Maintaining a safe community is one of the Near Northwest Management District’s top priorities.
NNMD partners with local law enforcement agencies, such as Harris County Constable Precinct 1, Houston Police Department, and Harris County Sheriff’s Office, to address and improve on the safety needs in and around the district.
The Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) is behind on junk waste (heavy trash) collections. This delay comes after a suspension of tree waste collections last month. The department is experiencing many issues right now, primarily the need to hire more drivers. Trash collection is a basic City function that needs to be addressed now.
Recently I authored 39 budget amendments, and 7 of them involved Solid Waste including:
An on-call contract shall be established to assist with Solid Waste Management collections as needed in each council district if directed through Council District Service Funds.
This amendment passed, and I am working with SWMD to implement it.
A full list of the budget amendments I authored can be found here (6.09 – 6.15 involve SWMD)
My office and I have been asking for SWMD to update everyone about the status of collections. I am pleased that updates are now on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. District A is in the North Operation for Junk (heavy trash) collection.
I recently asked the mayor about the delays and concerns with proper communications from the department. You can see the video of my comments and his response below.
Solid Waste Delays
Water Rate Increase
Recently City Council voted on an increase in the water rate. Although I voted against the increase, the item passed. I suggested that we wait to vote on this until we know how much money we will get for infrastructure projects from the federal government and prioritize that money for the wastewater projects that we are federally mandated to complete. More information about the mandatory repairs (called the Consent Decree) can be found here. I also commented that we should not delay these necessary projects but rather use the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that we currently have to begin the projects while we wait for the infrastructure money to come in. You can see my comments below:
Water Rate Increase
Happy Independence Day! Fireworks are Prohibited in the City of Houston
I hope you have a happy and safe Fourth of July! As a reminder, fireworks are illegal in the City of Houston. The fines are anywhere from $500 – $2000 for each individual firework. If a minor is caught with fireworks, the parent or guardian will receive the fine even if they were unaware of the minor’s possession and/or usage.
I allocated overtime funding for the HPD divisions in District A to enforce this and other crime that may occur, but please keep in mind that this can be a very difficult activity to deter. We do know the areas that usually see the most firework activities, and HPD has been made aware of these locations by my office.
If you see fireworks, please call it in to the HPD non-emergency line: (713) 884-3131
Instead of purchasing fireworks, please view the City’s annual fireworks show during Freedom Over Texas (see below for more information):
Freedom Over Texas
Houston’s signature patriotic celebration, Shell Freedom Over Texas, returns with a salute to America’s Frontline Heroes. The annual day-long festival is on hold for one more season, however, Houstonians can enjoy the City’s cherished tradition of music and patriotic moments via live broadcast on Sunday, July 4th from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. on ABC 13.Fireworks will reach 800 feet, almost doubling the height of the traditional show, for more to enjoy from further away. Open spaces and neighborhood parks with a view of the western downtown skyline are ideal. Eleanor Tinsley Park will be open for fireworks viewing only for families that wish to park downtown and walk (Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive will be closed).
Pet Safety During Fireworks
District A Libraries
The libraries in District A are finally open again! Ring Library is open for limited hours temporarily. Please see the Fourth of July schedule below. To check the schedule of other libraries in the area, please click here.
Hurricane Preparedness With Commissioner Cagle
Hurricane Preparedness with Commissioner Cagle
Spring Branch Management District Grant
The Board of Directors for the Spring Branch Management District (SBMD) has established and funded the Business Improvement Grant to provide funds for commercial property owners within the District’s boundaries, in support of revitalization on a case-by-case basis. Grants are available on a 50/50 basis with a $10,000 cap per grant. Approved projects must complement the color and character of surrounding businesses and must meet the City’s Code of Ordinances.For more information, please visit: https://sbmd.org/grant/
Contact the District A OfficeAmy Peck
Houston City Council Member, District A districta@houstontx.gov
Main Line: 832-393-3010
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Readable Experience
Readable Font
Dyslexia Friendly
Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Font Sizing
Default
Line Height
Default
Letter Spacing
Default
Visually Pleasing Experience
Dark Contrast
Light Contrast
Monochrome
High Contrast
High Saturation
Low Saturation
Easy Orientation
Mute Sounds
Hide Images
Virtual Keyboard
Reading Guide
Stop Animations
Reading Mask
Highlight Hover
Highlight Focus
Big Dark Cursor
Big Light Cursor
Cognitive Reading
Navigation Keys
Accessibility Statement
nnmd.org
November 18, 2024
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
