December 23, 2021 -- Dear Fellow Houstonians,
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year, and I hope you and your loved ones share the joy, peace, and happiness of the season.
In 2021, the City of Houston faced many challenges - from COVID-19 to crime, from Winter Storm Uri to the tragedy at the Astroworld festival at NRG Park. Despite the challenges, we did not stand still, and in our city, we did not turn back. We are tackling those issues by working together, and we have accomplished a lot that will keep Houston moving forward.
I invite you to watch my end-of-the-year video to hear about some of our achievements in economic development, and technology and innovation.
In 2021, we made significant progress in our Complete Communities initiative to improve neighborhoods that have been underserved for decades.
We celebrated our neighborhood parks improvements at the many Love Our Parks events across the city.
We also took significant and bold steps to improve Houston's sustainability and resilience. This year, we approved a lease agreement with Sunnyside Energy, LLC to advance the Sunnyside Solar project—an innovative public-private partnership to convert a 240-acre closed landfill in Sunnyside to the largest brownfield solar installation in the nation.
In a city where over half of all households rent their homes, and almost half of renters are burdened by the cost of rent relative to their incomes, we worked to produce affordable options for Houstonians in all walks of life.
We also worked with our partners to decommission homeless encampments and worked with individuals facing chronic homelessness to provide them permanent housing with wraparound services. You can read more about our efforts here.
Houston Public Works completed the first year of the Street Rehabilitation Initiative Program designed to extend the life of existing infrastructure by rehabilitating street surfaces, fixing curbs, storm drains, sidewalks and bringing ramps up to accessibility standards. We rehabilitated nearly 250 lane miles of streets during this last fiscal year.
The Houston Health Department’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 was a testament to its well-established reputation as a leading health department in the United States. HHD provided vaccination clinics and testing sites that helped save lives.
On Dec. 17, I tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, my case is a mild one. If you are not yet vaccinated, please do so now to protect yourself and those around you from serious illness and death.
As 2022 approaches, I am optimistic about our future, and Houston will continue to strive to create a brighter more hopeful future for everyone.