AK & Dr Root's Swearing In Ceremony

Although I, Dr. Root, was sick as a dog I dragged myself to the lawyer's office to attend my first WCID#89 meeting as a Director. Once we took the oath of office, the Board decided to elect officers. Sharyn Smalls will continue as President, Arthur Washington will continue as VP, and Byron Keith will be the new Secretary since Victoria Lastee was one of the incumbents that AK & I beat in the election. 107 voters cast ballots and here's the final official tally:
Jeraine R. Root 69 votes
AK Babers 72 votes
Danny Perkins 23 votes
Victoria Lastee 27 votes
So we won by a 3 to 1 margin!
I had asked about putting our concerns on the agenda, but was told I had no authority to do so until after I was sworn in. So, I'm going to keep the poll open on the yahoo group. If you haven't yet participated in the poll, please click here to join our yahoo group and let us know your concerns. Also, visit our Brunswick Meadows blog for a recap of tonight's HOA meeting.

ROOT & BABERS WON THE ELECTION!!!!!!!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out and voted. Not sure what the exact vote results were, but the election judge did come out with this sign that AK and I proudly held with her for the photo:


She had told us that this was the biggest turnout for WCID89 election ever! Over 100 people voted, including those who voted early. Again, thanks to each one of you for taking the time to vote and we both will do our best to be worthy of your support.

IT'S ELECTION DAY - VOTE FOR ROOT & BABERS!

I have truly enjoyed getting to meet several of my neighbors in Brunswick Meadows, Brunswick Place, and Brunswick Lakes as I walked around introducing myself and handing out flyers about today's election. Thanks for taking time to talk to me about our mutual concerns to make 'The Wick' (as AK refers to us) a better place for all of us to live.

Even if I am not elected to the WCID#89 Board today, I will continue this blog to inform everyone of what our elected officials are doing with our tax dollars. What I can glean from the minutes of the meetings, I will post here. I truly want to serve our community!!!

Jeraine Root - Qualified Candidate?

Inasmuch as all it takes to be qualified to sit on the Board of WCID#89 is to maintain a residence within the district, I'm fully qualified! However, I think that I do bring a few more credentials to the race. Although I have never run for public office, I was very active in student government from high school through graduate school. I served as Graduate Class President at Stephen F. Austin State University while pursuing my Master's Degree in Political Science.

I also have an earned doctorate in Political Science from University of Houston. I taught government classes at several local community colleges and UH-Downtown as I continued my studies. Therefore I have a very good working knowledge of local governments in Texas.

After graduating with my PhD in 1995 I went to work for Harris County and have been employed there since 1996. This has afforded me personal experience with the practical side of public service. I have been an active member of Women Professionals in Government (WPG) for the past 6 years, including serving on the WPG Board. WPG Social Event will be hosted by Mayor Annise Parker this month and several other female elected officials belong to WPG.

Water Rate Hikes Coming Soon

As you have probably heard, the City of Houston will be hiking their water rates. Since we get most of our water from Houston, our rates will also rise. At the February 2nd meeting of the Board, the rate hikes were approved. The current rates are $2.184 per 1000 gallons and were increased to $2.190 effective on April 1, 2010 -- so expect your May water bill to be higher. Just wanted you to know that AK Babers and I had no part of this rate increase. Would hate for the first thing to happen after we are elected is for everyone to think that we immediately increased your cost for water! On January 1, 2011 the rates will increase again to $2.737 per 1000 gallons.