F ORT B END FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. ww ww w.fbindependent.com .fbindependent.com P.O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010 VOL 3 No. 22 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID STAFFORD, TX PERMIT NO.10 Seshadri Kumar Publisher & Editor 10701 Corporate Drive, #282, Stafford, TX 77477 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, TX 77487 www.fbindependent.com 281-980-6745 Fort Bend Independent is published every Wednesday (for a sub- scription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodical post- age application pending. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487. On Monday, I accessed the much-maligned crime map on the Sugar Land Po- lice Department’s website. I searched for crimes within five miles of the city hall for the month of May. It covered the entire city and showed about 100 crimes including assault, burglary, theft, auto burglary, robbery and crimi- nal mischief. I checked the websites of Ultimate Fort Bend and Fort Bend Now for crime sto- ries reported in May because these two news sources relied heavily on Sugar Land’s daily crime report. Ultimate Fort Bend had one report, “Six masked men rob Sugar Land couple in River- Park,” May 10, but Fort Bend Now did not report it, though the police crime map showed the incident. Ultimate Fort Bend pub- lished four press releases is- sued by the city in that period and Fort Bend Now published two. Ultimate Fort Bend also had another story, “Man accused of writing threatening letters.” It was an arrest made on May 26. The reporter got a tip and followed up the story with city spokesman Doug Adolph. Fort Bend Now did not carry this story. However, Fort Bend Now had a story of a school student claiming he was robbed in the Sugar Mill area, but the police department does not show that crime on the map. Another Fort Bend Now exclusive was about a Sugar Land man caught uri- nating in public by the West University Police. Also, in March, there was a burglary at County Attorney Roy Cordes’ home in Sugar Creek and a local paper carried the report. The city did not is- sue a press release. A couple of days later, CrimeStoppers announced an award for solv- ing this crime. Ultimate Fort Bend reported this story, but not Fort Bend Now. Well, if the city had “mapped” 100 crimes in May, why there were only a handful of reports? See Page 3 Inside Track By Seshadri Kumar childrensmemorialhermann.org • 713.222.CARE Children’s Emergency Center Now Open. Fort Bend Salutes America CUTEST BABIES. Sugar Land Town Square recently held its third annual Sugar Land’s Cutest Contest. The cutest kids were named in four categories including, Baby (0-12 months), above left, Winner – McKenna Marsters, right, First Runner Up – Brock Alexander Dorsey, middle, and Second Runner Up – Falyn E. McCurdy, left. Above right, Category “Toddler 1” (13-24 months) Winner – Caitlin Marie Lardizabal, right, First Runner Up – Aralynn Weesner, middle, Second Runner Up – Keanu Barranco, left; Below left, Category “Toddler 2” (25-36 months) Winner – Roark Alexander Meza, right, First Runner Up – Aidan Abbasi , middle, Second Runner Up – Alexander Leffew, left. Below right, Category “Preschooler” (37-47 months) Winner – Caleb Petry, right, First Runner Up – Allison Vu, middle, Second Runner Up – Michael Gibson III , left. At the Fort Bend Salutes America countywide Memorial Day ceremony at Fulshear on Monday, participants unfurled and held a 100- foot American flag as Deb- bie Fancher captured the spirit of patriotism through her powerful ren- dering of God Bless Amer- ica. After Mayde Creek High School NJROTC An online news website report that Sugar Land is mis- leading the public and media about the city’s true crime picture is not accurate, says Steve Griffith, Sugar Land’s assistant city manager. The city did not “shut down” media access to crime reports, as alleged, because of e-mail exchanges between council members, the com- munication department and the police department, Grif- fith said. “The reporter has taken pieces of information and wove a story, without ever interviewing a single staff member to explain the content or the context of the emails. They have not shown us that courtesy,” he said. To know the truth and accu- rate information on crime re- ports on the city website, one should look at the presentation made by Police Chief David Brinkley before city council March 16, where this issue has been thoroughly explained. Here is the web link— http:// www.sugarlandtx.gov/city_ hall/city_secretary/agendas/ Y2010/031610cc/031610cc. asp The SLPD has been work- ing for the past year to provide information to the residents in a more efficient manner. Though the manner of access to the crime reports changed, the information was never turned off, Griffith said. Most people want to know what happens in their neigh- borhoods. The map format provides the same informa- tion as before but is limited to Part 1 crimes. The city council is sup- posed to look at policies and broad issues. Other cities did not get the same volume of crime coverage as Sugar Land did and they wanted to know why. The focus of the city is on informing the public direct- ly, for which e-policing and newsletters are used, in ad- dition to the media, Griffith said. Crime prevention officers in each beat keep the residents of their neighborhoods informed of any crime in that area, and those who sign up get this in- formation via e-mail from the police officer assigned to that beat. (More on Page 6) Sugar Land rebuts allegation on shutting down crime data for media Appearances can be deceptive; need to ask questions Grand Parkway toll road project moves ahead By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend County Com- missioners last week paved the way for the construction of Grand Parkway Segment D from U.S. 59 to Westpark Toll Road as a toll road. County commissioners au- thorized an investment grade study for the 12-mile segment, involving eight overpasses. The project will eliminate 11 at-grade intersections. Overpasses will be built at West Riverpark, New Terri- tory, Sandhill/U.S. 90 A/ FM 1464, West Airport, Harlem, Mason/Morton Road, Bel- laire and Westpark Tollway/ FM 1093. All traffic would be able to use the existing roadway without paying toll and only the overpasses will be tolled via electronic toll system, Pre- cinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said. The portion of segment D from Westpark to I-10, about five miles, is complete in its configuration and will remain a free road. The estimated project cost of phase 1 is $143.3 million. A separate corporation will be set up to build and maintain the Grand Parkway Toll Road. Bonds will be issued for the project and toll revenue will be used to repay the debt. The excess toll revenue cannot be used for any other project and can be used only for Grand Parkway. Under the current state law, as stipulated by SB 792, the county has acquired the right to build the toll road from Tx DOT and the construction contract should be signed by Sept. 7, 2011. Additional work on the ex- isting pavement, two direct connectors at Westpark and the future overpass at Peek Road will cost an additional $84 million. The county has to complete an environmental study for Segment C from U.S. 59 to Brazoria County line, but that project may be many years away. In the meantime, any excess revenue may be used in other parts of the Grand Parkway project. presented the Colors, Dist. 28 State Rep. John Zerwas and Fort Bend County Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers led the Pledge of Allegiance. Fulshear Mayor Tommy Kuykendall gave wel- come remarks. County Judge Bob Hebert presented a procla- mation, and Troy E. Nehls, Pct. 4 Constable and chairman of Fort Bend Salutes America, accepted it. Kevin John, Fort Bend ISD’s Baines Middle School student, delivered a speech titled “Message of Freedom.” Former Sugar Land Mayor David Wal- lace led the wreath ceremony as Boy Scouts of Fort Bend placed wreaths in memory of the fallen soldiers. Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard gave a 21-gun salute. —Photo by SESHADRI KUMAR
Fort Bend Independent is published every Wednesday (for a sub-scription rate of $20 per year) by Fort Bend Independent, LLC., 10701 Corporate Dr., #282, Stafford, Texas 77477. Periodical post-age application pending. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fort Bend Independent, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Tx 77487.
On Monday, I accessed the much-maligned crime map on the Sugar Land Po-lice Department’s website. I searched for crimes within fi ve miles of the city hall for the month of May. It covered the entire city and showed about 100 crimes including assault, burglary, theft, auto burglary, robbery and crimi-nal mischief.
I checked the websites of Ultimate Fort Bend and Fort Bend Now for crime sto-ries reported in May because these two news sources relied heavily on Sugar Land’s daily crime report.
