Greater Mission Bend Area Council

Ever notice that when you have something that needs to be done you find yourself doing all kinds of other things?  Call it procrastination, call it what you will, but when I face that blank page I am suddenly aware of all kinds of other “more important” things that need to be done.  Which is why I suddenly began cleaning out old files on my computer.  In doing so I came across the following link to an article that appeared in the Alief-Southwest edition of the Chronicle some time back.  It really got me to thinking:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/alief/news/6132083.html

This is the link to a story the Chron did about our early work forming the Greater Mission Bend Area Council.  I came across it while cleaning out some files.  Of course it is only one of several stories published in the Chronicle’s neighborhood edition that covered our work.  There is no doubt our work would have been a lot more difficult without this vital coverage.  It is such a shame that Mission Bend no longer has this valuable resource.

Of course, in a classic CYA move the Chron proudly told us that we would be getting coverage on their web site.  As we have found out the hard way the Chron Alief web site is a joke.  No one reads it.  This has been such a loss to our work.  We are hampered in our ability to get information out to our community.  The Chron keeps cutting back and they lose readers every time they do so.  I have several neighbors who cancelled their subscription when the neighborhood edition was cancelled.  Then the Chronicle management wonders why circulation is declining. 

Moreover, this certainly hurts the advertising for West Oaks Mall.  As you know, West Oaks Mall is our community’s largest  retail outlet and is undergoing a major renovation.  You can get information about this at the web site at http://www.shopwestoaksmall.com/mimages/factsheets.pdf.  The local community is absolutely in the dark about developments at the mall.  We are a community of 60,000 citizens with no meaningful media coverage.  Interesting management philosophy.

I was reminded of this following our successful Town Hall Meeting with Fort Bend District Attorney John Healey.  Of course he is only one of a number of public officials who have come to speak with us, including County Judges Ed Emmett and Bob Hebert as well as Sheriffs Milton Wright and Adrian Garcia, representing both the counties in which our community resides. Since we have launched our own community website we certainly don’t need the Chron’s Alief page.  We probably get more people logging on to our site than does the Chon.  Nevertheless this does not give us anywhere near the community exposure that the Alief-Southwest neighborhood edition once did.  

As a result of this, I plan to meet with the publisher of a neighborhood newsletter which already provides coverage for the largest homeowner association in Mission Bend.  It is very professionally done.  I want to explore expanding its publication so that all our citizens will once again be informed of events in the Greater Mission Bend Area.  All this is a reminder of the challenges we face in getting our message out to our community.  Again, that is 60,000 residents.  We are a community larger than Galveston, TX.  We no longer can count on the Chronicle, and that hurts.

Mike Martin, President, GMBAC

Each month when I sit down to write this article I find myself going through a period of reflection.  This month is no exception.  But this month is a little bit different.  You see, June 2010 marks the third anniversary of our community crusade.  The Greater Mission Bend Area Council had its humble beginnings three years ago when a group of citizens reacted to a series of brazen robberies that were taking place in the driveways of our community.  It seemed there were individuals from a local apartment community who were venturing into our neighborhood and literally holding people up as they pulled into their driveways.  This made the news and gave the Mission Bend area a kind of notoriety.  They came to be referred to as the Mission Bend Driveway Robberies.  It was the kind of notoriety we can all live without.

In response to these events a meeting was held at the newly opened community fire station on Bellaire.  The fire trucks were moved out of the service bay and seating was set up for a surprisingly large gathering of local citizens.  If you were one of those in attendance you got to hear Fort Bend County Commissioner Bob Hebert address the concerns of our community.  You also got to hear representatives from various law enforcement agencies speak on the threat of crime in our neighborhoods.  That was all well and good and was long overdue.  There were a couple of very interesting events which followed this meeting.

For one thing, we found out that the citizens of our community would stand up and speak out about the problems of gang activity and other criminal activity in this area.  Who knew?  Secondly, there was a redoubling of effort by local law enforcement agencies to bring an end to the driveway robberies.  This happened very quickly as the perpetrators were caught shortly thereafter.  I would say that the police agencies involved heard our concerns – and acted on them.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a group of citizens came together in a quest to take the spirit of the community meeting to a new level.  These concerned citizens began to meet and eventually became the founding members of the Greater Mission Bend Area Council.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Well, three years have come and gone.  Much time and energy have been expended in a quest to provide our collective neighborhoods an organization to address the many challenges we all face.  The GMBAC has been successful in bringing awareness of our community to political leaders in both Harris and Fort Bend counties.  We are hard at work defining problems and setting the stage for real solutions to the many challenges that face our community.  And on June 26 we will host a special Town Hall meeting to celebrate our three year history and to address our citizens concerns about crime prevention.

