Resident criticizes District D responsiveness; Councilmember Shabazz responds publicly

Reverend Darnell Fennell used public comment on June 16 to criticize communication, accountability and transparency between elected offices and constituents. Fennell said he posted a question to a 3rd Ward community Facebook group and then privately messaged District D's staff after not receiving timely acknowledgment; he said staff later told him they would respond but public posts claimed his office had been unresponsive.

"Houston residents deserve transparency. We deserve communication, and we deserve confidence that when we reach out to our officials, our concerns are acknowledged, tracked, and addressed," Fennell told council, and he said he had documentation showing repeated attempts to contact District D's office.

Councilmember Evan Shabazz, who had been referenced in the post, responded in the meeting. "I'm just gonna first say that the people sitting in these seats are all human," Shabazz said. She apologized if the facts warranted it, described an internal review that showed her office had engaged and said overlapping outreach by other offices may have contributed to confusion. Shabazz told Fennell her office had followed up directly that morning and pledged to do better going forward.

The exchange remained a public airing of a constituent service dispute; council members encouraged private follow-up between the parties and noted staff engagement would continue. No formal disciplinary or policy action was proposed during the session.