New anti-SLAPP Law A Victory For Citizen Watch Dogs!--***SPECIAL UPDATE***--

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED FOR YOUR SEARCHING CONVENIENCE--

This site, after nearly 7 years, is being archived. It will be available for searches and historical background information on the area of Missouri City, Texas...

Suggested alternative sites for following some of the areas local characters & their politricks: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_195822643783611&ap=1

http://myfortbend.net/

or

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ISupportFBISDorg/119561358117796

http://stopimperialsugarmillapartments.com/

New Reform Minded Board Members Take Seats At Swearing In Ceremony (New elected officers sworn in too in BOT shake-up)-

Numerous speakers during the public comments section of the FBISD BOT meeting Monday night congratulated the newly elected members of the board of trustees. Dr. Patsy Taylor and Bruce Albright officially took their seats and joined a coalition in voting in an entirely new board president, vice president and secretary as their first order of business....

Update: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/05/24/52023

Update 5-24: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/fort_bend/news/article_e6f3f466-5cec-5566-b922-6556812ba558.html

FBN: New Faces Will Take Seats At Next BOT Meeting!

Click the title link...

Bruce Albright & Dr. Patsy Taylor Pull Major Upset Wins In FBISD School Board Races!

Updates and full election results: http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/upload/images/elections_administration/election_results/er110514_01.pdf

Election Day For City Council & School Board (Get to your polls)

UPDATE on voter request for state election monitors:http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/fort_bend/news/article_0ee69c23-48f0-5e89-999a-5926b6aee992.html FB Sun


http://www.fortbendstar.com/?p=2579 FB Star

State Inspectors Requested By Several Candidates In Local FBISD and City Races!

See: http://www.myfortbend.net/news/local/politics/1373-fbw-request-reportedly-made-to-state-to-monitor-local-elections

FBW: FBISDWatch Endorses Watassek & Albright In Board Races!

Click the title link above for the full release...

FBN: More federal monies are on the way to help bailout Texas school districts (will it make it to the classrooms though?)--click the title link--

FBN: Who's Pulling The Strings In Missouri City--click the title link for this full FBN report--

--The Johnson Development Co. is the one and the same that pushed up to 2700 school zoning buster apartments on Sienna, hundreds more on Riverstone and now up to 1600 on the SL Imperial Sugar Project.......--click the title link above for more--

FBN: Lack Of Fiscal Restraint Is One Reason Watassek Is Seeking FBISD Board Position #1

Click the title link above for the full article....

FBN: Finally An OP/ED Not Directed/Approved By The FBISD Leadership

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/04/13/51343

"First, why did the Board reward Dr. Jenney with a new 5-year contract? It has become painfully clear that he is masterful at manipulation and that democracy is not evident on this board. Board meeting after board meeting I have watched him whisper to the board president. She listens attentively to the Superintendent, then begins to maneuver the board in such a way that whenever other board members present strong opposing points, her summation of all of their statements somehow comes out representing only one viewpoint, one that aligns with that of the superintendent’s! It is easy to see that, for the most part, the board has given its power, perhaps not intentionally, to the Superintendent and he is not going to give it back without a fight!" FortBendNow

FB Star Coverage Of FBISD/Federation Candidates Forum

See: http://www.fortbendstar.com/?p=727

OP/ED: More Apartments Coming To FBISD (School Over-crowding An Issue)

Developers Use Home Owner Associations (HOAs) to Hide behind The Mantra of “Protecting Property Values” While They Streamline The Utter Destruction of Property and Community.

How is this crime perpetrated? Easily, it is a game of homeowner diversion and ego stroking, with developer control of the political process and community spending. In the end, communities are “finished off” (ambiguity intended) with a flood of apartments that are built on Tax Investment Redevelopment Zones (TIRZs). The apartments in these zones pay little to no taxes to the schools that they quickly overwhelm. As a result, homeowners “sell-out” and sprawl on to the developer’s next new development, leaving depressed property values, bankrupt schools, confused social systems, and opportunistic political structures behind. All of this happens while people are told by their HOAs that they must spend millions of dollars planting flowers, and on wasteful overblown amenities in order to “compete” with new developments. Homeowners would be wiser to demand authentic communities and sustainable development.

Developers’ HOA control of communities and their misuse of “property value” will no doubt continue until El Paso is a suburb of Houston and everything in between looks like Alief, or until people wake up to what does and does not represent real property value, and sustainable development.

