Another morning at city hall

At the end of June I told my co-workers and my husband that I had made my last trip to City Hall. Who knew I’d be back the first week of July?  This time to speak in support of the Mayor’s new Department of Neighborhoods.  Catherine Flowers, the new proposed Director, came to Westbury’s June WAIC meeting. Cindy Chapman and I gave her the nickel  tour of Westbury along with our Citizen’s Assistance Office liaison Veronica Hernandez and Catherine’s assistant, Kanyae.  We showed them the good, the bad and the UGLY! We took her to the Platou Center and she wondered why it hadn’t been painted and why the tennis courts didn’t have appropriate nets.  Guess what? The center has a new coat of paint and the courts have new nets! Thanks Catherine.

The Good: we drove through the shaded streets of Westbury showing off nice homes with pretty well kept yards, landscaped esplanades, the Willow Waterhole and the Westbury Community Garden.  The Bad:  We drove down one street of chronic yard parkers (4 of them in one block); this same street had at least 5 heavy trash violators; and just around the corner the man who continues to repair cars in his driveway despite a cease and desist letter from the City. The Ugly: We showed her 12540 Hillcroft and Westbury Square both of whom have repair or demolish orders that are stalled in the courts. We showed her the Taco truck and day laborers gathering illegally across the street.

We showed her all that is wonderful in Westbury so that she would know why we need Neighborhood Protection and the City of Houston to take care of the Bad and the Ugly.

But back to City Hall. I don’t know the specifics of the budget or the wording of the code/ordinance before City Council to create this department, but I do know that the protection of neighborhoods is imperative to the future of Houston.  A few bad apples can spoil a whole neighborhood. I told our City Council that we needed more Neighborhood Protection.  Interestingly two other people mentioned Westbury; CM Wanda Adams who was chair of this committee mentioned us by name and David Robinson, president of the SuperNeighborhood Alliance, also mentioned Wesbury when he spoke.  We are becoming known!  Cindy, Janie, Priscilla and I wore our Westbury Improving tshirts the week before so that we would  stand out. However that didnt happen. About 100 bikers showed up to protest an officer who had been ticketing motorcyclists for excessive noise and we just looked like biker mamas in our black tshirts!

At today's session, Robin Blut of Keep Houston Beautiful spoke before me and she quoted a study that was done to determine what makes a community desirable. She said it was: social offerings, such as entertainment venues and places to meet, openness (how welcoming a place is), and the area’s aesthetics (its physical beauty and green spaces). I found their website www.soulofthecommunity.org.  Very interesting….but that will be food for thought for another day! 

The day I hugged Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee

When I started my journey of civic engagement I thought about a blog.  But I didn't. After our June Civic Club meeting our director of communications suggested I might want to start one. The website,http://www.westburycrier.com/,  that she designed for us  has been so well received and each week our Facebook page has new friends so I decided to give this a go.

It's been six months since I became the President of the Westbury Civic Club and what a journey it has been.  We've had redistricting.  We've had METRO and the 90A rail line.  We've had the city budget cuts cause our community center to be slated for closing.  Can you say "Under seige?"

Last week Cindy Chapman, Janie Shexnayder, and two people who use the Platou center regularly, Christina and Tommy, headed down to City Hall to speak before the City Council Budget hearing. All five of us spoke..Janie, Christina and Tommy, for the first time.  I spoke once in the 80s when Kathy Whitmire was mayor against the low income housing project on Hillcroft; once when Bill White was mayor against the Ruffino Hills Trash Transfer Station for our neighbors in Brays Oaks.  Now twice before Mayor Parker. 

We met a woman from Cherryhurst whose center was also being closed and she invited us to a lunch with Doris Ellis the executive director of Emancipation Park to talk about what they have done to save their park.  THEN we went with them to Independence Heights to a press conference given by US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Oh my Gosh!  They  say it shouldn’t take an act of congress to get things done…but in this case it did. Congresswoman  Sheila Jackson Lee reached out to the corporate community and Marathon Oil and Conoco- Philips came to the  rescue to save our centers for the summer. They donated 350,000 to the city to keep the summer programs operational.  CW Lee invited Westbury to the podium and I gave her a hug. Now that’s what I call a civic journey!