The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, with the most recent election being held in 2019 and the next being held in 2023 (all positions, along with that of the Mayor who is elected separately, are up for re-election at the same time). Council Members are limited to two terms of four years. Under the current city charter, if the population in the city limits went past 2.1 million residents, the previous nine-member city council districts would be expanded with the addition of two city council districts. Since the threshold was passed, the city created two new districts. The Council works with the mayor in a strong mayor-council model. The City Council monitors the performance of city agencies, confirm the mayor's appointments, and makes land use decisions as well as legislating on a variety of other issues. The Mayor chairs meetings of City Council and has a vote in the proceedings in all cases. In the event of the Mayor's absence, the Mayor Pro-Tem, a member of the Council chosen for the position by the mayor, presides over Council meetings. Should both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem be unavailable, the Vice Mayor Pro-Tem, chosen for the position by fellow Council Members, will preside. City Council and the Administrative Office of City Council (AOCC), a division of the Finance Department which serves administrative duties for the council, are housed in the City Hall Annex in Downtown Houston. History Between the Reconstruction and the enacting of court-ordered city council redistricting in the 1970s, none of the city council members were black. Until 1972 all of the members of the city council were white. Members Houston City Council Member Larry Green, who represented District K since 2012, was found dead in his home on March 6, 2018. Martha Castex-Tatum won a special election to fill Green’s vacated seat on May 5, 2018 and assumed office on May 16, 2018. As of 2019, 5 seats were up for grabs which were the At Large positions 4 and 5, and Districts B, C, and J seats. At Large position 5, and council districts B, C, and J had term-limited council members who were serving out their third and final term