Harris County, TX

By incorporating public participation into the county executive transition process, Talking Transition allowed the incoming Hidalgo administration to tailor policy initiatives based on public needs.

Challenge

Building on the success and legacy of Talking Transitions in DC and NYC, Talking Transition: Harris County was a collaborative initiative at the center of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s efforts to run an “open transition“ at the beginning of her administration (the first hundred days). Talking Transition: Harris County transformed the usual closed-door process between the mayoral election and inauguration into an opportunity for broad public engagement.

 
 
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“For too long, County government has been something that people don’t see, that they don’t engage with, that they don’t understand, through no fault of their own. It’s incumbent upon us to reach the community.”

— Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo

Response

HR&A worked with Harris County and partner organizations to design a program that highlighted the most pressing issues for Harris County residents and identified what the County can do to respond. There were two primary goals of the program: To learn the ideas and priorities of thousands of Harris County residents to help inform the administration’s policy priorities in its first year; and to build new “civic infrastructure” to carry forward the response to those priorities in collaboration with community leaders.

Talking Transition was designed to learn from residents using two distinct approaches: a countywide survey; and a set of seven public events throughout the region, which were followed by ‘special guest’ workshops called Action Plan Workshops. These special workshops included residents, subject matter experts, policymakers, and grasstops leaders, and served to build and strengthen the County’s civic infrastructure.

 
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Impact

Talking Transition was one of the most expansive public engagement County initiatives in Harris County’s history. Over 11,000 people participated in the survey and over 1,600 attended events to provide their stories, ideas, and perspectives. Thousands of residents were engaged to inform the new administration’s policy priorities in its first year and, in doing so, the initiative has catalyzed a growing network of relationships between County government and hundreds of experts, activists, and community leaders throughout the region – in total 200+ organizations were involved.

 
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Partners

The Talking Transition survey would not have been possible without the support of several project sponsors, Including:

  • Houston Endowment 

  • Ford Foundation 

  • Episcopal Health Foundation

Special thanks to the following partners who provided the people-power to make the survey and initiative accessible to communities across Harris County.

  • The Texas Organizing Project, 

  • Boat People SOS, 

  • Chinese Community Center, and

  • Emgage 

The conversation:

  • “Before you do anything, you have to talk” – Twitter 

  • Video: Hundreds attend Civic Saturday discussion on criminal justice reform – Click2Houston 

  • Hidalgo launches survey seeking input from Harris County residents – Houston Chronicle

  • County judge starts talks on improving Harris County community health – Houston Chronicle