© 2003, Guidry News
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© 2003, Guidry News
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Links: Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Galveston Independent School District Galveston College Board of Regents Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment Galveston Historical Foundation Steel Oleander Award Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association
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Galveston Independent School District The Galveston Independent School District Board of Education voted unanimous approval of reductions in force, totaling $3,589,466.74. The reductions include 50 teaching positions, but due to attrition, only 32 teaching positions are left to cut. Most of those teachers are expected to be placed in other positions. The cuts also include 27 professional and administrative positions and 83 para-professional positions. The names of the affected employees were not announced at Wednesday's special school board meeting; they all will be notified by letter today. During the next 28 days, attempts will be made to place them in other positions. At the next school board meeting, the trustees will be asked to give final approval to termination of the contractual employees on the list. Superintendent Lynn Hale can dismiss the para-professional employees without board action. "GISD has had a deficit budget for the past two years and is currently at the $1.50 tax cap for maintenance and operations," Hale said. "We also expect reductions in state funding." "In looking at the process, I commend it," said Trustee Deborah Jones. "I think it was fair." However, Jones lamented the action, which will reduce the number of social workers from eight to four. She cited the need to reduce truancy to avoid loss of average daily attendance funds from the state. "I must support these cuts to maintain financial credibility of the district," agreed David O'Neal. But, he too regretted the loss of social workers. "Police officers will be working on truancy," assured Hale. The school board also approved appointment of a new administrative staff. All of the appointees are currently on the GISD staff. Alice Benzaia was named executive director of business and finance, Dr. Kenneth Booth was named assistant superintendent for administration, Sheila Lidstone was named director of student services, Mary Patrick was named director of special populations, Dr. Rick Tullis was named chief performance officer, and Dr. Patricia Williams was named executive director of curriculum and instruction. Print
Version Houston
City Council Mayor Lee Brown announced on Wednesday that the city had been awarded over $8 million by the Department of Homeland Security for anti-terrorism preparedness. Houston is one of eight cities designated by the federal government as a prime target for a terrorist attack. Brown said the money will help alleviate the city’s budget problems. “That
money will help us out because we still would have had to
prepare for terrorist activity,” Brown said. Brown presented a proposed $400,000 contract with Camp, Dresser and McKee for consulting services designed to create a Stormwater Utility and Fee Structure, but several members of the city council had problems with it and used the tag rule to postpone consideration for one week. The
members who tagged the contract were Addie Wiseman, Bruce
Tatro, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, Annise Parker, Mark Ellis, Carol
Galloway, Michael Berry and Burt Keller. A related ordinance
scheduling a public hearing in June on the creation of a fund
for the Stormwater Utility Fund was tagged by Wiseman, Tatro,
Sekula-Gibbs and Berry. The
proposal is to increase water and sewer rates for the purpose
of improving flood control in the city. The project
would cost an estimated $85 million per year. Several
citizens appeared at the council’s public forum on Tuesday
opposing the project, and most city council members also spoke
out against the fee structure, citing a variety of reasons. Robinson criticized the idea of spending $400,000 with consultants whose job is to set up a fee structure. “If
all they’re doing is putting together the mechanics of the
fee – what is the fee?" Robinson asked. "We
haven’t discussed it.” The
proposed consulting contract does not include the possibility
of exemptions for churches, schools and county and city-owned
property which Robinson said could cause legal problems. He
notes that state law provides that property owners who have
“wholly sufficient” drainage systems will be exempt from
any fees relating to drainage. “I’m a lawyer," Robinson said. "I’ll tell you what wholly sufficient means. It means about $10 million in legal fees (to the city).” He said that many businesses would challenge the fee in court, claiming they have provided sufficient storm drainage on their properties. “Ya’ll
are about to screw the public on this," Robinson
charged. "Wouldn’t it be better if we made it
clear to people what we’re going to exempt?” “This
is a flashback to another plan to develop a subsidence
plan," Tatro said. "We spent $1 million on
consulting services to reduce ground water retention (in
2001). The plan went down the drain and we wasted a million
(dollars). We’ll develop a rate plan and it will be shot
down because it’s not palatable to voters.” “I’m
not going to say we can’t do it, but we first must sell to
the voters a drainage fee so an $85 million investment would
reduce billions in flood damage and increase property
values," said Keller. "We need to show we’re
thinking like a wheel, not a spoke.” Brown argued that if something is not done about flood control soon, the results could be disastrous for the city. “If we don’t do something, in 20 years the mayor of Houston is going to be here (still) talking about flooding.” Wiseman
said that most of the flood-prone neighborhoods in her
District E, which includes Clear Lake and Kingwood, would not
be receiving any flood control improvements, yet would still
be paying increased water and sewer rates. Listen Several
items were tagged or delayed for one week by council members: A
$641,533 contract with Chief Contractors, Inc. for sewer
repairs was tagged by Ellis. An
ordinance providing exceptions to contractor conntributions by
insurance companies was tagged by Tatro. A
$1,730,000 loan to finance a 346-unit low income apartment
complex at 10110 Westview Drive was tagged by Tatro. A
$1,784,853 contract with Holliday Door & Gate Systems, Inc
for overhead doors at fire stations was tagged by Wiseman and
Keller. An
amendment to a contract with Interstate Engineers, Inc was
delayed for one week on a motion by Ellis, who said Interstate
owed over $30,000 in city, county and school district taxes. Council member Gabriel Vasquez requested that the city grant slain Houston police officer Charles Clark an extra day of service, which would give his widow retirement benefits. Clark was killed in a botched robbery of a check-cashing service. He was one day shy of having 20 years on the force. Brown said he would request that the pension board look into the matter.
