June Cover Story 2010

Council Member Stephen Costello Talks About Infrastructure Funding in Houston and the Renew Houston Referendum.

Our guest speaker this month was Houston City Council Member, Stephen Costello, and his topic of discussion was the newly proposed street and drainage funding referendum that is being rolled out by a group calling themselves Renew Houston. 

To start off the discussion the Council Member stated that he wanted to give an overview of the problem followed by a description of what Renew Houston is.  Costello began with a power point presentation that he has been showing to the general public at town hall meetings around the city.  The Council Member stated that during his campaign for Council, his primary issue was the setting up of a dedicated funding source for streets and drainage, and this is a continuation of that effort. 

The Council Member informed the group that the City of Houston is growing, and according to the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) estimates there will be approximately 2.8 million residents living in Houston in the next 30 years.  This will place a growing demand upon our drainage and our streets as the city changes, becoming more dense, to accommodate this many new residents.  According to H-GAC models, the city should continue to increase in density within the 610 loop and eventually expanding out to Beltway 8.

Looking at the age of our infrastructure, the Council Member said that over 60% of our city was built prior to World War II.  This means that our existing infrastructure is between 50 to 70 years old.  “That figure is profound in terms of the challenges that we have to reinvest in our community” said Costello.   That figure has a direct impact on quality of life, public safety and most importantly economic development.  Areas such as West Houston, Clear Lake and Kingwood are all considered the “new” parts of the city but their infrastructure is at least 30 years old.  Looking at the City of Houston’s accounting system, the city back in 2006 estimated that its street and drainage infrastructure was valued at just over $11 billion. In that report the city breaks down the infrastructure by age into seven year increments.  According to the Council Member, the interesting thing to note is that infrastructure rated at 16 years and older make up $7 billion of the total amount.  That is 64% of the existing infrastructure that is either at or beyond its useful life. 

The general public today expects more for less from its city.  According to Costello, residents want good streets, good drainage, less wear and tear on their cars but they do not want to pay for it.  If you look at where public funding has been going over the years relative to infrastructure versus public safety, you will see that public safety has been steadily climbing while infrastructure has been declining.  The study reflects spending in the city since 1945. 

According to Council Member Costello, the City finances its infrastructure construction through the issuance of bonds.  The City typically issues a new bond letting every five to seven years.  In 1991-92 the city sold a little over $300 million worth of bonds, which averages out to $50 million a year for streets and drainage.  In 2003 the City sold over $450 million worth of bonds.

Current funding for City streets is broken out as follows: $70 million annually comes  from debt financing, $55 million in CIP money, Metro and an additional $33 million from Metro for maintenance agreements.  According to Council Member Costello, much of that money will not be available in the near future.  Costello stated that of the $70 million in debt financing, the City gets most of that money from TxDOT. Costello said that it is common knowledge that TxDOT has no money and that Houston will not be getting that money in two more years.  Combine the two Metro funding sources and it comes to $88 million, but by 2014 the contract that the City has with Metro will expire and so there is a likelihood that those funds will no longer be available.  Looking at the drainage side, it is safe to say that drainage has been historically underfunded said Costello.  In 1991 the city spent less than $10 million a year in drainage improvements.  Now the city spends $58 million annually for new construction.  However, that $58 million comes from a storm water fund that the City created three years ago to fund four years worth of construction, and the City will then spend 25 years paying for the bonds.   Next year that $58 million will be gone.  There is also an additional $34 million used for maintenance.  That money is taken out of the water and sewer enterprise fund for drainage maintenance.  Now that the City has changed its water and sewer rate fund that money should stay in that fund, stated Costello. 

Council Member Costello took a moment to point out that Mayor Parker is viewed by most people as a community person, however she is actually an infrastructure person.  The Council Member stated that for City Council to pass a water and sewer rate change that moves the city to a best practices form of financing is beyond imagination.  Otherwise, according to Costello, the City would be spending less than $160 million a year on capital improvements for water and sewer.  Now with the change the City will be doing $370 million every year on these services.

Renew Houston is a public awareness campaign and petition drive to establish a dedicated funding source for streets and drainage.  The City already has this for their water and sewer and this has been long needed in the City for all utilities, said Costello.  Drainage and streets are funded through the City’s general fund.  If you look at what comes out of that fund you will see that over 65% is for public safety.  What that means according to the Council Member, is that everything else that the city is doing, is competing for the remaining 35%.  That includes parks, solid waste, housing, libraries, social service programs and finally streets and drainage.  According to the Council Member, when it comes time to fund these programs, there is no one at the table advocating for streets and drainage so it gets taken from there for the benefit of another department.