School zoning is the number one factor in establishing property value. High quality and well funded classrooms create property value. People buy into a community for the schools, even if they do not have children, because schools create property value, period! Any community that is zoned for Clements High School could pull up all the grass in their front yards and jack up cars under their trees… still their property values would remain high, because the schools have a reputation that drives the real estate market. In other words, we can all appreciate nice landscaping, but let’s not confuse the over spending on HOA vendor-led ideas about landscaping and amenities, while real property values are being eroded by too many low tax paying apartments overwhelming our public schools. School zoning is the location and the location in the famous “location, location, and location” advice for establishing property value. Neighbors, who respect and support each other, are another vital component of real property value.

Clearly, HOAs do not create a dynamic of neighborliness when they harass people with violation notices that send defensive neighbors out photographing each other’s violations that seem worse than their own. This HOA technique purposely creates suspicion, isolates people, and destroys quality of life, as well as the healthy development of real community. In this way, it is easier to manipulate people to move to the developer’s next new community, when homeowners are not rooted authentically to a real community. Developers benefit when people chase after the developer’s superficial vision of value.

In the end, these industry-driven values and practices will guarantee the destruction of any community. Landscaping and overblown debt creating amenities are a smoke screen that seems to be intended to convince and control homeowners just long enough for the developer to plant an over abundance of apartments, divest himself of his developments, and move on to his next project…

Be a part of an authentic community. Fight to stop the developer driven flood of apartments that will overwhelm and destroy our public schools and our community. Don’t “sell-out.” Claim your community and your authentic values.

Attend the “stop the flood of apartments rally” on April 5th at 5:30 pm on the steps of Sugar Land’s City Hall during the City Council meeting. Demand that our city council not sell-out Sugar Land to developers’ unsustainable ideas and values.

http://www.stopimperialsugarmillapartments.com/

FB Sun: Picks up story on video parody of FBISD superintendent

Click the title link above for more...

Related: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/fort_bend/news/article_bd4883c3-da5a-5007-9a52-8d87eb0ff4cd.html

Fox 26 Covers Growing Apartment Controversy In Sugar Land With Johnson Developers!--click the title link for more--

MCC comment: Will these further exacerbate school zoning problems and over-crowding like the ones in Sienna & Riverstone by the same development company...? Currently at BMS in Sienna students, because of over-crowding, are being bussed out of the neighborhood...stay tuned!

FBISD Budget Blame Game Campaign Continues-

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/04/04/51196

MCC comment: This will be the 4th out of 5 years that the current district leadership has been unable to balance the budget and had maintained record bond debt at over 1.5 billion dollars. Don't be fooled by the finger pointing...

FB Star: Johnson Development Apartment Controversy In Sugar Land (this time)--click the title link for more--

MCC question: Just how many property tax busting, school over-crowding apts does that make it for this one company in MC and Sugar Land???

FBI: FBISD Candidates Share Positions

See: http://fbindependent.com/fbisd-candidates-spell-out-their-platforms-p3530-1.htm

Teacher Federation Candidates Forum At The Marriot In Sugar Land 7pm (Please attend if you can)

The FBISD teacher association is sponsoring a candidates forum this Thursday evening at 7pm at the Sugar Land Marriot in the town square. Pre-event questions were sent out to all candidates. This should prove to be an interesting event and one of just a few forums available to the public prior to these all important elections. Please attend if you can...the district has been running consecutive record budget deficits under the current superintendent as well as record long-term debt. It was announced a few weeks ago that they were declaring a second financial emergency (never before in the district history have they done this) and may need to RIF another 1000 teachers/staff...

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/03/29/51103

Texas Senate Committee Passes Major HOA Reform Bill (Some holes still exist in the bill)--click title link to get the full story--

This is the frontlines in the contemporary property rights battle...

Chron: Coverage of Controversial Johnson Development Apartments In Sugar Land--click the title link for more--

Click the title link for more...

FBI: Planned Community Developers Pushes More High Density Apartments In This OP/ED Piece--

>>>With School Over-crowding In Some Areas Of FBISD Already A Problem We Have Houston Development Companies Pushing More High Density Apartments Into Sugar Land....here is an editorial by the president of PCD (if you read between the lines I think you will find this very interesting). Also visit the petition drive site which has kept the public informed on these and other such developments being pushed by politicians accepting campaign financing from them (keep in mind students from apartments of this size yield about half the taxable amount of single family homes)...

http://fbindependent.com/case-made-for-more-apartments-in-sugar-land-p3507-1.htm

http://www.stopimperialsugarmillapartments.com/

Watassek Challenges Hohnbaum For FBISD Board Seat!