Ultimate Fort Bend had one report, “Six masked men rob Sugar Land couple in River-Park,” May 10, but Fort Bend Now did not report it, though the police crime map showed the incident.
Ultimate Fort Bend pub-lished four press releases is-sued by the city in that period and Fort Bend Now published two.
Ultimate Fort Bend also had another story, “Man accused of writing threatening letters.” It was an arrest made on May 26. The reporter got a tip and followed up the story with city spokesman Doug Adolph.
Fort Bend Now did not
carry this story. However, Fort Bend Now had a story of a school student claiming he was robbed in the Sugar Mill area, but the police department does not show that crime on the map. Another Fort Bend Now exclusive was about a Sugar Land man caught uri-nating in public by the West University Police.
Also, in March, there was a burglary at County Attorney Roy Cordes’ home in Sugar Creek and a local paper carried the report. The city did not is-sue a press release. A couple of days later, CrimeStoppers announced an award for solv-ing this crime. Ultimate Fort Bend reported this story, but not Fort Bend Now.
Well, if the city had “mapped” 100 crimes in May, why there were only a handful of reports?
See Page 3
Inside Track
By Seshadri Kumar
c h i l d r e n s m e m o r i a l h e r m a n n . o r g • 71 3 . 2 2 2 . C A R E
Children’s Emergency Center Now Open.
Fort Bend Salutes America
CUTEST BABIES. Sugar Land Town Square recently held its third annual Sugar Land’s Cutest Contest. The cutest kids were named in four categories including, Baby (0-12 months), above left, Winner – McKenna Marsters, right, First Runner Up – Brock Alexander Dorsey, middle, and Second Runner Up – Falyn E. McCurdy, left. Above right, Category “Toddler 1” (13-24 months) Winner – Caitlin Marie Lardizabal, right, First Runner Up – Aralynn Weesner, middle, Second Runner Up – Keanu Barranco, left; Below left, Category “Toddler 2” (25-36 months) Winner – Roark Alexander Meza, right, First Runner Up – Aidan Abbasi , middle, Second Runner Up – Alexander Leffew, left. Below right, Category “Preschooler” (37-47 months) Winner – Caleb Petry, right, First Runner Up – Allison Vu, middle, Second Runner Up – Michael Gibson III , left.
At the Fort Bend Salutes A m e r i c a countywide M e m o r i a l Day ceremony at Fulshear on Monday, participants unfurled and held a 100-foot American fl ag as Deb-bie Fancher c a p t u r e d the spirit of p a t r i o t i s m through her powerful ren-dering of God Bless Amer-ica. After Mayde Creek High School N J R O T C
An online news website report that Sugar Land is mis-leading the public and media about the city’s true crime picture is not accurate, says Steve Griffi th, Sugar Land’s assistant city manager.
The city did not “shut down” media access to crime reports, as alleged, because of e-mail exchanges between council members, the com-
munication department and the police department, Grif-fi th said.
“The reporter has taken pieces of information and wove a story, without ever interviewing a single staff member to explain the content or the context of the emails. They have not shown us that courtesy,” he said.
To know the truth and accu-
rate information on crime re-ports on the city website, one should look at the presentation made by Police Chief David Brinkley before city council March 16, where this issue has been thoroughly explained. Here is the web link— http://www.sugarlandtx.gov/city_hall/city_secretary/agendas/Y2010/031610cc/031610cc.asp
The SLPD has been work-ing for the past year to provide information to the residents in a more effi cient manner. Though the manner of access to the crime reports changed, the information was never turned off, Griffi th said.
Most people want to know what happens in their neigh-borhoods. The map format provides the same informa-
tion as before but is limited to Part 1 crimes.
The city council is sup-posed to look at policies and broad issues. Other cities did not get the same volume of crime coverage as Sugar Land did and they wanted to know why.
The focus of the city is on informing the public direct-ly, for which e-policing and
newsletters are used, in ad-dition to the media, Griffi th said.
Crime prevention offi cers in each beat keep the residents of their neighborhoods informed of any crime in that area, and those who sign up get this in-formation via e-mail from the police offi cer assigned to that beat.
(More on Page 6)
Sugar Land rebuts allegation on shutting down crime data for media
Appearances can be deceptive; need to ask questions
Grand Parkway toll road project moves ahead
By SESHADRI KUMARFort Bend County Com-
missioners last week paved the way for the construction of Grand Parkway Segment D from U.S. 59 to Westpark Toll Road as a toll road.
County commissioners au-thorized an investment grade study for the 12-mile segment, involving eight overpasses.
The project will eliminate 11 at-grade intersections.
Overpasses will be built at West Riverpark, New Terri-tory, Sandhill/U.S. 90 A/ FM 1464, West Airport, Harlem, Mason/Morton Road, Bel-laire and Westpark Tollway/FM 1093.
All traffi c would be able to use the existing roadway without paying toll and only the overpasses will be tolled via electronic toll system, Pre-cinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said.
The portion of segment D from Westpark to I-10, about fi ve miles, is complete in its confi guration and will remain a free road.
The estimated project cost
of phase 1 is $143.3 million.A separate corporation will
be set up to build and maintain the Grand Parkway Toll Road. Bonds will be issued for the project and toll revenue will be used to repay the debt.
The excess toll revenue cannot be used for any other project and can be used only for Grand Parkway.
Under the current state law, as stipulated by SB 792, the county has acquired the right to build the toll road from Tx DOT and the construction contract should be signed by Sept. 7, 2011.
Additional work on the ex-isting pavement, two direct connectors at Westpark and the future overpass at Peek Road will cost an additional $84 million.
The county has to complete an environmental study for Segment C from U.S. 59 to Brazoria County line, but that project may be many years away. In the meantime, any excess revenue may be used in other parts of the Grand Parkway project.
presented the Colors, Dist. 28 State Rep. John Zerwas and Fort Bend County Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers led the Pledge of Allegiance. Fulshear Mayor Tommy Kuykendall gave wel-come remarks. County Judge Bob Hebert presented a procla-mation, and Troy E. Nehls, Pct. 4 Constable and chairman of Fort Bend Salutes America, accepted it. Kevin John, Fort Bend ISD’s Baines Middle School student, delivered a speech titled “Message of Freedom.” Former Sugar Land Mayor David Wal-lace led the wreath ceremony as Boy Scouts of Fort Bend placed wreaths in memory of the fallen soldiers. Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Offi ce Honor Guard gave a 21-gun salute. —Photo by SESHADRI KUMAR
Page 2 • INDEPENDENT • JUNE 2, 2010
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Decked up in patriotic attire, a couple attends the Memorial Day event in Sugar Land.
WALL THAT HEALS. The city of Sugar Land paid tribute to the service members at a ceremony held at the Sugar Land Memorial Park, on May 31, Memorial Day. The Wall that Heals, a replica of Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., a traveling exhibit, was a highlight of the event. Below, visitors look at the wall.
Photos by RANDY KOZLOVSKY.
JUNE 2, 2010 • INDEPENDENT • Page 3
Community news
Bargain Book SaleFriends of First Colony ranch Library, 2121 Austin Park-
way at Grants Lake, Sugar Land, will hold their monthly bar-gain book sale on Saturday, June 5, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Good condition books, CD’s, DVD’s (no magazines/encyclopedias) may be donated during regular library hours or at the sale and are tax deductible. Children’s items are especially needed.
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By BARBARA FULENWIDERThe airing (and/or erring)
of a story on crime in the sub-urbs broadcast by Channel 11 two weeks ago has drawn protests from Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen, other elected offi cials of that town and citizens.
