Early voting begins April 22
Early voting for the upcoming May 4 elections will begin Monday, April 22, and continue through Tuesday, April 30.
This voting session will require some voters to vote in three different locations.
Board elections will be held for Clear Creek ISD, the Harris County Appraisal District and multiple local utility districts.
In the CCISD election, District 4 in- cumbent Jeff Larson is being challenged by Albert Wittliff.
District 5 incumbent Jay Cunningham and At-Large Position A incumbent Jonathan Cottrell are both running unopposed.
Pasadena ISD will not hold an election this cycle.
In the inaugural HCAD board elections, there are three separate contests.
Candidates in the Place 1 contest include Ramsey Isa Ankar, Katherine Ballard Blueford-Daniels, Era N. Ford and William Reinhardt Frazier.
Place 2 candidates include Jevon German, Janice W. Hines, Melissa Louise Noriega, Austin Ryan Pooley and Kyle Anthony Scott.
Competing for the Place 3 position are Oluwapelumi Adebola Adeleke, James J. Bill, Melody Genneane Ellis, Mark V. Goloby, Amy Ngo Lacy and longtime South Belt resident Ericka McCrutcheon, who currently serves as president of the Kirkwood Civic Club.
In the Clear Brook City MUD election, candidate Yen Rabe filed to challenge incumbent Chris Clark. Incumbents David Flickinger and Chuck Tylka are both running unopposed.
In the Sagemeadow MUD election, candidates Chuck Miracle and Rene Benavides filed to challenge incumbents David Montgomery and Glenn Williams. Unlike the Clear Brook City MUD, candidates in the Sagemeadow election don’t challenge a specific incumbent, as the two open positions will go to the two candidates who receive the most votes.
There will be no Kirkmont MUD election, as incumbents Lonnie Piquiet and Jean Ann Williams are also running unopposed.
Nearby early voting locations include the Harris County Scarsdale Annex, 10851 Scarsdale at Beamer, and the Freeman Branch Library, 16616 Diana Lane in the Clear Lake area.
To vote in the county, the closest location is the Scarsdale County Annex; EFL is apparently not open for voting.
For CCISD, Main Early Voting Location is CCISD ESC Boardroom, 2425 E. Main St., League City, TX 77573; Clear Brook High School, Gym 3 Annex, 4607 FM 2351; and CCISD Learner Support Center, RM 1040, 2903 Falcon Pass, Houston, TX 77062.
Clear Brook City MUD votes at the MUD, 11911 Blackhawk Blvd.; Sagemeadow and Kirkwood South vote at the Sagemeadow MUD, 10755 Hall Road.
For additional information on the May 4 elections or to see a complete list of early polling locations, visit harrisvotes.org.
Community group works to clean up squatter home
For the last few months, Council Member Fred Flickinger has been working with Freeway Manor Civic Club Precinct 2 Constable Jerry Garcia, the Houston Police Department, and the City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods to help clean up a vacant house, squatters had taken over.
The problem began last summer when the resident of the home passed away without a last will and testament. Soon after that, the home was inhabited by homeless individuals. Over the last six to eight months the property started overflowing with trash and became a haven for illegal dumping while several individuals lived on the premises.
Garcia's office was able to locate a relative of the deceased property owner and receive a signed "No Trespassing" affidavit. On Tuesday, April 9, the Department of Neighborhoods completed their abatement of the property. Garcia enforced the no trespassing affidavit, recently filed for the property, and had the squatters removed.
Garcia has been very involved and proactive in working with the homeless and trying to facilitate better living conditions for them.
This was an incredible display of collaboration across multiple agencies and departments spearheaded by the Freeway Manor Civic Club. A special thank you to Garcia for his leadership with this problem, the Houston Police Department and the Department of Neighborhoods for their assistance in resolving this issue and making the community safer.
This issue also highlights the importance of maintaining a last will and testament that will help to erase ambiguity surrounding property rights after the owner has passed away.
Flickinger is working with the Department of Neighborhoods to provide wills clinics throughout the communities in District E to ensure access to necessary resources.
There will be more information coming soon once the dates and locations have been finalized.
If residents are aware of a home in a District E neighborhood that is occupied by squatters they are asked to contact the District E office. This will enable District E staff to assure the appropriate departments are working to resolve the issue and help track the status.
For more information, contact the District E office at 832-393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.
Water bill of deceased couple reaches $3616
The home of a Sagemont deceased couple continues to run up their City of Houston water bill in spite of numerous threats to “interrupt” the service.
The issue first came to the attention of neighbor of a Sageview home when the yard fell into disrepair.
Caring neighbors cut the grass and found an old water bill with a balance of $1416.77 past due.
The Leader learned last week that the bill is now $3616.54 and the last payment was made September 2020.
Neighbors remember it was around 2020 when the owner of the house, Robert Stephenson passed away. He was preceded in death by his wife.
According to neighbors, the house has visitors including a bike rider who arrived there Monday.
Constable Jerry Garcia’s officers are checking into the home and the possibility squatters are living in the house. The water bill of August 2023 showed no use of water, but in July 2023, it showed a usage of 8,000 gallons.
Neighbors are concerned about squatters in the home, because it appears it is very close to a bus stop for school buses.
The issue of squatters in vacant homes has become more prevalent in recent years.
Another issue is the Texas law which allows residents not to pay property taxes on city and county property if the owner is 65 or older does not apparently have a good process for collecting the taxes once the property is sold, or the owners are deceased.
The law for deferring taxes for those 65 and older requires property owners who have taken advantage of the tax savings to pay the tax bill if the house is sold, or if the owner is deceased. The time limit is 181 days from time of death or sale of the property.
The Leader has learned that many of the deferred accounts are not being paid at time of death and many are becoming house with squatters.
County officials told the Leader they have no way of being informed of the death of a citizen.
Tax collectors have told the Leader of cases where the deferred payments have gone unpaid up to 20 years past the 181 days. In one case, the son of the owner just moved in, and kept the deferment. When it was discovered, he had lived in the house nearly 20 years, and owed much more than the taxes due to penalty and interest.
Consequently he then just left the house not paying the taxes, but having lived there at no cost.
Discussions with city and county officials indicate there are problems in collecting the past taxes. See future Leader issues for more information.
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