In advance of contested runoff election races for City Council in Houston, leaders in District H and District D organized separate accountability assemblies to secure candidate commitments and confirm internal organizational commitments to get out the vote.

District H Candidates Isabel Longoria and Karla Cisneros joined over 70 leaders at St. Patrick Catholic Church [top photo]. TMO Leaders at St. Patrick, Assumption, and St. Charles of Borromeo secured commitments around flooding, street infrastructure, Census 2020 education, illegal trash dumping, workforce development, and responsible development. 

District D Candidates Carolyn Evans-Shabazz and Brad "Scarface" Jordan joined over 50 TMO leaders at Trinity United Methodist Church [bottom photo at right] where Trinity UMC and St. James Episcopal leaders raised issues of gun safety, illegal dumping, housing, workforce development, and homelessness.  Following Evans-Shabazz's election to City Council District D, TMO plan to meet with her within 30 days to follow up on issues raised in the assembly.

Less than four weeks after Capital IDEA-Houston was awarded a $500K Texas Innovative Adult Career Education (ACE) grant to train more community college students for living wage careers, leaders of The Metropolitan Organization of Houston leveraged an additional $500 thousand in local money after testifying at City Hall.

The money will come from two sources of funding: $250 thousand from Community Development Block Grants and another $250 thousand from a City of Houston budget line-item, marking the first time Capital IDEA-Houston has been included in the City budget.

City Budget Increases After-School Spending, Gives Each District $1 Million for Projects, Houston Chronicle

A Capital Idea, Houston Chronicle