Several tenant advocates and community members asked the Houston City Council on Oct. 7 to put an apartment‑standards ordinance on the agenda after what they described as repeated delays.

Speakers said families continue to live in units with mold, leaks and unsafe conditions while the city’s promised ordinance remains pending. "We are tired of being told to wait," said Doris Brown, a tenant organizer who asked for a clear date for the council vote. "Every week that passes without action, more families are getting sick."

Councilmember Plummer, who has sponsored the Prop A referral, said the ordinance has been drafted by the city’s legal team and that the apartment‑standards executive committee has met multiple times. "Legal has already written the document. It's all ready to go," Plummer said, adding she would seek a status update and expected to have more information the following day.

Felix Kapoor, a housing advocate, said community members and renters had waited for months after a Prop A referral and urged the council not to let the process stall. Councilmember Pollard and others said they supported apartment reform once it is legally permissible; one councilmember said the delay may be tied to state‑law compliance issues and suggested some changes could require state legislation.

Several councilmembers noted the tension between quickly addressing hazardous housing conditions and ensuring any local ordinance complies with state property and due‑process law. Councilmember Plummer said the draft had been extensively negotiated and, in her view, had been pared down to meet legal constraints. She asked colleagues for help in moving the item forward.

No final vote took place during the meeting. Advocates pressed for clarity about what legal or statutory barriers remain and for a firm timeline to bring the ordinance to the council floor.

Provenance: Public comments raising the apartment‑standards/Prop A delay began when multiple speakers asked when the order would be moved to council; Councilmember Plummer responded that legal had drafted the ordinance and that she would seek a meeting with administration staff the next day.