Missouri City Online Survey Available (follow this title link to take this survey--click here)-

See these related FBN pieces:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/2598/missouri-city-quality-of-life-eroding

http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/2568/mo-city-council-needs-to-show-they-care-about-what-citizens-think


Take the survey by clicking the title link above.


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Stay informed and keep in touch!

Zoning Picture for Sienna Area Clearing//Bond Election On The Way (is it the best plan?)-click title link for full FBN story

FBISD May Seek $600 Million Bond Issue; Wants New Elementary Now
by Bob Dunn, Feb 23, 2007

In October, Fort Bend Independent School District officials indicated they would tackle challenges stemming from the district’s rapid growth by proposing a May bond issue for about $260 million to finance the building of about eight schools.

Then, a second bond issue would be prepared for some additional building and renovation needs a year later.

On Friday evening, however, FBISD Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney proposed waiting until November to hold an election on a bond issue that could reach $600 million.

Jenney also proposed borrowing about $15 million from the district’s fund balance in order to proceed almost immediately with plans and construction of a new elementary school in Sienna Plantation. . .

. . .The new elementary would relieve severe overcrowding at Scanlan Oaks and Sienna Crossing elementaries. According to district figures, Scanlan Oaks has a functional capacity of 738 students, but its actual enrollment is 1,061. Sienna Crossing’s functional capacity also is 738, but actual enrollment is 912 students.

Jenney said he has been advised the district can legally borrow from the fund balance, which now contains $104 million.

“And we would immediately pay that back when the bond passes,” FBISD Board President Steve Smelley said.

In the event the bond issue doesn’t pass, Magee said the district’s finances still would be sound with $89 million in the fund.

Get more at http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/2604/in-final-fort-bend-isd-rezoning-proposal-k-6-concept-would-be-delayed and attend the Monday FBISD board meeting!

***Update to this story: Monday nights board mtg. produced a 6-1 vote in favor of the current zoning plan.


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Comment: The zoning proposal still leaves the long-term problem in place. Can the district continue to keep up with the rate of future growth in east FBISD (our area). One group involved in this hasn't been heard from. Will they get involved in the open and help solve this unsustainable growth problem.

Johnson Development Sues Sienna Homeowners Again!

Johnson Development Initiates Another Lawsuit/SLAPP-suit Against Sienna Homeowner (3rd case in 18 months)--


Normally this wouldn't be so shocking, but it is happening to our family here in Sienna Plantation, yet again. We believe we have been targeted for yet another harassment suit (SLAPP-suit) by Johnson Development Co. (JDC) of Houston, developer's of Sienna, Riverstone, Silver Lake, Fall Creek, Tuscan Lakes, Edgewater, Sweetwater and Woodforest subdivisions.

The initial case was filed in August 2005 in an attempt to access and close several Sienna resident run websites (in our opinion) and continued with a SLAPP-suit filing in December 2005 and supposedly settled in December 2006. SJD/JDC is claiming that the agreement was breeched and is pointing the finger at the homeowners. What JDC fails to mention is that they have not lived up to a single clause in the agreement. Of course they are claiming the homeowners did not live up to the contract. I wish we could share this agreement with you and go line by line, but that would violate it and I'm sure they would use it in this new harassment case they filed on Feb. 7th --and just notified us today via our attorneys (the 21st).

We will continue to update this and keep the Sienna & Mo-City community informed as this progresses, yet again! If this isn't consumer harassment then there is no such animal in Texas.


Stay informed and keep in touch!


c.calvin (c) 2007

Is Surface Water Treatment Plant Deal Fair To Sienna Residents???--click the title link for the full story--

As many of you know only 1 out of 12 Sienna Plantation MUD boards is controlled through local MUD elections (SPMUD3 is going through transition, but is eligible). This means that the reported deal for the surface water treatment plant being built at Sienna MUD expense, our tax dollars, was mostly arranged by appointed SPMUD board members. Were residents asked if they wanted to take on this much debt as a gift to all of South Missouri City? (as was reported in this chronicle article below)--read on for more or click the title link above for the full story:


From the chronicle--

Mo City, Sienna MUD OK ground-water plan

By SESHADRI KUMAR
Chronicle Correspondent

A 15-million gallon-per-day surface-water treatment plant is proposed in the vicinity of Sienna Plantation which may save millions of dollars for water districts in other parts of the city.

