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!!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
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.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Come Meet The Candidates
AK Babers and I were invited to meet our Brunswick Lake neighbors at their monthly meeting tonight, April 27th at 7PM. Sorry for the late notice - just got the invite yesterday - but would like for anyone in Brunswick Meadows, Brunswick Place, and/or Morningside neighborhoods to come to the meeting if you wish to know more about us.
The meeting will be at the New Beginning Church 4251 Schurmier Road, 77048 which is just off Cullen. Use mapquest or google maps. Or just go north on Cullen from the Beltway about 1/2 mile and take a right on the first street past the Brunswick Lakes neighborhood. If you get to Fuqua or Almeda Genoa, you've gone too far north. The church will be on the left of Schurmier Road, right past Old Chocolate Bayou. Hope to see you there!
Jeraine Root
The meeting will be at the New Beginning Church 4251 Schurmier Road, 77048 which is just off Cullen. Use mapquest or google maps. Or just go north on Cullen from the Beltway about 1/2 mile and take a right on the first street past the Brunswick Lakes neighborhood. If you get to Fuqua or Almeda Genoa, you've gone too far north. The church will be on the left of Schurmier Road, right past Old Chocolate Bayou. Hope to see you there!
Jeraine Root
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Why Jeraine Root Is A Candidate
I moved to Brunswick Meadows in 2005 because I grew tired of driving 110 miles round-trip on my daily commute from Lake Conroe to downtown Houston. While I miss my home in the woods - it was a lovely house -
I enjoy having neighbors nearby and the convenience of living in the 'burbs. About a year after moving in, I was concerned when a notice was left on my door that there would be a meeting held at Christa Adair Park because of the EPA determination that our water supply was contaminated.
I attended the meeting, as did about 100 others living within the district boundaries of WCID #89 and I discovered, much to my chagrin, that most of the questions asked of the Board members and the "water expert" that was on hand, were not answered satisfactorily. And even more disconcerting was the seeming lack of a plan to address the problem beyond "more testing" being performed.
My niece, who is a chemical engineer and had been employed in the Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services Dept. as a water testing lab technician, accompanied me to this meeting. Her assessment of the meeting was that the "water expert" was downplaying what was indeed a dangerous level of contamination in our water supply. She urged me to immediately put carbon filters on all of my faucets, including the shower heads, because the particular contaminant was much more likely to be absorbed through the skin while showering than ingested. I did as she suggested. She also forwarded information to me about scrubbers that could be installed that would effectively deal with the problem at the source. I sent this information to Board President Smalls and asked to be kept informed of the progress that was being made. She told me to continue to watch the website for updates. Although President Smalls had promised at the open meeting at Adair Park that the WCID #89 website would be updated with regular reports, that never occurred.
To my knowledge, the scrubbers information was never suggested to the rest of the Board or ever considered at all. Two years later we received an annual report that stated the EPA guidelines had finally been met. That is when I decided to look more into this matter.
I made several open records requests, through the Freedom of Information Act, and had no success by dealing with either the Board or their attorney in getting the information I needed. After reporting my frustration to the Attorney General of Texas, I received word from President Smalls that the Board hired a new attorney to represent them, Chris Richardson.
Mr. Richardson was very helpful and delivered over 1500 pages of information to me, which I forwarded to my niece for review. She said that while the EPA guidelines were being met there were still high levels of contaminants, which can cause cancer, and contribute to cardiovascular problems. I'm keeping my faucets filtered!
I have also requested many more documents, available through the Freedom of Information Act, that have proved to me that our representatives on the Board have failed to address some of our most basic concerns - clean water, effective security, flood control, and good stewardship of our tax dollars. For these reasons, I am running for a place on the Board and hope you will support me. In my next post I will give more information about my personal qualifications for office.
I enjoy having neighbors nearby and the convenience of living in the 'burbs. About a year after moving in, I was concerned when a notice was left on my door that there would be a meeting held at Christa Adair Park because of the EPA determination that our water supply was contaminated.
I attended the meeting, as did about 100 others living within the district boundaries of WCID #89 and I discovered, much to my chagrin, that most of the questions asked of the Board members and the "water expert" that was on hand, were not answered satisfactorily. And even more disconcerting was the seeming lack of a plan to address the problem beyond "more testing" being performed.