Just in from the "FBISD Concerns" Facebook Page:

Wade Watassek
Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees Candidate—Position 1

As a candidate for Fort Bend ISD’s Board of Trustees in Position 1, I would like to take this time to introduce myself. Both my wife and I grew up in Quail Valley and graduated from Dulles High School. I earned both a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Houston. For the past 10 years, I have worked in the oil and gas industry. Currently, I serve as a Risk Analyst in the Financial Performance and Analysis Group for ConocoPhillips.

Fiscal responsibility should be a top priority – doing the best with what we have. My experience and education in business administration will allow me to see challenges from the angle of parent, community member, tax payer, and business citizen.

I believe in open and honest communication. More can be accomplished with our ears than our mouths. Listening to parents, teachers, and campus administrators while look-ing at the hard data in an effort to make sound decisions for the entire community is critical. Justification and accountability are as important as the actions themselves.

In light of the current economic situation, I believe people need a strong leadership team that understands how to work together and make the best decisions for the community as a whole. It is essential that the Board of Trustees has a clear understanding of the direction and mission of this district. With a flourishing community, long-term planning for the future is imperative.

My wife has served as an educator for 13 years; 9 of which have been as a classroom teacher here in FBISD. Our decision of where to raise our family was based strongly on the education they would receive. There was no question that we wanted Fort Bend to be our home; we want our children in this school district so as to have the same opportunities we had growing up. With 3 young children, we have served as volun-teers in the schools and members of the PTA; we look forward to many more years raising our children in this district. I enjoy giving back to the community as a volunteer for the West Sugar Land Little League where I serve on the board and as a coach. Our family spends many hours in sports and recreational activities in the area.

I am committed to my family and the thousands of students who count on achieving a solid educational foundation in Fort Bend ISD. Vote for the future of our students; vote Wade Watassek for FBISD Board of Trustees.

Chron: All FBC Candidates Listed--click here--

The Modern Property Rights Battle!

Home Owner Associations Face Increasing Opposition
From Homeowners to End “Transfer Fees”

Homeowners and Realtors have fought for years to end the controversial Home Owners Associations (HOA) and Freehold Capital Partners private transfer fees charged each time a home sells.

Representatives with the Business & Industry Committee will hear House Bill 8 later this week or next. The bill is an enabling act that opens the door to mandatory transfer fees and substantially increases the number of gratuitous administrative fees and fines the HOA management industry can charge.

If passed, HOA governments can impose not only transfer fees but unlimited others: entry fee, resale certificate fees, certificates of compliance fees, capital Improvement fees, special assessment fees, covenant compliance inspection fees and even contribution fees.

Adding unjustifiable fees and fines will hit the seller and buyer hard at the closing table with costs possibly totaling $10,000.00, with absolutely no added intrinsic home value or service benefit for either the buyer or seller. These added fees could further negatively impact the market by pricing many buyers out of homeownership. Too often the real estate agent bears the brunt of the seller’s anger over these unexpected and ever escalating fees.

House Bill 8 does not end HOA transfer fees, nor does it limit the infinite number of other creative fines and fees that the HOA industry can mandate for its own enrichment.

###

The Texas HOA Reform Coalition is comprised of concerned homeowners and homeowner organizations including the Home Owners for Better Building, Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform, Inc., and Texas Housing Justice League. The coalition was formed in 2010 with the intent of bringing a unified voice to the Texas Capitol. For more information visit us online at http://www.hoareformcoalition.org .

http://www.texashoareform.org/

FBISD Filing Complete--

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/03/15/50877

--Apparently there is some filing confusion in the position 4 race....we will update it when it is corrected.

UPDATE 3-15-11 http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/03/15/50889


MC filing. Two seats being challenged:

--http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/03/15/50883

As filing closes down at 5p. today here is the latest...

Click the title link for more...

More Filings In Missouri City Council Races-click here-

More on the way?

ABC13: Jenney's BOT Pushes For Another "Financial Emergency" To Prepare For RIFs (after 3 property tax increases and 4 record budget deficits)-

Click the title link above for the full report--

http://www.myfortbend.net/news/education/fbisd/1366-fbisd-announces-yet-another-qfinancial-emergencyq-under-superintendent-jenney

http://www.ultimatefortbend.com/stories/236235-fort-bend-isd-declares-financial-emergency-amid-state-cuts

ABC13: Implications Of State Budget Cuts On FBISD-click the title link-

Did over-spending and over-development lead to the current 4 budget deficits that FBISD is facing???

