Salinas seeks $3M for illegal dumping
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A city worker clears an illegal dumping site in southwest Houston. Photo: Steve Gonzales/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas on Wednesday asked City Hall to shore up $3 million to combat illegal dumping.
Why it matters: Illegal dumping remains a top quality-of-life concern in Houston's lowest-income neighborhoods and has drawn federal scrutiny.
The big picture: The city's handling of illegal dumping drew a federal investigation in 2022, prompting Houston to launch a two-year, multimillion-dollar cleanup initiative in 2023. But that initiative has since ended.
- Illegal dumping is among the top concerns Houstonians ask 311 to address, with more than 8,800 reports in the last year.
The latest: Mayor John Whitmire's $7 billion budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year has no dedicated funding toward illegal dumping initiatives.
- The city allocated $1.2 million toward illegal dumping in the current budget, Houston Public Works director Randy Macchi said May 18.
- Macchi said that under Whitmire's proposal for the upcoming budget, illegal dumping cleanup efforts will instead be funded under the umbrella of the city's entire solid waste operations.
- Macchi said the amount that would go toward cleaning up illegal dumping was "not a decrease" from the previous year but did not say how much was allocated.
State of play: The money requested by Salinas would be used to hire more workers to clean up dump sites, expand the hours of legal dump sites and purchase cameras to monitor chronic areas of concern.
- It would also support "increased enforcement actions" and efforts to educate the public about legal options, according to her office.
The intrigue: In last year's budget, the city published key performance indicators (KPIs) to let the public know how they measured success and help hold the city accountable, Salinas says. Those are missing from this year's budget.
- In emails shared with Axios, Houston Public Works pledged to Salinas' office it would also publicize those measures two months after the budget is approved.
What they're saying: Salinas tells Axios her proposal will keep the city's efforts focused and transparent.
- "A line item in conjunction with KPIs that are provided to the public are two ways that we can specifically ensure that money is being allocated and spent effectively on this issue," Salinas says.
Whitmire's office did not respond to Axios' request for comment on whether he supported the amendment.
- At an unrelated press conference last month, Whitmire told reporters his office is committed to fighting illegal dumping and highlighted the Houston Police Department's enforcement efforts and collaboration with concerned community members.
- "With illegal dumping, we're attacking it on several fronts," Whitmire said.
What's next: The amendment must be approved by a majority of council's 17 members at next week's meeting. Three members — Martha Castex-Tatum, Tarsha Jackson and Mario Castillo — have signed on as cosponsors.
- Council members are also expected to vote on the mayor's budget, with or without the dedicated funding.