Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience speaks to Harris County Commissioner’s Court about the upcoming August 25 Special Bond Election

May 31, 2018
Harris County will hold a special bond election on August 25, 2018 to approve flood mitigation projects.  The date chosen marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall.  The public will be asked to approve the $2.5 billion of projects which may include home buyouts and widening and dredging of our bayous; however, the final project list is not definitive. 
 
Houston Sierra Club spoke at Harris County Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday, May 22nd about the upcoming bond election.  As a member organization of the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER), Houston Sierra Club asked county commissioners for transparency of the buyout process. CEER member organizations suggested creating an online dashboard to display the county’s funding priorities and the spending of flood funding.
 
On behalf of CEER, Houston Sierra Club also asked the commissioners to apply an equity lens to the creation of the final project list for the August 25th election.  Since most vulnerable communities live in the most flood prone areas of Harris County, equity guides us to value human impact over property values when weighing options. CEER called on our local leaders to ensure all communities receive better protection from flooding regardless of socioeconomic status and to seek input from all communities from across the region.
 
CEER is composed of dozens of local conservation, environmental and social justice organizations who represent the intersection of pollution, place and public health in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.  CEER embraces the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing: 
 
  • Be inclusive
  • Bottom-up organizing
  • Let people speak for themselves
  • Work together
  • Build just relationships
  • Community-centered.
 
CEER envisions a region that is equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically strong where residents no matter who they are have the equal opportunity to live, work, learn, play, and pray free from environmental hazard.
 
 
Houston Sierra Club wishes to acknowledge Bakeyah Nelson and Jen Powis, our CEER leadership, for their contribution to this article.