See Missouri City's election results - Page 2, 6
Missouri City's Veterans Memorial monument, shown here from an aerial view, will be opened to the public on Veterans Day this Thursday. Read more about the project inside on Page 4. (Photo from Missouri City Facebook)
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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 46 • No. 12
Missouri City seeks to keep manager candidates secret By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Interviews with the eight candidates to become the next city manager of Missouri City were set to begin Monday. City leaders are seeking to withhold information about the applicants from the public, arguing the council could not properly consider candidates if residents knew their names and backgrounds. The Fort Bend
Star requested the candidates’ names from Missouri City officials, who have so far denied the request. In interviews with the Star, city council members said staff were following legal requirements, but that the council may involve the public later. “City is following the legal requirements for requests for records and, if there is such a plan, that the council may involve the public once the council has narrowed down the field,” Mayor
Elackatt
Robin Elackatt wrote. After officials refused to
release the names of city manager candidates, the Star filed an open records request on Oct. 19, seeking to obtain those names - something that typically falls under public information. Missouri City is in the midst of searching for its third city manager in two years, having paid out almost $1 million in severance payments to its last two ousted city managers. An expert in Texas public records laws argued the city’s efforts are atypical, given that
city manager searches have traditionally fallen under the purview of the public, and that Missouri City is relying on an exception that stretches believability. “Even as broadly as the exception has been applied, this is a new low,” said Joseph R. Larsen, a Houston attorney and a member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas’
SEE MO CITY PAGE 9
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Fort Bend commissioners approve new precinct maps By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
The bitter, partisan fight over redistricting has come to Fort Bend County. After weeks of the debate, the Fort Bend County commissioners court late last week voted to approve a new precinct map along party lines, with County Judge KP George and Democratic commissioners Grady Prestage and Ken DeMerchant voting in favor, with Republican commissioners Vincent Morales and Andy Meyers opposed. “We listened to the concerns of the public over these past several weeks and the desire for more equitable representation,” George said. “The map I presented best represents the county and is reflective of the growth and changes in our community. This is historic, we set out to achieve proportional, fair and equitable for all Fort Bend County residents. The approved map is the consensus of all voices and brings everyone together.” In the days since Friday’s vote, however, the reaction has been far from unanimously positive. “I oppose this map on behalf of the overwhelming majority of the proposed Precinct 4 residents who would have to drive past the Katy annex in order to drive another 30 miles round trip to reach precinct offices in Richmond,” Morales said ahead of the
SEE MAPS PAGE 9
Children of Park Youth Ranch's nonprofit emergency homeless shelter sleep on the grass in front of Sugar Land City Hall to demonstrate conditions faced by homeless students in Fort Bend, of which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates there is at least 1,500. (Contributed photo)
Homeless students a concern in county, experts say By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
By official U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development numbers, there are only about 12 homeless people living in Fort Bend County. But that deceptively small number neglects the 1,500 or more students in the county who have turned to couch surfing, living in buildings without power or water and even staying in storage units to make ends meet, said Shannan Stavinoha, the executive director of the Fred & Mabel R. Parks
cally serves between 120 and 130 children per year, Stavinoha said. And so officials with the shelter are using November, which is homeless youth awareness month, to spread word about the issues across the county. Over the weekend, for instance, a group of high school juniors and seniors showed up to Sugar Land Town Square Plaza to participate in Another Night Out – an awareness event meant to teach about the hardships of at-risk and homeless youth, according to the shelter. Participants made signs, brought bedrolls
and spent hours outside, among other activities. As of the 2018-19 school year – the most recent year for which data is available – there were around 1.38 million homeless students across the country, according to data from the National Center for Homeless Education. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development calculates homeless numbers based on something called the Point in Time Count, which bases its number on how many people are found in the streets on a given night.
But school districts based their homeless counts on definitions spelled out by the McKinney-Vento Act, Stavinoha said. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a 1987 piece of federal legislation that considers any student homeless if that student lacks a permanent home address. In Fort Bend County, that definition makes more sense to describe the types of homelessness that area students struggle with, she said.
SEE HOMELESS PAGE 4
Eight people die in Astroworld tragedy By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
George
Youth Ranch. “One thing you find in Fort Bend County is a ton of students who couch surf,” Stavinoha said. “We have a ton of people living in inadequate housing. It could be because of financial hardship, it could be because Fort Bend County has a lack of affordable housing opportunities – so the housing these families can afford is unsuitable.” Parks Youth Ranch, which first opened in 2011, is the only nonprofit emergency shelter in Fort Bend County for homeless youth. The facility can house up to 28 children at any given time, and typi-
A music festival headlined by Missouri City native Travis Scott took a tragic turn last Friday as eight people were killed and many more were injured when the crowd began to surge uncontrollably, according to multiple reports. The Astroworld Festival
at Houston’s NRG Park drew about 50,000 attendees, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. The second day of the festival was called off after the incident, which reportedly led to eight deaths of festival attendees between the ages of 14 and 27. “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place (last Friday) night,” Scott wrote Saturday on Twitter. “My
prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.” According to a report from Variety, Scott will provide full refunds for all
Astroworld attendees and canceled a show he was scheduled to perform this Saturday, Nov. 13, in Las Vegas. As of Monday afternoon, Scott and other Astroworld event organizers were already facing at least a dozen lawsuits, according to the Harris County District
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