Register and Participate Aug. 20
Aug. 16, 2020
Local environmental groups are sponsoring an online forum August 20 with the Democrat and Republican candidates vying to take the place of retiring Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, a Republican who has represented the west Houston area since 1989.
The forum takes place from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Advance registration is required to participate. Register here. The general election is Nov. 3.
Precinct 3 includes Buffalo Bayou west of Loop 610 and many tributaries, as well as other major streams like Cypress and Little Cypress creeks, part of Spring Creek and Brays Bayou, the federal flood-control reservoirs, Addicks and Barker; and much of the Katy Prairie. It also includes parts of Memorial, Spring Branch, Bellaire, West University, and more.
The west-northwest area of the county, once farm and ranch land, has been under heavy development pressure for many years, with resulting controversies over requirements for stormwater detention and preservation of the native prairie. Streams in the county generally flow from west to east.
Nature-based approaches to reducing flood risk—prairie grasses and wetlands, trees, parks, ponds, and gardens—slow rain runoff and absorb (and cleanse) stormwater before it even enters and overwhelms our natural (green) and built (gray) drainage systems. Green flood management is the most practical, beneficial, and cost-effective method of reducing flood risk.
The candidates are Democrat Michael Moore, former chief of staff under Houston Mayor Bill White, and Republican Tom Ramsey, a four-term mayor of Spring Valley Village in west Houston, a civil engineer and until 2015, senior vice-president of Klotz and Associates, now RPS Group, a major contractor with Harris County and the Harris County Flood Control District.
Harris County Commissioners Court is the governing body of the flood control district, and individual commissioners have specific oversight over the activities of the district in their precincts.
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