Last night we (ACC) co-hosted along with the Alvin-Manvel Chamber of Commerce a forum for the candidates for Manvel's mayor, two city council positions, two Alvin Independent School District positions and two positions in for the Brazoria Navigation District.
I have opinions on which candidates did better than others but will hold my tongue in order to stay friends with everyone. As a general rule of thumb though, it's a good idea to prepare and have things to say prior to arrival.
I've posted a link to a voice recording of the forum on my class home page. Any locals, or anyone else interested in the concerns of a small Texas town undergoing tremendous change might find it worthwhile. The tape cut out after an hour and a half for some reason though, so the last hour was not recorded.
For those unaware of Manvel's existence (you know who you are) it's small in population, huge in area, and strategically located at the crossroads of two under-developed, but developing, highways 20 miles south of Houston. Major national developers are streaming in because Houston's expansion has been mostly to the north and west, and is close to being tapped out. The east has not witnessed much growth because Galveston Bay, the Port of Houston, and/or the chemical plants are in the way. This leaves the south as the only option available, and the recent growth has been significant.
Manvel is either the beneficiary or the victim depending on your attitude towards growth, and its inevitability was the primary topic of the forum.
Decisions made now will condition the city's future. Seldom do people have the opportunity to have lasting impacts on their community's future, but that's what the current leadership of Manvel can do. How much leeway will the developers have? How large will the lot sizes be? How large must the street be? What impact will all this have on drainage? What tax rates will be assessed? How might the city's charter be altered to compensate for the increased size? What financing structure works best?
There's no going back once these decisions have been made. The current mayor, Delores Martin, stated that Manvel's population may triple in the next 5-10 years due to the subdivisions now being built and planned.
Heady days indeed. And a great case study of a community in transition.
More to come.