My niece, who is a chemical engineer and had been employed in the Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services Dept. as a water testing lab technician, accompanied me to this meeting. Her assessment of the meeting was that the "water expert" was downplaying what was indeed a dangerous level of contamination in our water supply. She urged me to immediately put carbon filters on all of my faucets, including the shower heads, because the particular contaminant was much more likely to be absorbed through the skin while showering than ingested. I did as she suggested. She also forwarded information to me about scrubbers that could be installed that would effectively deal with the problem at the source. I sent this information to Board President Smalls and asked to be kept informed of the progress that was being made. She told me to continue to watch the website for updates. Although President Smalls had promised at the open meeting at Adair Park that the WCID #89 website would be updated with regular reports, that never occurred.
To my knowledge, the scrubbers information was never suggested to the rest of the Board or ever considered at all. Two years later we received an annual report that stated the EPA guidelines had finally been met. That is when I decided to look more into this matter.
I made several open records requests, through the Freedom of Information Act, and had no success by dealing with either the Board or their attorney in getting the information I needed. After reporting my frustration to the Attorney General of Texas, I received word from President Smalls that the Board hired a new attorney to represent them, Chris Richardson.
Mr. Richardson was very helpful and delivered over 1500 pages of information to me, which I forwarded to my niece for review. She said that while the EPA guidelines were being met there were still high levels of contaminants, which can cause cancer, and contribute to cardiovascular problems. I'm keeping my faucets filtered!
I have also requested many more documents, available through the Freedom of Information Act, that have proved to me that our representatives on the Board have failed to address some of our most basic concerns - clean water, effective security, flood control, and good stewardship of our tax dollars. For these reasons, I am running for a place on the Board and hope you will support me. In my next post I will give more information about my personal qualifications for office.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Election Information in Your Water Bill
Did you notice? Information about the election is on your water bill this month.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Taxation Without Representation
WCID #89 has taxing authority. Since the Brunswick neighborhoods have been developed, this has reduced the tax burden on the Morningside neighborhoods. Because the tax rates are based on property values, the higher cost of homes in Brunswick Meadows, Brunswick Place, and Brunswick Lakes means that those living there pay higher taxes to the District. Yet ALL the Board members reside in Morningside.
In 2003, when Brunswick Lakes and Brunswick Meadows started selling houses, the tax rate was $1.50 per $100 property valuation. So if your house was valued at $100,000 you paid $1500 in taxes to WCID #89. For comparison, the Harris County tax rate in 2003 was 39 cents per $100, so you paid $390 in County taxes. The current rate is $1.34 per $100 property valuation. 85 cents is used for debt and 49 cents for the District's maintenance and operations.
Starting in 2005 to the present, the WCID #89 tax rate has steadily fallen. Why? Because of the growth in the Brunswick neighborhoods. More people paying taxes reduces the tax burden on each household. At every Board meeting, a report is given on how many new houses have been added to the District's tax rolls. Yet, there is NO ONE from any Brunswick neighborhood on the Board. And when concerned Brunswick citizens have attended WCID #89 Board meetings to voice concerns over the quality of the water being provided and security issues, they have been relegated to the 'peanut gallery' to speak at the beginning of the meeting, and then, seemingly ignored. Ignored not only throughout the rest of the meeting, but ignored as to any action that would meet their stated needs.
Taxation without representation is what turned loyal British citizens into revolutionaries back in the late 1700s. It is now inspiring Jeraine Root and AK Babers to seek Board membership through the ballot box. We ask that you join our mini-revolution and vote for us on May 8th so that Brunswick will get the representation we deserve!
In 2003, when Brunswick Lakes and Brunswick Meadows started selling houses, the tax rate was $1.50 per $100 property valuation. So if your house was valued at $100,000 you paid $1500 in taxes to WCID #89. For comparison, the Harris County tax rate in 2003 was 39 cents per $100, so you paid $390 in County taxes. The current rate is $1.34 per $100 property valuation. 85 cents is used for debt and 49 cents for the District's maintenance and operations.
Starting in 2005 to the present, the WCID #89 tax rate has steadily fallen. Why? Because of the growth in the Brunswick neighborhoods. More people paying taxes reduces the tax burden on each household. At every Board meeting, a report is given on how many new houses have been added to the District's tax rolls. Yet, there is NO ONE from any Brunswick neighborhood on the Board. And when concerned Brunswick citizens have attended WCID #89 Board meetings to voice concerns over the quality of the water being provided and security issues, they have been relegated to the 'peanut gallery' to speak at the beginning of the meeting, and then, seemingly ignored. Ignored not only throughout the rest of the meeting, but ignored as to any action that would meet their stated needs.
Taxation without representation is what turned loyal British citizens into revolutionaries back in the late 1700s. It is now inspiring Jeraine Root and AK Babers to seek Board membership through the ballot box. We ask that you join our mini-revolution and vote for us on May 8th so that Brunswick will get the representation we deserve!
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