VOL 12 No. 3
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County & Missouri City
What should Stafford mayor’s salary be? $100,000 or $200,000? By BARBARA FULENWIDER How much should the mayor of Stafford be paid? This question came up recently at Stafford’s Jan. 9 city council meeting. Right now Mayor Leonard Scarcella is getting a monthly amount of $900 along with a $400 car allowance and health insurance. City council members are paid $250 a month. This past September council members decided to set the standards that paid a mayor a working rate so they put a committee together to determine what that rate should be. The agenda item came up because last Nov. 6 citizens voted on a proposed amendment G to the city’s home rule charter. Amendment G said “the mayor shall receive pay and compensation, along with the payment of necessary expenses
incurred in performance of official duties, as set by the city council by ordinance. The amount of such compensation shall not exceed the fair market value of a city’s chief executive officer of a comparable size of the city of Stafford.” Even though Scarcella sent out a flyer to the citizens explaining why he was opposed to this amendment and five other of the 13 proposed amendments on the ballot, all passed. Since the citizens had spoken, a councilman felt it was time to determine how the ordinance should work so he put it on the agenda. But prior to that Shanell Garcia, director of human resources, had to provide information to council regarding what other comparable cities pay their mayor and what CEOs would receive if they were doing a mayor’s job. She put together a list of 9 cities that
paid their mayor anywhere from nothing to somewhere in the $100,000 range. Scarcella said, “The committee members want the mayor to be paid like a city administrator. There’s no city on this list that has a strong city government. Their city managers are being paid $146,000. If you approve that, the salary of the mayor could be $200,000 a year or more. That’s why I sent out a mailer recommending that citizens vote against it.” Garcia said that her list of 9 cities comparable to Stafford did not want their names made public. She agreed to that and also to the fact that none had a strong mayoral form of government. Her list to council showed that 6 towns more comparable to Stafford’s residents pay their mayor anywhere form $100,000 to $150,000.” See SALARY, Page 5
County presents wish list for the Texas Legislature By SESHADRI KUMAR County Judge KP George, presiding over his first Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meeting and the first meeting of the year on Jan. 8, presented his wish list for the 86th Texas Legislature and so did the county commissioners. County’s legislative lobbyist Jim Short presented a preview of the process of filing and getting the bills passed by the legislature. Commissioners court will finalize its legislative agenda at a future meeting. The first legislative agenda item proposed by George was the county’s continued opposition to any “Revenue cap” and urging the legislature to fix the school funding issue to help reform the property tax. The county judge’s second agenda item sought state funding for improving the voting equipment. Since the state has eliminated straight ticket voting, lengthy ballots would necessitate longer time to cast ballots and more voting machines are needed to enable timely voting. Also, many of the voting machines have become old and defective, needing replacement. It is estimated that Fort Bend County Election Administration may need about $15 million to update the voting machines and buy additional equipment. The county judge suggested the creation of a Voting Systems Fund by the state for future funding of the county’s needs. Short cautioned the commissioners that any bill with cost implications would be dead on arrival. The decision has to come from the top, namely the governor and the leadership should get behind it, for any legislation to pass, he said. The county judge’s next
agenda item dealt with expansion of Medicaid. Short said Harris County unsuccessfully tried for this legislation for many years now and Governor Greg Abbott is opposed to it. “If you know it won’t happen and that it would only make the governor mad, why slight him and then ask him for help,” Short said. Instead of filing a bill, make a statement or pass a resolution to that effect, he suggested. Pct. 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales proposed a legislative item creating a special sales tax in Richmond for a proposed hotel and convention center. About $6 million in sales tax may be captured for this project. Pct. 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage said he is working on a legislative measure to make some of the county’s unincorporated areas join a community college system. That would mean the annexed areas would have to pay a new tax, but students from this area would be paying low, indistrict tuition fees. Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers had a series of bills dealing with County Assistance Districts. For some of the items, he has already found legislative sponsors and pre-filed the bills. One of the significant bills proposed by Meyers deals with detachment of areas now in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city of Houston. The legislature has already passed a bill that would prevent the city from annexing an area “involuntarily.” In other words, the area can be annexed only if the voters agree to annexation. Meyers says the residents should have the ability to vote for detachment from the city’s ETJ.
