups to cut down overgrown lots, install traffic calming devices, and other neighborhood enhancements through the matching grant program.
• Expanded a pilot program to retrieve abandoned shopping carts from public spaces; collecting nearly 3,000 carts since the program’s creation just over 2 years ago.
• Spearheaded a multi-pronged solution to the animal overpopulation issue by increasing funding for BARC enforcement operations, launching more proactive educational campaigns on responsible pet ownership, and facilitating partnerships with animal welfare groups to make affordable spay/neuter services more accessible to pet owners who needed them.
• Provided funding for various K-12 after-school enrichment programs for our youth.
• Commissioned the painting of over a dozen neighborhood-specific mini-murals and supported three large community murals (Harrisburg overpass, Peavy Street, and Cullen underpass) to showcase our area’s diverse and rich history.