Candidates Forum Announced--click the title link for more--

Petition Against Rezoning Option 3 In FBISD

Click the title link for access-

Follow Local News & Other Independent Sources Of Information In Fort Bend County--click the title link here--

Johnson Development Faces Stiff Opposition In Further Apartment Development In Sugar Land--

Click the title link for more...

Also see open meeting on this at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y1-TiinaJ4

MCC comment: Virtually the same arguments being utilized during the 2005 apartment controversy in Sienna Plantation....









Post by Chris Calvin

More File For Local Races-click here-

Related:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/02/28/50631

Youtube On Possible FBISD Lake Colony Rezoning--

Apparently in this video Sienna Plantation students are being bussed because of over-crowding to First Colony schools...if you look closely you won't see the superintendent in attendance or any of the current school board members, which wasn't missed by the audience.--click the title link above--

FBS: FCCA Executive Director Resigns--

Click the title link for the full story...

(See Update)--Some Missouri City Neighborhoods Upset About FBISD Rezoning & Protesting Saturday--click the title link for more--

Update (2-21-11): http://fbindependent.com/parents-take-fbisd-zoning-protest-to-the-streets-p3410-1.htm

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/02/18/50502

MCC comment: Why don't any of the currently seated city council members speak up for these neighborhoods???

Click here for good news for all those fighting political corruption--

“The sentences imposed today on Mr. Hill, his wife and his plan commission appointee hopefully will serve as a powerful reminder to all public officials and those who work with them, that seeking to personally profit by abusing the power given them by the voters can and will result in a long prison sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Jacks. “Public corruption is one of the most insidious crimes confronting our communities today. It contributes to the cynicism we are seeing today from the public who feel as though all politicians are corrupt and the government does not serve the needs of those citizens who can’t pay for access to their elected officials.” FBI Press Release Dallas, TX

Click the link above for more...

Houston Chronicle (FB section): TXHB 879 Is An Outrage

Just-in from the Houston chronicle fort bend section:

(HJR 79 sponsored by Charlie Howard)

Rodrigo Carreon
Fresno, TX


As a long time resident of fort bend county, and community activist, I have long been criticized for my attempts to go before local taxing entities and bring to the attention of the public issues related to “taxpayer abuse”. Normally I’m not speaking of the large Houston development company interests that seem to dominate our local politics and the taxes they do or often don’t pay, but the average, independent home and property owners like you and I. Those that have made our county their home and have invested heavily in their properties and families here. This is why I felt it so important to speak up now on house bill 879 (HJR 79) sponsored by one of our local state representatives who often claims to be a “conservative”.

Mr. Charlie Howard has authored a bill that gains little press at the moment but certainly should. In it he is asking state legislatures to pass a constitutional amendment that would allow them to raise our ad valorem taxes as high as 105% per year (yes per year!). This should be an outrage to every homeowner since the bill is only targeted to single-family homes in Texas.

Let’s look at what this could mean. Already appraisal caps are in place at a much lower percent in the single digits. Why is Mr. Howard attempting to establish a ridiculously higher cap on appraised values? Does he think the wording is fooling anyone? Is it some off beat way to grab more from us now that the state is experiencing another large deficit? Why would anyone propose such a bill, especially someone claiming the mantle of “friend of the taxpayer”?

I’m sorry Mr. Howard, the government gets enough of our money already. It is time for our elected officials to start representing our interests and not their own and to stop spending like drunken sailors when times are good.

FBN: Local Activist Group Questioning FBISD Open Records Process

“If this administration wants to espouse a hyper-technical enforcement of the Open Records Act, then what they are saying is that we reserve the right to spoon feed our school board and spoon feed our public information that should be readily available when it is completed,” Scott told Fort Bend Now. George Scott

--Click the link above for the full article...

Visit The Front-lines In Property Rights Reform--click here--

Related: http://pages.prodigy.net/hoadata/

http://hoareformcoalition.org/about-us/

FBN: FBISD Trustee Tells Press She Will ‘Go After’ Reporters Who Misquote Her

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2011/01/25/50078

Just in: FBISD's "Global Taj Mahal" Is No More--click the title link for more--

Update: http://www.fortbendstar.com/012611/n_FBISDDitches.htm

FBISD Board Scraps Plan For Global Science Center
By: Jamie Mock on Fri, Jan 21, 2011News

Citing “economic challenges” and several other concerns, the Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees has scraped the controversial plans to build a Global Science and Technology Center...(click above for more)

FB Star: Superintendent Tim Jenny's Extended Contract Controversy Exposed In This Local Column--click the title link for more--

Related: http://www.fortbendstar.com/011911/n_FBISDSuperintendent.htm

Visit FortBend.net for more on local news--click the title link here--

Former State Representative for TX HD 27 Sends Appreciation Note To Community Supporters--

FBN: Delay Sentenced To Prison

Click the link above for the full release.....