Missouri City and municipal utility districts are required to submit a groundwater reduction plan before 2008 and arrange for a 30 percent reduction in groundwater usage by 2013 and 60 percent reduction by 2025, under a mandate from the Fort Bend County Subsidence District.

Missouri City City Council Monday night unanimously authorized the mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding between the city and Sienna Plantation MUD No. 1 for a joint groundwater reduction plan, including a surface-water treatment plant. . .


--Stay informed and keep in touch!

Sienna Residents Speak Up Against Split & Over-Crowding in this Chronicle Article (click title link)--

Parents oppose moving students from Hightower

Much of the debate addressed the plan to rezone nearly 600 students from crowded Hightower High to Elkins High. The plan splits Sienna Plantation subdivision along Sienna Parkway, west of which would be in the Elkins zone that also would gobble up Vicksburg subdivision across from Sienna Plantation.
"I think it's a mistake," Sienna Plantation parent Donna Ferguson said of the proposal. "Our neighborhood needs to stay together. Our kids are happy with being at Hightower."

Neighbor Mark Shively said the plan would separate his Hightower sophomore daughter from her best friend who lives on the far southeast side of the district who will continue to attend Hightower.

"It would be emotionally disruptive to my daughter," he said. "She's been on the softball team and knows all the girls and the coach. She doesn't want to leave."

Not part of the proposal but an idea thrown out at a recent school board, a suggestion to use Texas 6 as a dividing line for rezoning this part of the school district also elicited renewed opposition at the forum from parents, including those from Lake Olympia subdivision, who fear that the idea would divide their neighborhood. . .


. . . Scanlan Oaks Elementary School parent and teacher Patrice Hartsfield said, "the district doesn't have a plan" to address long-term needs. She said she is worried about her school, which had an enrollment of 1,061 pupils last October, will have 1,240 pupils this fall and 1,605 in 2011. The campus was built for 820 pupils, according to the district.

"Please, please come up with a plan for our children, and quick," Hartsfield pleaded. . .


--Click the title link above for the full story--


Comment--current 2007 projected functional capacities for Sienna area schools: BBMS 104%+; Sienna Crossing 145%+ and Scanlon Elem. 165%+ (based on district projections).

From Fortbendweb.com: Council Speaker Upsets Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen Over Increased City Lien Power--click title link for more--

From fortbendweb.com:

Mo-City Mayor Angered By Council Speaker, Again?
Published on 02/20/07

During Monday nights session several speakers spoke in opposition to the infringement on property rights by the city through the enforcement of lien powers on the repair of public sidewalks and other infrastructure. One speaker in particular seemed to take on the brunt of Mr. Owens wrath.

Kevin Tunstall is a potential reform candidate for city council this spring and has been very visible on home & property owners rights with regard to the "sidewalk" ordinance. This issue has garnered much attention of the past month in local media and blogs.

Mr. Tunstall's speech is included below:

"Recently, I addressed the Sidewalk Committee regarding section 46 of the municipal code. The response received from property owners as a result, I can only interpret as emphatic support from our community to repeal the measure. As stated, the window of opportunity for THIS BODY to act in correcting the egregious assault on private property rights is limited.

I am grateful that Councilman Burton agreed to meet with me along with other concerned citizens. I hope he decides to LEAD on this issue. The eye of the public is upon you. The choices that YOU make in the next few weeks will dictate the actions of THE CITIZENS in the future.

You were hired to represent us. I am respectfully request that you fulfill your duties as OUR REPRESENTATIVES.

Section 46 of the municipal code musty be amended, replaced or repealed in order to protect the rights of property owners in our community. Otherwise THE CITIZENS may consider an alternative.

Thank You" --Tunstall



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MCC comment: If such a direct and honest speech upset Mayor Owen then maybe he needs to consider what it is he is really upset about? The mayor will have to consider his re-election is approaching again in '08 and the community is now watching! They seem so concerned about image of the city via the hiring of the out of state PR/marketing firm with taxpayer monies they may want to consider a new council instead (that would help images).

