Houston City Council Member Abbie Kamin opened 2026 with a look back at what her office called a year of “unique challenges” in District C—highlighting constituent service volume, a slate of public safety initiatives, major infrastructure planning, and flood mitigation investments across the district.
In her year-end newsletter, Kamin thanked residents for their engagement and credited her five-person team with handling “tens of thousands” of emails in 2025, responding to more than 2,600 inbound calls, and closing 2,800 constituent cases. She said staff also attended multiple neighborhood events each week, ranging from HOA meetings to super neighborhood briefings and community celebrations.
Public safety priorities: gun violence, domestic violence, and neighborhood enforcement
Kamin’s recap emphasized public safety as a top priority in 2025, led by the launch of SAFEWATCH Houston—described as a first-of-its-kind firearm injury dashboard funded with $300,000 and developed with the Houston Health Department. The dashboard compiles data from the Texas Medical Center’s three Level I trauma centers, HPD non-fatal injury data, EMS/911 calls, hospital visits, and medical examiner fatality data. The newsletter noted that in 2024 there were more than 200 trauma center visits tied to unintentional firearm injuries, with about half involving children.
Her office also continued a $75,000 #LockItUpSafe safe firearm storage partnership with HPD and BeSMART, distributing free gun locks and safes through school and community events, including stops at Baker Montessori, Waltrip High School, Garden Oaks Montessori, and Field Elementary.
On domestic violence, the newsletter said Kamin was recognized by Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA) as the 2025 “Ambassador of Advocacy” and continued the annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month campaign with community partners. The recap also highlighted the opening of Houston Area Women’s Center’s expanded facility, One Safe Place Houston, and noted Kamin-backed initiatives such as $15,000 in district dollars for HAWC services, a Mother’s Day brunch for residents, and support for HAWC’s holiday toy efforts in partnership with the Houston Fire Department.
The newsletter also pointed to increased district allocations for HPD overtime—$75,000 annually for Central Division and $30,000 for Southwest Division—plus a new pilot program allocating $60,000 for HFD drones equipped with speakers to aid emergency communication when cell service is down. Kamin said she supported HPD’s new contract, which the newsletter described as raising officer pay by 36.5% over five years, beginning with a 10% increase in the first year, while also raising concerns about the elimination of HPD’s Community Affairs Division.
In neighborhood-focused enforcement, her office cited work on nuisance bars and noise complaints, including administrative hearings tied to sound permits and the creation of a Central Division “hot-spot unit.” The newsletter also described efforts to address unsafe multi-family properties, including Chapter 125 lawsuits and response work following multiple fires at Life at Jackson Square in December that displaced residents. Other quality-of-life efforts included addressing street racing and “car meet-ups,” forming a monthly interdepartmental enforcement task force for repeat-offender properties, and advancing a short-term rental ordinance that created a registration requirement and added a human and sex trafficking awareness course for STR operators. The STR registration platform went live in October, with enforcement beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to the newsletter.
Infrastructure: major capital projects and targeted safety upgrades
Kamin’s 2025 recap outlined a “robust pipeline” of projects in design and under construction, spanning streets, drainage, sidewalk packages, and safety improvements. Among major capital projects in design, her newsletter listed University Boulevard (Kirby to Morningside), Dunlavy (West Dallas to Peden), Antoine (Acorn to US 290 and Acorn to Cole Creek, Segment II), the Bissonnet Corridor Safe Streets Project (Dairy Ashford to Hillcroft), and the Freedmen’s Town brick street improvement project.
Under construction or coming soon, the newsletter highlighted the Shepherd-Durham reconstruction (15th Street to IH-10), Roseland area paving and drainage, and Waugh safety improvements. It also included Houston Public Works “delivery program” highlights for FY26, including traffic signal planning and design work, intersection safety design, street rehabilitation funding, and dozens of sidewalk projects moving through planning, design, and construction.
District-level safety upgrades cited in the recap included a flashing beacon at 13th and Yale, intersection improvements at 13th and Columbia, TC Jester and White Oak Bayou crossing safety work, a Central Northwest sidewalk package, and MKT Trail and Waverly crossing safety upgrades.