Numbers don’t lie, but they can be and calculated differ-ently. The result was Missouri City got smacked down when the TV news station reported it has a high crime rate. The TV station could have erred on that because the crime sta-tistics it compared were re-ported differently. Because of that , the crime analyst Chan-nel 11 used to compare the numbers ended up comparing apples to oranges rather than apples to apples.
Last January, the Missouri City Police Department, in its annual crime report to city council, noted that they switched to the Incident Based Reporting (IBR) of crimes rather than Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR). By using IBR, police offi cials record all crimes related to an incident.
For instance, if the mail-boxes in an entire neighbor-hood block are vandalized, Missouri City reports each as a separate crime under IBR
standards. Cities that use the UCR
method count those offenses as one incident.
The IBR method provides an accurate composite of crime that occurs within a ju-risdiction.
Currently Missouri City, as well as Pearland, Katy, Deer Park, Tomball and Galveston use IBR standards for report-ing crime.
The Channel 11 news story said it got crime data from 2006 to 2009 from 10 of the Houston area’s biggest sub-urbs and “hired the National Institute for Computer-Assist-ed reporting to analyze it.”
The results ranked the 10 cities ‘high,’ ‘low’ and in the ‘middle’ for total crime, and Missouri City came out on top as having more violent crime than Houston and hav-ing the highest number of to-tal crimes.
Neither is true, according to Missouri City Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, and the statis-tics bear him out.
“The labeling of Missouri City as a ‘high crime city’ was grossly inaccurate,” Fitzger-ald said to no avail.
“A fair comparison of Mis-souri City crime data (using a standard Uniform Crime
Report format) to the other cities in Channel 11’s report shows that Missouri City has the lowest crime rate per capita among cities in Fort Bend County with population of 50,000 to 100,000 and the second lowest crime rate per capita of all the cities in their report.
“Our data and methodol-ogy are supported and read-ily available for review. We presented this data to Channel 11 reporters but received no indication that they would re-assess their presentation,” the chief said.
Mayor Owen explained the difference in reporting crime stats using IBR and UCR standards this way: “If you are caught shoplifting at the mall in Sugar Land, you are given a simple citation. In Missouri City you are arrest-ed and taken to jail. Both are the same charges but citations are not reported as offenses. There are many such instanc-es that need to be uncovered. This burns me up that Chan-nel 11 never even wanted to respond to our concerns that not all cities play by the same rules.”
Fitzgerald said, “We con-tacted Channel 11 and tried repeatedly to obtain the
‘methodology’ used by the research company to no avail. Our concerns were the poten-tial problems that arise if a comparison is made using our IBR stats versus non-IBR re-porting cities’ UCR stats. Of the 10 cities examined, only four use IBR. The majority report crime in the UCR for-mat, thus a non-uniform com-parison would invalidate any study.”
The 2009 Offi cial Part 1 Crime Data-FBI-UCR of the 10 towns in the study show Missouri City’s crime rate second to the lowest.
The towns compared are Missouri City, Sugar Land, Conroe, Baytown, Pasadena, Humble, Pearland, Friend-swood, Katy and Houston.
According to the 2009 URC data, crime rates in the 10 towns compared from most to least start with Humble and are followed by Houston, Baytown, Conroe, Katy, Pas-adena, Pearland, Sugar Land, Missouri City and Friend-swood, which has the lowest rate.
Criminal statistics for mur-der, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft are reported to the FBI annually by all police de-partments in the U.S.
Crime: Apple to orange comparison doesn’t jibe
2009 Official Part 1 Crime Data-FBI-UCR (Source; www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/2009CIT.pdf)
I am not suggesting that the media is lazy. Ultimate Fort Bend does call Adolph to fol-low up on crime reports. Pos-sibly, the media is not inter-ested in “trivial” crimes any more.
I also suspect that the city’s communication department ticked off at least one report-er.
Unrelated to Councilman Russell Jones’ controversial email, Adolph had, a few days earlier, conveyed his displeasure to the two online reporters on their excessive exposure to Sugar Land and Missouri City crimes, while not reporting on other cities. An Ultimate Fort Bend re-porter replied: “We’re actu-ally working on getting more crimes/police news from some of the smaller entities...”
“Sounds good. Just don’t want our citizens to get the wrong perception,” replied Adolph.
A Fort Bend Now reporter said: “The Sugar Land and Missouri City reports are generated by me- the rest are generally either high profi le or press releases from the de-partments. Sugar Land and Missouri City are the main fo-cuses because of the size, and
the fact that as I am the only one who covers this site, I would be doing police reports all day if I did them all.”
After the crime report was switched to the map format, the Ultimate Fort Bend re-porter asked Adolph a series of questions about the change and Adolph answered them. The same information was given to Fort Bend Now as well.
While the Ultimate Fort Bend reporter continued to work with the available tool, the Fort Bend Now reporter felt the map was cumbersome and tedious and sought a daily call list from the police department. Adolph said the reporter should submit daily requests to the police depart-ment.
In a December 2009 e-mail pertaining to a story by the same reporter, Adolph and another city offi cial had ex-changed notes saying that “I was not too impressed with the story.”
Would this remark not make the reporter hostile to Adolph?
In journalism, successful reporters maintain a healthy relationship with sources and such sources, even when a negative story breaks, are not upset if the report is fair and accurate.
If only the “investigative reporter” had set aside her personal feelings and quoted the response of the city offi -cials, it would have blunted any criticism of unfair report-ing and one-sided story tell-ing.
I was initially reluctant to do a report criticizing another reporter’s work, or defending the city of Sugar Land, but decided to do so because the importance of the topic and professional issues involved.
The reporter probably had justifi cation in concluding that the city was shutting down access to her and that she had to go through the hoops instead of the cut and paste approach.
Also, experience in jour-nalism would show that ap-pearances can be deceptive sometimes. Even e-mails, when repeated verbatim, can be misconstrued if not read in the right context.
I also reviewed the e-mails Fort Bend Now obtained. I paid $7.60 for the copies. They are only a handful of the more than 3,000 e-mails that the city was ready to give to Fort Bend Now. It would have cost $850, and that reporter selected only a few.
Now, I owe an explanation on the lack of crime reports in this newspaper. Initially,
I used to publish the entire crime blotter in one full page. Because of space constraints, I have decided to publish crime reports only occasionally.
InsideFrom Page 1
By BILL & JARED JAMESONOne of the most important
investment decisions you make is the amount to put into each type of investment. For example, maybe you allocate the majority of your assets to stock mutual funds, some to individual bonds and the rest into CDs or cash. Studies show that the bulk of investor returns come from this initial decision, not timing the mar-ket or choosing great invest-ments.
However, it would be a mistake to assume that once you’ve established your ini-tial positions and invested your money, you’re done. As we know from 2008 and 2009, markets move rapidly and sometimes signifi cantly in one direction or another. Over time, these movements can change the overall mix of assets, which in turn can af-fect your returns.
For example, let’s assume a hypothetical portfolio of 50 percent stock and 50 per-cent fi xed income (bonds and cash). If the market de-clines by 50 percent and the fi xed income portion holds its value, then you have three-fourths what you started with. But the overall mix of the portfolio has changed as well. You now have one-third in stock and two-thirds in fi xed
income. The consequence is that if you don’t rebalance (i.e., bring the portfolio back in line with your original tar-get allocation), you will not fully participate in the market when it rebounds.
Rebalancing also reinforc-es the investment concept of buying low and selling high. When one asset class does better than the others, it be-comes a larger portion of the
portfolio and thus has more infl uence on your future per-formance than you originally intended. By selling the recent top performers and buying in-vestments that haven’t done as well, you protect yourself when that trend reverses.
