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Thursday, April 06, 2006

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Anonymous said...: Here's a blast from the past article ('05)-

FB Sun Article (7/25-7/29/05)

This article appeared recently in the FB Sun. Any comments are welcome:

Missouri City mayor gets piece of advice from residents

By: DIANE TEZENO, Reporter 07/26/2005

Comments made by Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen at the June 6 council meeting have evoked adverse response from some residents and one of them asked the city to hire a consultant to advise city council members and the mayor on their public behavior.

Four citizens spoke at the July 18 council meeting regarding the mayor's comments.
In the June 6 meeting, Owen told Roy Die, a resident of Sienna Plantation, to "sell" his home in response to the homeowner's concerns over lack of communication by Johnson Development Corporation on the issue of bringing apartments to Sienna.
As the discussion continued Owen said, "The developer that has his name on the note says that when you want to start telling him how to run Sienna, you need to sign the note with him because he has a lot more invested in that than you do in your house."

Paul Malone, a resident of the Waterbrook subdivision off Sienna Parkway, was one of the four who spoke at the council meeting. Malone said he is a consulting clinical psychologist for businesses and government entities, but he had no interest in securing a consulting relationship with the city.

Malone said he is not "an amateur observer of organizational dysfunction." He suggested that the city engage the services of a consultant to address recent behavior that has locked citizens in a "double bind" when trying to express their concerns, much like dysfunctional behaviors that develop in families.

Malone said he was focusing his comments on the mayor because he was the leader of the organization, but that he was not solely to blame for recent perceptions, and his views pertained to others on council as well.
Malone said that Owen has made significant contributions during his many years of public service, including countless hours of volunteer service, and that "no one person is more responsible for development of the city of Missouri City than Owen." He said that he did not believe that Owen's recent public statements were intentional, but the fact remains that perceptions have been shaped by those comments.

"Governments were created to serve people, not people to serve governments," said Malone.
Malone told the mayor and council that the perception from Owen's comments in the June 6 council meeting were that "how much money a person contributes determines how you will be treated by city government."
Malone said that public records show that over his political history Owen has received the largest campaign contributions from Johnson Development Corporation, the developer of Sienna Plantation, which fuels the perception of a conflict of interest. Owen, who gave Malone additional time beyond the standard five minutes allowed for public comments, thanked the resident for his comments. He then responded that the Sienna apartments issue, has divided council and divided the city and there is not an easy solution to it.

With respect to campaign contributions, Owen said, "I'm proud that developers and builders have chosen to support me as Mayor. I haven't intentionally shown favoritism to any developer, and I am not at all ashamed of the people that have supported me in the past. If not for the relationship with Larry Johnson, the City would not have not been able to sit down with him and compromise on what they finally compromised to do."
Owen said the city has hired consultants in the past to iron out problems, but the "A" word (referring to apartments), has created divisions on council and in the city.
Chris Calvin, who coordinates a group called the 'Committee for Responsible Development', during public comments said Owen had violated the code of ethics.

The mayor knowingly accepted campaign contributions from Johnson Development, Inc., and did not recuse himself when pushing through the apartments issue in February and continues to defend those actions even now, Calvin said later. The Sienna resident says Owen should have recused himself during the voting as well as during the arguments in February.
Sixty percent of campaign contributions over the last two years, according to city records, came from developers, Calvin said.
Calvin also criticized the Mayor for comments made to two Sienna residents, Roy Die and Mary McClure, in the June 6 council meeting. He asked council to investigate his allegations of code of ethics violations by the Mayor.

©Houston Community Newspapers Online 2005
Reader Opinions:
Responsible Development Jul, 26 2005
Excellent article Sun! Some coverage of the 1100 to 1200 petition signatures against the second grouping of 1800 apartments coming to Sienna/Mo-City might have been a nice addition too.--CRD; 8:13 PM

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

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