FYI, this communication was sent out by Tom Ramsey, Precinct 3 Commissioner.
Best Regards,
Jerry Homan

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June 25, 2021

Dear Friends:

I want to make you aware of two important issues developing at Harris County Commissioners Court this Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

Today, the County Judge submitted an agenda item (Item 454) requesting to create a County Administrator position and realign County department operations under a streamlined organizational and reporting structure. To further explain, each Texas County has four Commissioners and a County Judge who serve on Commissioners Court. Harris County is divided into four precincts, and the voters of each precinct elect a Commissioner to serve a four-year term. All the voters of Harris County elect a County Judge to a four-year term. With this new structure, services now provided by a precinct, directly responsible to the voters of that precinct, could become centralized and managed similar to the City of Houston.

The appointment of a County Administrator by three members of Commissioners Court could effectively remove the responsibility from your elected official(s) and strip residents of their ability to have local representation.

These recommendations stem from a study conducted by an out-of-state consultant, PFM Consulting Group, Inc. This consulting firm, run by an executive who advocates for defunding of law enforcement (https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-of-green-eyeshades-and-blue-walls-20200610-7x6p6fvnb5f6jbeksawifvkzwm-story.html), has been paid more than $5M to study Harris County. The firm is critical of the ability of local elected officials and law enforcement to serve constituents. PFM also favors eliminating the county’s rollover program—an initiative that encourages fiscal responsibility.

I also have an item on the agenda (Item 442) requesting the court restore the rollover for law enforcement agencies, that was taken away in Commissioners Court by a divided vote, in light of state legislative action banning defunding of police.

As Commissioner Cagle and I have said before in Commissioners Court, there are three B’s surrounding these issues. BUREAURACY does not add to efficiency. It is best practices for Harris County to focus on the BASICS and the BALLOT BOX holds us accountable to these responsibilities.

If you have an opinion on these matters or other matters that may appear before the court I encourage you to make your voice heard by calling my office at 832-927-4444, emailing me at CommissionerCagle@hcp4.net, or by having your voice heard in Commissioners Court by signing up in the link below:

https://appearancerequest.harriscountytx.gov/


If you wish to express your opinion on these issues, you may also contact your county elected officials:

• County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who also represents you in these matters. You may call her at 713-274-7000, email her at JudgeHidalgo@cjo.hctx.net, or write her at 1001 Preston, Suite 911, Houston, TX 77002.
• Commissioner Ellis. You may call him at 713-274-1000, email him at Comm_Ellis@cp1.hctx.net, or write him at 1001 Preston, 9th Floor, Houston, TX 77002.
• Commissioner Garcia. You may call him at 713-755-6220, email him at Adrian.Garcia@pct2.hctx.net, or write him at 1001 Preston, Suite 924, Houston, TX 77002.
• Commissioner Tom Ramsey. You may call him at 713-755-6306, email him at Pct3@pct3.com, or write him at 1001 Preston, 9^th Floor, Houston, TX 77002.

Sincerely,
 
Tom S Ramsey
Commissioner Pct 3

Urgent
We will need to do everything we can to stop this Bill from Passing! (HB2525) & companion (SB1892). This is bad legislation, built on a false premise that will harm our water user constituents!

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Good Day to Everyone,

My name is Jerry Homan, I would encourage everyone to read HB 2525, the creation of the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District, authored by State Representative Huberty. I have read HB 2525, including the (Analysis reports) and I have determined that I cannot and will not support this bill as is. My intent is to bring this Bill to your attention, sounding the alarm with the hope of motivating the masses to oppose the current Bill. This Bill goes against my conservative principals. The creation of this district unnecessarily expands government. The authority to full fill the stated purpose of this bill is already in place by other entities. The funding for this Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District is very vague and is very concerning for me and for my constituents, water users receiving water from the City of Houston and/or the regional water authorities. When water users understand that they will be paying for the Drainage of Kingwood and Atascocita as part of their water usage fees to the water authorities, they will be rightfully upset and lose confidence in the original intent of the ground water reduction plans. This is a slippery slope and will harm trust and the continued efforts to convert from ground water to surface water. The Board of directors of this new Drainage district will be appointed by the City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court (Not Elected by the Citizens) All revenue bonds sold will not be subject to a public vote. Only the North Harris County Regional Water Authority has opposed this Bill thus far? I currently have every intention of testifying against this Bill in the Senate committee hearing coming up in the next few weeks. This Bill has passed the House. Our next best opportunity to change and or kill this Bill will be in the Senate, We believe HB2525 & SB1892 will go to the Local Government Committee, chaired by Paul Bettencourt. I would suggest that everyone educate themselves on this issue and be prepared to write letters and testify if needed. Should you have questions or need additional information please feel free to contact the WaterUsersCoalition.org.

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Below is additional information.
To view the HB2525 Bill Analysis click here.

This bill passed the House last week and will arrives in the Senate this week. Here’s the video from last week where the bill passed to 3rd reading. It’s only about 20 seconds long, but Hubert says, “we’re not charging usage fees to all the water people in the district, merely what we’re doing is creating a mechanism to do that.”  
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rH0-HCNZM_M?start=27548&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autoplay=1

Write to:
Paul Bettencourt, Chairman of the local government committee, (HB2525) & (SB1892)

• Unnecessarily expands government
• False premise, dredging Lake Houston will not improve drainage
• Taxation without representation, appointed directors with the authority to issue revenue bonds without public approval
• Water users with their own drainage issues will be paying for Kingwood and Atascocita’s drainage problems
• Water users have already paid over 400 million dollars for the Luce bayou inter basin transfer of  water from the Trinity river to Lake Houston
• Mixing The Ground Water Reduction Plan (Conversion to Surface water) Paid for by Water Users, and this bill (HB2525) & (SB1892) with it’s Vague “Trojan Horse” funding mechanism  geared towards the Water Users wallet is just wrong and demoralizing to the good people who have paid billions converting to Surface Water.  

Link to the Texas Senate,
https://senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=556