A good rule of thumb is to check the overall allocation of your portfolio every three months. If you do it more often, you might be prone to
By JANICE SCANLANThe settlement for Quail
Valley Park with Renaissance Golf Group was indeed a wel-comed relief on a number of fronts. First, the legal wran-gling is over and not subject to appeal. That should help further stabilize the non-foreclosure housing market. Mayor Owen, the City and their attorneys are to be con-gratulated.
It was a relief that the set-tlement was reasonable. You can’t have something on the tax rolls for $6.59 million and expect a settlement price of $3.1 million. A jury trial could have resulted in a higher price as well as the threat of appeal and continuing legal fees for years. The City was wise to settle.
I certainly feel a debt of gratitude to the citizens of Missouri City for voting to save this open space that is populated with mature trees and wildlife. Digging into their pockets to make a bet-ter city shows foresight and a positive attitude toward Missouri City’s prospects. The economy since 2008 is a mixed bag at best, with the latest bad news for the Hous-ton area from the BP oil spill.
So with the genuine re-lief many feel, there are also several realities that need to be discussed so that people believe Missouri City is ade-quately addressing important issues. While discussion was constrained by the court case, with an appeal not being part of the picture, we now have an opportunity to rectify what has been a diffi cult and sen-sitive situation for every re-sponsible person who wants to see Missouri City thrive
and prosper. How are we going to pay
for this? We passed a $17.5 million bond issue 2008. However, we deferred $9.5 million from the 1994 Parks bond issue to get the land in 2007, and used it to redevelop the golf course and make the club house usable.
City Manager Frank Simp-son assured us repeatedly before we passed the 2008 bond issue that the $9.5 mil-lion that was deferred from other Parks & Recreation projects approved with bonds in 1994 would be returned to its original 1994 designated plans. If this money is being planned to be used all or in part on something other than the 1994 prioritized proj-ects, citizen input and buy-in seems common sense to keep this from becoming a fester-ing issue that could diminish city-wide support for Quail Valley Park.
We have spent $13.775 mil-lion on the land, golf course and existing clubhouse to date. While we have a million dollar grant for the tennis/recreation center, it has to be matched dollar for dollar. Can
we build any kind of decent community center for $2.725 Million with the designated funds for Quail Valley Park?
What have we done, be-sides mow the grass, on the Executive 9 and Par 3 des-ignated park land? Does our lack of factoring in those park projects contribute to home values? Moreover, where are the parks and trails in Quail Valley Park that impact many more people than golf and tennis and are way less ex-pensive and within our cur-rent means to build?
Taxpayers need to under-stand where we are going city wide. The Valley View News recognized that people are us-ing different measuring sticks for the Quail Valley Park with the response they got—and that’s primarily within Quail Valley. The Mayor and Council seem to have a mind-set for golf and tennis while many residents are wonder-ing where the park is in Quail Valley Park?
I’m not against either the community or rec centers per se. It’s where they fi t in priority and how we plan to pay for them. To sustain and nurture the city-wide support from 2008 for Quail Valley Park we need to ensure we’ve prioritized projects we can af-ford that use unencumbered funds. If we are shifting Park and Recreation priorities from the 1994 bond issue, we need to be clear how we are doing so.
But most of all, we need to keep the park parts of Quail Valley Park on the Council’s radar screens because they seem to keep falling off.
high school instructors that I ever worked with privately telling a student on the front row a fairly short statement that included factual details and having that student repeat the information privately to the student behind them. That was repeated 22 times in this case. By the time the last student re-ported what he had been told, there was little resemblance to the fi rst iteration. My point is that even factual information can be misunderstood, and we have had a case of that regard-ing the University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch (UH-SCR) campus.
The Cinco Ranch RumorApparently, there has been
a rumor going around that the UH System at Cinco Ranch campus may be closing. First, let me say that it is not! In fact, a task force appointed by Sen-ator Hegar and Representative Callegari is in place planning for the expansion of the high-er education offerings in the Katy area. Why the rumor? First, a little background. The University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch is a teaching center, where more than one member of the UH System (UH, UH-Downtown, UH-Victoria and UH-Clear Lake) can offer courses and pro-grams. Recently, as a part of strategic planning and focus, UH-Downtown has decided to discontinue offering cours-es at the UHSCR site in favor of expansion and participation at other sites. The announced change has likely been misin-terpreted by some as meaning the closing of the campus.
The TruthThe fact is that UH-Vic-
toria and UH will be taking over the programs previously offered by UH-Downtown. There is simply a shift in the provider. In contrast to any
plans for closure, the UHV School of Nursing has recent-ly expanded its offerings to the Cinco Ranch campus. Fi-nally, we are planning for new programs, as noted below.
The PlanSimply put, our (the task
force) charge from the state senator and representative is to identify the higher education academic program needs of the Katy area and recommend process and procedure to ad-dress these needs. Meeting programmatic needs will then drive the question of facili-ties needed for support. The days of “build it and they will come” are, unfortunately, long gone, and the recent economic climate further highlights the need for collaboration be-tween community colleges, universities and communities to meet those needs in a cost-effective manner.
The Task ForceKaty Chamber: President/
CEO Ann Hodge Katy EDC: Chairman
Woody MannKaty ISD: Superintendent
Alton Fraily West Houston Association:
Chairman David HightowerUH System: Associate
Vice Chancellor for UHSCR
Dick Phillips and Associate Vice President for Instruc-tional Support and Outreach Marshal Schott
Next StepsThe task force is timely. It
coincides with the UH Sys-tem’s strategic planning. Each campus, including UH-SCR and the University of Houston System at Sugar Land (UHSSL) is working on a master plan. The cur-rent status of the campus will be reported, and a plan for the future will be developed. With the UH move toward tier one status, UHSCR and UHSSL can play pivotal roles in student success and access, while establishing identity for certain programs.
Want To Be Involved?Though we will be identi-
fying focus groups, includ-ing energy and health care for starters, your direct input is more than welcome. Just let me know your questions, thoughts or ideas, and I’ll be happy to present them to the task force for consideration. Of course, if you prefer, your input can be directed to any member. Why don’t you join us for our UHSCR Open House from 4 to 7 p.m., June 30th on the UHSCR campus?
Heard More Rumors?Email me at www.dickphil-
[email protected] with questions, comments, items you would like discussed or rumors and I’ll be glad to address them. UHSCR and UHSSL are your area providers of higher edu-cation. Get involved, make a difference and help shape the future of higher education in your neighborhood.
Dick Phillips, associate vice-chancellor of the Uni-versity of Houston System, is in charge of the Sugar Land and Katy - Cinco Ranch cam-puses.
By RUSSELL C. JONESTwo weeks ago the Sug-
ar Land City Council an-nounced that it had signed a letter of intent with Open-ing Day Partners to bring a new team to town to play professional baseball. Since then, the most fre-quently asked question has been, “just exactly what is independent baseball?”
Most of the attention in professional ball goes to Major League Baseball. The National League, which includes team such as the Houston Astros and the Cincinnati Reds, and the American League, which includes the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees, are MLB leagues. Each of the major league teams is located in a ma-jor media market and has a system of “farm teams” which is affi liated with it and plays in an affi liated league. Each of the minor leagues is designated as single-A, double-A or tri-ple-A, depending upon the level of play to be found in that league.
The new Sugar Land team will play in the Atlan-tic League, which is unaf-fi liated with MLB. Among such leagues, the Atlantic appears to provide the high-est level of play. Other in-dependent leagues include the Northern League, the American Association and the Can-Am League. Play-ers in the Atlantic League tend to be just on the cusp of playing in the majors. A week before the season began, many of the teams in the Atlantic League had perhaps half of their rosters fi lled. The other half was likely to be completed with players fi nishing up spring training with MLB teams, but who did not quite make the big show.