This opinion piece showed up on FBN from a local city council member and long-time conservative reformer Tom Hilton:

"It’s about time that some of these fat cats get their just desserts.

DeLay (mis)appropriated $500,000 of our taxpayer monies to pay for a sham of a “Feasibility Study” back in 2003 to look at the supposed feasibility of Fort Bend County purchasing Houston SW Airport. There was NEVER any other airport to be considered from the gitgo, and the whole study was a massive waste of tax dollars. County Judge Hebert and Commissioner Stavinoha were right in the middle of this scam, and were poised to spend another $56 MILLION of Fort Bend County taxpayer monies for an airport that was not wanted nor needed (remember Sugar Land Regional)?

Today I read in the Chronicle that Judge Hebert sent a letter to Judge Priest saying how much good DeLay did while in office in an effort to reduce DeLay’s sentence.

Judge Hebert, have you no shame?

Remember Judge, that our justice system might take a while to get around to it, but it still works, as evidenced by DeLay’s sentencing today. If a really big fat cat such as DeLay can get caught, so can some of the smaller fat cats.

Tom Hilton
Arcola, Texas"

FBN: Behind The Scenes Of School Board Campaigns--click the link below for the full piece--

New Year Begins With A Bang!

What to watch for in 2011:

-The continued hoarding of S20-30 million dollars of the FBISD budget for the planned non-campus based Global Science Museum at the district central office while the district deals with yet another possible record budget deficit (remember they have raised our taxes several times over the last 3-4 years to supposedly deal with this). All while discussing the possible closure of several schools in the district, more teacher cuts and other frontline service reductions.

-The county government pushing forward with the tolling of Texas 99 (Grand Parkway)--tolling ROW that the public has already paid for thus privatizing an already public road at taxpayers expense (Part of the former controversial TTC project).

-Continuation of several FBC cities dipping into "reserve funds" (monies redirected to alternate accounts for later use from bond debt elections) to maintain the public perception of "balanced budgets". This directly impacts the operations budget via the debt service portion (larger amounts are needed to retire debt thus forcing increases in property taxes). Missouri City currently engages in this practice as do other local taxing entities.

-School board & local city elections (several challenges coming to machine candidates-->of special interest, the Missouri City district races and FBISD BOT races-->they should be fun to watch this year).

-And watch local efforts at the legislative level at reforming practices and curbing abuse in some HOAs.

-More high density apartments coming to areas in Missouri Cities ETJ and within the Sugar Land area (several locations). This type of land use, when excessive, often carries less property taxes and leads to continued over-crowding in some schools, increased traffic, density, crime and a lower quality of life.

Stay informed and keep in touch in 2011!

Fort Bend Appraisal Board Nomination Of FBISD Raises Ethical Eyebrows--click the title link--

Nomination Of FBISD Trustee’s Husband Raises Questions For Some In The District
By: Jamie Mock on Thu, Dec 16, 2010News

The nomination of Albert Glover to fill a vacant seat on the Fort Bend County Appraisal District board has resulted in at least one Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees member being “inundated” with phone calls and e-mails from concerned residents.

The board nominated Albert Glover at Monday night’s meeting. Albert Glover is the husband of Trustee Marilyn Glover, who abstained from voting on the nomination. Trustee Jim Babb also abstained.

Many residents have questioned the ethics of nominating the husband of an active board member, and Babb said he has been inundated with phone calls and e-mails concerning the nomination.

There is no mention of Albert Glover’s name in the agenda packet for the meeting. The resolution included in the packet has a blank line where the nominee’s name would be written.

Babb said he abstained from voting because he was unaware that the board already had a candidate in mind. He said he was under the impression that the board would be viewing resumes and discussing possible candidates....follow the title link above for the full article...