Keep up with Sienna Plantation MUD #2 Board Minutes (remember this is the only fully homeowner controlled MUD board currently in our community)--

Follow the flow of finances out of district via the MUD board minutes through the title link above (Out of district pools, schools, parks projects). Will this take the district longer to pay down its debt?


Stay informed and keep in touch!

Get Local Elected Officials Finance Reports Free at KMBBB (formerly Brazosriver.com -- click this title link)

Brazosriver.com (now KMBBB.com) is run by former FB Star reporter and Richmond area resident Susan Bankston. A political site with much insider information and interesting opinion (not endorsed by MCC but certainly becoming a source for the latest breaking local political news --readers advisory suggested on the site -- some harsh language). One of the most helpful sources on the site is the free campaign finance reports of some of our more colorful local politicians in pdf format (she notes that our county, unlike many others, doesn't like to provide them via the county website, so she does it as a service with some commentary (an interesting read at which companies support which incumbents).

Stay informed and keep in touch as we enter another election season!

KHOU Special: HOAs Turning American Dreams Into Nightmares (Click title link for full story)

Follow the title link above as several stories on HOA nighmares were aired on the 10 o'clock news on CBS channel 11 (KHOU)...

Also see coverage of the Mo-City council battle raging over foreclosure/lien power and who repairs our sidewalks:

http://www.khou.com/news/local/fortbend/stories/khou070206_jj_missouricitysidewalks.598bc421.html

and see more on HOA abuse at: http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/2519/homeowners-without-protection-are-falling-to-foreclosures

***Oppose the industry lobby bill TUPCA and support HB 749 (which restores homeowner & property rights based on the TX Const. art. 16).

Get on the petition to help stop this at: http://www.petitiononline.com/homeback/petition.html


Stay informed and keep in touch!

From the Chronicle: Sienna School Zoning Gets FBISD Attention--

Fort Bend ISD, trustees get barrage of queries on zoning
Some parents object to repeated rezoning of pupils

By SESHADRI KUMAR
Chronicle Correspondent

The proposed zoning for Elkins and Hightower high schools, which hinges on splitting Sienna Plantation into two groups, is among issues eliciting a large number of comments from parents in the Fort Bend Independent School District.

Other issues are implementing a kindergarten-to-sixth-grade campus concept at nine elementaries and housing only grades 7-8 at Missouri City and Christa McAuliffe middle schools, establishing a gifted-and-talented middle school academy, and zoning for a new elementary in Telfair. . . .

--One resident made a popular suggestion for helping with over-crowding--

. . ."Leslie Bauer of Lake Olympia has two suggestions: one for long term and one for the short term. Bauer said the school district should lobby the Legislature and pass a law to make developers of big master-planned communities donate land and contribute to building schools. This is being done successfully in other states, she said." . . .(click title link above for more).


Don't miss the Hightower zoning meeting Feb. 15th at 6p. at the campus!


--Stay informed and keep in touch!--

From FBN: Zoning Battles Heat Up

Fort Bend ISD Board Gets An Earful From Parents Upset Over District Rezoning Plans
by Bob Dunn, Feb 12, 2007, 11 27 pm

After a Monday workshop in which Fort Bend Independent School District Board trustees made little apparent progress toward a final redrawing of school attendance zones, two groups of parents illustrated the difficulties inherent in that task.

At a regular FBISD board meeting Monday night after the workshop, parents packed the meeting room, and several assailed trustees over preliminary rezoning plans for the district. . . (click title link to get more).

Zoning props available at http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/cmf/default.cfm?module=tidbits§ion=parentlinks


Comment: If you are concerned about the over-crowding at our Sienna area schools and the proposed split of the high school attendance zone, then you may want to attend the nearest zoning meeting this Feb. 15th at Hightower. The mtg. will start at 6p.


Stay informed and keep in touch!

From FortBendWeb.com: Candidates Search Committee Makes Progress in Missouri City!

Candidates Search Committee Makes Progress in Missouri City!