It is often advantageous
for a player to sign with an independent league, rather than accepting a triple-A contract. If the player is a shortstop on a triple-A team that already has two young top-quality shortstops play-ing for the affi liated MLB team, he may see his career stifl ed with little chance of getting promoted to the majors soon. On the other hand, if he moves to an in-dependent league, he can be scouted by every team in major league baseball, one of which may need a shortstop immediately.
The Atlantic League serves as a regular train-ing ground for the majors. One of the teams owned by Opening Day Partners, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, has already yielded three players to the major leagues this season. Earlier the team lost Steve Palaz-zolo to the Seattle Mari-ners and Justin Christian to the New York Yankees. Just last week, the Oak-land Athletics signed John Halama from the Crabs.
The trade-off is high quality play versus losing your best player to the ma-jors. But then, that appears to be one of the chief goals of the league. Atlantic League executive director Joe Klein views his job as a combination of recruiting
for the league and placing his players in better pay-ing positions at the major league level. The same at-titude was displayed during meetings of Sugar Land City Council members with representatives of ODP in Pennsylvania last March. Andy Etchebarren and Tom Herr, both former major league players and now fi eld managers for At-lantic League teams, saw their jobs in terms of play-er development as much as winning games.
The announcement of the baseball deal has brought a new level of excitement to Sugar Land. Questions re-garding the naming of the team and the availability of everything from season tickets to team logo souve-nirs to jobs have peppered members of the city coun-cil.
Already announced is the prize for submitting the winning entry in the team naming contest. Life-time season tickets will be awarded to the fan who proposes the chosen mas-cot. Suggestions already heard include the Con-victs, the Equals, the Impe-rials, the Sweets, the ‘Ga-tors, the Colonies and the Canes. One can only hope that some of these sugges-tions were made tongue-in-cheek. The worst sugges-tion heard so far was the Dinosaurs, made by a fan of the Houston Museum of Natural Science – Sugar Land.
Look for a sales offi ce to open in the Sugar Land Town Square some time in the next few months.
(Jones is the Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Sugar Land and serves as Councilman for Dis-trict 3. He was fi rst elected to the City Council in 2003. He owns a law fi rm and a title insurance company in Sugar Land.)
WJ Interests is a fee-only fi nancial planning and in-vestment management fi rm in Sugar Land. For more infor-mation, please contact us at [email protected] or 281-634-9400.
JUNE 2, 2010 • INDEPENDENT • Page 5
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LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 for the following until THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Of-fi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 and the names of the proposers made public. Propos-als received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.R10-102 – GENERAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES – FORT BEND COUNTY UNIVERSITY BRANCH LIBRARYA pre-RFP conference will be conducted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 10:00AM (CST). The pre-RFP confer-ence will be held at the Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Rosenberg Annex at 4520 Reading Road, Rosenberg Texas 77471. All vendors are encouraged to attend.Lump sum pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are required.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing Agent Fort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearing on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. for acceptance of the traffi c con-trol plan for Grand Mission Section 11 and Section 13, Pct. 3.The hearing will be held in the Com-missioners Courtroom, 309 South Fourth St., Suite 700, William B. Travis Bldg., Richmond, Texas. You are invited to attend and state your approval or objection on this matter.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICEThe Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County, Texas has set a public hearingon Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. for acceptance of the traffi c con-trol plan for Islieb Road and Daily Road, Pct. 1.The hearing will be held in the Com-missioners Courtroom, 309 South Fourth St., Suite 700, William B. Travis Bldg., Richmond, Texas. You are invited to attend and state your approval or objection on this matter.
Submitted by,Dianne WilsonFort Bend County Clerk
NOTICEFORT BEND COUNTY
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
FY 2008 CONSOLIDATED ACTION PLAN AMENDEMENT
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
In July of 2008, Congress enacted the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). Title III of this act created the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Fort Bend County expects to receive $2,796,177 in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds during FY 2008. This funding is intended to stabilize neighborhoods. To do this, Fort Bend County can:
Buy abandoned or foreclosed homes;• R• edevelop demolished or vacant properties;Demolish or rehabilitate abandoned, • foreclosed or blighted properties;Off er down payment and closing cost • assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers Reuse properties for aff ordable rental • housing
The Fort Bend County Request For Proposals (RFP) will be available on Tuesday, June 1m 2010. An information session for applicants will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 10:00 a.m. at the Fort Bend County Rosenberg Annex, Rosenberg, Texas 77471. Questions for applicants will be answered at this meeting. Proposals must be submitted by 3:00 p.m. Friday, June 11, 2010. For more information, please call Carol Borrego at (281) 341-4410.
LEGAL NOTICEINVITATION TO BIDDERS
Sealed Bids will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 for the following until THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All bids will then be publicly opened and read in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Read-ing Road, Rosenberg, TX 77471. Bids received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.BID 10-097 – BRIDGE REPLACE FOR OLD RICH-MOND ROAD OVER RED GULLYA pre-bid conference will be conducted on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 10:00AM (CST). The pre-bid confer-ence will be held at the Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Rosenberg Annex at 4520 Reading Road, Rosenberg Texas 77471. All bidders are encouraged to attend.BID 10-098 – EXTENSION OF SOUTH POST OAK BLVD AND RECONSTRUCTION OF MCKEEVER ROADA pre-bid conference will be conducted on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 11:00AM (CST). The pre-bid confer-ence will be held at the Fort Bend County Purchasing Department located in the Rosenberg Annex at 4520 Reading Road, Rosenberg Texas 77471. All bidders are encouraged to attend.Unit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are re-quired.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all bids.Signed: Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing Agent Fort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 for the following until THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 and the names of the proposers made public. Proposals received after the specifi ed time will be returned un-opened.RFP 10-099 – DRUG COURT SUBSTANCE ABUSE OUTPATIENT COUNSELINGUnit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are not required. Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing Agent Fort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEINVITATION TO BIDDERS
Sealed Bids will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 for the following until THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All bids will then be publicly opened and read in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Read-ing Road, Rosenberg, TX 77471. Bids received after the specifi ed time will be returned unopened.BID 10-100 – TERM CONTRACT FOR CONCRETE CURBS AND GUTTERSUnit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are not required.Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all bids.
Signed: Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing Agent Fort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
LEGAL NOTICEREQUEST FOR SEALED COMPETITIVE PROPOSALSSealed Competitive Proposals will be received in the Offi ce of Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., County Purchasing Agent, Fort Bend County, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 for the following until THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010 at 1:30 P.M. (CST). All proposals will then be opened in the Offi ce of the Purchasing Agent, Rosenberg Annex, 4520 Reading Road, Suite A, Rosenberg, TX 77471 and the names of the proposers made public. Proposals received after the specifi ed time will be returned un-opened.RFP 10-101 – SECURITY SYSTEM FOR JANE LONG ANNEXUnit pricing is required; payment will be by check after products/services are rendered. Bonds are re-quired. Fort Bend County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.
Signed:Gilbert D. Jalomo, Jr., Purchasing AgentFort Bend County, Richmond, Texas
By BARBARA FULENWIDERThe GMC Acadia is an
eight-passenger crossover SUV with a smooth ride and responsive handling. I like its style, size, cabin space and the amount of standard equipment it comes with.
The Acadia comes in two trims – the SLE and SLT. The top of the line SLT2 retails for $40,185. It is powered by a 3.6-liter V-6 engine that makes 288 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. torque. The test drive model came with front -wheel drive. All-wheel drive equipment packages are avail-able to owners who want that option.
The Acadia motor runs on unleaded gasoline and gets an estimated 17 miles to the gal-lon in city driving and 24 on the highway for a combined average of 19 mpg.