Yes, crime is still a serious problem in this area.  It is a problem in any area of the region.  Unlike other areas in the unincorporated regions of Harris and Fort Bend counties we now have an infrastructure to address the issue of crime.  I think that I can say with all candor that crime is the first agenda item on the plate for the Greater Mission Bend Area Council.  Just like three years ago we want to invite all the citizens of this community to join us as we offer a second Town Hall meeting to address crime prevention.  Our slate of speakers will be announced soon.  I can tell you that the meeting will take place on June 26 beginning at 8:45 AM and lasting until 1 PM.  The meeting will be held at Mission Bend United Methodist Church (www.mbumc.org) at 3710 Highway 6 South, across the street from Wal-Mart.  Please check our web site at www.GMBAC.com as we post information and updates about the meeting.  So, mark your calendars, come early and plan to stay late.  We plan to have a program which will inform you and which will encourage you about the future of this area.  I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Mike Martin

President

Greater Mission Bend Area Council

E-mail:  mmartin@GMBAC.com

A story in today’s Chronicle details the shooting of a man at a local apartment.  According to information provided, this complex is on Addicks Clodine in the Clayton community.  A link to the story is provided:  http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/metropolitan/7077692.html?p=2

Saturday, June 26 the Greater Mission Bend Area Council will host a Town Hall meeting for the citizens of the Greater Mission Bend Area.  The focus of the meeting will be on issues of crime in our community and the steps we can all take to make our community a safer place to live.

The meeting will be held at Mission Bend United Methodist Church at 3710 Highway 6 South (just south of Wal-Mart).  The church web site is www.mbumc.org and includes a map of the location.  The meeting will begin with a registration at 8:45 and will continue until 1:00 PM.  This will be a dynamic and informative meeting and will provide useful information about how to deal with crime in our community.  Representatives of communities outside of the Mission Bend area are welcome to attend.

Our special guest speaker will be Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey.  Mr. Healey talk will be followed by presentations from local law enforcement agencies regarding crime prevention.  This meeting is designed to give our citizens real and valuable information about how to address the problem of crime in our community.

This meeting will also present information about forming a crime watch program in your local neighborhood.  There will be a special workshop dedicated to actually setting up crime watch programs.  Check back for the date of this workshop.

The following letter was received from one of our neighbors, Gary Bickford.  We post it because we believe the information it contains is important for every citizen of the Greater Mission Bend Area.  You are free, of course, to agree or to disagree with Mr. Bickford’s position.  It is very likely that no one reading this message has ever voted in an ESD election.  Let me tell you that there is a great deal at stake here.  I do have it on good authotity that citizens from Katy are voting in relatively large numbers to support the overthrow of the representatives in support of Mission Bend.  It has been my pleasure to know and to work with Mary Blondell for over 20 years.  I personally know her to be a dedicated worker whose mission is guided by her vision of the welfare of our community.  She has no unterior political agenda, other that to serve the citizens of this community.  Please take a minute to read and give thought to Mr. Bickford’s statement.

Michael Martin, President, Greater Mission Bend Area Council 

An Emergency Services District (ESD) is a small government board charged with delivering fire and emergency services to a specific area. The ESD in your area is called Harris-Fort Bend ESD 100 and it has five ELECTED commissioners that oversee its operation. ESD 100 was created in 1998 by voters in the coverage area. It immediately contracted for service with Community Fire Department to provide 24 hour per day emergency response out of three fire stations. The closest station to your home is at Mason and Westpark Tollroad. Community is well staffed by paid firefighters during the day and supplemented at night by professional volunteers. They have saved countless lives and property through their heroic and speedy responses using state of the art equipment and apparatus.