With recent events involving Missouri City Officials and an administration that has become increasingly out of touch with the taxpayers of this community, with regard to issues like the long delayed Hospital for our town, refusal by council to support residents in their opposition to the landfill, rubber stamping thousands of apartments for developers, lack of investigation into ethics complaints filed last year against the mayor and the current attempt by some on council to extend the lien powers of the city in a cost shifting ordinance that requires homeowners to pay for public side-walks, a diverse group of area citizens formed up in 2006 to address these and other issues and seek out viable candidates is moving forward on the reform agenda. After recent meetings we have been fortunate enough to find three willing to go after district seats on council. In the forth-coming weeks we will release these names and engage in a door-to-door campaign to return local control to our citizens from the special interest now operating through our city officials. This attempt began last spring with the Owen/Poats mayoral contest and nearby Arcola races. Help continue this reform movement and effect positive change here locally! -(click title link for the full post from FBW)-

Related links:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/2541/in-missouri-city-sidewalk-policy-could-spark-a-political-uprising

http://www.fortbendweb.com/webapp/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=725#topcomment


Comment: This is great news for this area of Mo-City and Sienna!

Reform Needed at Missouri City Hall (Council elections coming this spring)

From FBN: In Missouri City, Sidewalk Policy Could Lead To A Political Uprising
Step on a crack, break your council’s back. – Old adage
Fort Bend Politics

By Bob Dunn

For some odd reason, an increasing circle of Missouri City residents and homeowners associations have discovered a city ordinance passed quietly in 2004 that has set off alarm bells and could wind up figuring prominently in the upcoming City Council elections. . . (click the title link for more and also see the front page report on the recent Fresno fire deaths).

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Rumor has it that a search committee is seeking council candidates and another meeting is scheduled (3 prospects this time around).

Stay informed and keep in touch!

From FBN: Homeowner Foreclosures Rising (TX is #1)

Follow this growing problem as Texas is listed as the highest state with actual numbers of foreclosure filings. Click the title link above or comment below in this blog.

Get on the petition drive to stop HOA foreclosures in your state. Go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?homeback

*****
Stay informed and keep in touch!

KHOU Piece On HOA Abuse: Click the title link to play the video--

With HOA foreclosure filings in the Houston area approaching the tens of thousands and Texas leading the nation in actual foreclosures, stay informed on issues placing your home and neighborhoods at risk. Visit http://pages.prodigy.net/hoadata/ to get the list/research of "enforcer" lawyers that file most often and see if they are working in Fort Bend County through a search on this website: http://courtcn.co.fort-bend.tx.us/pls/public/ck_public_qry_main.cp_main_idx.

Stay informed and keep in touch!

From FortBendWeb: Local Elections & Meetings That May Impact Our Area--

Click the title link above for the full story and don't forget the Mo-City side-walk committee meeting at town hall on Texas Pkwy at 7pm tonight (Weds). Will Sienna area residents be required to pay for the side-walks when they are eventually annexed?

FBISD school zoning meeting scheduled for Hightower on Feb. 15th at 6p. Please attend to discuss the over-crowding problems at Sienna area schools (Baines Middle School, Sienna Crossing & Scanlon Elem). . .



*****
Stay informed and keep in touch!

From Lakeside Press: An Interesting Piece On Business Ethics--

Why do the bad guys win? A psychiatrist looks for some answers



The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

-- Often attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797), but probably anonymous

Every profession has its bad apples. Law, medicine, architecture, accounting, real estate they all contain members who are an embarrassment to the vast majority of honest, ethical practitioners. In analyzing the myriad reports of victimized home owners, I am struck by how often the underlying, root cause in most horror stories seems to be 'bad people'. I don't mean the honest builder who makes a mistake. We all make mistakes. I mean those people who are dishonest, mean spirited, deceptive, deceitful; people who make mistakes and lie about them. People like our developer, Jake Cooper.

These people would rather spend money on lawyers to fight you instead of investigating your complaint or fixing the problem. They seem completely unconcerned about their reputation or your satisfaction. These are people who, because of deep seated psychological flaws, seek to hurt customers who complain instead of trying to help them. I believe that 'bad people' are responsible for much of the heartache and emotional trauma suffered by victims of defective construction.

