Citizens Want to Know Whose Side City Council is On?
- By Jolanda Jones
- Published 07/20/2009
- Political
- Unrated
This following article is part 2 of the article that appeared last week in Vol. 14 Issue 24, July 15-21, 2009.
Then there’s the CES Environmental Services issue, the company that had explosion after explosion and an employee death in Houston on July 7, 2009 and two other employee deaths at another plant in another City within the last six months. CES is presently being investigated by OSHA, among other governmental agencies. When the residents of that neighborhood called me, I received a lot of grief from that neighborhood.
They accused me of ignoring them and their problem, notwithstanding they had never called my office before to advise me of their plight. After giving them the don’t-paint-me-with-the-same-brush discussion, they acknowledged that I was the first elected official to show up, at a town hall meeting, hurriedly called, in a vacant lot adjacent to CES. They wanted me to listen to them under their terms and to move the City to action, namely the filing of a lawsuit, which happened within two weeks of my call for it.
Interestingly, when I spoke of the issue at Council, the day after I received that initial call and attended the town hall meeting, no one in the City spoke of it or wanted to take legal action. I was accused of pushing to sue when I hadn’t properly investigated the facts and accused of not being a team player because I didn’t let someone else lead and you don’t just go suing people. The next week, less than eight days after the first one, there was a second explosion.
Then we were all on the same team. We needed to sue. There are many more stories like this.
My mom taught that I have an obligation to fight for the voiceless; to make sure that they are factored equally into the equation. Secondly, she taught me that “if there are 100 people in a room, and 99 of them are doing wrong, you better have the courage, to stand alone. I know I taught you right from wrong.”
Let me also say that the People’s team is a diverse team. At-Large 5 has fought for: disabled seniors at Bellerive, a Houston Housing Authority property; residents in South Hampton against the Ashby High Rise; residents along the floodways and flood plains to preserve their property values; young residents in Alief trying to improve their lot in life with Texans Together; residents affected by Hurricane Ike by arranging for debris removal in Missouri City and Pleasantville; property owners in Westbury fighting to remove a cell phone tower; residents in Southwest Houston fighting for a police sub-station; residents in Kelly Village to repair dangerous side walks; residents in Kingwood fighting to maintain the quality of life by not having major thoroughfares run through the Livable Forest; residents in Southeast Houston who needed a dangerous park to be restored; residents disenfranchised by the City not re-districting when the population met the 2.1 million person threshold; residents and business owners and organizations who fought against billboards; contractors, both prime and subs, to try and bring them together; residents who wanted more transportation options with Hike and Bike Trails; residents of Sugar Valley to get deed restrictions for their community; city-wide residents who wanted more pre-development notice in order to preserve the character and quality of life of their neighborhoods; residents in Spring Branch on flooding due to over-development and poor infrastructure; fire fighters who had no working stoves immediately after Hurricane Ike, etc., as well as worked with Claunch & Miller and Chester, to acquire two 18-wheelers full of 35 pound bags of ice and bottled water to distribute to residents during that time.
To paraphrase Emiliano Zapata Salazar, a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution who fought against a dictatorship: “I would rather die on my feet than to live on my knees!” In other words, I will not “sell out” to stay elected. I will not forget the people who elected me just so I can “kiss a pig” with my colleagues.
I worked hard to get here, with the help of our team of people who elected me. The people’s voice deserves to be heard from Houston City Council At-Large Position 5. I did not promise them when I campaigned, that I would only fight for them if the mayor or City Council agreed with me or gave me permission.
The biggest gripes I heard while campaigning were 1) “I sure hope you don’t sell out like such and such did, once such and such got elected,” and 2) “You’re just going to sell out like most other activist once you get elected, and lose the dashiki and start wearing suits.”
I simply asked that they did not paint me with the same brush as someone who came before me. I respectfully asked them to give me a chance to show them I am a woman of my word. I reminded them that I would not forget who got me here.
My style of service is that I am elected to listen to the people; determine what they want with and after meaningful input; and then carry that ball as far as I can up the field, even if the opponents are kicking and screaming. To the contrary, I do not believe I have the right, just because I’m elected, to determine in my own mind, what the people need and then impose that imperialistic view on them.
Note to citizens, if an elected official is on the side of the people then I’m on their team. If they’re not, then I guess we’re opponents. But I will tell you, I’m always trying to move the ball for the people and trying to motivate other elected officials to do the same.