ESD 100 operates much like you probably operate your home. The ESD pays for equipment as it goes; there is very little debt and their financial status is strong! Unlike almost any other government body you pay tax to, ESD 100 doesn’t buy today and pay tomorrow on your kids or grandkids money. ESD 100 has shown great fiscal restraint over the years and invests your tax money wisely for maximum outcome. Further the commissioners of ESD 100 have aggressively sought new ways to collect revenue in order to be able to reduce the ad valorem (property) tax you pay. In fact this year the commissioners of ESD 100 were able to assess a sales tax to those parties that travel into your ESD district, potentially using the service, and then leaving without paying their fair share. This tax strategy will save you money down the road as property taxes will not have to bear the full burden for the cost of service. The bottom line is that we have excellent fire and ambulance protection and the cost to the tax payer (tax rate) is about the same as other ESD districts that provide only fire protection.

So, why all the information on ESD 100? The ESD is in the middle of an election and the commissioners that have worked hard to make sure you and your home are protected with great equipment and responders need your vote. They are being challenged by candidates backed by Special Purpose Committee which is very similar to a Political Action Committee.  These challengers are apparently well financed judging by the high quality color political advertisements they are mailing and paying a service company to deliver. Seems odd to spend all that money for a job that pays $50 a month.  Maybe these challengers just want to show interest or share their expertise of the ESD service. If that were the case it would seem like one of them would have at least attended an ESD meeting – none of the challengers has ever been to an ESD 100 meeting in the last 12 years, nor have they worked for or volunteered for Community Fire Department. Why the interest on their part all the sudden and where are they getting their money from? Why would a Special Purpose Committee be formed to run for an ESD board?

The challengers charge that the current board has spent too much money and taxes too much. Lets look at what ESD 100 has done to secure, improve, and address the fire and emergency services for the district. The district was formed by a group of concerned citizens because there was very little funding available to the fire department. There were two front line fire trucks- neither in very good shape. It wasn’t uncommon for the first fire truck to arrive at a fire to be almost twenty years old. There was one fire station in district, on Alief Clodine near Hwy 6. A handful of firefighters worked during the daytime since the volunteers had to work. ESD 100 worked aggressively and the first thing the Commissioners did was build a fire station at 1093 and Mason to protect the “far Westside” as it was known then. Then they bought a new fire truck for that station- this is the station that protects your home today. Since then the district has supplied the fire department with a rescue truck equipped with multiple units of the Jaws of Life so that crash victims can be removed from wreckage. They bought and equipped five MICU ambulances- to put this in perspective Fort Bend County EMS has only ten units in service for the entire county. Another fire station was added neat Beechnut and Eldridge for that end of the district. Two ladder trucks have been placed- these aren’t just for commercial fires- they work well on McMansions. Finally four new fire trucks have been added to insure the fleet meets all the needs of the area. Your home sits in a very well equipped ESD with highly skilled and dedicated emergency responders.

Don’t let your fire department be dismantled, de-funded, or stripped of its quality. Your ESD 100 board has worked hard for you and they need your help now.

Please vote Election Day, May 8, 7a to 7p at  Fire Station #1 16003 Bellaire

POSTED BY GARY BICKFORD

Ever notice how fast the months just go flying by? It just seems like yesterday I was sitting here pondering the happenings of our neighborhood and wondering about what of these events was noteworthy. This month is a little bit easier. Once again your Council has put together a great program. We invited speakers to come in and present a training program for board members of homeowners’ associations.

No, this was not a public event, but it was an important event. By bringing together HOA board members with members of the management companies with which the HOA’s contract we are doing important networking. We are getting our name out in the professional community and we are gaining recognition. And recognition by decision makers is going to be critical as the GMBAC moves forward with its mission to improve the quality of life in our service area. We cannot accomplish this mission entirely by ourselves. It was interesting that we had people from Tomball attend our training session. We have already worked with leaders in Copperfield. This is important because collectively the communities of the unincorporated areas will have to join forces to fight the blight of urban decay which stands just outside our borders. We will most likely have to join forces with these other communities as we approach the state legislature with proposals we want put into law to allow us to address many problems for which there is no legal solution at this time.

What are these problems? As they say, they are legion. Just look around your neighborhood and note any issues which you think are not being addressed, from the tidal wave of rental property to blatant disregard for deed restrictions. Your HOA stands between you and the chaos which would wash over your community if left unchallenged.