Why do bad people get away with hurting others so easily, with causing so much trouble? The problem, of course, is not confined to the housing industry. Many best selling books have recounted the greed and dishonesty of people in the business world, of how they get away with their unethical behavior, and of the lawyers who help them succeed. Read these books for a flavor of what you are up against when the people selling you a product prove dishonest, or when they hire lawyers to fight a legitimate complaint. Several books of this genre are listed in the Bibliography.

These books cover such topics as the savings & loan scandal, Wall Street buyouts, stockbroker dishonesty and bank fraud. They are about complex dealings that involve lawyers, bankers, accountants, real estate executives, politicians and, above all, innocent people getting hurt. Some people see these stories as exemplifying the Greed of the 1980s. Others find in them signs of the decay of civilization. Still others see nothing more significant than a few bad guys getting caught with their hands in a gigantic cookie jar. Different people will no doubt come away with varying perspectives after reading these books.

Here's what I glean from the stories told in these books. Except for the most egregious of the players, like Dennis Levine, Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Charles Keating, and Robert Maxwell, most businessmen get away unscathed with unethical behavior that lines their pockets at the expense of innocent victims. Read these books and you will see that only a tiny percentage of the bad guys ever get caught or punished or penalized financially. The vast majority of unethical dealers get away completely with their chicanery. And the victims? Most of them never recoup anything more than a fraction of their losses. Billions lost to the S&L failures. Billions lost to BCCI. Billions lost to Drexal Burnham. And where do these billions of dollars come from? From thousands upon thousands of innocent people.

Of course, defective construction is seldom the result of conspiracy or fraud in the legal definition. People become victims when bad guys screw up and refuse to follow through, honor a guarantee, or make good on their work. Instead of outright, provable fraud, the root causes are much more mundane: incompetency, greed, inability to admit a mistake, lying, mean-spiritedness traits that are often displayed by 'bad people'.

Our architect and builder were incompetent by anyone's standard, and could not admit their mistakes. Our developer was greedy and provably dishonest. The defendants' lawyers did nothing meaningful to resolve the dispute or investigate our complaints. At no time was a realistic and honest offer made to fix our house, or satisfy our complaint. In any major dispute over defective construction, when the root cause is bad people, you will find a similar set of players, and similar consequences for the homeowners. . .(click title link above to read this very interesting piece on a industry very near to all of us, and our homes and families).

Related stories/links (more):

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012107dntswperryhomes2.3c4f952.html

http://www.fortbendnow.com/opinion/2519/homeowners-without-protection-are-falling-to-foreclosures#c009633

http://www.hobb.org/

http://www.hadd.com

http://www.ahrc.com

http://www.texaswatch.org/tw/

http://stoptexashoaforeclosures.com/

http://www.texashoareform.org/Links.html

And for a listing of the lawyers who file foreclosures for HOAs see:

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

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Stay informed and keep in touch!

FB Star Columns Discuss The Influence Of Special Interest, Landfill & More (Issues Impacting Our Sienna/Mo-City Area Community--

http://www.fortbendstar.com/Columns/burner.htm (follow this link).

Catch this weeks Bev's Burner which takes a closer look at the political money trail of some of our local officials and how the special interest (many of them out of area contributors) influence our politicians. This week a great story on Bob Hebert. You can get many of the commissioner reports free at: http://www.kissmybigbluebutt.com (formerly www.brazosriver.com).


--And follow the title link above (click on it) to get the latest on the landfill project near Missouri City recently discussed at the December '06 Sienna Plantation MUD2 board meeting. See http://www.spmud2.com/meetings.php -- with the fairly recent barium leaks recorded at the landfill site (and its ability to travel miles in the water table) you may want to get a second opinion on this one. Also see the efforts going on to work on the high flouride levels (by the Sienna MUDs).

--Zoning meeting at Hightower this Feb 15th will have the final FBISD approved plan. You may want to check this out with BBMS, Sienna Crossing & Scanlon Elem all projected to be well above functional capacity for 2007 and the proposed split of Sienna between high schools...


Stay informed and keep in touch!