We all knew this day was coming. City Council was always going to have to vote to abandon Polk, and the first of two votes will be next Wednesday. I'm feeling really good about all the work we have all done together; now we just have to push through to the end!
We have two simple, urgent asks of everybody.
- Email the Mayor and City Council to let them know you're opposed to the closure of Polk. We made it easy: click here to load a pre-filled email in your email app.
- Sign up to speak at City Council next Tuesday. We made that easy too: click here.
You can do both of those RIGHT NOW, and it will take less than a minute. If you decide you don't want to speak, you can always change your mind. But it would be good to get their speaker list filled up! We can also help you prepare a speech, if you've never done that before.
The more different people the officials hear from, the more likely they will to take us seriously.
Thank you for advocating for your community!
Ian
PS: here are some additional talking point you can use in the email, if you want to add some flair:
No full budget, no transparency. Council is getting only a “feasibility overview”, so they have to guess the real costs or work with high-level estimates. Despite a spend of over $108 million to date, even Houston First Corporation's own Board won't see the detailed budget until their November meeting.
Legal and procedural holes. Surveys, letters of no objection, and required deposits are missing. Meanwhile, demolition has begun.
No appraisals. We don’t yet know how much these street segments are worth, to Houston, to HFC, or over time. Unless, of course, you're a nearby resident in downtown or the East side, or a sports fan already familiar with game day gridlock...to all of us, these streets are a priceless part of our community.
$2.9 B debt risk. That’s 30 years of financial burden spelled “creative financing.” What if revenue or growth assumptions fail? Who is on the hook for unanticipated change orders, delays, or litigation? How does this plan affect the City's debt capacity in the case of an emergency?
Conflicting signals from TxDOT. Their NHHIP plans still keep Polk open (as of last Saturday!). Why the disconnect?
No real alternatives. Leeland, the only potential solution thrown about publicly, is closed entirely or operating with lane reductions in several spots. Additionally, there are no assurances from Public Works or TxDOT that it is a sufficient traffic substitute, nor a timeline on when it could be converted to 2-way.