This brings up our ongoing concern. As we noted in last month’s newsletter during the last legislative session over 100 bills were introduced which were designed to basically wipe out the HOAs in this state. Now think about that for a moment. Maybe you don’t like paying those HOA assessments. And maybe you don’t like having to go before an architectural control committee to repaint your house. Then you are just like most of us. Most homeowners don’t particularly like either of these aspects of HOA control in our community. BUT, now pay attention here, what do you think would happen if there were no HOA to protect your investment? What if the guy next door sells his house to an “investor” who lives out of state and whose only concern is “cash flow” as all the real estate commercials state? “Cash flow”. Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

Well it does until the new renter does like a guy on Winkleman (across from Petrosky Elementary School) did. He is gone now, thanks largely to the intervention of the evil HOA.  This budding entrepreneur asserted his right to use his rented property any way he chose. So he opened up an auto repair shop. You get that? This guy rented a lovely little home which formerly was owned by residents who raised their family in Mission Bend and moved out once the children were grown. And not caring two cents for any of his new neighbors who continue to live in their homes, he opened an auto repair shop in an exclusively residential neighborhood right on Winkleman across the street from Petrosky Elementary School. Next thing you know there are cars parked all up and down the street awaiting for his attention. Auto parts, hoods, door panels, etc., were leaning up against his fence and cars were in his driveway in various stages of disassembly. Get the picture?

All that stood between the neighbors’ property values and this guy’s ambition to run an auto repair shop was – you guessed it – the HOA. The same big bad HOA which is being attacked by forces in the State Legislature as being heavy handed, un-American and several other non-too-pleasant terms. You see, in our current political climate, the rights of this one individual outweigh any concerns for the interests of the community.

It seems as though every legislator is jumping on this Populist bandwagon. Our own State Representative, Mr. Hubert Vo, isn’t just jumping on the bandwagon. He’s leading the charge, having offered one of the first pieces of legislation to gut the HOA’s of their power to maintain control of the community by the homeowners in the community. Did you catch that phrase, “by the homeowners in the community”? The HOA isn’t “them”. It is you and it is I. We are the HOA. The HOA is there to represent “us” and to protect “us” from “them”, those who want to destroy our communities. And to this date, Mr. Hubert Vo has become a voice for “them”.

Now some of you might think I am just grinding a political ax here. That is not the case. Mr. Vo and I may support different political parties, but he stood with our community in its fight with TxDOT and we were pleased to have him as our representative in the State Legislature. We thought of Mr. Vo as our champion. Now imagine our shock when his bill was introduced which would effectively destroy the one agency which stands between the homeowner and total urban blight. We attempted to have a meeting with Mr. Vo but he has avoided this for the past year. Now one year is a very long time for our elected state representative to be too busy to meet with us. But that is the fact of the matter. Now that elections are upon us we can only wonder if Mr. Vo will finally take time from his busy schedule to address our concerns. We don’t have much hope.

In the meanwhile, the 100 bills which would allow urban blight to sweep over your community like that tidal wave are poised and waiting for the next legislative session to open. We are working feverishly to prepare to speak on behalf of the homeowners of Texas, but do not take for granted that we will prevail. Stay tuned.

Michael Martin

President, Greater Mission Bend Area Council                                      mmartin@GMBAC.com

We have friends that live in Kingsbridge Court.  The wife worked last night and was followed home at 5:00 this morning.  When she got out of her car in the driveway a couple of Spanish guys ran up to her and told her to give them her purse and car keys.  She turned around and ran to the front door and kicked it.  Her husband was up and opened the door immediately and watched the guys jump back in their car and take off.  They took off so fast that they ran into the back of a van that was parked on the street.  They were in a new blue Camry that has got to have damage to the front because of running into the van.  

She is okay and probably should not have run because she could have been shot.

POSTED by one of our neighbors. 

Channel 13 today carried a story about a ranking of area schools by the organization, Children At Risk.  Check out the link:  http://www.childrenatrisk.org//cmsFiles/Files/2007%20H.S.%20Rankings.pdf

Today’s publication of ranking of area schools is good news and bad news for the Alief ISD.  Alief Kerr is ranked No. 11 in the Greater Houston area.  Now that is good news.  The problem is that Kerr is a small school which serves only a small percentage of area students.  No doubt AISD will spare no expense in beating the publicity drums regarding the status of Kerr.  If only that were the whole story.