When that happens, we are always on the same team. So, the next time you see one of us, an elected official, please ask: Are you on the People’s Team or the Establishment’s team?
End, Part 2.
Then there’s the CES Environmental Services issue, the company that had explosion after explosion and an employee death in Houston on July 7, 2009 and two other employee deaths at another plant in another City within the last six months. CES is presently being investigated by OSHA, among other governmental agencies. When the residents of that neighborhood called me, I received a lot of grief from that neighborhood.
They accused me of ignoring them and their problem, notwithstanding they had never called my office before to advise me of their plight. After giving them the don’t-paint-me-with-the-same-brush discussion, they acknowledged that I was the first elected official to show up, at a town hall meeting, hurriedly called, in a vacant lot adjacent to CES. They wanted me to listen to them under their terms and to move the City to action, namely the filing of a lawsuit, which happened within two weeks of my call for it.
Interestingly, when I spoke of the issue at Council, the day after I received that initial call and attended the town hall meeting, no one in the City spoke of it or wanted to take legal action. I was accused of pushing to sue when I hadn’t properly investigated the facts and accused of not being a team player because I didn’t let someone else lead and you don’t just go suing people. The next week, less than eight days after the first one, there was a second explosion.
Then we were all on the same team. We needed to sue. There are many more stories like this.
My mom taught that I have an obligation to fight for the voiceless; to make sure that they are factored equally into the equation. Secondly, she taught me that “if there are 100 people in a room, and 99 of them are doing wrong, you better have the courage, to stand alone. I know I taught you right from wrong.”
Let me also say that the People’s team is a diverse team. At-Large 5 has fought for: disabled seniors at Bellerive, a Houston Housing Authority property; residents in South Hampton against the Ashby High Rise; residents along the floodways and flood plains to preserve their property values; young residents in Alief trying to improve their lot in life with Texans Together; residents affected by Hurricane Ike by arranging for debris removal in Missouri City and Pleasantville; property owners in Westbury fighting to remove a cell phone tower; residents in Southwest Houston fighting for a police sub-station; residents in Kelly Village to repair dangerous side walks; residents in Kingwood fighting to maintain the quality of life by not having major thoroughfares run through the Livable Forest; residents in Southeast Houston who needed a dangerous park to be restored; residents disenfranchised by the City not re-districting when the population met the 2.1 million person threshold; residents and business owners and organizations who fought against billboards; contractors, both prime and subs, to try and bring them together; residents who wanted more transportation options with Hike and Bike Trails; residents of Sugar Valley to get deed restrictions for their community; city-wide residents who wanted more pre-development notice in order to preserve the character and quality of life of their neighborhoods; residents in Spring Branch on flooding due to over-development and poor infrastructure; fire fighters who had no working stoves immediately after Hurricane Ike, etc., as well as worked with Claunch & Miller and Chester, to acquire two 18-wheelers full of 35 pound bags of ice and bottled water to distribute to residents during that time.
To paraphrase Emiliano Zapata Salazar, a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution who fought against a dictatorship: “I would rather die on my feet than to live on my knees!” In other words, I will not “sell out” to stay elected. I will not forget the people who elected me just so I can “kiss a pig” with my colleagues.
I worked hard to get here, with the help of our team of people who elected me. The people’s voice deserves to be heard from Houston City Council At-Large Position 5. I did not promise them when I campaigned, that I would only fight for them if the mayor or City Council agreed with me or gave me permission.
The biggest gripes I heard while campaigning were 1) “I sure hope you don’t sell out like such and such did, once such and such got elected,” and 2) “You’re just going to sell out like most other activist once you get elected, and lose the dashiki and start wearing suits.”
I simply asked that they did not paint me with the same brush as someone who came before me. I respectfully asked them to give me a chance to show them I am a woman of my word. I reminded them that I would not forget who got me here.
My style of service is that I am elected to listen to the people; determine what they want with and after meaningful input; and then carry that ball as far as I can up the field, even if the opponents are kicking and screaming. To the contrary, I do not believe I have the right, just because I’m elected, to determine in my own mind, what the people need and then impose that imperialistic view on them.
Note to citizens, if an elected official is on the side of the people then I’m on their team. If they’re not, then I guess we’re opponents. But I will tell you, I’m always trying to move the ball for the people and trying to motivate other elected officials to do the same.
When that happens, we are always on the same team. So, the next time you see one of us, an elected official, please ask: Are you on the People’s Team or the Establishment’s team?
End, Part 2.