Flood prevention and resiliency: SWAT investments and ditch maintenance
Flood mitigation and resiliency was another central theme, with the newsletter pointing to Stormwater Action Team (SWAT) investments across District C. New SWAT projects listed included Milwee and Zoch ($445,500), W. 31st and Yale ($270,000), Woodhead and Portsmouth ($829,620), and E. 8th and Oxford ($950,000). The recap also noted progress on ongoing SWAT projects in Cottage Grove, Woodcrest, Kingston Terrace, Blue Bonnet near Greenbriar, and Ella Lee Forest.
Kamin’s office also promoted its #DistC Ditch Team survey, which gathered resident-submitted reports and photos to identify maintenance needs. The newsletter said crews began eight miles of ditch rehabilitation in neighborhoods including Magnolia Grove, Rice Military, and Woodcrest, totaling more than $438,000 in improvements, supported by $125,000 in district dollars.
City services and community programming
On service delivery, the newsletter described Kamin’s office escalating delays residents faced and supporting frontline municipal workers—highlighting more than 500 solid waste cases closed in 2025. The recap also included anecdotes about Kamin personally delivering trash and recycling bins to residents who had waited months and hauling illegally dumped tree debris from Rose of Sharon Baptist Church to a city depository.
The newsletter also highlighted investments in community facilities and programs, including funding at the African American History Research Center (BookLINK “vending machine,” ADA doorway installation, and a fire suppression design study), and progress on the West Gray Multi-Service Center Master Plan. The recap said Kamin secured $11.5 million in partnership funding with the Mayor’s administration and Montrose TIRZ (TIRZ 27), plus $100,000 in district dollars placed into a dedicated fund for future improvements, alongside bathroom renovations supported by federal dollars.
Environment and sustainability: recycling, EV charging, and tree canopy
The recap framed sustainability work through both policy and hands-on programs. Kamin’s newsletter said she helped advance updates to Houston’s engineering manuals to incentivize green stormwater infrastructure options such as green roofs and bioswales. It also highlighted Houston’s first multi-family recycling pilot program—originally initiated through a 2021 budget amendment—and ongoing district initiatives like an annual e-recycling drive and a subsidized rain barrel sale (150 barrels reduced to $10 each, according to the newsletter).
The newsletter also pointed to the installation of the city’s first public-facing EV charging stations on city property at Buffalo Bayou Park, supported by $100,000 in District C funds in partnership with Downtown Houston+. Tree canopy efforts included distributing and planting trees with Trees for Houston and supporting plantings at parks and along trails.
Budget stance and affordability
Kamin also used the newsletter to explain her fiscal concerns, noting she voted against the FY26 city budget—described as the first “no” vote of her tenure—citing the city’s failure to adequately plan for disaster response. Her recap said she introduced an amendment to strengthen the Budget Stabilization Fund by replenishing it annually rather than every two years and increasing the fund amount from $20 million to $25 million. The newsletter also referenced ongoing concerns related to the city’s streets-and-drainage funding settlement and objections to the diversion of stormwater funds for demolition, arguing drainage investments remain critical.
Neighborhood snapshot: district-wide project list
Kamin’s year-in-review closed with neighborhood-by-neighborhood examples of projects and service work—from pedestrian bridge planning in Braeswood/Greater Meyerland and sidewalk packages in Central Northwest, to historic brick protections and youth programming in Fourth Ward, traffic safety and flooding mitigation in the Greater Heights, park court improvements in Lazybrook/Timbergrove, the West Gray master plan in Neartown/Montrose, and drainage, bikeway, and enforcement efforts in the Washington Avenue/Memorial Park area.
In her message to residents, Kamin said her priorities heading into 2026 remain consistent: “protect our families, businesses, and our neighborhoods,” while continuing to invest in public safety response, flood-prone areas, and climate resiliency.
Kamin, who has represented District C – including the Greater Heights, Lazybrook/Timbergrove, Greater Inwood, and Washington Avenue Coalition/Memorial Park – since 2019, filed to run for Harris County Attorney on Dec. 5, seeking to succeed Christian Menefee.