Taking a look at the financing of the Renew Houston program, it is like a three legged stool with three different funding sources.  There is the adoption of a minor development impact fee for mitigation in terms of drainage.  There is a storm water user fee for everyone, and there is a pay-as-you-go plan for the city.  What that means is that we are requesting that the city take all of the existing debt service they have in streets and drainage, which is about $160 million, and move it into this program making it as a dedicated funding source.  The money would continue to be used to pay off the bonds, but once the once they are paid off, we would reclaim that money for capital improvements.  In years past the City didn’t do that said Costello.  As the bonds amortized they sold more bonds, keeping the amortization schedule flat.  This will claim about 55% of the total funds.  The storm water usage fee will be about $5 per household and will vary between commercial to multifamily and size of the property.  According to Costello, several years ago then Mayor Lee Brown tried to pass something like this that was coined “the rain tax”.  The reason it was called that was because it wasn’t allocated by size of drainage area or percent impervious property and it didn’t have a plan.  We are currently doing a detailed study of all of the drainage projects in the city, prioritizing them on a needs based system.  The city is also doing a paving assessment program for every street in the city, said the Council Member.  The city has a vehicle that can drive down the road and measure the deflection, the cracking and does a video of the drainage area.  This information is rated by a national standard and prioritized by need.  This information combined with the drainage assessment study will form the plan that the Brown administration did not have.  Costello also noted that another major difference between this plan and Mayor Brown’s approach is that they are doing it from the grass roots up aspect with a petition drive and a subsequent charter change amendment vote in November.  This will let the public decide if they want to fund this program. 

The City of Houston has three programs that we fund street and drainage improvements with; one is capital improvements, two is neighborhood street reconstruction program and three is local drainage projects.  The CIP is for large projects.  The neighborhood street reconstruction fund is for citizens to petition the city to replace their residential roads.  According to Council Member Costello it takes the City, on average, twelve years to get that accomplished.  The Council Member stated that the problem is not due to a lack of competence in the city but a lack of funds and a waiting list that is as long as your arm.  The local drainage program is for neighborhood calls on small, broken pipes or inlets and stated these projects can take anywhere from several months to several years to repair.  The City of Houston cannot allow its core services to crumble into disrepair and these types of examples cannot continue if we are to continue to be a competitive city.

The Council Member stated that what he is doing here is getting the message out, to tell what the problem is and to say to people that we, as a community, need new funding sources for streets and drainage. We need a dedicated funding source for streets and drainage and we as a community should not accept waiting twelve years to get things done.  We have to re-invest in our community, and according to Costello, we should be the first major metropolitan city in the country to re-build its infrastructure and do it in thirty years. 

June 2010 V.P. Report

Demolition Day

The Houston Contractors Association completed another successful Contractor’s Demolition Day this month making this the third Demolition Day that HCA has done in the last several years. On May 22, 2010 eighteen HCA contractors working in concert with Mayor Parker’s office and the Department of Neighborhood Protection removed 103 abandoned and dangerous buildings from around the city.  At the press conference attended by Mayor Parker and Council Member Jolanda Jones, the Mayor thanked Jim Slack, Jr., President of HCA for this donation of time and effort to the city and recognized the contracting community for the role we play in keeping the city moving.  She stated that the City would not be able to remove so many of these dangerous structures if it were not for the help of HCA.  “This is a win-win-win said Parker,  good for the neighborhoods, good for public safety and good for public health.” 

I would like to personally thank everyone who participated in this project and made it the success that it was. Participating contractors included; Southern Crushed Concrete, Texas-Sterling Construction, LP, Boyer, Inc., Boring & Tunneling Company of America, Inc, Holes, Inc., Cherry Crushed Concrete, Conrad Construction Co., Inc., BRH Garver Construction, LP., Slack & Co. Contracting, Inc., Peltier Brothers Construction, Huff & Mitchell, Inc., K.C. Crushed Concrete, Spring Equipment Co., Inc., Coastal Crushed Concrete, LLC., Jimerson Underground, Inc., Angel Brothers Enterprises, Ltd., C.E. Barker, Ltd., and Sprint Sand & Clay, LP.  I would also like to thank the following suppliers that donated their time and material; ACT Pipe and Supply for donating the orange construction fencing, Contractors Paving Supply, Inc. NBG Constructors, Inc., NTS Mikedon, LLC., and TerraconConsultants for donating the T-posts, and finally Bronco Heavy Haulers and Naegeli Transportation, Inc. for providing free equipment transportation.  This was a great event for the City of Houston and for HCA.  Mayor Parker was extremely pleased with the  outcome and we are already looking at doing the event again next year.

