The Fine Print: Houston
What they put in the agenda
Every agenda the site reads, from Commissioners Court and City Council to the port, the transit authority, the college districts and the school boards, is checked item by item. Anything that adds a rule, a fee, debt, surveillance or land control, or that happens behind closed doors, is logged here with the agenda's own words. Anything that cuts or repeals one is logged too, as a rollback.
Showing City of La Porte only. Every government →
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Consideration of redistricting plan changes for single-member Council districts
Redistricting Advisory Committee to consider changes and make recommendations to La Porte City Council for adoption of a proposed redistricting plan for single-member Council districts. This affects electoral boundaries and representation within the city.
Oct 29, 2026 agenda, item 1: the agenda's words
10-21-26 minutes.pdf Consideration of redistricting plan changes and/or recommendations to the La Porte City Council for adoption of proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts Discussion of meeting schedule or administrative items related to the committee Committee comment Per Texas Gov't. Code Sec. 551.0415, the Committee may receive from staff and/or may make a report about items of community interest during a meeting without having given notice of the subject of the report, if no action is taken and, except as provided by Section 551.042, possible action is not discussed regarding the information provided in the report. Hear announcements concerning matters appearing on the agenda; items of community interest; and/or inquiries of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy from the Committee members, for which no formal action will be discussed. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services are requested to contact the City Secretary's Office (281-470-5021), three working days prior to the meeting for appropriate arrangements. Pursuant to Texas Government Code Sec. 551.127, on a regular, non-emergency basis, members may attend and participate in the meeting remotely by video conference. Should that occur, a quorum of the members will be physically present at the location noted above on this agenda.
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Consideration of redistricting plan changes for single-member Council districts
Redistricting Advisory Committee to consider and recommend redistricting plan changes to La Porte City Council for adoption of proposed single-member district plan. Affects City of La Porte electoral boundaries.
Oct 29, 2026 agenda, item 1: the agenda's words
10-21-26 minutes.pdf Consideration of redistricting plan changes and/or recommendations to the La Porte City Council for adoption of proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts Discussion of meeting schedule or administrative items related to the committee Committee comment Per Texas Gov't. Code Sec. 551.0415, the Committee may receive from staff and/or may make a report about items of community interest during a meeting without having given notice of the subject of the report, if no action is taken and, except as provided by Section 551.042, possible action is not discussed regarding the information provided in the report. Hear announcements concerning matters appearing on the agenda; items of community interest; and/or inquiries of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy from the Committee members, for which no formal action will be discussed. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services are requested to contact the City Secretary's Office (281-470-5021), three working days prior to the meeting for appropriate arrangements. Pursuant to Texas Government Code Sec. 551.127, on a regular, non-emergency basis, members may attend and participate in the meeting remotely by video conference. Should that occur, a quorum of the members will be physically present at the location noted above on this agenda.
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Consideration of redistricting plan changes for single-member Council districts
The Redistricting Advisory Committee will consider changes and recommendations to the La Porte City Council for adoption of a proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts. This affects city governance boundaries and electoral representation.
Oct 21, 2026 agenda, item 1: the agenda's words
10-13-26 minutes.pdf Consideration of redistricting plan changes and/or recommendations to the La Porte City Council for adoption of proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts Discussion of meeting schedule or administrative items related to the committee Committee comment Per Texas Gov't. Code Sec. 551.0415, the Committee may receive from staff and/or may make a report about items of community interest during a meeting without having given notice of the subject of the report, if no action is taken and, except as provided by Section 551.042, possible action is not discussed regarding the information provided in the report. Hear announcements concerning matters appearing on the agenda; items of community interest; and/or inquiries of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy from the Committee members, for which no formal action will be discussed. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services are requested to contact the City Secretary's Office (281-470-5021), three working days prior to the meeting for appropriate arrangements. Pursuant to Texas Government Code Sec. 551.127, on a regular, non-emergency basis, members may attend and participate in the meeting remotely by video conference. Should that occur, a quorum of the members will be physically present at the location noted above on this agenda.
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Consideration of redistricting plan changes for La Porte City Council single-member districts
Redistricting Advisory Committee to discuss and recommend changes to proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts for City Council adoption. This affects city electoral boundaries and representation.
Oct 21, 2026 agenda, item 1: the agenda's words
10-13-26 minutes.pdf Consideration of redistricting plan changes and/or recommendations to the La Porte City Council for adoption of proposed redistricting plan for City of La Porte single-member Council districts Discussion of meeting schedule or administrative items related to the committee Committee comment Per Texas Gov't. Code Sec. 551.0415, the Committee may receive from staff and/or may make a report about items of community interest during a meeting without having given notice of the subject of the report, if no action is taken and, except as provided by Section 551.042, possible action is not discussed regarding the information provided in the report. Hear announcements concerning matters appearing on the agenda; items of community interest; and/or inquiries of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policy from the Committee members, for which no formal action will be discussed. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services are requested to contact the City Secretary's Office (281-470-5021), three working days prior to the meeting for appropriate arrangements. Pursuant to Texas Government Code Sec. 551.127, on a regular, non-emergency basis, members may attend and participate in the meeting remotely by video conference. Should that occur, a quorum of the members will be physically present at the location noted above on this agenda.