Sadly, the rest of the Alief high schools did not fare so well.  Taylor High School, the next Alief high school to be ranked, comes in at Number 53.  That means that 52 – count them – 52 area high schools ranked ahead of Taylor.  Bush High School is itself in the Mission Bend community and is in the Fort Bend ISD, comes in at No. 43.  Now before the Alief district spokespeople atart their story line about poverty and all the standard excuses for poor performance in the district, note that many of the schools to rank ahead of Taylor themselves are in neighborhoods with notably low socio-economic status.  That means, in plain English, that they are in poor neighborhoods too.  To add insult to injury, Alief Hastings comes in at No. 58 while Elsik brings up the rear at No. 65.  It adds salt to this wound to remember that Hastings not too long ago was considered one of the stellar schools in the Greater Houston Area.  People actually moved to Alief to get their children in Hastings.  My, how times have changed. 

I guess the only consolation in this report is that the Alief schools were not in the bottom group, which goes to No. 97.  Small consolation.  And we wonder why so many families with awareness of the issues of public education choose to locate in surrounding communities, such as Katy, rather than to Alief or Mission Bend.  I can’t tell you how many times I have been told that an individual would not consider relocating to the Alief area.  They don’t want their children in any Alief school.  That’s sad.

We are headed into spring and have several events planned or in the works. In addition, there is a serious challenge being directed at our HOAs which, if successful, may do more to destroy the investment you have in your home than an army of termites.

First, the one event that is far enough along to talk about. The Greater Mission Bend Area Council began three years ago with a community meeting held at the Community Volunteer Fire Department on Bellaire. It was a typically warm summer evening in June and the bay of the fire station was full of citizens eager to get an update on security issues in the neighborhood. Speakers included Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert and numerous officials from local police departments, including the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department and area constables. Neither of our local school districts chose to send representatives from their respective police agencies.  Since much of the gang activity in our area comes from students in Alief and Fort Bend ISDs, that would have been very helpful to our cause.   It was an interesting and informative meeting and, as noted above, was actually the beginning of what has gone on to become the Greater Mission Bend Area Council.

Well, as they say, the time has come to do it again. Plans are as yet incomplete, but some time this summer, we will again hold a community meeting at the fire station to provide an update on security matters in the Greater Mission Bend Area. Stay tuned, and pass the word on to your friends and neighbors.

HOAs Under Attack

On another front, we must talk about a challenge facing our homeowners associations. We all know that disasters such as fire, wind, water, or even termites can destroy our homes. That is why we have homeowners insurance and pay for a fire department – to protect our biggest investment from such unpleasant events. But, there may be a challenge we as homeowners are facing, which has the potential to be just as devastating to our homes and our communities.

In the last legislative session, over 100 bills were introduced to weaken or destroy the ability of your homeowner’s association to protect your community, and in doing so, protect your home. Now I understand that no one likes paying your HOA assessment each year. I know I don’t like to write that check, but I do so willingly because the alternative is too scary to fathom. Let’s remind ourselves what an HOA does to earn the money we pay each year. And let’s begin by remembering that the HOA isn’t “them”. The HOA is “us.” We are the HOA. We contract with the HOA to provide services which benefit our community such as maintenance of common areas, pool maintenance and upkeep and the operation of many of the street lights in our various neighborhoods. In addition, the HOAs are charged with the responsibility of enforcing deed restrictions, which keep our neighborhoods from sliding into the ghetto.

If that last statement offends anyone, then ask yourself what would happen to your neighborhood if your neighbors could do anything they choose with their house. Anything! Would you like to have your neighbor’s house turned into an auto repair shop? We have just such a problem with a house on Winkleman right now. I won’t give an address but for over a year, one HOA has been working with a local resident who operates an auto repair shop in his driveway each weekend. For the moment, the HOA has prevailed and this activity has stopped. But what would happen if the HOA had not stepped in to address this problem on behalf of all the homeowers in the community? Would you want this happening on your street? There are many such activities which the HOAs address regularly. If the volunteers on your HOA board did not dedicate their time and energy to this thankless task, what do you imagine the outcome would be to our community.

Space does not allow me to list all the many challenges these HOA boards face routinely. Suffice it to say they are our last defense against the process of urban decay, which stands just outside the boundary to our community. In order to function, the HOA necessarily assesses a fee, which is collected annually. If a homeowner does not pay this assessment, then the HOA begins a process of attempting to collect the money owed. For the most part, this is not a heavy-handed process. From my experience, the HOAs bend over backwards to work with property owners who might be facing a financial hardship and are not able to write a check for the money owed. It is only after extended efforts to collect this money are unsuccessful that the HOA reluctantly turns to the legal process and files a lawsuit.

