Local Government Matters: Pockets of Power

Local government matters, just like the title of the blog states.  The title has dual meaning, actually.  Events that take place within local government are 'matters' and those things are important, or they 'matter'.  However, I can't stress enough how important keeping an eye on local taxing authorities are.  I hope the information I've included will convince you and you'll be converted for LIFE!  Well, anyway, here goes!!

We've all been so focused on Washington, D.C., that we haven't paid attention to our local municipalities and how much debt THEY are incurring.  Tell you what, I'll let you in on something that will (or should) get your attention: Texas has the second highest per capita local debt in the nation!  We are only second to the state of New York in local debt!

There are taxing authorities that no one talks about or knows about; Management Districts, cities, MUD Districts, ESD's, and all of the ISD's.  In and around Harris County and the City of Houston, there are things called TIRZ's that fall under the management district category.  They can all issue bonds and debt, some of them without even putting it on a ballot for public approval!  Now, we can't just eliminate these entities, but we can certainly influence the elections of these tiny towns and pockets of power.

You may not be aware, but May 6th is Election Day for lots of the aforementioned taxing authorities.  Yes, you read that correctly.  So if you live in any of the smaller cities in and around Harris County, you may just be electing a new Mayor or new city council members or voting to change your city charter.  These are the elections where you can make the most difference!!

The Harris County Republican Party is working to empower the grassroots to make a difference during this election cycle.  The party is hosting phone banks all over the county in order to increase voter turnout in what are ultimately some of the lowest turnout elections. You can visit www.harriscountygop.com to find out dates and times of upcoming phone banks.

So, how do you know if you have an election to vote in?  Good news!  I've asked our very own  Harris County Clerk, Stan Stanart.  He reports that, "(Harris County)...is conducting only eight of the sixty two entities holding elections this May.  Harrisvotes.org has been programmed to tell a voter, when they look themselves up, if they are eligible to vote in an election and we provide links and/or phone numbers to the other fifty-four of the sixty-two that we are not conducting."  So, if you're not sure if you have an election to vote in, please go and visit harrisvotes.org.

On a side note, I once personally surveyed 100 people and only four out of those 100 had ever voted in an Emergency Services District election before.  So four percent of the people in that room could have decided the election.  So, you see now, I hope, the importance of showing up to elect people to what I now refer to as pockets of power.  Government really does go to those that show up! 

Saving Texas One Municipality At a Time

With all of the political involvement I'm involved in, and all of the knowledge I have and am still collecting about the political process, I forget sometimes that not everyone else 'nerds out' about this stuff.  Like, how the convention process works at the district, state and national level.  Or how many elections there are during the year and how many taxing authorities we actually give our money to.

I think that as a movement, the tea party did a great job of grabbing the attention of the conservative electorate to look at the national stage of politics.  I mean, let's face it, there are plenty of things to try to watch there in Washington, D.C.  Then, we became more focused on the local levels of government, starting with the state house and senate.  It got even more focused on school boards and mud boards.  I'd like to narrow your focus even more.  Oh, yeah, it can be done.


There is a taxing authority, one that I just learned about a few years ago called an Emergency Service District.  There are fifteen Emergency Service Districts, or ESDs for short, in and around unincorporated Harris County.  The ESD's have a board of commissioners that are elected by the public.  Oh, that's news to you?  Well, yeah, me, too.  YOU have the opportunity to have a say in who represents you on this board.  You pay for these services on your property tax bill.  The elections are not well publicized, so you need to find out which ESD you reside in and do some research on the candidates.  If you go to this website, you should be able to find out which ESD you're zoned to and where to vote.

Yet another taxing authority that you may or may not have heard about is one that's specific to Harris County and has been in existence for 127 years!  That's right, readers, it's called Harris County Department of Education.  You also pay for this sneaky little tax when you pay your property taxes.  It's a negligible amount, but the fact that they collect taxes from every resident in Harris County adds up fast!  The sad part is, you've probably never even heard of them, and they'd like to keep it that way.  They also have a board of trustees, but they're chosen during the November general election, and if you vote straight ticket, no matter which 'ticket', you've probably never even paid attention.  Well, that's over now, you've got to look!  Click here for their website and information about the board.

In an effort to educate folks further, I came up with a tool to get voters informed about what exactly their elected officials did or are supposed to do.  Can you stand the excitement?  Stay with me.  The thinking was that if I educated enough people with that handout, that they could in turn, use that as a way to better vet the candidates running for that particular position.  I have published and re-published the information before, but I think it might be time to revisit that project from the past...

I mentioned convention earlier in this post, and that's a whole process unto itself.  Since it is so involved, I won't go into it in any depth here, but my friend Felicia Cravens wrote a blog with some really great information.  You can find the article here.

If you live in the Katy ISD School District, you'll also be heading to the polls on May 7th to vote in a board of trustee election. Find more information here about hours of operation and polling locations.

So, consider yourself locked and loaded with new-ish information to head to the polls on May 7th AND to state convention.  And don't forget the run-off election coming up on May 24th!  And if you, like every other person, are hoping to go to national convention, well, good luck!