Houston Mayor Annise Parker presiding as City Council acted on an 80 item agenda for 3 hours before starting an 11-hour debate on the budget 17 June 2015 On Wednesday June 17, Houston City Council handled a daunting docket of 80 agenda items in 3 hours with a brief break before noon, then started its annual budget debate that lasted till nearly 11:00 PM. The first item taken up was originally Item 10, a proposal to name the Houston Police Department after retired Sr. Officer Edward A. Thomas.