HOUSTON – There is a $169 million budget gap in the city of Houston’s budget for the next fiscal year, according to the numbers Mayor Sylvester Turner released on Tuesday. The city is reeling from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and local leaders are not sugar-coating it. City leaders said they need to make drastic cuts, which means thousands of city employees are facing the possibility that they could be furloughed. Turner said he will try to secure more funding to save those jobs by using federal money. “I’ve asked Chief Pena with the fire department and Chief Acevedo and others to take a look at where their employees were used specifically for COVID purposes.