Galveston College Board of Regents John Sullivan, chair of the Galveston College Board of Regents Facilities Committee, presented conceptual drawings of a new entrance to the campus at 4015 Avenue Q. "We are going to go out for request for proposals architects to design an entrance for the college, which we haven't had in the past," Sullivan said, explaining that the drawing is to give the architects an example of the committee's concept. Listen Galveston College President Dr. Elva Concha LeBlanc reported that the appropriations bill which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee has reduced the cuts in community college. "If this passes, the most that we would be cut is 12.5 percent," LeBlanc said. "I never thought I would be ecstatic about that, but compared to the 31.9 percent, it is a better scenario." Douglas Wright, chair of the Student Activities Council and president of the National Honor Society Sigma Gamma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, reported to the board that the chapter won honors at a regional convention in Tyler, Texas. Wright had praise for faculty sponsor Cristina Cardenas, but complained that the college does not reimburse faculty sponsors for travel with organizations. "Travel expenses for advisors are currently raised by the chapter, even though Galveston College requires that an advisor be present at any student activity," Wright noted. Faculty
Senate President Joanne Gongora also complained that travel
expenses of faculty sponsors are not reimbursed by the
college. In addition, she related problems for students
caused by the reduction in courses during the summer
semester. Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District The Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District Board of Directors reviewed the 2002 Groundwater Report on Wednesday. "In general, groundwater pumpage did not change much from 2001 to 2002," reported Tom Michel, who prepared the report. "The change was actually a slight decrease of less than a million gallons a day." Listen Michel said conversion to surface water, combined with above average rainfall, accounts for the decrease. The board
of directors certified groundwater reduction plans for several
Harris County water authorities and approved the hearing
examiner's recommendations on water well permits. Galveston Zoning Board of Adjustment The Galveston Zoning Board of adjustment approved a side yard setback variance to facilitate reconstruction of the front porch of a dilapidated house at 1511 Church Street that has been purchased by Galveston Historical Foundation, to renovate. Leslie Sommer of GHF said the house was probably built about the time of the Civil War. "At that time, the present day ordinance would not have affected it," noted Commissioner John Theil. "Exactly," agreed Sommer. "They were not concerned about the side yard setback when it was put in its place." Sommer said the ZBA action is the final approval required before the house can be restored. It will be displayed to the public during the Historic Homes Tour on the first two weekends in May, in hopes of finding a buyer to return it to the tax rolls. The
variance was the only case on the ZBA agenda. Galveston Historical Foundation has announced that the 2003 Steel Oleander Award will be presented to Sally Wallace. The award “salutes an outstanding Galveston woman whose community service reflects the ideals and independent spirit of Miss Bettie Brown of Ashton Villa.” Selection of the recipient is based on an individual’s overall impact on and outstanding contributions to the Galveston community. Former recipients include Alfreda Houston, Jan Coggeshall, Barbara Crews, Lynn Cantini, Janice Stanton, Dr. Sally Robinson, Maureen Patton, Ruth Kempner and Marilyn Cohn Schwartz. “Sally Wallace is a visionary and a leader whose dedication to Galveston Island is remarkable,” states Marsh Davis, Executive Director of Galveston Historical Foundation. “Galveston would not be the city it is today, without the legacy of Sally Wallace," Davis said. "She truly typifies the spirit of the Steel Oleander Award and we are proud to honor her this year.” The
Steel Oleander Award Luncheon will be held at Garten Verein,
located at 2701 Avenue O in Galveston, on Thursday, May 29
at 11:30 a.m.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the
