Southwest Houston's District J Announces New Supplemental Maintenance Team

It may have been the first time 9100 Fondren had been mowed in years.

On January 26, 2024, neon-vested members of District J’s new Supplemental Maintenance Team (SMT) attacked the knee-high grass of the long-vacant lot with trimmers and push mowers.

In a city the size of Houston, some ditches, vacant lots, and esplanades (grassy medians) don’t get maintained consistently or frequently. That’s why Council Member Edward Pollard created the new SMT program for District J, which includes most of Sharpstown, Gulfton, Westwood, and Braeburn.

The SMT, funded through District J’s $1 million discretionary fund, will supplement multiple branches of city government. Right now, Public Works maintains open ditches, the Parks Department handles esplanades, and the Southwest Management District picks up scattered trash. The SMT will assist with all three, said Pollard.

At a press conference on January 26, during a break in the mowing, Pollard and Public Works director Carol Haddock stood on the overgrown lot in front of four SMT members. The lot sits northwest of the intersection of Braeswood and Fondren, in the Braeburn Super Neighborhood.

According to Pollard, the apartment complex on the property had been torn down because of routine flooding in 2015, leaving the lot empty and “neglected.”

Pollard said that the SMT will start with overgrown lots like this one, which “attract trash and homeless encampments,” but he encouraged residents to call 311 or his office to report locations in need of SMT service.

“We want these issues to be addressed…in a prompt fashion in which the residents can see that we are paying attention to what they’re saying and being as responsive to them as possible.”

He expected the lot at 9100 Fondren to get “regular attention” going forward. “It won’t get to the degree where you see it right now,” he said, gesturing to the tall grass.

Director Haddock called it a “partnership” and asked residents to call 311: “We don’t have eyes and ears everywhere. This is your community.”

Kim Hatton, a Braeburn resident, encouraged neighbors to invest in their communities: “Our neighborhoods are our responsibility, and if they fall into disrepair, and we’ve not done anything, then we’re to blame.”

If residents do not want to call, email may be an option. In a mass email on January 30, Pollard invited District J residents to request SMT service by emailing his office at DistrictJ@houstontx.gov, adding “SMT Request” to the subject line, and including “the location's address and a picture if possible.”