The City Council is the City’s legislative body, with the power to enact and enforce all ordinances and resolutions. Eleven Council Members are elected from districts and five are elected at-large, by all voters of the City.

The sixteen members of Council, along with the Mayor, act only by ordinance, resolution or motion. They adopt and may alter the annual budget and confirm the Mayor’s appointments. Council is responsible for the appropriation and issuance of bonds, the awarding of contracts and the approval of City expenditures over $50,000. Council may lease or dispose of the City’s real estate and may levy assessments against property. Council determines its own rules of procedure, and its meetings are open to the public.

Sixteen Council Members are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years. Council Members are limited to serving three terms of two years each, with each term beginning on January 2 of the even-numbered year. Five Council Members are elected At-Large, or city-wide, while the other eleven are elected to geographic districts of roughly the same proportion of population.

You can write to your Council Member at: 900 Bagby / City Hall Annex / First Floor / Houston, TX 77002.