No one wants to file a lawsuit against a neighbor. Remember the board members are our neighbors who volunteer their time and serve without compensation. So when the decision is made to file a lawsuit to attempt to collect the money owed the HOA, it is a serious decision and a responsibility the board members do not take lightly. In essence, it becomes neighbors suing neighbors, and no one enjoys that process.

Once a lawsuit has begun, the HOA will file a lien against the property in question. This lien protects the interests of the HOA, and ultimately your interest as a homeowner. If matters are not resolved then eventually this process can end up in a foreclosure proceeding in which the property is sold to settle the debt. This is an extreme outcome and happens very rarely; but it is an essential part of the process to ensure that the fees which allow the HOA to operate are collected.

This is exactly the same process used by other taxing districts such as school districts and counties. There are legal safeguards built into the process to protect homeowners against abuse by an HOA (or a school district). In the end, it is the power to foreclose on a property which protects the interests of the community and ensures that your property values do not become victim to the destructive processes of urban decay. We did not move into this community to end up living in a ghetto; and it is the HOA which protects our interests as homeowners.

Thank goodness the process exists and is available to the HOAs by virtue of state law. Remember, we do not have any kind of zoning in the counties wherein our community lies.  Were it not for this power, imagine what would happen to your neighborhood.

Enter the State Legislature

Do not take that power for granted because it is under assault in the Texas Legislature. During the last legislative session, as noted above, over 100 bills were introduced to remove or severely restrict the power of HOAs to protect your investment in your home. If the power of the HOA to levy and collect assessments is taken away by the legislature then it will only be a matter of time before Mission Bend and surrounding communities decline to the point where few of us would want to live in this community.

PLEASE NOTE, this legislative onslaught is not only directed at Mission Bend. It is directed at HOAs around the state. Where will you move, assuming you can sell your property once this all begins?  And make no mistake about it, if this legislative agenda starts up in the next legislature, it will very likely succeed on the next try. Forewarned is forearmed, indeed.

Our local legislator, The Honorable Hubert Vo introduced a bill in the last legislative session which would have the effect of prohibiting your HOA from foreclosing on properties when owners do not pay their HOA assessment. We were shocked to find out about this initially.  It is unthinkable that Mr. Vo, who has stood shoulder to shoulder with us as we stared down TxDOT, would introduce a bill which could destroy the very fabric of our community.  Our shock turned to incredulity when we saw the tidal wave of legislation proposed by Mr. Vo’s pals in the Texas House.

For his part, Mr. Vo has not responded to requests to address our community’s concerns. You might say we have been stonewalled. We remain eager to discuss this matter with Mr. Vo, but to do so he must respond to our requests for a meeting. We have no interest in talking to Mr. Vo through his legislative assistants.  Mr. Vo has not responded to us as of the date of this publication.

There is so very much more which we need to say about this matter. We will do so in subsequent postings and newsletters. You will be shocked to find out just how this is already playing out in our local courts, where judges are already refusing to hear suits filed by local HOAs attempting to collect money owed. As they say, stay tuned and we will have more information for you shortly. And hopefully by then we will have heard from Mr. Vo. It is much better to get information first hand than to have it relayed by staff members. Again, stay tuned.

Mike Martin, President                                                                                                                Greater Mission Bend Area Council

WHAT:   The GMBAC will offer a workshop for HOA board members and staff of property management companies.  The topics will focus on the responsibilities of board members and working with attorneys and property managers.  Information will also cover how to deal with civil suits, issues with security, grants and fundraising, and architectural controls.  This will be a great opportunity to network with fellow HOA board members and to learn from each others experiences. 

A catered box lunch will be provided.  Board member Terry Blair has graciously volunteered his Mother to bake pies for this occasion.  This is a real “treat”. 

WHEN:  Saturday, April 24.  Hours are from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. 

WHERE:  Community Volunteer Fire Department, 16003 Bellaire Blvd.

PRESENTERS:  Our program is proud to announce the following presenters:

Judge R. Jack Cagle, Presiding Judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 1

Kathy Terry, practicing attorney, representing HOAs since 1991, and currently representing approximately 40 associations.

Sherri Cary, Property Manager with High Sierra Management, Inc.

COST:  Council Members: $15.   Non-members: $25.

VENDORS’ BOOTHS will also be set up to provide information for attendees.