Ed Emmett Fundraiser

HCA’s political arm, HOUCONPAC, hosted a re-election campaign fundraiser for Harris County Judge Ed Emmett earlier this month.  “Judge Emmett is a friend to the construction industry who understands the importance of a well maintained infrastructure, and the PAC is happy to throw this fundraiser in his behalf.” stated  PAC Chairman, Connard Barker.  The event was held at the HCA offices in the main board room and was a well attended event.  The Judge spoke candidly to the gathered group for approximately thirty minutes discussing such topics as the Port of Houston, trade with India, the future of the Astrodome, the upcoming election cycle and local construction issues.  For those that were not present, the Judge elaborated on a plan to begin construction the Grand Parkway and suggested that we could begin to see jobs being let in the very near future. 

Judge Emmett is running for re-election this November for the first time since being appointed to the position.  Unknown to many of the residents in the County, The Judge does have a democrat opponent this election, ex-city council member Gordon Quan.  Most political pundits have commented however, that the Judge should win re-election.  This was a good event for the contractors and the association.  It gave us insight into upcoming events in the County, improved our relationship with one of the most important leaders in the region, and showcased the association as a leader in the community.  Thank you to everyone who came out and contributed to the Judge’s event, our PAC members and our PAC Chair Connard Barker for making this a successful event.

Renew Houston

As most of you are already aware of the Renew Houston organization.  The goal of Renew Houston is the passage of a city charter amendment that will create a designated street and storm sewer fund in the City of Houston.  The details of this proposal are covered in the cover story of this bulletin, but at a recent HCA Board meeting the Board of Directors voted to endorse and support the Renew Houston goals.  HCA has also sent out letters to all of our members asking for their help in promoting this endeavor.  At this time we are asking that you circulate a petition around to your employees asking for their signatures.  The first step in amending the City charter is getting the signatures of registered voters to put the item on the November ballot.  Please do your part to help get this issue before the voters of Houston.  If passed, this amendment will create a dedicated funding source for street and storm sewer projects.  It will mean the end of bond referendums for public works projects, putting the city on a pay as you go system.  Best of all it will mean an increase in the work put out by the city.  Join HCA in supporting the Renew Houston project.

HCA Spring Golf Tournament

I would like to thank everyone who came out and participated in the HCA Spring Golf Tournament at Cypresswood Golf Club.  I would especially like to thank all of our sponsors, raffle prize contributors, and Sign & Supply for donating all of the cart and hole signs, Thank you also goes out to the members of the HCA Golf Committee and especially its chairman, Richard Greer for pulling the event together and to our volunteers, thank you all for making this a fantastic event.

May Cover Story 2010

Commissioner Jerry Eversole Talks About the Economy and the Future of Precinct 4

Commissioner Jerry Eversole was the guest speaker at this month’s HCA luncheon and gave a straight-forward and entertaining update on the status of the County, the Toll Road and Precinct 4.  The Commissioner opened his comments by stating that he tries to attend events like our luncheon, have a good time and give out some useful information.  This year however has not been a good year.  In fact the Commissioner stated that this year has been the most difficult period that he has been through in the twenty years that he has been in office.  Commissioner Eversole was commenting on the state of the economy, saying that the problems started in 2009 and he believes that they will continue into 2011 when the midterm elections are over.  The Commissioner stated that he is hopeful that President Obama will do something about the economy, saying that the U.S. cannot continue on the path that it is on now for another three years while he (The President) piddles around.  Eversole said that he hopes that the President will start taking some advise from some true leaders, and start doing some things that are advantageous to everybody.  Eversole stated that he understands why the president would be mad at Texas, but he said he hopes the president does not hold the type of grudge that costs us in the long run.  We cannot wait another three years for another president, we need this president to do his job. 

This is also the first time in the twenty years that Commissioner Eversole has held his seat that Harris County has had to lay off employees.  There have been times in the past where the County has had hiring freezes, said Eversole, but this is the first time that layoff’s have actually occurred.  The Commissioner went on to state that this is also the first year where the County has had to deal with significant cuts in the general revenue fund that were not expected. 

