President’s Desk: November 2022

Howdy WHA Members! 

October has been an exciting month for both the West Houston Association and the Astros!  On October 6th we held our Westside City Council Forum featuring City of Houston Councilmembers Amy Peck (District A), Tiffany Thomas (District F), and Mary Nan Huffman (District G). The conversation focused on infrastructure priorities, housing, and flooding. Then on October 15th we had a full house for our Quality Planned Development committee meeting. It was great to see standing room only in our conference room to discuss the future of the QPD recognition program and an upcoming symposium in 2023. 

Other committees have also been busy this past month. The Regional Mobility committee met with Yi-Chang Chiu, Founder and CEO of Metropia Inc., who provided an inside look at the new Houston ConnectSmart app, our Education & Workforce committee toured the Spring Branch ISD Guthrie Center, and our Parks, Recreation, and Greenspace committee met with David Loe, Harris County Precinct 4 Parks Director at John Paul Lading Enviornmental Education Center to discuss the future of trails in the region.  

On October 28th, our Rising Leaders participated in their last session, learning and discussing government and policy related to development. The morning started with Council Member Sallie Alcorn providing a look into her role as an at-large council member and as Chair of the Regulatory and Neighborhood Affairs Committee. Then Patricia Knudson Joiner shared her wealth of knowledge on annexation and the ETJ. Followed by Howard Cohen, Board Member and Chair of our Government Affair Committee, discussing WHA’s legislative affairs committee and our upcoming legislative agenda.  

Based on feedback from our Committee Chairs during an August retreat, we will be piloting a new program in 2023, WHA Fellows. The program will provide an opportunity for upper level college and graduate students to learn about challenges facing the Greater West Houston region and engage with those challenges head on through direct participation on one of our committees. This program is limited to six participants each year, with no more than one fellow per committee.  

Speaking of committees, we have some meetings coming up: Sustainable Infrastructure on November 9th, Government Affairs on November 14th, Water Resources on November 17th, Membership on November 18th, and Regional Mobility on December 5th.  If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for any committee, please let us know.  

On December 1st please join us for our Annual Awards Celebration where we will recognize our 2022 Rising Leaders,  Compass Award recipients,  Sustainable Stars and our annual Star of Excellence. I’m excited to let you know that this year’s Star of Excellence recipient will be Texas State Representative Jim Murphy, who has advocated tirelessly for the greater West Houston region in the legislature for 14 years, overseen the Westchase District for over 20 years, and at one time served on the staff of the West Houston Association. Join us in thanking him for all the work he has done! There is no charge to attend for members thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, but we do ask that you please RSVP to ryann@westhouston.org.  

Thank you for your support of the West Houston Association and working to improve quality of life for the 2,000,000+ people who live, work, and play across the Greater West Houston region!