Richmond man convicted of murder, see page 2
Facilities Master Planning Underway Feedback is requested as the Facilities Master Planning process continues April 4 • TODAY
Marshall High School, Missouri City
April 10
Elkins High School, Missouri City
April 11
Austin High School, Sugar Land
All meetings will be held from 7 – 9 p.m. and will be recorded. www.fortbendisd.com/facilitiesmasterplan
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 4, 2018
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 40 • No. 34
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Hebert talks about county’s success, challenges Doesn’t pull punches with Legislature By Joe Southern JSOUTHERN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert painted a rosy picture of the state of the county but also pulled no punches while discussing problems during his annual address to the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce and guests last Thursday. The annual State of the County address was given during a luncheon at Texas Safari Ranch where Hebert talked about everything from property taxes and recovery from Hurricane Harvey to new and improved roads and facilities throughout the county. “We have had four declared presidential emergencies in Fort Bend County in the last three years,” he said, referring to floods, the last from Hurricane Harvey.
He said FEMA received 22,800 registrations from the county; 6,800 of which were flooded homes. The rest were cars, mobile homes, trailers, and such. “It’s still an ongoing disaster and we have to be aware of that,” he said. He said compared to neighboring counties, Fort Bend came out in good shape. “On a scale of disaster, Harris County had a tremendous disaster,” he said. Hebert said the county has requested $88 million in federal aid to help those rebuilding their homes, as well as for construction of flood control structures and erosion control. He also noted that many people suffered flooded homes due to a manmade response to the storm. “We can’t lose sight of the fact that the people behind the Barker Reservoir did not suffer from a natural disas-
ter. They were injured, they were damaged, they were flooded out of their homes by a manmade necessity (opening of flood gates),” he said. “It shouldn’t have happened; it should never have been allowed to happen.” Hebert also dished out some criticism for the state Legislature. He praised the local representatives for helping stave off a 4 percent revenue cap, saying caps only hinder growth and do not lower property taxes. “We fought off a 4 percent cap. They said they’d be back and they came back with a 2.5 percent cap,” he said. “I’d love to do away with all property tax if someone can show me a way to pay for government and not levy a property tax,” Hebert added. He displayed pie charts showing that public schools take more than half of the property taxes collected in
by Joe Southern)
the state. “Lower property tax can be achieved by restructuring financing of public education,”
he said, clarifying that he is not opposed to giving schools more money. “They need more money. We need to find
a way to get that money and
SEE COUNTY, PAGE 3
Attwater’s prairie chickens dealt critical blow by Hurricane Harvey
Fort Bend receives five Opportunity Zones
By Joe Southern JSOUTHERN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
From staff reports FOR THE FORT BEND STAR
Five areas in Fort Bend County are among the 628 census tracts that Gov. Greg Abbott has recommended for designation in the Opportunity Zone Program, an initiative established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The program provides tax incentives to encourage investment in low-income areas, with eligible census tracts having at least a 20 percent poverty rate and median family income of no more than 80 percent of the region’s median income, among other criteria. “Opportunity zones give us a new tool for our economic development toolbox, and, better still, we can use them to create jobs in economically disadvantaged communities,” said Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert. The largest identified tract
Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert delivers the State of the County address March 29 at Texas Safari Ranch during a luncheon hosted by the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce. (Photo
Gov. Greg Abbott has identified five census tracts in Fort Bend County as opportunity zones, an initiative created in the Tax Cuts and Job Acts of 2017 to encourage investment in low-income areas. (Submitted graphic)
in Fort Bend County is along Highway 36 west of Rosenberg including portions of Beasley extending north of Highway 90A to the Brazos River. “This area is critical to the commercial, industrial, manufacturing and infrastructure development in Fort Bend County because of its proximity to Highway 36, the deep-water Port Freeport and class 1 railroads operat-
ing in the area,” said Jeffrey C. Wiley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Fort Bend Economic Development Council. “While we are very pleased with this designation and the much-needed boost it offers to this area of Fort Bend County, it is disappointing that the contiguous tract designated to the west was
SEE ZONES, PAGE 4
Hurricane Harvey was devastating in many ways, but what few people realize is it pushed a critically endangered bird species very close to the brink of extinction. The Attwater’s prairie chicken once flourished across the prairies of coastal Texas. Now there are just a few left and the floods of the last two years have nearly decimated the population. Two years ago there were 126 Attwater’s prairie chickens at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, located between Sealy and Eagle Lake. Today there are 12. “Spring of 2016 was the highest count that we have had here in over 20 years. We had 126 birds in that spring count,” said Acting Refuge Manager John Magera. He said the late summer releases from captive breeding programs really boosted the numbers of the birds living in the wild. Then Mother Nature turned her back on the prairie chickens. “The Tax Day flood hit in April 2016 and that put 16 inch-
A critically endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken struts its stuff recently at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. There are only 12 of the birds living wild on the refuge, down from 126 two years ago. (Photo by Joe Southern)
es of rain in the San Bernard basin just north of the refuge. … That put about a third of the ref-
SEE ATTWATERS, PAGE 3
Community leaders push Fort Bend ISD for single-member districts By Theresa D. McClellan FOR THE FORT BEND STAR
When state Rep. Ronald Reynolds called a community meeting to discuss changing the way the Fort Bend Independent School District governs, he only heard from two school trustees. That lack of interest in other viewpoints, said Reynolds, is a telling example of why there needs to be single-member districts. “The only one here was African-American. Why weren’t the others here? These are all their constituents here. That doesn’t say they are open to listening to other ideas. This is not a racial issue, it’s about equity,” Reynolds said after the meeting. On Monday, Fort Bend ISD
Realtor Tremain Chatman, state Rep. Ron Reynolds, and the Rev. David Sincere answer questions at the Rise Up for Real Representation Forum held last week in Missouri City. (Photo by Theresa D. McClellan)
Board of Trustees President Kristin Tassin told the Fort Bend Star that it would violate the state’s open meeting laws for a majority of the board to attend such a meeting. She also said that she and several other board members had scheduling conflicts with the meeting time. “I have personally met twice
with Representative Reynolds on that, so it’s really not accurate to say he’s only heard from two board members,” Tassin said. She said the board’s position has been made clear that they would consider single-member districts if the community presented a petition to have it on the ballot for a vote. So far that
has not happened. FBISD Trustee Addie Heyliger, who is black and lives in Fresno, attended the session and the board’s only other racial minority, KP George, who also supports single-member districts, said he had a prior engagement. The seven-member FBISD school board is predominately white. The district is the most racially and ethnically diverse in the nation, said Reynolds. “You look at the demographics. The district is majority minority but that diversity is not reflected on the board,” Reynolds said. At issue, said Vanesia Johnson, is representation and buy-in from all trustees. Johnson, a former FBISD candidate
SEE DISTRICTS, PAGE 4
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