Turning the topic to the general makeup of the County, Commissioner Eversole stated that Precinct 4 has over one million people in it at this time.  Redistricting will occur in 2011.  Both precincts 3 and 4 will start will population numbers over one million while precincts 1 and 2 will fall just under that but not by much.  Precinct 3 and 4 will have to give up some population to precincts 1 and 2, but not much in the way of road miles.  Precinct 4 is the third largest precinct in the United States size-wise.  Precinct 4 is bigger that six states in the U.S. population-wise.  Harris County as a whole is bigger than 27 states in the United States.  According to Eversole, the number of people that the Commissioners and the County Judge represent places burdens upon them much like those that face a governor. 

Looking at the financial situation of the County, Commissioner Eversole said that the County’s problems are with maintenance dollars.  Currently the County is $17 million down in their maintenance budget.  The capital budget is fine and that is what most contractors are concerned about.  There is $136 million worth of construction projects in design right now that should be out in the next nine months.  The County is also attempting to get another $35 to $55 million into the system for additional construction projects.  The Commissioner stated that they have had a difficult time moving projects forward over the last two years because of the health problems of the budget director.  Dr. Dick Raycraft had been extremely ill for the last two years, but he is now back and in good health and now funds for projects are moving and the projects are coming out much faster than before.

The Commissioner said that there is a big story going around about Exxon Mobile and that he could tell you quite a bit about that, but then he would have to kill you.  He did say that there is a very high likelihood that it will happen in the north part of Harris County, but what makes the project so good is that it is such a large project that it brings with it other large projects as well. 

When asked about the status of the Grand Parkway the Commissioner stated that it is not the dead horse that everyone thinks it is.  Segment E is the piece that everyone thought we were getting ready to build.  The Commissioner stated that segment E is not ready to go at this time.  There are lawsuits filed and permits that are still pending and it will be one to two years before it is ready to go.  The Commissioner said that with what is going on in Precinct 4, segment F-1, F-2 and G are all now under the microscope to be considered for construction before segment E.  He also went on to state that the primary reason for the project’s delay has been a requirement from TxDOT that the entire Grand Parkway be built all at one time.  This would cost the County approximately $5 billion and Harris County cannot afford that much debt.  The Commissioner stated that the County has made a request to TxDOT to allow the Grand Parkway to be built in three phases, with F-1, F-2, E and G being the first phase.  Completion of these sections would allow the County to bring in toll revenues to help subsidize the construction of the other two phases.  According to the Commissioner this is the only way that the entire project can be completed because the other sections are losers that will be lightly used compared to the E, F and G sections.  TxDOT has made it clear that all sections must be built.

When asked about the health of the Toll Road Authority, Commissioner Eversole stated that it is fantastic and commented that it is in such good health that TxDOT has done everything in its power to become part of that program.  Commissioner Eversole said that the Toll Road is a winner and he recognized the wisdom of Commissioner’s Court in not selling it to TxDOT, or to the two other interested groups one Australian and one Spainish.  Eversole stated that at the time, those proposals would have given Harris County a cash influx of one billion dollars.  Eversole pointed out that $1 billion does not even equal the County’s annual budget, and if we had sold it, we would have been rich for one year and broke in two.  The Commissioner stated that the County has a good relationship with TxDOT, the Toll Road Authority in strong and hopefully the Grand Parkway will under construction soon. 

When asked about a problem concerning change order approval and pay estimates with the County, Eversole stated that he would look into the issue, but said that he never wants to hear that Harris County pays like the City of Houston.  He went on, saying that he never wants to hear that the County’s permit department is as bad as the City of Houston’s.  He closed his remarks by saying that if the County ever starts to head in that direction, he wants to know about it right away.

After these remarks, Commissioner Eversole turned the podium over to Pamela Rocchi the Director of Road and Bridge Projects for Precinct 4.  Pamela gave a detailed power point presentation that gave overview of the precincts capital improvement program.  A complete copy of the presentation is at the HCA offices and can be sent to anyone that wishes a copy.  Some of the projects that were covered in her presentation were Champions Forest Drive from Spring Cypress to Boudreaux.  Champions Forest will be updated to a four lane concrete boulevard, estimated construction cost is $3.2 million and is scheduled to be put out to bid in September of this year.  East Ritchie Road from Hardy to Aldine Westfield will be upgraded from a two lane asphalt road to either a four or five lane concrete boulevard.  Estimated cost of construction is $5.2 million.  Fallsdale Road from Ella to FM 2920 will be upgraded to a four lane concrete boulevard with storm sewer system and traffic signal modifications at 2920.  Estimated construction cost o $1.7 million and they plan to put this out to bid on April 27^th of this year.  Hollister Road segment 3 will include the installation of a four lane concrete roadway, storm sewer system and the upgrading Duncan road from two lanes to four lanes.  Estimated construction cost is $5.2 million and the plan is to put it out to bid in December of this year.  For a complete list of proposed construction projects contact the HCA offices.

