Howdy WHA Members!
At the federal level the legislature has been battling over the budget. Meanwhile, here in Texas the issues at hand are education and immigration. The Governor will be calling a third special session of the legislature next week. Locally, the biggest issue this past week is a toss-up between Houston City Council’s approval of most of the Livable Places initiatives and the ongoing mayor’s race. There are also some important ballot initiatives going on, and early voting starts October 23rd.
You might have noticed an informative write-up by WHA Sustainable Infrastructure Committee member Maurice Mullaly (DAC Engineering) regarding Mass Timber in this month’s newsletter. We hope to include a WHA Member written piece each month on topics you should be aware of. If you are interested in putting a piece together for the newsletter, please let us know.
Next week, on October 11th we will be holding our Public Officials and Awards Reception. If you haven’t heard the news already, we will be recognizing Bill Callegari with our IMPACT Award! This award was last bestowed in 2019 and is WHA’s highest honor. We will also be recognizing City of Katy Administrator, Byron Hebert with this year’s Star of Excellence, and WHA Member Andrew Lang (BGE) with a Compass Award. The event will also be the early debut of our 2024 Development Map!
Next month, on November 16th we are having a special Texas Legislative Update with Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan. As a real-estate developer, Speaker Phelan is in a great position to understand the issues that relate to high-quality development, sustainable infrastructure, and long term planning. The Speaker will be participating in a Q&A discussion with WHA Government Affairs Committee Chair, Howard Cohen (Schwartz, Page & Harding).
If you are looking for something to do in the meantime, join some of our committees on unique outings or drop in on a committee meeting. On October 10th you can join the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee in taking a tour of Cross Creek Ranch or attend the Education & Workforce Committee meeting that afternoon. On October 13th you can join the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Committee and get your hands dirty with at tree planting in partnership with Houston Wilderness. Also in October, the Regional Mobility Committee is meeting on the 16th and the Quality Planned Development Committee is meeting the 19th. If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for these committees, or any others, please let us know.
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 region!