residents. Students asked Rice to collaborate with the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development Without Displacement (HCEDD), a group of community organizations, residents, and students concerned about the potential gentrification of the Third Ward, a historically and predominantly African-American community. The group tried to develop an exclusive and separate CBA with RMC which would not include the City of Houston as the counterparty. After Turner and Rice agreed to negotiate a CBA, RMC and the City of Houston organized a workshop series which included a presentation of the district, a panel discussion of community experts, and breakout sessions for public input. Following the series, RMC convened a working group of civic and community stakeholders to help identify commitments to be documented in the CBA between Rice and the City of Houston. Stakeholders included representatives from Houston's Black and Hispanic chambers of commerce as well as residents of communities surrounding the district. RMC invited HCEDD to participate in the working group. After several months, the working group produced a report that recommended commitments for both Rice and the City of Houston in three focus areas of economic opportunity: housing affordability, inclusive contracting, and hiring. HCEDD, which did not participate in the working group after being offered four positions, criticized the working group's report and process saying the "recommendations did not go far enough". HCEDD proposed an alternative set of commitments that included demands for RMC to construct affordable housing for "existing and long-time" Third Ward residents, support cultural preservation and sponsor of Juneteenth and Kwanzaa celebrations hosted by local groups. HCEDD also continued to demand an exclusive agreement with RMC which would not include the City of Houston. After the working group released its report, the City of Houston and Rice began negotiations and presented a proposed CBA to the City Council for approval that included $15.3 million dollars in direct community investments to affordable housing, community capacity building, and support for underrepresented entrepreneurs as well as project-based contracting and investment opportunities for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and underrepresented individuals. The proposed CBA was introduced to City Council for approval on November 3, 2021. The mayor was not present for the City Council meeting and six councilmembers initiated a procedural delay of the vote for a week. The following week, the Houston City Council approved the agreement by a vote of 14 to 3. According to the Houston Chronicle, the