In wake of Astroworld tragedy, Houston, Harris County officials launch joint special events task force

Houston area leaders announced the creation of the special events task force in coordination with Harris County Wednesday in the aftermath of the deadly Astroworld Festival tragedy. Ten concert-goers were killed and hundreds injured following a massive crowd surge at the Nov. 5 NRG Stadium concert headlined by Houston native and rapper Travis Scott.

The joint Houston-Harris Special Events Task Force, formed by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, will review and make recommendations to improve communication, protocols and permitting requirements in Houston and Harris County "to ensure consistent operation standards for future events," officials said.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Turner said while the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated live events in the city, they are well on their way back. The city's office of special events manages annually nearly 1,000 events attended by more than 10 million people, he said.

However, Turner said the city and county can do better in working together in hosting such events. "The line of demarcation between the city and county properties is invisible to the public," he said. "At the end of the day we want to make sure that all agencies are partnering at every major level touchpoint to produce great events and that people attending the events know that we're working together from the moment the event was first planned."

The task force, comprised of ten events industry leaders appointed by Turner and Garcia, will review existing policies, procedures and requisites, as well as industry standards and best practices to enhance event operations, Turner said.

Members appointed by Turner include Susan Christian, director of Turner's office of special events; Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner; Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña; Steven Adelman, vice president of the Event Safety Alliance; and Rob McKinley, co-founder, president and owner of LD Systems.

Appointees selected by the county include Rolf Nelson, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homeland Security Bureau Major; Ryan Walsh, Executive Director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation and NRG Park; Mike Demarco, Chief Show Operations Officer for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen; and Perrye K. Turner, the county's first Deputy County Administrator for Justice and Safety.

Garcia said it's common for there to be confusion in the aftermath of a tragedy so it's important to have procedures in place to ensure issues are remedied quickly. "It's also important to have established a set of principles and guidelines for how to put on events, establish standard operating procedures and create best new practices going forward, looking to other parts of the country, other parts of the world potentially, on how they do things and to ensure that we're seeking the opportunity to learn," he said.

Garcia added he wants the task force to resolve safety concerns from parents in the the region. "If they're coming to an event inside the county, or inside the city, that they know that there has been a great deal of thought put into the safety and well-being of all respective events," he said. The city has also been in pursuit of hosting Olympic events, Garcia added. "One day we're going to land it and when it comes here, we will be ready because of this task force," he said.

Christian said the task force plans to meet monthly to take an in depth look at current special events, governance and permitting in the city and county, noting policies need to be "scalable" relative to an event's size and "inherent risk." She said they still need to meet to come up with an exact timeline, though Turner emphasized the task force's goal of working as quickly as possible to come up with definitive recommendations.

"The task force will review event disciplines and staffing standards to meet the expectations of the event scope and type," Christian said. "We will take into consideration the role of government authority and responsibility of the private event producer."

The task force will also review safety standards of event operations, inside logistics, as well as evaluate the impact of events on surrounding neighborhoods, Christian continued. "An important goal of the task force will be to improve inter-agency communication and early collaboration by ensuring that both agencies have a seat at the table when planning events that cross jurisdictions."

While Turner said the decision to form the task force is "about looking to the future and not back on any one event or incident," he later admitted that Astroworld played a big role in preceding it. "I think any one of us would be dishonest if we say it didn't precipitate it," he said. "Certainly that was the genesis for this task force and now this is an opportunity to improve on that coordination between the county and the city."

However, when asked by a reporter at the conference how much of the task force's work will be figuring out what went wrong at Astroworld and what coordination wasn't done for the event, Turner responded, "This task force is going to be futuristic. The investigation for the Astroworld event continues so we certainly don't want to impede in that investigation. So they will run on that track, this one will be looking futuristically into how we can better coordinate seamlessly between the city and the county."

"But if you don't know what went wrong in November, how can you fix that for next November?" questioned the reporter.

Turner once again reiterated not wanting to impede on the investigation. "A task force of this kind happens all the time," he said. "This is not unique. This is not different. It happens all the time and will will be no different."

Officials have often shifted the blame for responsibility for went wrong at Astroworld. Turner has emphasized that the event took place on Harris County property. However, Houston issued concert permits for the event and Houston police officers served as security. Finner has also stated that only concert promoter Live Nation could have stopped the concert.

Gov. Greg Abbott launched a similar state concert task force, led by Texas Music Office Director Brendon Anthony, in response to Astroworld in the days after the tragedy. The task force, which will eventually produce a report of recommendations and strategies, consists of safety experts, law enforcement, fire fighters, state agencies, music industry leaders, and others.

The Houston Police Department last month asked those who attended the festival to upload any photos and videos taken at the concert venue to a website launched by the FBI. On Dec. 22, members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee announced an investigation into concert promoter Live Nation's role in the festival tragedy, alleging the entertainment company has a long history of safety violations at its events.

Nearly 400 lawsuits were combined into a single case against Scott and Live Nation after the Texas Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted a motion from victims and organizers on Jan. 26 to combine the litigation before a single judge for pre-trial proceedings, according to a report by Billboard. The lawsuits, which claim Live Nation and Scott were negligent in planning and conducting the concert, represent nearly 2,800 victims seeking billions in total damages.

In December, Scott issued a general denial of the allegations against him and requested to be dismissed from several Astroworld lawsuits that have named him as a defendant in their filings. That same month, in his first interview following the tragedy, Scott also hinted to the possibility of future Astroworld concerts in Houston.