Dear friends and supporters,
From the very beginning, Save Montrose Live Oaks has brought together neighbors from across the political spectrum around a shared goal: protecting the character, livability, and tree canopy of our community.
Today, our founding members and supporters are coming together again around another shared priority: supporting Nick Hellyar for Houston City Council District C.
This support is not about partisanship. It is about leadership, judgment, and values.
Nick brings a level of experience that is directly relevant to the challenges District C faces. He has worked on staff for two city council members and a state representative. He has built a successful business. He understands how infrastructure, drainage, mobility, and redevelopment projects are planned and executed within the City of Houston. That matters. Our experience on Montrose Boulevard showed how important it is to have leaders who can engage early, evaluate tradeoffs, and ensure projects reflect both technical realities and community input.
What we have consistently seen from Nick is a rational, balanced approach. He supports thoughtful investment in infrastructure while also recognizing that growth should not come at the expense of mature trees, historic streetscapes, and neighborhood identity.
He has also demonstrated a long-standing commitment to preservation through his service with the board of the Heritage Society and his support of Preservation Houston, reflecting a genuine understanding of what makes Houston’s older neighborhoods special.
Just as importantly, we believe this race presents a clear contrast between the candidates.
While Joe Panzarella claims to bring new ideas, his lack of experience is concerning. He is an early-in-career data analyst who has worked professionally post-college for less than five years. He only recently returned from Europe and moved into our district. He has no experience working within Houston’s infrastructure and planning processes. At a time when District C is facing complex, high-impact decisions about redevelopment and public investment, we believe experience and a demonstrated ability to navigate those systems are critical.
Panzarella has advocated for wide bike lanes to be installed on our major thoroughfares at the expense of mature trees and regardless of other, safer, nearby neighborhood routes. He publicly supported the previous Montrose Boulevard design that would have decimated hundreds of trees lining the street https://montrosehtx.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MRA-Minutes-01-13-2025.pdf By contrast, Hellyar wants better multimodal mobility for Houston, but has understood from the start that there was no reason we could not achieve both infrastructure improvements and tree preservation. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/city-of-houston/2026/02/09/542952/candidates-special-election-houston-city-council-district-c/
Our support for Nick is grounded in what we have learned through direct experience:
These projects are complicated, and good intentions are not enough. They require practical knowledge, careful analysis, and a willingness to adjust plans based on real community feedback.
We did not organize simply to stop a poorly designed project. We organized to advocate for a better way forward, one that values trees, history, and community voice alongside smart infrastructure.
We believe Nick Hellyar represents that path forward.
As always, we encourage you to learn about the candidates, ask questions, and make your own informed decision. But we wanted you to hear directly from us about why so many of the original voices behind Save Montrose Live Oaks are supporting Nick in this race. Thank you for listening.
Mark your calendars to show up for Nick!
Early voting for the District C position is 4/29 through 5/12. Election Day is Saturday, 5/16.
Save Montrose Live Oaks Founders and Supporting Members