event, contact Beth Shriner at (409) 762-3933 or beth.shriner@galvestonhistory.org. Galveston Bay Conservation & Preservation State Representative John Davis has called upon the Texas Council on Environmental Quality to prevent development of a container port proposed at Bayport. Davis drew public applause and private thanks from bay area residents when he challenged TCEQ to stop the Bayport plan in its tracks, according to a news release issued by the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association. Congressman Nick Lampson has invited local students to participate in the 21st Annual Congressional Art Competition. "This is a great opportunity for high school students from the 9th District to share their creative talents with their community and with their country," Lampson said. The contest, An Artistic Discovery, is implemented by the Members and features paintings, drawings, prints, photography and computer art. Launched in 1982, this nationwide event has produced thousands of local competitions, yielding more than 500,000 high school winners. The competition will be held on April 26 from 10 a.m.- noon at Lamar University's Spindletop/Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Highway 69 at University Drive in Beaumont. All High School Students in the 9th Congressional District are eligible to participate. Entries must be received in Lampson's Beaumont office in the Jack Brooks Federal Building, 300 Willow Suite 322, Beaumont, TX 77701, no later than 2 p.m. Thursday, April 24. Teachers and/or students may
contact the Beaumont office at (409) 838-0061 to arrange for
pick up of artwork if they are unable to deliver art to the
office by the deadline date. This applies to schools and
students not living in Beaumont as well. Clear Creek Independent School District Early
registration for 2003-2004 kindergarten students residing in
the Clear Creek Independent School District will be held at
the District's 22 elementary schools during April and May. All
children who will be five years of age on or before September
1, 2003 are eligible for fall 2003 kindergarten classes. Parents must provide the following documents and information as part of the Kindergarten Roundup procedures. Students must have proof of identity, which can be a certified birth certificate, passport, alien registration card, or visa; a Social Security card; and proof of residency within the Clear Creek ISD boundaries, such as a utility bill, rent receipt showing name and address, or lease or purchase agreement. Immunization
records are also required to register a child for
kindergarten. The
San Jacinto College South drama department is presenting
"You're a Good Man Charlie Brown," a play based on
Charles Schultz's comic strip "Peanuts." A
matinee starts at The
play is director by Ralph Ehntholt. Sheleigh Carmichael,
south campus drama department chair, is artistic director.
David James Nolder of Houston stars as Charlie Brown. Tickets
are $5 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.
For additional information call (281) 922-3497. Unusually chilly temperatures on Wednesday prompted reports from two weather sources on Galveston Island. "At 7:20 a.m. the temperature dropped to 43 degrees at the Jamaica Beach Weather Observatory, making it the coldest April day on record," reported Jim O'Donnel. Report Galveston
weather observer Stan Blazyk noted that the city's
"official" low of 45 degrees, recorded at Scholes
International Airport at Galveston, "was the lowest
temperature since February 27th of this year and the coldest
April reading since a 44 degree low on April 7, 1996." Scheduled
Meetings
8:30 Galveston City Council Workshop |
Story Links, on the left side of this page, is composed of "bookmarks" to the stories in the newsletter. Click on the link to go directly to the article. Print individual articles by first clicking on the "Print Version" link, then using your regular print program. On The Online News Station, if you click on an audio cut and the photos stop loading, click on Refresh or Reload and they will resume. Gulf Coast E-news, published by Guidry News Service, provides comprehensive coverage of posted public meetings in Galveston, Harris and Jefferson Counties.
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Galveston Island in Galveston County and Clear Lake area reporters include Jinelle Boyd, Dedra Black, Jared Denniston, Jo Ann Gowing, and Renee' Webster. Scott Nowell covers Harris County Commissioners Court, Houston City Council, and meetings of organizations in downtown Houston. Carl Guidry, representing Guidry News Service in Jefferson County, covers Jefferson County Commissioners Court, Beaumont City Council and Port Arthur City Council. Gulf Coast E-news also covers regional organizations in the Gulf Coast area. Drew Gilbert, who covered the Galveston City Beat, was recently reactivated into the Coast Guard for the Iraq war. We are seeking additional reporters to expand our coverage in Jefferson County. Robert John Mihovil is a special photographic correspondent for Guidry News Service Gulf Coast E-news is interactive with The Guidry News Service Online News Station, providing coverage of special events and public meetings with photos and audio. Terry Arnold and Barbara Ward are marketing representatives for The Online News Station. Marketing representatives are being recruited in Harris and Jefferson counties. Subscriptions to Gulf Coast E-news are $300 per year, or $75 per quarter, plus sales and use tax. A fax-only version of the newsletter is available for $350 per year or $87.50 per quarter, plus tax. Current subscribers to Galveston Fax or Clear Lake Area E-news will automatically receive Gulf Coast E-news.
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