Meyers wants the creation of County Assistance Districts in unincorporated areas, without the express permission from the nearby city. For example, residents in Houston’s ETJ who do not vote in Houston city elections, will be subject to Houston’s decision not to allow a county assistance district, while the county commissioners whom they elect will have no authority to create the district. Meyers wants this legal anomaly to be removed. Houston also enters into Strategic Partnership Agreements with developers or Municipal Utility Districts in its ETJ and collects sales tax. The city, however, does not provide any services to the area. The county, on the other hand, has to provide some services to that area. Meyers is proposing legislation to enable the county to levy sales tax in such areas and spend that money for improvement within the taxing area. Pct. 4 Commissioner Ken DeMerchant wants to improve the emergency notification system by allowing Fort Bend County residents to register for such notifications while renewing driver licenses. DeMerchant also wants more resources for mental health patients in county jail and establishment of an outpatient mental health facility in the county. The last item proposed by DeMerchant deals with “Equal pay for equal work.” Short described the chance of such bills passing as 50-50 with a Republican controlled legislature and a conservative governor. The county is expected to prune its list and send fewer bills for consideration.
MISSION BEND LIBRARY. The Mission Bend Branch Library, the 11th county library in the Fort Bend County library system, in Fort Bend County Precinct 2, at the corner of Addicks Clodine Road and Wildwood Lake Road, 8421 Addicks Clodine Road, Houston, Texas 77083, will have a grand opening ceremony on Feb. 9. See story on Page 5.
FBISD presents attendance boundaries for new elementary school and four high schools Fort Bend ISD administration on Monday, presented zoning recommendations to the Board of Trustees for both Malala Yousafzai Elementary and high schools in the southeast portion of the District (Elkins HS, Hightower HS, Marshall HS, Ridge Point HS and Willowridge HS).The board is likley to take action on these boundary recommendations during its January business meeting, on January 22. Superintendent Charles Dupre in a letter to parents posted on the FBISD website last Friday said: “I am bringing this to your attention because we originally planned to bring the elementary recommendation in January, followed by the high school recommendation in February; however, the earlier high school recommendation was based on several factors, including feedback received following the community meetings via the online surveys, which we continued to receive and review during the recent winter break. “First, clear themes and desires of the community became apparent very quickly as staff carefully reviewed this feedback. This feedback clearly showed that the community’s desire was to make minimal
changes in the short term, prior to the planned construction of a new high school in the southeast side of the District that was included in the 2018 Bond Program. “We also recognize that the challenges associated with the boundary planning process have caused a great deal of anxiety, and because the community’s desires were so clear, we were able to formulate a recommendation faster than originally anticipated.” During Monday’s meeting, the staff also presented their recommendations regarding innovative instructional programs at Marshall, Hightower, and Willowridge High Schools. The board may approve these programs on January 22 as well. “We are excited about the opportunities these programs will afford students, as they will be able to earn up to 60 hours of college credit, an associate degree, or certification – free of charge – while enrolled in Fort Bend ISD. As we continue planning for 2019-20 and beyond, we will continue to explore ways to introduce other innovative programs at these campuses and others, as we remain committed to improving the educational outcomes for all of our more than 76,000 students
in Fort Bend ISD. Our goal is to provide an exceptional learning experience at each one of our campuses, and we appreciate your continued support,” Dupre said. Proposed Attendance Boundaries Summary of Recommended Changes: •The current Schiff ES zone will feed through Baines MS into Hightower HS instead of Ridge Point HS. •The portion of Heritage Rose ES that currently feeds to Baines MS (areas off or north of TX-6) will feed through Baines MS into Hightower HS instead of Ridge Point HS. •Parks ES will continue to feed through Lake Olympia MS and then into Willowridge HS instead of Hightower HS. •The area currently zoned to Palmer ES north of Lake Olympia Parkway and east of Community Park will be zoned through McAuliffe MS to Willowridge HS instead of Hightower HS. This area is currently being developed. This recommendation addresses only building utilization calculated per policy, which does not account for the placement of academic programs or portable buildings. See ZONING, Page 2
District Attorney announces new leadership and internal promotions Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton last week introduced new leadership positions in the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, including internal promotions. In Middleton’s first full week in office, the transition process moved into its next phase with the announcement of the new leadership team. Not wanting vacancies to compromise service to the community, Middleton and new
First Assistant Ibrahim Khawaja moved quickly to make final decisions on job applicants. The new leadership team includes several former and career prosecutors that can call on decades of experience. Middleton said, “New prosecutors were hired and some prosecutors were promoted. As a result, the new staff is highly skilled with decades of prosecutorial experience.” Middleton
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