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VOL 4 No 14
FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
FBISD’s Cindy Cormier is H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards finalist
Quail Valley Garden Club Yard of the Month. Gardeners love to grow and Peter and Lourdes De La Mora of 3527 East Creek Club have a stunning array of annual and perennial flowers that are bursting with bloom. The family raised 3 sons and now have six granddaughters who all live in the area. They are as pretty as the flowers. The De La Moras received an award as well as a plant from Flowers by Adela as well as a flat of annuals and consultation by The Garden Guy. Their home is across Villa from a Quail Valley Backyard Tour Home that will be open to the public April 30 from 10 to 3. Visit http://traction.typepad.com/QVTour to learn more about the tour.
Candidates make tempered comments on apartments By SESHADRI KUMAR Term limits and striking a balance between the competing demand of community members who oppose apartments and developers who have a right to develop the property to meet market demand and make profit were among the topics of discussion at a candidates forum for Sugar Land City Council, hosted by the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce last week. While most of the candidates agreed that the current term limit in place in Sugar Land is good, some of them wished to see the duration of the term change from two to three year, while keeping a three-term limit instead of the current four, two-years terms. The hot button issue in this year’s Sugar Land City Council elections is apartments. Though the issue is germane to District 1 where developers of Imperial Sugar Mill site and the adjoining area are proposing apartments, adjacent to the baseball field, the debate is spreading all over the city. District 1 Councilman Don Smithers is seeking re-election. His opponent is Diana Miller who is passionate about stopping high-density apartments in the Imperial project. In Dist. 1, one can see campaign signs for Smithers, but Miller has chosen to display her website www.StopImperialSugarMillApartments.com, instead of her own name on her campaign signs. During the candidates forum, Miller broke ranks with every other candidate on the apartments issue. She believed that the high density apartments are not required and they would adversely affect the neighborhood both in terms of property values and heavy traffic. Miller blamed the city council for being “out of touch with the community.” Miller denied that she was a single-issue candidate. She also opposed the location of the ball park which was originally proposed in the University site. Miller objected to describing Sugar Land Skeeters as Minor
Leauge Baseball because they are not affiliated with MLB, but the independent Atlantic League. Smithers categorically denied the suggestion that he was supporting the development of 1,600 apartments. Smithers said he will not vote for 1,600 apartments and will not support anything other than what is in the comprehensive plan. The city has a comprehensive plan for a reason and that needs to be followed, Smithers said. If the plan requires revision that should be studied. The city does not face just one issue, but there are other issues like water supply, public safety and maintaining the tax rate, he said. Bridget Yeung, who is unopposed for the Dist.2 council seat, said the city’s comprehensive plan is under review. The city has to provide “multi-family” housing including duplexes, patio homes and town homes, not necessarily apartments, Yeung said. More people want to rent, but the city does not have a product to attract high-quality renters, Yeung said. In her earlier remarks, Yeung said the city council would lose three knowledgeable and experienced council members and the upcoming election is important. The city needs experienced candidates and not those running for office on one issue, she said. For Dist. 3, Amy Mitchell, Jim Hoelker and Howard Paul are running. Mitchell said, “We have a comprehensive plan. It is appropriate to follow that plan. The city works hard to protect the community.” There is a need for Class apartments, like those in Sugar Land Town Square, Hoelker said. They need to be sprinkled around, he said. Hoelker said Fortune 500 companies looked for highend apartments to house their young professionals and Sugar Land would lose them in the absence of such high quality housing.
