ww www.fbindependent.com .fbindependent.com
Phone: 281-980-6745
VOL 6 No. 46
FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
County bond gets thumbs up; 2 of 3 Sugar Land bonds pass By BARBARA FULENWIDER Unofficial cumulative vote totals in Fort Bend County show that the county’s $184.9 million mobility bond referendum passed overwhelmingly but Sugar Land didn’t fare that well. One Sugar Land bond proposal failed while two passed. Sugar Land residents turned down the sale of $18.54 million in bonds for parks and recreational facilities that included a 65-acre community park at Chatham Avenue and Easton Avenue in the Telfair subdivision. Votes to approve totaled 3,315 but nay votes came in at 3,450 or 51 percent to 48 percent. Sugar Land voters approved $21.30 million in bonds for the second phase of the Brazos River Park and an adjacent festival site and another $10.16 million in bonds to connect some 10 miles of hike and bike trails and bridges. Votes to approve the $21 million bond referendum totaled 3,599 while no votes trailed at 3,151. The $10 million bond issue was approved by 3,545 voters and voted against by 3,227. The county’s bond proposition to build roads and bridges
was approved by 21,279 voters and rejected by 7,787. With help from Fort Bend voters Neeta Sane kept her seat as the District VII Trustee for Houston Community College. Sane received 2,005 votes and her opponent, Ann Williams, got 1,136. Sane lost in Harris County by 328 votes but got nearly 869 votes more from Fort Bend. In Harris County, Sane got 1,465 votes and Williams 1,793 votes. Voters who live in the part of Houston that is in Fort Bend County voted strongly for mayoral candidate, Ben Hall. He received 1,769 votes (62.38 percent) to Mayor Annise Parker’s 924 total (32.58 percent) Parker won a third term as mayor with more than 57 percent of the total votes cast. In a major surprise Richard Nguyen beat two-term Incumbent Al Hoang for the District F seat on Houston City Council. In Fort Bend, Nguyen got 33 votes to 22 cast to keep Hoang in office. Houstonians who live in Fort Bend cast 1,264 votes for Stephen Costello, the winner again and incumbent for AtLarge Position 1. They gave his challenger, Mike Griffin, 951 votes.
The Roaring 20’s! Gala planning begins
Incumbent Andrew Burks Jr. got the most votes for Houston council member At-large Position 2 in that four-man race. He received 1,296, and was followed by challenger David Robinson’s 838 votes. They will meet again in a runoff. Voters in Fort Bend heavily supported Michael Kubosh with 1,010 votes for the Atlarge Position 3 candidate. This race will also be decided by a run-off election with opponent Roy Morales. Incumbent C. O. “Brad” Bradford in the At Large Position 4 race got 2,336 votes while his opponent, Issa Z. Dadoush, received 187 in Fort Bend. Bradford easily won re-election. Houston City Council, Position 5, Member Jack Christie got 612 votes from Fort Bend voters while challenger Carolyn Evans-Shabazz received 1,564 and James Horowitz got 166. Christie coasted to an easy win in Houston. Fort Bend voters definitely helped Houston Controller Ron Green keep his position. They gave him 2,314 votes while opponent Bill Frazer got 277. Overall Green got 51 percent of the total vote.
