FB Star Front Page Article (7/25-7/29/05)

This FB Star article was first published 7/27/05 and relates to the unwanted over development of up to an additional 1800 apartment units slated for Sienna/Missouri City, TX (above the up to 900 already approved) and was originally available at http://www.fortbendstar.com/072705/n_Council%20speakers%20slam%20Missouri%20City%20officials%20over%20Sienna%20apartment%20issue.htm


Council speakers slam Missouri City
officials over Sienna apartment issue
By Barbara Fulenwider

At most city council meetings none to few speak during the public comments part of the agenda but at Missouri City’s July 18 council meeting the mayor and council got an ear full.

Chris Calvin, who has been identified in local media as the spokesman and co-chair of Committee for Responsible Development, which opposes apartments in Missouri City, was the first speaker and he told council and Mayor Allen Owen that he had requested a copy of the mayor’s campaign contributions.

Calvin said that over the past two election cycles 60 percent of the total contributions came from developers and that Larry Johnson, developer of Sienna Plantation, was among the largest donors in that group.

Calvin also said that at the June 6 council meeting residents spoke up opposing apartments in Sienna and "were treated with little courtesy" by the mayor.

Specifically, Calvin said that when one resident spoke opposing apartments the mayor told him that he could sell his house if he didn’t like it here. Calvin requested that an ethics committee be formed "to look into this" in regard to the code of ethics council members must adhere to. He ended by requesting that the developer contributions to Owen’s campaigns be entered into the public record of the July 18 meeting.

Paul Malone also spoke on the issues Calvin raised and "how the city has handled some of the issues are my concern." He began by saying he had nothing to say about apartments, that his issues are "how council and the mayor have been functioning in recent months -- how the city has handled some of the issues.

"It is hard to imagine that anyone in the city has acted more responsibly in the development of our city than you," Malone told Owen, but added that the mayor’s remarks at the June 6 council meeting were "especially troublesome to me.

"The perception is "the way you’ve done some things, especially recently, (which) have contributed to the distress and confusion in our community. I’m focusing on you (Owen) because you’re the leader. I know you alone can’t take any action without council. It’s not all your fault." And he said he was sorry that council members Jerry Wyatt and Don Smith were not present.

Malone referred to the June 6 meeting where two residents of Sienna protested apartments during an agenda item concerning the Sienna Plantation Joint Development Agreement.

"It’s not acceptable to me for any official to criticize a citizen that you’ve put in a particular position," Malone said referring to the fact that the mayor strongly answered a citizen who does not live in the city limits.

At that meeting council voted to annex a commercial area in order to collect sales taxes while many residential areas in Sienna are not in Missouri City so pay no property taxes and are not represented on city council.

"Some Sienna citizens have been made dysfunctional by the situation they are in," Malone said adding that he believes council has "seen some of this type of dysfunction in some of the people who have tried to address you."

Malone said the mayor’s comments pose the perception to citizens that those who contribute more money to the city via taxes carry more weight than those who don’t. "You told (homeowner) Robert Die, that Johnson has a lot more invested in Sienna than Die has invested in his home. Your words and actions stressed that who has the most invested or at stake gets a bigger vote in what the city does.

If this is a miscommunication or perception not based on reality, then mayor, you need to look at how you’re functioning that has caused this to happen. "The owner of a business consulting firm in Missouri City said he wasn’t for hire but urged them to hire a consultant to help them "understand what’s going on in regard to this situation so it doesn’t deteriorate further. In my opinion, it will only get worse unless you and council change some things."

_-Mayor, you’ve done many things right in this city and you’ve done some things wrong and I ask you to find some way to deal with these people differently. That goes for all of council, not just you, mayor.

Keep up the good work but please do it a little different," Malone said. Owen replied, "It troubles us as well. It has divided the council and is dividing the city and there’s not an easy solution to it; there are a lot of outside factions to it.

The A word has set us back to where we were three years ago. "Then he pointed to his 30-year friendship with Sienna Plantation Developer Larry Johnson and said that "because of that relationship, I was able to sit down with him and get the compromise they agreed to on the apartments.

Had I not had that personal relationship with him, I’m not sure he would have agreed and we (Missouri City) ended up with a hospital. "The mayor said he’s "proud of the fact that developers and builders who built this city have chosen to support me in my role as mayor," that he’s "proud of what Johnson & Sienna brought to this city" and denied having ever shown "any favoritism to any developer regardless of their contribution to me.

The state of Texas has a very strong ethics law and one we always abide by. I’ve never tried to hide anything. "Owen said he’s lived in Missouri City for 29 years and served as a city official for 25 years and it’s "a thankless job" because "you can never please everybody.

There will always be two sides. I appreciate your comments. I think they were sincere. We’ll all try to do a better job and thank you. "Then Gerry Hookstra stepped to the microphone, and the Missouri City resident who lives in Sienna, spoke to a petition drive started to stop more apartments from being built in Sienna.

So far, he said more than 1,100 residents have signed the petition against a second group of apartments and that only one in 25 home owners or 5 percent didn’t sign on. "No more than 150 to 200 residents would support a second grouping of apartments.

Ninety-five percent plus do not want a second group of up to 1,800 apartments in the area adjacent to the Planned Development 8 region where currently up to 900 apartments are already approved. "Most residents in Sienna seem very happy with the course of development with the exception of unwanted apartments and the lack of representation here.

We are requesting that city council initiate an amendment to the developer’s agreement that removes or significantly reduces the number of apartment units near Waterbrook West."