City Council needs to listen to the community and strike a balance between the developer and the community, Paul said. Dist. 4 has three candidates, Farah Ahmed, Harish Jajoo and Frank Yonish. Ahmed said she was concerned about apartments and their impact on the community. She agreed that the city has to have some apartments, but she was not for high density. Jajoo said everybody wants to place a number on apartments and he does not know what that number is. “There is a due process and let the system work,” Jajoo said alluding to the staff review, planning and zoning review and finally the city council action following a series of public hearings. Jajoo said there needs to be a balance between quality of life and high-end apartments and he would oppose apartments if they added to crime and traffic and affected mobility. Yonish said Sugar Land has done an excellent job in balancing the needs of the community and the developers. Yonish said high quality housing will bring quality people. Unlike Houston Sugar Land has zoning and some good, high quality apartments may be needed in the city, he said. In closing remarks, Miller said she knew her position was not popular. She felt there were enough apartments in Sugar Land to attract young professionals. Smithers said the city needs “someone who listens,” and council’s decision affects the whole city and he was ready to grapple with many issues facing the city, “not just one issue.” Smithers said he also got the endorsement of Houston Area Realtors. Mitchell said she had the experience, knowledge and work ethic to be on the city council. A broad range of people have endorsed her, Mitchell said. Hoelker said this race was clearly about vision, leadership and execution. His role in organizing and executing the Impact A Hero weekend for the
Cindy Cormier, a fifth-grade teacher at Schiff Elementary School, is one of seven Houston-area teachers recognized as the “Best in Texas Education” with her selection as a finalist in the 2011 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards. The announcement was made during a surprise visit to her school from H-E-B representatives, who presented Cormier with a $1,000 check, flowers, balloons, and a cake. Her school also received a $1,000 check. H-E-B launched the awards program in cooperation with the Texas Association of
School Administrators in 2002 as a positive way to support public education in Texas. This year, the awards program is celebrating its 10th anniversary of recognizing and rewarding outstanding educators, schools and school districts. As a finalist for the 2011 HE-B Excellence in Education Award, Cormier will now be invited to compete on a statewide level for greater recognition and cash prizes. A celebration weekend will be held for all finalists on May 13-15 in Austin. The weekend will include a public health and fitness event
featuring Jillian Michaels of NBC’s Biggest Loser and General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) will deliver a keynote address at the awards’ celebration dinner on May 15. Cormier is competing for the awards’ Leadership Elementary category. Pictured with some of the fifthgrade students and the H-E-B Buddy are: Mary Brewster, principal at Schiff Elementary School; Cindy Cormier, H-E-B Excellence in Education award finalist; and Lacey Dalcoun-Salas, H-E-B representative.
FBISD eliminates 483 positions By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend ISD has eliminated 483 teaching positions to make an estimated $30 million saving in next year’s budget. At a special meeting on Monday, the board approved the recommendation of the administration not to renew the contracts of 54 term contract teachers and 14 probationers and accepted the voluntary resignation of 342 others who had taken advantage of the incentive offered by the district for voluntary resignation. Based on the best case scenario that the district might be in the hole for $30 million after the state budget is finally adopted, the administration identified the positions to be eliminated. Both attrition and incentive for voluntary resignation have been used instead of firing the teachers, according to the administration. Even those 54 teachers whose contracts were terminated on Monday, would be eligible to receive the incentive bonus like others who had exercised the option earlier. The board had to act on Monday because of a 45-day notice rule that applied to teachers with term contracts. If notice
of non-renewal is not given 45 days ahead of the last working day of the school year, the employee cannot be terminated. Reduction in force in administrative positions do not fall under that category. Superintendent Tim Jenney said the administration would propose a 7 percent cut in the administrative staff in the next couple of months. The current elimination of positions involved 138 elementary school teachers, 117 in middle schools and 130 in high schools. Other eliminated positions included eight librarians, 30 curriculum specialists, 22 special ed teachers, 17 instructional technology specialists and 21 career and technol-
benefit of wounded war veterans is an example, he said. Paul said the city needs to maintain a good quality of life and his experience would help in preserving the quality of help. He said he would also help Sugar Land remain a safer and better community. Ahmed said she had the support of key people in her district. Ahmed said she is “open minded, easy to talk to and willing to listen.” She de-
scribed herself as a problem solver who is willing to think outside the box. Jajoo said incumbent Councilman Michael Schiff has endorsed him. Jajoo said his long career as a professional engineer with the city of Houston would help in Sugar Land’s execution of upcoming multi-million dollar projects. He has the time and energy to spare and focus on the city.
ogy specialists. The positions were eliminated after looking at the projected student enrollment and course requirement in each campus. Finally, the individual evaluation of the teachers were factored in to identify the list of teachers to be laid off. Board President Sonal Bhuchar said it was a sad and difficult day and the district had to cut the teaching positions because of the state budget constraints. “We still do not know the extent of the impact,” Bhuchar said. In the worst case scenario, FBISD may be short $74 million. In the end, the shortage may be somewhere in between $30 million and $74 million.
10701 Corporate Drive, #282, Stafford, TX 77477 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, TX 77487 Seshadri Kumar Publisher & Editor
www.fbindependent.com 281-980-6745
Fort Bend Independent, (USPS 025-572) is published every Wednesday (for a subscription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodicals Postage Paid at Stafford, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487. Jajoo described himself as “the best prepared and the most qualified,” candidate. Yonish said he had demonstrated leadership qualities as a former Missouri City councilman and as a banker. He could work with various entities and get things done and he could build a coalition. “Many community leaders have endorsed me,” Yonish said.