The Fort Bend Education Foundation has decided on its theme for the 21st annual gala to be held on March 1, 2014, at the Sugar Land Marriott Hotel. Gala co-chairs Patty Godfrey and Terrie Gorney announced this year’s theme “Roaring 20’s” presented by PerdueBrandonFielderCol lins&MottLLP, promises to be the most opulent party of the season. This hotsy totsy evening will celebrate the successes of the Fort Bend Education Foundation and serve as a thank you to the community for its generous support. Flappers, get dolled up in your fringe, feathers and pearls. Dappers, don your spats, canes and top hats. Enjoy edibles and entertainment that is the cat’s meow, while bidding on swanky silent and live auction items. James Patterson is auctioneer, and the joint will be jumping to the tunes of Password. Planning is now in progress. Information regarding sponsorship, auction donations, individual/raffle tickets and volunteer opportunities available at www.fortbendisd.com/foundation. The mission of the Fort Bend Education Foundation is to enrich and enhance the quality of education for all Fort Bend ISD students through its grant to teachers and schools programs. Front row (l-r): Gala Co-Chair Patty Godfrey, FBEF Events Coordinator Carol Evans, Gala Co-Chair Terrie Gorney. 2nd row (l-r): Rinku Ray, Peggy DeMarsh, Sonal Bhuchar, Jessica Kij, Smita Singh, Donna Tyler-Murray. 3rd Row (l-r): Jeanne Megna, Violet Robertson, Seeju Dupre, Nappinnai Natarajan, Wendy Brooks, Yolanda Humphrey, Carol Scott, Danita Carey, Terri Wang, Mary Favre, Debbie Depinet.
City of Sugar Land touts victory in the bond elections
Sustainable Sugar Land highlights defeat
Voters Approve Bonds for Parks and Trails , said a press release from the City of Sugar Land. Based on unofficial election results, Sugar Land voters approved bonds totaling $31.5 million on Nov. 5 to fund two parks projects. The election results will be canvassed on Nov. 14, and official results will be announced at that time. The approved propositions include development of 128 acres of new parkland along the Brazos River with an adjacent festival site and a connecting network of nearly 10 miles of hike and bike trails and bridges. Voters opted against the use of property taxes to fund a future 65-acre major community park located at Chatham Avenue and Easton Avenue. “The bond election provided an opportunity for our residents to choose whether to authorize property taxes to fund parks projects that were identified through years of community input,” said Mayor James Thompson. “The vote reaffirms that residents believe the approved projects are important to Sugar Land’s quality of life and economic prosperity. It is our intent to keep the tax rate as low as possible while maintaining the quality of service and amenities that our residents expect.” The proposed parks projects were recommended by a 100-member citizens’ bond committee that met from March to May to prioritize the projects, consider phasing opportunities and make funding recommendations. The initiative was prompted by a lack of progress and reliable funding for new parks and recreation projects included in the City’s Master Plans and citizens asking for more recreational opportunities, high-quality parks and public spaces for special events and festivals. “The City will begin working to identify an implementation strategy for the two quality of life projects approved by voters,” said City Manager Allen Bogard. “The results of the bond election demonstrate the public’s continued confidence in the City’s strong and responsible financial stewardship. The City’s sound fiscal management has resulted in a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, allowing us to finance these projects at competitive rates.”
“Considering our financial disadvantage, Sustainable Sugar Land and the other community groups were able to make this a very close election and to defeat one of the propositions,” said Diana Miller of Sustainable Sugar Land. “Had the City not intervened in extensive ‘advertising,’ we believe all of the measures would have failed,” Miller said. Miller said she was notified by the Texas Ethics Commission on Nov. 7 that the complaint against Allen Bogard, City of Sugar Land City Manager, “meets the jurisdictional and form requirements for a complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission”. The complaint alleges “an officer or employee of a political subdivision, knowingly spent or authorized the spending of public funds for political advertising, which is prohibited by section 255.003 of the Election Code”. “We feel we will prevail in this Ethics complaint and this will legitimize long standing concerns that a few special interest groups are benefiting financially at the expense of taxpayers. We will continue to work to educate the public and demand that our City Council represent the interests of the taxpayers. “We came into this issue at an extreme disadvantage as the City of Sugar Land and Citizens for Sugar Land Parks, a Special Purpose Committee with over $36,000 in primarily special interest contributions, spent thousands on advertising. Without filing as a Special Purpose Committee with the Texas Ethics Commission 30 days prior to the election, we were limited to spending no more than $500 in this election,” Miller said City records “substantiated our concern that the committee was not charged with assessing the propositions, but rather to ‘sell it’ to the community,” Miller said. A total of 27 pages comprised all the financial data and meeting minutes over the three month period, with no detailed financial information contained in any of the documents, according to Miller. The documents did, however, contain references on “how the committee would group projects to ensure the most successful bond package with the most items passed.” Suggested methods included, “schools (elementary and middle school)”, “school kids with flyers”, and the suggestion of forming a “PAC (political action committee).” A review of committee applications indicated 48 of the 94 members currently serve on other City appointed Boards including 11 members of City Parks Boards, Miller said.
