Rising Lonestars interviewed Houston councilmember Amy Peck to discuss her nomination to the RLS Top 10 in August. Councilmember Peck told us about her inclusion of park improvements for her district in the city’s recent bond bill and discussed the daily life of a Houston councilmember.
Transcript
Amy Peck
I’m Amy Peck, Houston City Council member for District A.
Simon Nichols
Thank you. So normally we hop right into some policy questions, but I was hoping that we could start this chat by talking about what it’s like to be a council member in a major city in Texas. So could you just walk me through a day in the life of a Houston city council member?
Amy Peck
Absolutely. So every day as a city council member is very different. Tuesday afternoons, we have a public session where we get to listen to the public who wants to come and address council, the council body. And then Wednesday mornings are council meetings where we actually take the votes. And then throughout the week we have committee meetings, meetings with constituents, civic club meetings, lots and lots of meetings.
Amy Peck
But I love it getting to talk to my constituents and fighting on their behalf every single day.
Simon Nichols
Something I feel like a lot of people don’t realize is that the work doesn’t end just when you leave the council room. You know, you’re meeting with constituents every single day. You’re meeting with other council members to discuss what you’re doing. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people never really see happen.
Amy Peck
Yes, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes every day leading up to a council meeting. There’s lots of meetings behind the scenes just to ask questions about things that are on the agenda, that kind of thing. And then in between all of that, I’m still meeting with constituents, hearing from them about their concerns, their issues and then having more meetings with other people to discuss those issues and try to get them resolved.
Amy Peck
So yeah, there’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes and we try to tell people what we’re working on through social media newsletters and stuff like that. But there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t necessarily see every single day.
Simon Nichols
On a related note, why was it that you chose to run for Houston City Council? Is this something that you had seen yourself doing early on when you were in college, or is it that you more fell into it?
Amy Peck
it’s actually something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. Local government is always what I truly loved, and so this is the only thing that I’ve ever run for was District City Council, because I love local government. I love getting to help people. I love getting to fight for my community every single day. And so it was just something that I’ve always really thought was so interesting.
Amy Peck
I know potholes and infrastructure and flooding isn’t interesting for everyone, but I love those issues and trying to tackle them for my community.
Simon Nichols
Our kind of people. So related to that. Tell me a little bit about this bond package that recently passed and about your contribution to it.
Amy Peck
So the bond package went to council for a vote recently and there was nothing for District eight on the bond list. And so I had an amendment to add $ 10 million for one of our parks, Agnes Moffett Park, because it is in serious need of revitalization. It’s a 40 acre park and there’s a playground and a pool, but not much else at that park.
Amy Peck
There’s a lot that we could do at this park for our community, but there’s no funding ever attached to that master plan. So because we were going out for bond anyway, and this one doesn’t raise taxes in any way, I feel comfortable with them making that ask for our community. So it passed. Luckily, my colleagues supported it and it passed and is now on the bond list.
Amy Peck
And of course the bond has to pass from the voters in November. But I was excited to get something for districting on that bond list.
Simon Nichols
So Houston is very large. I should have mentioned at the very start that I am also a University of Houston graduate where you did your master’s there. So cuckoo. But what does District A specifically, what are the challenges facing District AA and where are the sorts of things you set out to do in City Council for your specific district?
Amy Peck
So District A is Northwest Houston Spring branch in Ward Willowbrook Mall area and the challenges that we have in district, a first and foremost is flooding. That is a serious issue. I mean, a lot of parts of Houston have flooding issues, too. But specifically in District A, we have a lot of neighborhoods that just they need projects in order to resolve the flooding issues.
Amy Peck
And so the big thing that I set out to do when I ran for office is to fight for flooding mitigation projects for my district and have been working on that. We’ve been successful for several projects to move forward and we’re working on the rest. But that is a huge goal of mine, is to make sure that our neighborhoods are protected from flooding.
Amy Peck
And this is flooding and just regular everyday rain events, not a Hurricane Harvey event necessarily, but just regular rain events. People are flooding. And so we have to get those flooding mitigation projects moving forward. And the other big concern in District eight is crime. And so that is the big focus of mine as well as to make sure our police officers have the technology that they need to do their jobs and to make sure that we have our officers patrolling our neighborhoods and working with the community to solve crime.
Simon Nichols
So Houston is incredibly diverse. There’s but even being diverse, there’s very distinguishable pockets across the different districts. I believe you can tell me a little bit about what it’s like working with, you know, city council when the different interests are so varied.
