Residents of Houston, who are tired of street flooding and the city’s aging drainage system, are another step closer to voting on some relief .
Pending city council approval, the proposed city charter amendment will be placed on the November ballot.
ReNew Houston has issued the statement below. There is expected to be some opposition to this plan from some who view the proposed funding mechanism as another tax.
Houston Voters Can Now Choose to Rebuild City’s Crumbling Streets and Drainage System
Houston, TX – The ReNew Houston Campaign is pleased to announce it has met state requirements for qualified signatures from registered Houston voters to call for a charter amendment to create a dedicated funding source to improve and renew Houston’s decaying streets and drainage system. In other words, ReNew Houston is certified!
City Secretary Anna Russell has checked and validated 21,197 signatures, which is more than the 20,000 required by the state for a petition to call for a city charter amendment. In a letter July 30, 2010, to Mayor Annise Parker and Members of City Council, Russell says, “A sufficient number of valid signatures were checked without the necessity of checking the balance of the submitted signatures.” City Council must now approve placement of the ReNew Houston charter amendment on the November 2, 2010 ballot for consideration by Houston voters.
During the next three months ReNew Houston will continue efforts to educate Houston voters and gain their support for the charter amendment, which provides a responsible solution to pay for fixing Houston’s crumbling streets and drainage system. Most Houstonians understand that our drainage and street problems contribute to costly flooding which threaten our homes and property. Most Houstonians don’t want to wait decades to solve this problem, while city streets and drainage systems continue to deteriorate and lessen the value of Houston’s neighborhoods.
Funding for the Dedicated Drainage and Street Renewal Fund would come from development impact fees, a new drainage fee, conversion of current street and drainage bond expenditures to a pay-as-you-go system, and the use of third party revenues that are committed to drainage, streets and mobility improvement project purposes.
For more information on ReNew Houston go to: www.renewhouston.org.
Mary Benton Media 