May 2010 V.P. Report

Water & Sewer Rates Increased

April 6^th the City of Houston had its first meeting to roll out the newly proposed water and sewer rate increases.  On April 19^th they came back to the Fiscal Affairs Committee and introduced the revised plan that addressed concerns raised during the first meeting.  And on April 21^st Council officially passed the new increases with surprisingly little comment.  This is a tax increase that passed in less than a month after introduction, and made it through council without even being tagged.  Even Council Member Jolanda Jones who had been the most vocal in opposing the increase because of its potential impact on those living on a fixed income let the item slide when it came time for a vote.  The City would appear to recognizing the serious financial condition the city is in and for once is making the hard choices that it needs to make.  For the contractors the passage of this increase is good news, the water and sewer coffers have been underfunded for the last two years.  In 2008 it ran a deficit of $28 million and by the end of this fiscal year that deficit will have grown to $102 million.  The City this year had to cancel five of its water line replacement jobs scheduled for this spring because the budget crisis.  This rate increase now has all users paying the production cost of the water and council had already approved automatic increases based on the consumer price index increases so the rate should always be current with production costs.  Homeowners will get a slight break from the increases.  Unlike the commercial and multi-family users, single family homeowners will have three years to ease into the increase which is about 30% higher than current rates.  According to the city, once the rate is fully in affect the average homeowner will see an increase of about $10 to $12 per month for the average user.  The new rates are scheduled to take affect June 1^st and are already being figured into the new City budget for fiscal year 2011 which begins July 1^st.

One Call Closes

The Texas One Call System, a staple in locating and marking underground lines recently posted a notice on its website declaring that as a consequence of a legal setback, they have determined to end operations as a notification center in Texas and will be shutting down their operations over the next few weeks.  A call to their 1-800 number indicated that all Texas One Call inquiries were now being covered by Texas 8-11 which is the Texas Excavation Safety System, a competitor in the market to provide this information. In their web posting Texas One Call noted that there were two other providers of this information in Texas and recommended Dig-Tess.    

Renew Houston

There is a new referendum that will be circulating through the city soon and HCA is looking for your support on passing it.  Renew Houston is a charter amendment campaign to create a dedicated pay-as-you go funding source to repair our drainage and streets.  As most of you already know, Houston’s infrastructure is aging.  Over 60% of the city’s drainage and streets are past their useful life and that number is estimated to climb to 80% within the next twenty years.  Some facts that most people don’t know is that it takes the city twelve years to start any street reconstruction, the services that are in place now were not designed to handle the needs of today’s population, and the parts of town that we consider “new” are all over 40 years old. 

The Renew Houston plan is to pass a charter amendment requiring the city to create the dedicated fund.  To do this they will be circulating petition forms in order to collect the 22,000 signatures of Houston residents necessary to get the item on the ballot.  After that the voters must approve the amendment on November 2, 2010.  This amendment, once approved by the voters, will create a dedicated fund for the maintenance, repair and replacement of roads and storm water drainage in the City of Houston.  It will replace the current system of infrastructure funding, bond issuance, with a pay-as-you-go system.  This will free the city from paying the interest on $500 million worth of bonds as it currently does and negates the need for the every five years bond election and subsequent campaign to convince the voters that the bonds are necessary.  Funding will be provided by a new drainage development impact fee that will be applied to all new construction in the city, the freeing up of money once the bond debts are paid off and a monthly drainage fee that will be paid by property owners.  The proposers of this referendum estimate that once the bond debt is paid off, this fund should generate about $550 million annually for storm water and road maintenance.  Add that to the water and sewer dedicated fund estimates of $350 million and you have an annual CIP of $900 million, almost double the funding amount.  Petition forms will be coming to you in the mail, please encourage your employees, co-workers, friends and neighbors to sign the petition and support the amendment on November 2^nd.

Did You Know…

I was watching the news recently when a story came on talking about the U.N. and they mentioned “The Hague”.  It started me thinking, I have heard reference to The Hague my whole life and assumed that it was a city somewhere in Europe, but that is about as far as I ever went with it.  So for those of you, like me, who love trivial bits of information, here is what I found when I went looking for background on The Hague.

