The Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE) and the Administration & Regulatory Affairs Department, in conjunction with the Police, Fire and Public Works Departments, recommend that City Council approve an ordinance amending Chapter 25 of the City of Houston’s Code of Ordinances to create a standardized process for Nationally Competitively Bid Events (NCBEs).
NCBEs—such as the Super Bowl or the NCAA Final Four—are awarded to host cities through a competitive bid process. Bidding on NCBEs requires a commitment of City services including police, fire, security, transportation, traffic management, airport, event management and public works operations by City Council.
Although the Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE) is already responsible under Chapter 25 for coordinating City services for all other major events in the City, Chapter 25 currently contains no systematic process for meeting Council’s commitment of City services for NCBEs. As a result, the City has historically managed NCBEs by passing a series of nearly identical temporary ordinances for each event. In addition to being inefficient and duplicative, this process creates uncertainty for the event producers, who must wait for these ordinances to be approved by Council before making event plans. Relying on temporary ordinances is inconsistent with the best practices established by MOSE in Chapter 25 for managing City services for all other events in the City.
Amending Chapter 25 to include NCBEs will allow MOSE to fulfill City Council’s commitment of City services in an efficient, transparent and consistent process. Once an NCBE has been awarded to the City, MOSE will follow its standard operating procedure of coordinating with other departments to fulfill the obligations of the bid as authorized by Council, including the establishment of safety zones (see attachments), the location of temporary signage and the establishment of temporary taxicab zone rates.
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Departmental Approval Authority:
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Tina Paez, Director
Administration & Regulatory Affairs Department
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Other Authorization
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