Governance

In Houston, some want to see the mayor lose control — at least some of it

The city’s strong mayor has the power to set the City Council agenda, which means nothing can go before the council without the mayor’s OK. A coalition led by the fire union is trying to rein in that strength.

Police oversight in Houston is lax compared to Austin and Dallas, and needs reform

To effectively monitor police and investigate cases of alleged misconduct, oversight boards need independence, access to information and evidence, and adequate funding. If given sufficient power and authority, these agencies can hold police departments accountable for officers’ actions and build public trust. A new Kinder Institute report examines the police oversight systems in the state’s five largest cities to see how they compare.

Finding the small-scale urbanism his hometown lost to urban renewal

After a car-centric urban renewal plan irrevocably changed the town where he grew up, a young urbanist found the essence of Auburn, New York, in Southern California.

The Black Church has been getting ‘souls to the polls’ for more than 60 years

At Black churches up and down the U.S., religious slogans have been supplanted with another message in the run up to Nov. 3: Vote!

I vote because my father and grandfather couldn’t

Roland B. Smith Jr. is from Washington, D.C., whose residents weren’t allowed to vote in a presidential election until 1964. Growing up, his mother would travel almost 500 miles by bus or train from D.C. to Asheville, North Carolina, where she grew up, just to vote. Roland B. Smith Jr. always votes.