Fort Bend GOP Conservatives PAC
Taxpayers say no to questionable projects “Citizen activists in Sugar Land proved that citizens can defeat well-funded plans by bureaucrats to raise taxes for questionable projects,” said Terese Raia, a spokesperson for the Fort Bend GOP Conservatives PAC. “The Sugar Land City Council needed a reality check on taxation and voters sent the message that they need to practice better fiscal stewardship with the results of the November 5th bond election,” Raia said. “The City of Sugar Land and City Council used a steamroller strategy with stacked citizen committees, a sophisticated public relations campaign, and wellfunded high profile supporters in an attempt to get voters to accept a significant tax increase for park projects. “A loose knit group of citizens representing a wide range of community interests banded together, almost at the last minute, and though they were outspent and had little opportunity to debate the issues at public forums, managed to defeat a proposal that amounted to 40 percent of the total bond proposal. “Two proposals passed without large margins of approval. Both could be considered as having some appeal to a broader base of citizens, but neither could be considered as selffunding,” Raia said.
How they voted 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 is published every Wednesday (for a subscription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Prices is Pending at Stafford, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487.
By BARBARA FULENWIDER According to the interactive maps on the county’s election results web pages, every precinct in Fort Bend voted favorably for the $184.9 million mobility bond issue that will pay for more and improved roads and bridges in the ever growing area. With that kind of widespread support, it’s no surprise that the bond referendum passed with 21,279 voting yes and 7,787 voting no.
None of Sugar Land’s three propositions garnered the same support as the county’s mobility referendum, but two out of the three did get voter approval. It was the north versus the south with the north primarily opposed and the south in favor. The Telfair community park failed by 137 votes. The votes in favor totaled 3,313 but 3,450 voted against for a 51.01 percent to 48.99 percent. Voting precincts where voters primarily opposed it were
in Ragus Lake Estates, Sugar Mill, Sugar Lakes, Sugar Landing, Hall Lake, Alkire Lake, Sugar Creek, Edgewater, Creekshire, Riverbend, Sugarwood, the Highlands, Lakes of Edgewater, Oyster Point, Settlers Grove, Colony Park, Lexington Meadows, Colony Meadows,and Belknap Brookside. In Sugar Creek, 255 voted for the Telfair park and 135 voted against. See VOTE, Page 2
“The citizens of Sugar Land appreciate the quality of life that we enjoy. But, high tax burdens can ultimately destroy quality of life for many of the citizens who helped to build this community. The city needs to focus on selffunding projects rather than looking at tax dollars as money they can casually spend on anything that comes down the road,” she said. While voters passed two of three bond propositions, they rejected a $20 million bond proposal that clearly would have little benefit to most of the citizens in Sugar Land. This may have been the first time in history that Sugar Land voters rejeced a bond proposal. City officials were disingenuous in discussions about their plans for increasing the tax rates, ignoring the fact that average annual appraisal valuations of property in Sugar Land have increased annually for the last ten years and the city has not lowered its tax rate to keep the tax burdens flat for citizens, Raia said. “This smoke and mirrors approach to taxation where officials claim to have kept tax rates low, knowing that increases in appraised values of property will give them a windfall in tax revenue to spend without citizens really understanding what was happening, is not the type of policy that reflects accountability,” she said. “It’s time for the Sugar Land officials to take a deep breath and step back from their very aggressive efforts to find new ways to spend money. “They need to consider the fact that the economy is static, people are worried about jobs, healthcare expenses, and the cost of living. They also need to look at self-funding approaches to capital expenditures that don’t involve higher property taxes. If a project doesn’t pay for itself, do we really need it?”