All models include the V-6 direct injected engine, On-Star with turn-by-turn and destina-tion download, Bluetooth con-nectivity for hands-free phone calls and XM Satellite Radio with the new NavTraffi c fea-ture. The SLT-2 model adds a review camera system and heated and cooled seats.
The Acadia rides on 18-inch tires as standard equip-ment. Cast aluminum 19-inch wheels and 20-inch chrome
clad wheels are offered as op-tions.
The Acadia’s safety system includes six standard air bags, a standard StabiliTrak elec-tronic stability control system with rollover mitigation tech-nology and an anti-lock brake system. The suspension up front is coil-over strut with a direct acting stabilizer bar and in the rear the independent suspension is a linked H-arm – coil springs with twin-tube shock absorbers mounted on an isolated sub-frame.
For 2010 the GMC Aca-dia got 20-inch chrome clad wheels, USB connectivity in the center console to en-able stored audio fi les to play through the audio system and battery charging for some hand held devices, a Yukon Denali -style roof rack, and cashmere interior as options.
Standard equipment on the Acadia includes dual exhausts with chrome tips, a tire pres-sure monitoring system, re-mote keyless entry, theft deter-rent system, front fog lamps, longitudinal roof rails, power liftgate, power and heated outside mirrors that fold and include turn signals, trailering package, rear spoiler, power windows, door locks and steering.
Other features include heat-
ed front seats, leather seats, second row captain’s chairs and third row split bench seat, power adjustable driver and passenger seats, tri-zone cli-mate control, rear seat with audio controls, rear cargo stor-age, leather wrapped steering wheel with audio and cruise controls, auto dimming inside rearview mirror, ultrasonic park assist, a tilt and telescop-ic steering wheel, Bose audio system, rearview camera sys-tem and remote vehicle start.
Optional equipment on the red jewel-painted Acadia in-cluded a technology package with high intensity discharge headlamps, touch screen navi-gation system with rearview camera display, power sun-roof with second row sky-light, leather seats and heated and cooled driver and front
passenger seats. Options in-creased the price by $6,780 to $46,965 total.
As for safety, the GMC Acadia got the government’s highest front and side impact crash test rating.
In 2008 the Acadia got Mo-torWeek’s Drivers’ Choice Award for best crossover util-ity vehicle.
In 2009 Ward included it in its 10 best engine list, and this year the Acadia was named a Consumer Guide best buy and Consumer Digest best buy.
The Acadia Crossover SUV was a smooth ride, delivered a powerful response when needed, was most comfortable and good looking. Put all of that together and it makes the Acadia hard to beat.
Directory Directory Directory Directory DirectoryAT Renovations, Inc.
101 Southwestern Blvd., Suite 230 Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.texansinsure.com (281) 277-7800
Basil Housewright, President
Insurance
I’m sitting on my patio and it’s hot, but not too hot. I am in the shade with a fan blow-ing on me and it is Memo-rial Day weekend. We in the Texas Gulf Coast know “hot” and this is not July Fourth or Labor Day hot. I’m living the dream.
Yesterday, Eric H. and I went to Borders and I bought the latest John Grisham novel, “Theodore Boone; Kid Law-yer.”
The story is about a 13-year -old boy who hangs around the Strattenburg courthouse, knows all the judges, cops, clerks, and local lawyers and gets involved in the biggest murder trial ever conducted in Strattenburg by discovering evidence that could affect the outcome of the trial.
Grisham is a master story-teller and I’ve read all of his books. I usually do not like books and TV shows about lawyers, but Grisham’s stories about the law and the legal system are at least grounded in reality. His writing style is simple, which is good for me; I don’t need a dictionary.
Grisham’s novels are very
much about character devel-opment and a good yarn. Like a good movie.
What about “Shrek” movie breath, you ask. I’ll get to Shrek, but I’m thinking about becoming a literary critic and thought I’d give it a go today, he said with a big grin.
“Shrek Forever After” is an appropriate sequel for the hugely successful Dream-works series, and I’m sure there will be others. I saw this movie with 200 of my closest friends on a Saturday
afternoon. And the kids were the dominant ticket holders. And we were all wearing 3D glasses.
If you are under age 6 or have friends or family mem-bers of that age, then by all means go see this ogre movie. Shrek is charming, loveable, and easily confused and Fio-na is the tough, stable wife/princess. The writers take a little liberty with the facts a la “Lost” with an almost fl ash sideways, but the “kiss of true love” is still the treasured
theme.The star voices of Mike
“Shrek” Myers, Eddie “Don-key” Murphy, Cameron “Fio-na” Diaz and Antonio “Puss in Boots” Banderas return in their magnifi cent roles. To get them to keep coming back to the Shrek series, I fi gure Dreamworks offered them a ton of money and Spiel-berg must have twisted a few arms.
Sometimes I give a movie a “NR” which means Not Rated by Larry H. This movie is one of those where I need to get out of the way and merely encourage the Shrek fans to see one of the great kid movie franchises of all time.
On the street, I am often asked about my opinion about movies, which I am only too eager to share and to direct them to my movie web page at LarryHmoviereviews.com. Please continue to go to my movie web page and make it appear that I have a lot of in-ternet traffi c.
NOTICE TO CREDITORSNotice is hereby given that original Letters Testa-mentary for the Estate of Theodore H. Niewenhous, Deceased, were issued on May4, 2010, in Cause No. 395,762, pending in the Probate Court No.1, Harris County, Texas, to: Philip Kent Moody.All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being administered are required to present them to the undersigned within the time and in the manner prescribed by law.c/o: Dean A. HrbacekAttorney at Law130 Industrial Blvd., Suite 110Sugar Land, Texas 77478DATED the 28th day of May, 2010.
Dean A. HrbacekAttorney for Philip Kent Moody, Ind. Executor
State Bar No.: 10128800130 Industrial Blvd., Suite 110
Sugar Land, Texas 77478Telephone: (281) 240-2424
Facsimile: (281) 240-7829
To the Editor: With reference to Russell Jones’ column “What is Plan
B?” (May 26), I too was at Congressman Pete Olson’s May 17 meeting, and what struck me most was he didn’t focus on what every business owner would do at this time - across the board cuts.
He immediately exempted the military from cuts; although I support our military, I do not support our government’s mili-tary agenda, which could be simplifi ed and cut down in size - if we can’t afford it, why are we policing the world?
My plan B would call for:an immediate 10 percent cut in spending government • wide.a 10-year freezes on social security and Medicare .• elimination of the federal departments of education, • housing & urban development, and energy.limitation of our military’s agenda to be very US-centric • - protect our borders, eliminate European bases, limit Afghanistan involvement and exit Iraq.selling government stakes in all industries.•
Could we realistically get this through? No. Do we need to? Yes. Thank you Mr. Jones for pointing out the futility that Mr. Ol-
son is facing in hoping to override the current administration’s onslaught of big government.Robert C. Rhodes Stafford,
To the Editor:A viable plan B (Russell Jones,
May 26) will never materialize as long as elected Republicans spend all their time, energy and resourc-es doing every thing they can to subvert the democratic process of governing in America.
Republicans are only inter-ested in President Barck Obama failing, regardless of the im-pact on the American people. President Obama inherited a huge budget defi cit, an economy in shambles, two wars, seizing com-mercial credit markets and a fail-ing domestic auto manufacturing sector. Your assertion that the damage will have been complete by the 2013 election is an insult to American citizens’ intelligence because we remember the econo-my that George W. Bush inherited from Bill Clinton.
