Joe Panzarella now represents Houston's District C as council member after he won the May runoff election following Abbie Kamin's resignation to run for Harris County attorney.
What happened?
Panzarella was sworn in as council member May 27 and he will serve the district through January 2028 to complete the current term. He will be eligible to run again for two full terms, an opportunity he said he recognizes could be impactful in the district.
“If I were to win two more terms, that would give me 10 years to make a big impact in the district,” he said.
His thoughts
Panzarella said during his short time in city hall, he has fully recognized how it can take time to get work done.
“It’s not surprising, but it is like just another recognition that a lot of people have a lot of concerns about like flooding, about mobility, about all these things, and we're going to work really hard to get that done, but these are multimillion-dollar utility-scale projects. It’s going to take some years.”
On the campaign trail, Panzarella promised:
- Safer streets
- More affordable housing
- Transparent governance that proactively engages the community
Panzarella was raised in Kingwood, and attended The University of Texas at Austin for undergrad, and received his master's at Università Bocconi.
What has surprised you the most since starting at City Hall?
How collaborative and supportive council members are behind chambers, even though we all represent different districts. Everyone has reached out to set up meetings and to offer their own experiences while on council, and I think that's been really helpful. The other really surprising thing is just how much ownership the administration has over both the city budget and the CIP budget. ... It is a top-down process.
What would you like to accomplish in your first 90 days as District C council member?
We would like to complete our staff and hire five full-time, good, qualified, dedicated people to serve District C and its residents. We want to be present in the community as much as possible over the next 90 days to introduce ourselves to the community. ... We don't want District C residents to think that just because we're going through a transition, everything's going to fall out the bottom. We're still here for them.
What are the three most pressing or important issues in District C right now?
Making sure that we're staying on top of the drainage projects and pushing them forward, also letting residents know where they are in the community. The second [issue] is Vision Zero, identifying mobility projects, identifying safe street projects that are low-hanging fruit: a crosswalk, painting the roads, street redesign. Then the third thing is the [LGBTQ+ community]. We want to make sure the community feels seen, feels heard.
What lessons are you taking with you next fiscal year that you would like to implement as you go through the budget process next year?
Engaging residents much earlier. We’re going to be keeping a really hard eye on employee overtime. As we gear up for the next budget season, we now have a benchmark to say, "This is where we’re at."
What infrastructure project or service improvement project do you think would make the biggest difference for District C residents?
The Turkey Gully Drainage project is going to be really impactful for the northwest part of the district. I think the West Alabama redesign is something that I’m keeping a close eye on.
One year from now, what are you hoping you will have accomplished?
I want to recommit to the values of Vision Zero, and I want to see a meaningful difference in the road deaths within District C in a year's time. I want to be able to look back and say it is safer, it is healthier, it is more comfortable to leave your house and be out and about in Houston, June 2027, than it is June 2026.
