Message From Commissioner Lesley Briones

April 2023

Greetings!

Spring is here! Whether you’re enjoying the weather and flowers at one of our signature parks or watching birds return, Precinct 4 is a great place to spend springtime with family and friends.

Along with the wonderful sights and sounds of spring, April also marks the launch of our Precinct 4 listening tours! Throughout the upcoming weeks, my team and I will be crisscrossing the Precinct to listen to you.

I love our Precinct’s vastness and rich diversity. Each community is unique and has its own needs, and that’s what we’re capturing through this listening tour — we want to partner with you to make this Precinct uniquely yours.

We invite you to bring your questions, ideas, and feedback. Let us know what has been working well and what you’d like to change, and we’ll come eager to listen and gather your input.

This season—and always—my team and I are here to serve you. The listening tours are only the start of our dialogue and partnership. I am extremely excited to learn more about what we can do together to move Precinct 4 forward.

All my best,

Upcoming Dates:

Saturday, April 15, at 10 a.m. - BakerRipley Gulfton Sharpstown Campus

Saturday, April 15, at 3 p.m. - Tracy Gee Community Center

Saturday, May 13, at 10 a.m. - Steve Radack Community Center

Saturday, May 13, at 2 p.m. - Jewish Community Center

Moving Precinct 4 Forward

Commissioner Lesley Briones Celebrates Partnership with Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher to Secure Funding for Vulnerable Residents

ACCESS Harris County, an initiative that streamlines a complex network of services and connects vulnerable residents to various county resources, received $1 million in federal funding thanks to Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.

Commissioner Briones praised Congresswoman Fletcher for her support of ACCESS and highlighted the initiative as an example of government working for the people.

Precinct 4 Celebrates Women’s History Month

Throughout the month of March, Precinct 4 hosted events to honor trailblazing women in the community, from leaders of the Houston Dash organization to local public servants at Precinct 4’s inaugural Women’s History Month luncheon.

The celebration continued with the Breaking Down Barriers Movie Series, which showcased films about the accomplishments of impactful women in history, and drew to a close with the highlighting of local business owners at the Women’s Empowerment Expo.

Precinct 4 in the Community

There's always something fun to do in Precinct 4!

We kicked off the first stop of the Precinct 4 Listening Tour at the Alief Neighborhood Center, where community members shared their input on how Precinct 4 can help the community continue to thrive. Be sure to lookout for upcoming stops on the Precinct 4 Listening Tour in your community!

Commissioner Briones participated in the West Houston Association's Tri-County Forum alongside commissioners from Fort Bend and Waller counties. The panel aimed to share the vision for partnerships between the three counties and how to best enhance the quality of life for residents in the Greater West Houston area.

Precinct 4 supported the Daikin Snack Pack Distribution to provide snacks for 10,000 children at nine separate Harris County non-profits.

Make sure to stay up to date with our latest events by visiting hcp4.net/events.

View more event photos here.

Commissioners Court Bolsters Public Safety, Invests in Reproductive Care Access and

Legal Services for Evictions

Took steps to increase public safety by expanding the Holistic Assistance Response Teams (HART), while also requesting plans to reduce the criminal case backlog, improve best practices in our courts, and expand the capacity for the public defender’s system.
Approved [$6 million in ARPA funding to activate a Reproductive Healthcare Access Fund – expanding preventative care, especially for low-income and uninsured residents.
Awarded contract for $4 million towards COVID-19 Housing and Legal Services Initiative, which provides legal services for those facing evictions.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Harris County Commissioners Court’s Latino majority already delivering in a new era of representation.

“To me, with this opportunity comes a great moral obligation,” Briones said. “We need to deliver and show that we can lead and actually move the needle to improve quality of life.”

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Harris County signals support for adding courts, public defenders. “Harris County Commissioners Court this week approved a package of public safety measures to support state legislation to create additional district courts, expand the county's holistic assistance response team program and look at enlarging the public defender's office… On a motion by Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, the court also requested the county work on a plan to expand the public defender's office. The proposal approved by the court would save the county money by having up to 50 percent of indigent defense cases handled by the public defender's office rather than the more highly paid private attorneys, Briones said.”

CLICK2HOUSTON: Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher announces secured funding for Harris County to help vulnerable residents. “Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher announced on Thursday that up to $1,000,000 in federal funding has been secured for Harris County Public Health to reduce homelessness. In a news release, the funds will gear towards the Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency Harris County (ACCESS), a program that strengthens Harris County’s safety net system by identifying the county’s underserved residents”

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Harris County awards $4M so lawyers can keep giving free counsel to those in danger of eviction. “When Colby Cummings arrived at her eviction hearing, she'd hardly slept. Rent relief had not come through, and the new eviction filing had made it difficult to get approved for another apartment. She'd sent her teenage son to stay with her mother so he would not have to live with the fear of getting kicked out.”

ABC13: Harris County sheriff asks for help to fix jail amid deaths, hopes to improve safety and staffing. “Harris County has a razor-thin budget, but it also has a troubled jail, which does not meet standards according to the state. It's a complex problem with no easy solutions… Precinct 4 County Commissioner Lesley Briones, a former judge, wants to take a holistic approach to ease pressure on the jails by improving the system. "Public safety is my number one priority… With population growth that we've experienced and will continue to experience, plus the backlog that was exacerbated by Harvey and COVID, we need to get through the backlog, and we need to make sure that judges have the time they need to administer quality justice."

CLICK2HOUSTON: Texas’ GLO commish Dawn Buckingham talks effort to ‘turn new page’ in disaster recovery funding alongside Houston, Harris County officials. “Texas General Land Office Commissioner Dawn Buckingham visited Harris County on Tuesday as she and Harris County leaders held a joint news conference to discuss disaster recovery funding. Buckingham announced the news conference saying she has ‘made it her commitment to serve all Texans impacted by natural disasters and to do it well.’”

CHRON: Harris County commissioners approve funds to expand reproductive health care. Harris County commissioners approved a $6 million fund to improve access to reproductive health care on Tuesday, including contraception, health screenings, STI testing, family planning and other services in light of the state's harsh abortion ban. In a 4-1 vote, the Democratic-majority court voted to direct $6 million in federal funds to clinics for reproductive care.”