Deed restrictions
Houston has no zoning; deed restrictions are what keep a business out of a neighborhood, and the city's Legal Department enforces them for neighborhoods. Complaints don't go through 311: they go to drcomplaints@houstontx.gov or the city's complaint form.
- Deed restriction cases reviewed and enforced by the city: 530 in 2024-25, an estimated 550 in 2025-26, and a target of 550 for 2026-27. Nuisance lawsuits handled: 15 in 2024-25, an estimated 10 in 2025-26. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Legal Department]
- The city's list of reported deed restriction violations has not been updated since Oct. 20, 2015. [data.houstontx.gov]
Code enforcement
- 40% of the City of Houston's Neighborhoods code citations and 36% of Public Works citations were dismissed; the top reasons were "Nolle Prosequi" (the city dropped it), "Officer Not Present" and "Insufficient Evidence." Inspectors made 95,688 residential inspections from Jan. 1, 2024. [KPRC, Nov. 21, 2025]
- Code enforcement inspectors from Neighborhoods and Public Works have been merged into one Community Code Enforcement division in Houston Public Works. Targets for 2026-27: 13,500 weeded-lot cuts, 87% voluntary compliance, 325 demolitions. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Neighborhoods]
- The Municipal Courts do not publish code citations and how each ended (fined, dismissed, deferred), and the city's code violation dataset was last updated in 2023.
Code and nuisance complaints to Houston 311, by type, and the average days each took to close, from the city's 311 extract.
| Case type | Cases | Closed | Average days to close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking Violation | 1,175 | 643 | 6.3 |
| Traffic Signal Maintenance | 1,162 | 882 | 1.2 |
| Container Replacement | 984 | 945 | 1.4 |
| Weeds/Trash/Stagnant Water on Property | 950 | 88 | 5 |
| Trash Dumping or Illegal Dumpsite | 562 | 179 | 4.8 |
| Traffic Signs | 509 | 367 | 4 |
| New Resident Container | 494 | 471 | 1.3 |
| Building Code Violation | 403 | 337 | 2 |
| Container Repair | 340 | 311 | 1.3 |
| Heavy Trash Code Violation | 335 | 119 | 5.4 |
| Health Code | 261 | 25 | 5.7 |
| Junk Motor Vehicle - Private Property | 163 | 34 | 5.1 |
| Bandit Sign - Right of Way | 157 | 148 | 1.8 |
| Traffic Signals | 104 | 54 | 4.9 |
| Dangerous Buildings | 54 | 12 | 3.9 |
| MultiFamily Habitability Violation | 49 | 28 | 1.8 |
| Fire Code Complaint | 49 | 40 | 2.6 |
| Occupancy Violation | 38 | 36 | 2.4 |
| Container Placement | 25 | 3 | 4 |
| Graffiti on Private/Commercial Property | 12 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Drainage System Violation | 11 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Donation Box Violation | 8 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Sign Code Violation | 7 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Malfunctioning Railroad Signal | 4 | 0 | |
| Graffiti - ATT Telephone Equipment | 4 | 0 |
By council district: A 707 (2.5 days) · B 978 (2 days) · C 1,066 (3.1 days) · D 1,118 (2.6 days) · E 370 (2.2 days) · F 337 (3 days) · G 512 (2 days) · H 1,037 (2.7 days) · I 822 (2.7 days) · J 328 (3.1 days) · K 557 (4.1 days) ·
Ghosts in the machine
These cities pass ordinances, set tax rates and sign contracts, and none of it appears here: their agendas could not be read by machine in the last 90 days (scanned images, script-only pages, or no posted agendas). Unseen is not clean.
- 9,613 residents · Jacinto City (0 agendas read, 0 new items; newest agenda posted is for May 28, 2026)
- 4,385 residents · City of Hunters Creek Village Its website does not answer this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,704 residents · City of Taylor Lake Village Its website answers "forbidden" to this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,128 residents · City of Piney Point Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
- 816 residents · City of Hilshire Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
Scorecard, last 12 months
Points: New rules 3 · Money 4 · Surveillance 4 · Land control 3 · Strings attached 2 · Secrecy 2 · Rollback −3 · the same weights The Fine Print uses everywhere. The Fuckery Meter adds tax rates, consent agendas, closed sessions, missing notice and withheld records.