Jurisdiction of the Houston Local Government Entity Essay

Introduction

Entities are controlled by a given governing body as evident in the Houston local government entity. The entity is considered partly quasi-government and partly non-profit. The entity is responsible for tax collection in Houston and controls the development activities undertaken in the region. It used the taxpayer funds and private donations to run the operational activities within its region of jurisdiction.

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What the Entity Represent

The entity represents the local citizens in Houston City in enhancing development of social structures and amenities. It used the resources from the city's citizens to facilitate the development activities on behalf of the central government. The entity, thus, acts as a link between the local people in Houston and the Texas government.

What the Entity Does

The entity performs the role of the business improvement and development of the city under their jurisdiction. It receives and spends taxpayer funds and private donations to do work that, is beneficial to the public. They also create public-private partnerships that are far more flexible and more efficient than the government agencies. For instance, Houston has about 30 local government corporation corporations, including the most efficient ones, such as Houston First, Houston Parks Board and the Houston zoo among other several redevelopment authorities in the city. The county has also created the Harris county sports center and the convention corporation which runs the entire NRG Park among other local government corporations. The decentralization and use of agencies make it easy for the city official to execute policies and develop program governing the city's operations.

Houston runs a very efficient and flexible system which is very profitable. For instance, the parks board received 100 million US dollars from the city bond funds and 120 million US dollars in private donations which help build the Bayou Greenways plan. The tourist attraction sites are preserved and maintain to promote sustainability regarding income generation. The revenue received from the park board is something the city parks department could never have been able to achieve. Hoston's local government receives tax revenues from the city as well as taxing other activities but do not have an independent authority to levy the taxes.

Houston's local government entity has taken over the development departments in the city. For instance, Houston First performs the functions that should be performed by the Department of Convention and entertainment facilities. This gets more complicated when we narrow to the neighborhood or the District levels, the redevelopment authorities and management Districts perform important roles that undertake the city governance.

The Entity Representatives

The entity is headed by Mayor, Sylvester Turner and the other five at-large elected officials serve citywide (Texas House of Representatives. "Texas House of Representatives" ). The other 9 represent their various districts. District A represents areas in the Northwestern areas represented by Brenda Stardig since 2011. District B serves Northern and Northeast areas represented by Jerry Davis. District D serves areas in the North of the 600 loops up to the Houston heights areas represented by Ellen Cohen. District D serve areas in the Northern within Midtown southwards to Beltway areas represented by Dwight Boykins. Districts E serve Kingwood and the portion of clear Lake City represented by Dave Martin. District F serves Southwest areas represented by Steve le. District G serves western Houston areas represented by Greg Travis. District H serves north of the 610 loop areas represented by Karla Cisneros. District I serves the neighborhoods in southeastern Houston areas represented by Robert Gallegos while district J serves several neighborhoods along the U.S 59 route represented by Mike Laster. Finally, District K serves as far as southwestern Houston and is represented by nobody. The Editorial Houston Chronicle stated the Africa-American vote voters could control the district on its own.

Sheila Jackson Lee represents the Houstons Government body. She is in charge of the constituents of the 18th Congressional Districts in dealing with all federal issues. In case an individual needs a case settled, they have to first complete filling in a Privacy act release form that directs you to her Houston office. Some of the information to be filled include; your social security number for any case involving social security, VA claim number for a case with veterans department, taxpayer identification number, home address, home phone number and copies of any related documents.

State Laws Governing the Entity

As a local agency, the entity is controlled by the state laws in various aspects including solid waste management, health system, and those governing international communities among others. The agency act as the ambassador to the state's government and the council-manager plan enforces all city ordinances, rules, and regulations and supervises municipal programs and employees. Prepares and executes the city's annual budget, manages the city's funds and prepares reports about the financial conditions. Finally, provides information about the facilities for the council to make informed decisions.

Houston has three types of state laws that govern the city. The laws include type A, type B, and type C laws. Type B laws usually apply to the incorporation of any area below 201 to 10,000 inhabitants then transits to type A laws when the population grows to 600 or more. This governing body is known as the board of aldermen, consisting of the mayor and other five voted members. The Type B laws can be adopted under sections 25.001 local government code when presenting a petition signed by at least 20% of the mayor's votes if the majority of the votes cast favor the adoption of the city manager plan. The administrator is to be placed in the city managers hands, where all offices in the city have approved the manager and when all the procedures for repealing the manager have been met. There are also home rule concepts that look up to the state to tell them what they are prohibited from doing. There are also inherent powers of home rule cities that allow them to do whatever they want without being granted by the state.

Type A general law municipalities were incorporated under type law general laws while type C laws are known as the board of commissioners. It consists of a mayor and two commissioners. The council is in charge of enforcing all city ordinances, rules, and regulations. They supervise all municipal programs and employees as they prepare and execute the city's annual budget; they prepare and manage all periodic reports. They provide information to the council about the state of the facilities. They plan a council meeting and inform the council about the community needs.

Impact of the Entity to Texas Residents

The local government entity in Houston has both positively and negatively impacted on its residents. The local government has facilitated economic growth and development of infrastructure in the city thus improving the people's living standards. Also, the development of infrastructures in the city makes it suitable for the performance of business operations and attracting investors from other parts of the world. The local government thus collects huge revenue from business taxes and other government enterprises.

Additionally, the city has had a global economy, the high education system, and a high level of industry among others. Business activities run smoothly because of the well-laid system of governance, as seen in the districts. The city is composed of people from different parts of the world as a result of economic development and cosmopolitan nature. Intercultural diversity is thus a significant effect evident as a result of the entity's activities in the city.

On the other hand, there are also demerits associated with the city structure, development, and governance. For example, the entity has brought about ethnicity at a high rate, as the Democrats are against the Republicans. The entity also took over the roles of the government thus bringing about the conflict between the administration and the local entity. Lack of cohesion and integration between the government and the entity can instead deteriorate economic performance rather than improving it as expected in the city.

Works Cited

"TxDMV.GOV - Representative." TxDMV.GOV - Home, www.txdmv.gov/dealer/representative.

"U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Texas." Census Bureau QuickFacts, www.census.gov/quickfacts/tx.

Texas House of Representatives. "Texas House of Representatives." Texas House of Representatives, house.texas.gov/committees/committee/?committee=C448.