When are Republicans going to take the credit for their eight years of irresponsible spend-ing, trillion dollar wars against countries that never attacked us and the politicization of every-thing from fi ring federal judges
for their political views to ignor-ing minority hurricane victims in New Orleans? You can use this space to be a role model for all of your Republican readers by actu-ally submitting ideas that solve problems without placing the US Government back under the con-trol of big oil, big pharma, and big fi nance. I also have seen far more video of President Obama reaching across the aisle than any republican doing the same. I am looking forward to reading about some real ideas next week. I am also confi dent they won’t be there.K. VictorMissouri City
Page 6 • INDEPENDENT • JUNE 2, 2010
From Russell Jones To Allen Bogard2/13/2010 12:08 PM Allen,
For starters, I would like for you to informally poll members of the council to determine whether they agree with my underlying premise. (Made in the Feb. 9 e-mail. See accompanying article in column 4)
Mrs. Chaumette has already expressed her agreement. If there is suffi cient agreement, I would like to re-look at the issue and give everyone an opportunity to make some proposals. I do not concur that there is simply nothing which can be done.
I have no problem with making all of the information public. Moreover, I do not have any problem with mak-ing information available on the Internet.
However, it is my obser-vation that media people are basically lazy when they have the opportunity to be, and they are more likely to use mate-rial which you put into their hands than material which they must go look for.
For example, it may be of some value to consider whether there should be two or more different distribution lists of press releases. One might be an all encompassing list, including everyone from the New York Times (or AP or whoever) to FortBendNow. The other might be a limited list for local media only.
This might be useful for reduction of minor notices to regional media. For example, I do not believe that there is any purpose in sending our “educational” press releases to the Houston radio and tele-vision stations.
Those recipients will only use such information to show that there is concern in our community about crime, and it will not be used to show that there is not much crime because that is apparently not newsworthy.
Educational pieces for con-sumption by the local media makes sense because they are primarily directed to our citi-zens.
Similarly, I have no prob-lem about releasing informa-tion to the Houston media about running down a bank robber on the Southwest freeway or capturing the bo-zos who seem to be robbing sunglasses stores around the whole Houston area if that were to happen because those are undoubtedly regionally newsworthy.
However, I cannot see any reason why we need to point out to channel 13 that we managed to run down three car burglars who primarily operated in our local area and whose only claims to fame are that one of them admits that he did something stupid and another of them is in a wheelchair.
(By the way, they were caught shortly after they
broke into my daughter’s car in my offi ce parking lot and managed to steal a computer bag whose only contents was my daughter’s business card. I think she had her feelings hurt because they did not think that she had anything else worth stealing.)
That information is of in-terest to the east Fort Bend media and our citizens, but it serves no purpose in the hands of a Houston televi-sion station other than add to its stack of crime reports in Sugar Land.
By having multiple sepa-rate distribution lists, some control can be exercised over who will actually use the in-formation.
I would welcome ideas from other council members if they think that there is an issue needing addressing.
Russell C. Jones
Russell--You raise some good
points. I have asked staff to re-visit our current process and then report back to City Council.
Allen[This email shows that
Jones does not want to hide the information from local media like Fort Bend Now, but is concerned about Hous-ton TV stations. His idea of having multiple distribution lists has found no support from the communication de-partment or the police depart-ment.— Editor]
A Sugar Land resident sent an e-mail to Councilman Russell Jones on May 17, 2010.To: [email protected]: Sugar Land Crime
I would like to make my opinion known about the crime reports issue in Sugar Land. As a resident of Sugar Land, I want an easily acces-sible and complete source of information about Sugar Land crime. I do not want you or anyone else deciding what is too trivial to report. I am sure that many of your constituents feel the same way.
Jones sent the following e-mail to the resident on May 18.
Thank you for your e-mail of May 17, 2010.
Let me begin by saying that I agree with you 100% that all information relating to crime in Sugar Land should be available to all residents of the city.
However, recently a series of stories has appeared on a local website that has made an effort to suggest that the city is “misleading” its residents on the issue of crime.
The report is the result of a combination of an e-mail inquiry, which I made some time ago and a staff effort to update, expand and revise the city’s website and policies relating to the reporting of crime.
Unfortunately, the story, which appeared in the local website reaches the errone-ous conclusion that the city is attempting to mislead or hide information from the public. That conclusion is simply ir-responsible and false.
Following is a complete transcript of the e-mail, which I sent to the city manager on February 9, 2010 which ap-parently started the current miscommunication by the media:
At some point, I would like to get some information on our policy on issuing press releases regarding criminal activity.
All the statistics say that our crime rate is low. Yet we get more coverage on Houston TV stations on our criminal activities than any other area city than Houston itself. I suspect, but do not know, that this results, at least in part, on the fact that we seem to issue press releases, it seems some-times, on every car burglary and purse snatching that oc-curs. Then another release follows on every drunk who is arrested or purse snatcher who is caught. Obviously that is an exaggeration, but the point is that we seem to publi-cize every bad thing that hap-pens, and then the Chronicle and Channel 13 pick up on it. The regional reporting is then out of proportion to what is going on throughout the area.
I am willing to be found wrong on this, but I would like some further review.
As you can see, the subject of the e-mail is my concern that the city’s press releases were feeding into the appar-ent habit of Houston televi-sion stations to over report on crime in Sugar Land.
Neither then nor at any-time since then have I or any-one else involved with the city suggested cutting off access to crime statistics which are available on the city’s website.
More or less at the same time as my e-mail, the city staff was in the process of reviewing the formatting of crime reporting statistics on the city’s website.
Part of the reason for the review had to do with the fact that the city had recently an-nexed River Park, that the old system was not adequately reporting on the area and that it apparently could not be ex-panded to include the area.
As it turns out, certain members of the media believe that the new format is harder
to access then the old format. However, I am advised that some residents believe that the new format is superior.
The local reporter did an open records request for all of the communications which was suffi ciently broad to ob-tain records which included my concern about the Hous-ton media’s over reporting and the staff effort to reformat the website.
She then took numerous communications out of con-text and concluded that the city was attempting to mis-lead residents.
Notwithstanding the re-porter’s conclusion, she has yet to identify a single case of misleading information which has been provided to her or to any resident.
As a government we have the responsibility to be com-pletely open, providing open access to all records.
In the City of Sugar Land, we not only embrace this re-sponsibility, but we further take responsibility for provid-ing information to our resi-dents that accomplishes sev-eral issues:
Information that can help enhance the safety and secu-rity of our residents, such as area crime incident; suspect descriptions; and crime pre-vention tips...
Occasionally, a media source does not act respon-sibly in their desire to build readership through defi ning sensational events.
And occasionally, a report-er “weaves” a story which is simply not true; creating pub-lic misperception by unbal-anced or inaccurate reporting.
In the 5/12/10 story titled “Investigative Report: Sugar Land Crime Search removed to hinder media access”, the reporter claims that the City of Sugar Land hides crime from the media and citizens.
In fact, the City of Sugar Land did have public conver-sation during a live televised City Council presentation on March 16.
During that open meeting, as part of his annual report, Police Chief Brinkley laid out a plan to improve reporting of crime information for our residents.
Part of that discussion did detail a concern over the re-porting of trivial information by local media. This reporting has led to an increased mis-perception of crime in our city versus other areas .
Brinkley correctly identi-fi ed part of the problem as a dated software program which created a listing of all calls that Police Offi cers and Firefi ghters respond to during the course of a work day.
Examples might include parking violations, speeding complaints, traffi c accidents and/or crime reports. That information was available on line.
The course of conversation that the City of Sugar Land en-gaged in covered two fronts.
First, was a problem with local media reporting numer-ous “minor” events which gave the inaccurate public appearance that crime related activity was much worse in Sugar Land than surrounding areas. Second, it was impor-tant to get our residents mean-ingful information in an easy to obtain format.