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands behind Amsterdam and Rotterdam.  The Hague is the seat of government for the Netherlands, but not the capital.  The capitol is Amsterdam.  The Hague is the home of the States-General of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix lives and works in The Hague, all foreign embassies and government ministries are located in the city, as well as the Hoge Raad der Naderlanden (Supreme Court) and the Raad van State (Council of State).  The Hague is also the de facto judicial capital of the United Nations, being the location of its primary judicial courts.

The Hague originated around 1230, when Floris IV, Count of Holland purchased land alongside a pond in order to build a hunting residence. In 1248 William II, Count of Holland decided to extend the residence to a palace. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed, but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal (Knights' Hall), still stands. The hall is still used today for political events such as the annual speech from the throne by the queen.  The name “The Hague” loosely translates into the count’s woods.

April 2010 Cover Story

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan Talks About County Government

HCA was honored to have Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan as the speaker for our March monthly membership luncheon.  Mr. Ryan opened his comments by saying that most people, if they are lucky won’t have much contact with his office, however he noted, that was not the case with contractors.  Contractors deal with the County Attorney’s office indirectly, said Ryan.  Most of this contact comes through the contractual agreements that you have with the County.  These documents are either generated, reviewed or vetted by the County Attorney’s office before they are actually executed.  Also if there is a problem with the project you might have to deal with my office, said Ryan.

Mr. Ryan stated that he spent six years at City Hall as the District C, City Council Member and it was through that experience that he learned to truly appreciate just how well County government runs.  Mr. Ryan stated that at the County the division of legal work is split into two different offices.  The District Attorney’s office does the criminal work, both misdemeanor and felony and then there is the County Attorney that does all of the civil work.  The County Attorney’s office also represents all of the other branches of County government including the Toll Road, Flood Control and the Sports Authority.  This splitting up of the legal duties between two offices is a unique approach to handling the legal issues that a County faces and only Harris and a handful of other counties have this method in place, said Ryan. 

Mr. Ryan stated that the Harris County Attorney’s office has several duties that it performs, last year they collected $5 million in different types of revenue for the County, defended over 300 lawsuits with a potential liability of over $36 million, acquired 1,000 tracks of land valued at $55.5 million, and prepared over 2,000 contracts with a value of $2.2 billion. 

One of the newer areas that the County Attorney’s office oversees is that of child protective services, both at the family court and the juvenile court level.  About a quarter of the office staff work on this issue.  Mr. Ryan said that this is a very challenging and very rewarding aspect of life at the County Attorney’s office. 

According to Mr. Ryan, the County has many different types of review proceedures that cover the entire criminal justice system to ensure that we are tough on the criminals, but look at first time offenders, juvenile offenders, veterans and those with mental health issues differently.  Many of the people that are taken to the county jail have health problems or in some cases mental health problems.  Both of these issues can be addressed at the V.A. Hospital if the person is a veteran and if you can help them access their services. 

Mr. Ryan commented that in contrast to the efficiency of County government, just a sixteen minute walk across downtown is City Hall with one of the strongest, strong mayor forms of government in the country.  Mr. Ryan stated that the reason the City of Houston has such a strong mayor is because back in the 1950’s when the city was changing over from a city manager system to what we have now under then Mayaor,Oscar Holcomb, every place in the city charter that read “city manager” was replaced with the word “mayor”.  Mr. Ryan commented that the one check that the people have with the city manager versus the strong mayor form of government is that the city manager can be fired by city council.  When you have a good mayor things work pretty well but when you get someone in there that is not so good, you get a government that is the opposite of the County. 

Mr. Ryan stated that the Commissioners Court has a great deal of independent authority and oversees the creation and maintenance of assets such as roads, bridges and parks.  They also have directoral control over other areas of the County such as Flood Control or the Port of Houston.  Mr. Ryan noted that there are other elected officials in positions at the county, but since commissioner’s court has financial control over the budget, these other officials are forced to submit a reasonable budget for their departments. Mr. Ryan stated that he felt that the Commissioner’s Court has done a very good job, especially this year in light of all of the financial issues, to balance the needs of the residents against the actual dollars available. 

The good thing about the County is that there are multiple places for a contractor to go to find work, said Ryan.  You have the County Commissioners for each of the precincts, you have the Public Infrastructure Department, Flood Control and the Toll Road.  If there is a problem you can go to the County Judge, the Commissioners, the County Attorney’s office.  You might not get the answer you want, but it’s not for a last of options.