Amy Peck
Yeah, the different interests are varied, not even just all over Houston, but even in district alone, there’s different areas of my district are very diverse and different from one another. And so yeah, it’s very interesting to see the needs across each council district and in district specifically. You know, we have so many different needs, diverse when it comes to population.
Amy Peck
Our district is primarily Hispanic. We also have a very big Korean population in District A and a lot of Korean businesses and restaurants. So that’s really fun to go to the Korean restaurants and we have the Korean Community Center and District Day. And so just the needs of the people in district are just so different. And that’s one of the things that I love about our district.
Simon Nichols
I imagine it presents really unique challenges that you might not have expected. We first went in because I imagine you discover a lot about your community when you’re the person that everyone needs to come to.
Amy Peck
Yeah, absolutely. So my experience is a little bit unique from other people because I was the chief of staff for the previous council member before I took this job. And so I have been working in District Day and for District Day for many years now, but it is really different to go from behind the scenes to in front of the scenes.
Amy Peck
And so there were definitely a lot of things that I learned, you know, just being in front of of the themes. And of course, with COVID and the pandemic, things are just so different now from before. And so there’s definitely a lot to take in for sure.
Simon Nichols
So we like to ask three questions to everybody that we interview three of the same questions each time. These are just the first thing that comes to your mind to prepare, you know, any prepared responses or, you know, particularly eloquent thoughts here, but just what you think are your most genuine reactions. So the first question is, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing the state of Texas at this moment?
Amy Peck
The biggest challenge for the state of Texas, I think, is to I mean, there are there are a lot. But the first one that came to mind is, you know, we have so many people moving to Texas every single day and businesses that are relocating here. And I think that that’s a great thing and I encourage that. But at some point, you know, there’s you know, we have to keep getting more people here and keep getting businesses.
Amy Peck
And so I wonder if that starts tapering off, you know, what that’s going to do to the economy. And so it’s just a matter of how do we continue to want people to come here and I guess that’s a challenge for the city of Houston as well, to make sure that more people are coming here and wanting to stay here.
Amy Peck
Once they’re here.
Simon Nichols
That’s a great response because it’s it brings out how multifaceted that issue is. You know, not only do we need to plan for the future and see how do we keep this momentum moving? But there’s also an element of planning for the present. You know, we have more and more people coming. And Dallas Austin’s Antonio is struggling with affordable housing and finding rental options for people that are already living in Texas.
Simon Nichols
So it just points out there’s a lot of different ways or a lot of different elements of this issue that need to be faced. So then our next question is a zooming out a little bit broader. What do you think is the biggest challenge for our country, for the United States right now?
Amy Peck
Oh, my gosh. There’s so many. I guess the first thing that came to mind is just finding a way in Congress to move issues forward in a way that’s not so partisan all the time, which, I mean, sometimes it has to be. And I get that. And there are issues that people feel very differently about, but there’s so many things that both sides agree on and everybody just needs to come together to just move the country forward on those items that everyone agrees on.
Amy Peck
And even those items lately have become so contentious. And I think that we just need to find ways to work together and move some of those things forward.
Simon Nichols
That’s part of why we started doing Rising Stars was mean. The previous administration, and we felt like there was a lot of like the news was constantly filled with very partisan issues and the polarization was getting to be a new height. And so we wanted to start raising lone stars because we thought highlighting local elected officials where partisanship doesn’t play into the politics so much, it’s not too much of an element would be a valuable way to remind people that this isn’t the way our politics has to be.
Amy Peck
Absolutely. I mean, in Houston, for the most part, on most issues, we find ways to work together. You know, there’s amendments sometimes. Sometimes we don’t always agree. But for the most part, we’re working together and finding ways to move forward, even when we don’t necessarily agree on the items. And I really think that that’s the best way to just move our city forward and move our country forward for sure.
Simon Nichols
And our very last question is, if you could talk to the Texas legislature and tell them one thing, either a piece of advice or something to focus on in this state, what would you tell them?
Amy Peck
Oh, that’s a very good question. We’re just trying to stay Houston focused on, you know, what’s happening at the legislature. I always try to follow anything that that pertains to the city of Houston, because, of course, that’s where I’m elected and that’s where my focus is. And so I would say to the legislature to really listen to local officials when it comes to something that’s making any kind of significant change at a local level, to just hear us out and listen to how that’s going to affect people locally.