We did not remove the abil-ity for our residents to fi nd out and learn about crime calls. We changed, only, the format to access that information...
Our residents expect to be kept fully informed and they expect to receive a higher level of service. We believe that we have met those criteria in the changes we have made to the manner in which our citizens access crime information.
The story was irresponsible and inaccurate in many re-spects. The article states that there were 3,300 e-mails be-tween city offi cials.
This leads one to the as-sumption that there were 3,300 e-mails on this subject.
City Staff did produce that number of e-mails for the open records request… but the request was so broadly defi ned that the resulting documents included any e-mail that had anything to do with the reporting of crime….many unrelated to the topic of this story.
The article indicates that City Staff began working with “Police Chief Doug Brinkley on how to make crime infor-mation less accessible to the media.”
In fact, City Staff and Chief Brinkley worked on designing a strategy for more effectively communicating with our citi-zens.
The end result of that work product was a presentation that was made to City Coun-cil on May 16 as part of Chief Brinkley’s Annual Report.
In truth, the City of Sugar Land never stopped offering a crime report.
We simply replaced the old “blotter” with a new ver-sion which allowed citizens to visually see the location of crimes on a map as many other major cities have done, such as Los Angeles and Houston. As mentioned earlier, the old system included calls for ser-vice that were not “crimes”.
The article states that; “the new system effectively shut-down the ability of the local media to effi ciently report lo-cal crime in a timely manner”. The truth is that several media outlets use the new system to fi nd and report on Part One Crime.
The article takes a series of e-mails related to how to communicate the change; and draws the following infer-ence; “Apparently, however, residents, the media and even Sugar Land police offi cers no-ticed the change and were not satisfi ed with the new “tool.”
In truth, the old “blotter” report had several inherent problems. The software that was written for the city to col-lect the information from our Computer Aided Dispatch data fi les was outdated. We did not have a business rela-tionship with the vendor who initially wrote the software.
City staff had recognized the need to make changes in the information reported. In-stead of repairing the existing system, Police Department staff wanted to develop a new tool, based on a model used by the City of Los Angeles.
The new tool was seen as, not only a better tool for resi-dents to use, but it would be more accurate.
The work on designing the new tool has started sev-eral months before the actual change over that the reporter references.
The article states; “I was instructed to hide the link to the search on the web this af-ternoon”. That statement by itself is correct. But in con-text, “hiding the link” is a web design phrase which simply means taking the link down to the old software so that the new Daily Crime Report would be utilized. As with the previous system, the informa-tion is updated daily and is as-sessable to all.
Our communications staff has developed a reputation of responsiveness in their work with their media partners. It’s unfortunate that occasion-ally, an irresponsible reporter brings the good intentions of City Government into ques-tion....
Finally, I would like to point out an article which I pub-lished in the March 17, 2010 issue of the Fort Bend Inde-pendent newspaper in which I discussed the very issue which I raised in my earlier e-mail to the city manager and called public attention to the issue. That article was titled “Keep-ing a perspective on Crime.”
From Michele AllenTo Doug B. Adolph7/17/2009 12:42 PMSubject: Re: Crime MapI found some problems and made changes to the pro-posed new crime map. Please review it again and help double check for any er-rors. After this review, it will go live for the public, http://dailycrimereport:8000/Changes made were:1.types of crimes listed2.fi xed problem (were) some cases were coded to wrong category3.fi xed problem with recog-nizing some streetsMichelle Allen, Lieutenant, Sugar land Po-lice
Doug B. Adolph 7/17/2009 12:57 p.m.I have never seen this before. Did Chad help with develop-ment?
Michelle Allen, 7/17/2009 12:58 p.m.No, Tommy Yu
Doug B. Adolph 7/17/2009 1 p.m.Is this intended to replace the Daily Crime Report, or is it an addition?
Michelle Allen, 7/17/2009 1:04 p.m.Replace
Doug B. Adolph, 7/17/2009 1:17 p.m.On fi rst glance, it does not seem to offer any more info.than the last one. Is this the intention? How do you see everything occurring in a particular subdivision? Does it return data in any type of text listing, or do you have to click each dot to see the info? I ‘ll share with others to see if they have any feedback.
Michelle Allen, 7/17/2009 1:20 p.m.Correct, no more data just
From Michell AllenTo Chad M.OstroffCC: Doug M. Adolph8/12/2009 1:09 p.m.Subject: crime mapAttachments: Crime MapChad, I am going to keep the link for the daily crime report active for a while and add the crime map feature to get feedback for later upgrades. So, for the webpage update please create a link for “Crime Map” that will go to the new map and keep a link “Crime Report Listing” that goes to the current daily crime report. If you would then change all references to the Daily Crime Report on the front page and wherever else it appears to Crime Map.I asked to have the text listing included with the crime map but was told that would take longer and would not be com-pleted for 6-8 months at the earliest. So to compromise, I am doing both right now.Tommy Yu has fi nished test-ing the crime map and I will have him get with you to put it together with the updated page.Respectfully,Michele Allen.
From Michelle AllenTo Tomm Yu9/22/2009, 10:25 a.m.Hi, Tommy, just checking in the time line to get the crime map live.
Tommy Yu 9/9/2009 3:58 p.m.Michelle,We are preparing a new web server for the crime map, and for that site being published publicly, we have to ask Com-cast to do the domain stuff for us. So it will take a few more days, I will give you an inter-nal site to check soon.ThanksTommy
9/10/2009 1:52 p.m.Thanks for the update.Michelle Allen
Tommy Yu 9/17/2009 2:45 p.m.Michelle,The new crime map locates at http://webapps.sugarlandtx.gov. It is still internal use. I think it is time to ask people at communication to update the crime report to link to this one. (Chad is on vacation, but he told me anyone in his de-partment should be able to do it.) Please take a fi nal check.ThanksTommy
Michelle Allen 9/18/2009 1:09 p.m.Are you able to set up the link?
Doug B. Adolph, 9/18/2009 1:11 p.m.Yes. Do you want to activate it today?
Michelle Allen, 9/18/2009 1:14 p.m.Yes, if everything is done with the Comcast end. Remember that we will keep the old daily crime report active and just add this one in. I do want the map to be the area highlighted however so we can transition everyone into using it. Even-tually we will deactivate the daily crime report.
Doug Adolph 9/18/2009 2:11 p.m.It has been updated. Let me know if changes are needed.
E-mails on (non) reporting of crime in Sugar Land One of the conclusions in an online “investigative report” about Sugar Land’s deceit is based on the assumption that the police department conspired to remove the crime search from the website to hinder media access after Councilman Russell Jones complained of excessive media coverage of crime in the city. The fi rst e-mail from Jones on this topic was sent on Feb. 9, 2010. If that is true, how does one explain the police de-partment’s decision to abandon the traditional crime report and switch to the mapping format several months before? The following e-mails, dating back to July 2009, trace the police department’s plan to switch to the mapping system even as the communication department had conveyed its reservations about the system, thus controverting the conspiracy theory.
presented visually. No you will not have a listing by sub-division. You will have to click each dot to see the text.
Doug Adolph to Michele Al-len 7/22/2009, 2:04 p.m.Subject : Re: Crime MapOur comments are that 1) a text listing in addition to the visual presentation would be helpful. 2) It would also be helpful to be able to search by subdivision and/or street. 3) A written explanation of the tool and how to use it would be benefi cial. 4) In the past, the tool has been helpful to search crimes over a longer period of time; this allows only one month at a time.Just suggestions. Thanks.
“Media people lazy” remark: Full text of the e-mail
JUNE 2, 2010 • INDEPENDENT • Page 7
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