This Weeks FB Star Summary of Local Politics:

This came in from the publisher of the FB Star and is featured in this weeks Bev's Burner online at: http://www.fortbendstar.com/Columns/burner.htm :


Bev's Burner
Some's Hot, Some's Not 

By B.K. Carter
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"Bev Carter is the owner/publisher of the Fort Bend Star, winner of numberous state and national awards. She has been a voice of Fort Bend's largest circulated newspaper for 27 years."
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A cautionary tale.....Joe Rome, owner of Stafford Auto Supply, called me last week and told me he had a story to tell me about one of our local Justices of the Peace.

"Oh, no," I thought, "I’m going to hear some horror story about justice denied."

But Joe went on to tell me about one of his employees who got a ticket and had to go to JP Gary Geick’s court.

The employee told Joe that a young man appeared in front of the Judge immediately before him. This young miscreant was going to have the book thrown at him. I believe he was speeding, had no helmet, broke several other laws and was just generally in trouble.

According to the story, the young man was due to be fined $300, but the judge lectured him about wearing a helmet then agreed to reduce his fine by $100 if the young man promised to go out and immediately buy a good helmet. He agreed.

Several days later, this same employee was driving down the road when he came upon a road accident. A motorcycle had piled up in the ditch. As the employee watched, unbelievably, the young man he had seen in Judge Geick’s court crawled out of the ditch, scratched and bleeding. He was wearing a new helmet and was able to walk out of the ditch on his own.

The Stafford Auto employee later told Joe that he was convinced that Judge Geick's requirement had saved the boy’s life, or at the very least lessened his injuries. It had been clearly illustrated to him, like no other method could, that some of the Judge’s lectures and requirements were important.

Tom, we love ya......I have received several emails from various individuals and groups complaining about Tom DeLay inserting a last minute "$1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas" into the Energy bill before Congress. According to the information I have received, the money is slated to go to a "corporation that is constructed as a consortium." It seems that the only corporation that fits that bill is one that is connected to the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) consortium, housed in the Texas Energy Center in Sugar Land, Texas. If RPSEA wins the contract they can keep "up to 10% of the funds - in this case, over $100 million - in administrative expenses."

I'm sorry, but it seems to me that Tom is doing exactly what I have been complaining that he has not done enough of for this district, i.e., bringing home the pork!

And if you think that the publisher of a newspaper in Fort Bend County, Texas, home of the Texas Energy Center, is going to excoriate DeLay for using his position to funnel energy money to Fort Bend, then, why, you're crazy! I'm going to lionize him for it!

Tempers flare......I predict that the next round of school board, city, and water district races will have few candidates. I’m even willing to put a little money on it. The reason I’m so sure is that everybody in Fort Bend is mad at somebody in elected positions.

On one side, several members of the "old" school board have come under fire for their past votes. At the same time, several other newer members of the FBISD school board are generally disliked by the "old" group although the "old" group doing the disliking seldom make their discontent public. Both groups are fixing to get in some real trouble, and I predict it will be over zoning of children into certain schools.

Then we have Safford High School parents mad at the administration and the board for changing the high school dress code by what they considered at the last minute and what they consider as too strict.

And of course, Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella has always been mad at the school board ever since he found out he couldn't run it.

Mayor Leonard and several members of the Stafford City Council are mad at their former city engineers, Jones & Carter, and are doubly mad because Jones and Carter refused to take it and abruptly resigned as Stafford’s engineers before Stafford got the satisfaction of firing them.

Jones and Carter, who also work for Fort Bend County and WCID #2, are mad at Leonard and some of the other Stafford leaders because they feel they (Jones et al) were unfairly besmirched by Leonard and Stafford.

Mayor Scarcella is mad at WCID #2 because ....see above reason as concerns SMSD.

THEN, residents of Sienna Plantation are mad at the developers of Sienna Plantation and the council of Missouri City because of apartments. Mostly they are mad at Sienna uber-developer Larry Johnson and Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen.

Allen Owen doesn’t care because years ago Missouri City signed a development contract with Sienna Plantation promising not to annex Sienna for many years if Sienna would build its houses to Missouri City’s specifications. This also means residents of Sienna Plantation can’t vote for or against Allen Owen.

Larry Johnson doesn’t care because he’s already sold the land to other developers and builders who can mislead homebuyers about future building with impunity because they are on down the road before the homebuyers realize they’ve been had as far as apartments, levees, airports, and commercial development goes.

Other residents of Missouri City are happy because they don’t want those pesky Sienna Plantation rich folks telling them how to run a city because they (Sienna) could if they ever get the vote. The other Missouri City residents are also happy because they don’t have to provide fire and police protection for Sienna, although they did build a fire station out there. What’s up with that?

THIS brings us to Quail Valley which is mad at the country club because it keeps threatening to leave and even sold some golf course land to build some patio homes which never panned out, and the club didn’t even do what it said it would with the profits from the sale.

The club is mad at those nosey individuals who participate in the Quail Valley Fund and don’t even have the decency to belong to the country club. Many of those same people are gonna be real mad if they have to pay country club dues to the country club they didn’t want to belong to in the first place.

WHICH brings us to Meadows Place where a bunch of residents were riled over Ayshire Corporation’s plans to develop the corner of Kirkwood and West Airport. I don’t think the Meadows Place residents remember the history that Ayshire has with Meadows Place, a history that has been good for both. However, peace reigns as the P & Z (Planning and Zoning) gave a favorable recommendation to rework plans for that corner.

So as you can see, everybody in Fort Bend is mad at everybody else. I’m sure I’ve left out some players. But you can see why my money is on folks not wanting to run for elective office in those areas.

AND they are ALL mad at me because I tell all I know and (mostly) get it right.

More about Quail Valley.....Some leaders of the Quail Valley Fund (about 3,000 homes in Quail Valley's 5000 homes belong to the Fund) are scaring the Fund members by telling them that if the country club goes bankrupt, then home values in Quail Valley will plummet. I think home values will plummet if the fund obligates homeowners to pay a huge amount to benefit the country club. I think homeowners might have a hard time selling their homes if the property is encumbered with large maintenance fees.

Additionally, threats of bankruptcy don't scare me because if the club goes bankrupt, perhaps some other company which can do a better job, will pick up the club in a fire sale. Even though certain original agreements indicate that land at the club can be sold for residential or commercial development, Missouri City does have a zoning ordinance. I doubt if the Missouri City P & Z will ever allow sand traps, fairways and greens to be developed as housing.

Since the country club has done very little marketing to attract new members, I sometimes wonder if they want to go broke so they can sell the land for other development. I've heard they were offered $25 million for the 178 acres that comprises their Clear Lake club.