Budget
What would be your budget priorities during your term? What specific actions would you take to address these priorities?
I’m fighting every day to lower costs for our families and to keep them safe. That’s why I’ve cut property taxes for seniors and people with disabilities seven years in a row, deployed mobile health care units to help deliver affordable healthcare, and created more affordable housing right here in Precinct 2. It’s why I started the VIPER Task Force to take repeat violent offenders off our streets, invested half a billion dollars to fight flooding, and completed more than six million linear feet of neighborhood ditch maintenance for drainage.
Inflation
The 2025 State of Housing report found cost-burdened households are increasing across Harris County. What actions would you take as Commissioner to address housing affordability and the cost of living for residents of your precinct?
We’re attacking the housing crisis on all fronts. We’re funding and building more units of affordable housing using publicly owned land, like converting the old Yellow Cab lot to 100 units of multi-family affordable housing. We’re also building affordable single-family units like the 54 new townhomes at Orchard Place. We’re working in partnership with affordable housing developers to rehabilitate multi-family complexes. We’re also working with community land trusts to subsidize the cost of homes, and providing tax breaks for affordable housing complexes.
Role
How would you balance your responsibility to your precinct’s specific needs with your role as a member of Commissioners Court overseeing the full county budget and services?
Good leaders balance the competing needs of the people they serve everyday. I ask myself the question, will this investment lower costs for families, keep our families safer and healthier, or provide the infrastructure we need to grow? I check in with stakeholders, both directly and through our robust team of neighborhood and community advisors. Many times, I must make hard choices, like not starting a new service if it will increase taxes for those who cannot afford it. These choices are personal to me. Harris County and Precinct 2 are my home.
Disaster Preparedness
What is your assessment of Harris County’s current level of investment in disaster preparedness and flood risk reduction, and what changes, if any would you prioritize?
There is no question we need to invest more, and it is also the fact that we must live within our means. I have made it a priority to take care of basic, common-sense flood prevention measures, including completing more than six million linear feet of neighborhood ditch maintenance for drainage. I’ve supported longer-term fixes, like the $2.5 billion flood bond that is still funding flood control and prevention projects. And I’m pushing for more innovative approaches, like our recent 1,137-acre land acquisition to expand the Armand Bayou Nature Center. This expansion brings the preserve to nearly 4,000 total acres, and once fully restored, the landscape’s natural capacity will enable it to hold up to 4 billion gallons of floodwater.