(THHR) Texas Property Rights Advocates Prepare For Legislative Sessions--click the title link--

See related for a list of lawyers that engage in defending this industry and writing the property code to protect their profits:

http://pages.prodigy.net/hoadata/

FBN OP/ED: FBISD Bond Steering Committee Politics--click title link for more--

FBN: MC Gives Up For Now On Annexation Of Newpointe Estates Near Sienna Plantation--click here--

FBN: MC Safest City Numbers Still Not Adding Up (this blog reported on this almost 3 years ago)

Apparently the city believes it is ok to lower their crime rate by including areas not directly in the city limits (but in the ETJ areas). Some of these areas have rather large populations and are serviced by the Sheriffs office and not city police. If they are including these residents, it would tend to lower the rate of crime by inflating the base population numbers used. One other interesting point is the FBI crime stats depend on the cities to accurately self report.....

What's the motive? Your guess is as good as mine....

Click the title link above for the full story!

Also see: http://myfortbend.net/news/local/opinion-editorial/1353-fbn-safest-city-numbers-dont-add-up-for-missouri-city-texas

Visit the American Homeowners Resource Center (for the latest on property rights advocacy nation wide)

FB Sun Coverage Of Controversial GSTC Project--click title link for the full article--

Have A Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

Newpoint Residents Resist Missouri City Annexation--click the title link for more--

& http://www.fortbendstar.com/120110/n_Residents.htm

or

http://www.hcnonline.com/fort_bend/news/article_1aca32f8-34c4-5d1f-a643-df3a51333f72.html

KHOU: TCEQ Ignored EPA Orders For Years (Yes the same agency that approved the expansion of the Blue Ridge Landfill near MC to 20 stories of trash)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/texas-tap-water-contaminated-radiation-independent-tests-find/

Related background:

http://www.nowpublic.com/does_texas_state_agency_tceq_really_work_protect_public

After Only 2 Years, MC Police Chief May Be Heading For Greener Pastures--click here--

Just In From The FB Star--"GSTC" Rumor Confirmed By Local Media--

Just in from the FB Star:

The hubris of leadership....I am often astonished by the arrogance of some of our appointed and elected officials.

For example, I recently was informed that FBISD’s global center for science and technology was still on the drawing boards. I thought everyone agreed that in the economic climate of today, the science center was a program we did not have to have.

The global center for science and technology was FBISD’s answer to low science scores on the TAKS tests. Rather than throw a bunch of money at the classrooms, the district in its bid to build something it could name after somebody proposed a project that, except for its name, wasn’t going to do much for anybody, what with loading kids up and busing them several miles once or twice a semester so they could spend scant minutes at the center before loading on a bus and heading back to their home campus.

I had no idea the district was still kicking that ill-fated idea around until the board started talking about a bond election in order to not only build more schools, but of a more immediate nature, repair some schools in bad shape. Board members were informed that money still left over from previous bond issues was being saved for the science center rather than being used for current repairs.

Are you kidding me??? It is inconceivable to me that with as much controversy over the center in the first place that it would still be on the agenda.

Does the superintendent, Dr. Tim Jenny, realize that the effective term of a school superintendent is about five years, and he is dangerously closing in on that term...

...I’ve never known of a superintendent that the teachers hated so universally. He brought many administrators from Virginia Beach with him which may have been a good thing as schools have a way of becoming inbred, but it has resulted in untold resentments.

Now we find that amid all the other economic problems plaguing the school district, a “secret” fund is still being kept aside for the building Dr. Jenney wants to build. The hauteur of this action seems almost unbelievable. Shame on Dr. Jenney and shame on the school board for letting our schools go dangerously lacking in repair while still harboring conceited thoughts of a “science center.”

FBISD Zoning Battles In Telfair & New Territory Heat Up!

http://www.click2houston.com/education/25637916/detail.html?taf=hou

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7765621&syndicate=syndicate§ion

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/03/48791

http://www.fortbendstar.com/110310/n_Campaign.htm

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/11/05/fort_bend_sun/news/sws-_telfair_schools.txt

"The school district said there is one major problem -- there's no money to build a new high school. Officials said a 2007 bond election provided money to buy land, but said that does not appear to be a smart move right now."--From the channel 2 story--Apparently from inside sources, this just isn't true. There is 20 million the district is sitting on for a project that wasn't supported by the voters called the "Global Science & Technology Center (Global Taj Mahal)", a duplicate science museum (very similar to the one in Telfair). There is also several tens of millions of dollars from prior bond elections now in reserve accounts. Plenty to make the purchase on the land....

We will update these stories as they come in.

Click here for final election results for FBC!

FBH: Underdog Challenges For Conflicted TXHD27 Seat

Click the title link for more...Nov. 2nd is election day!