Back in February, State Representative Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) introduced HB 1813 which calls for direct election of Houston METRO board members. Currently, METRO’s nine-member board is appointed by each of the local governments within its service area. As a result, 16 elected authorities –- the City of Houston, Harris County, and 14 smaller municipalities -– collectively hold METRO board members accountable and insist on effective service that is directly coordinated with the region’s broader transportation network.
For three years, CTC has been all about improving public participation in transportation projects. In that context, direct elections sound promising. However, CTC’s board members believe that the shift from an appointed to an elected board would severely limit METRO’s accountability to local governments, especially the City of Houston, and remove all incentives for regional cooperation.
HB 1813 had a public hearing on Tuesday, April 3, before the House Transportation Committee. I went to Austin to testify against it, and submitted a letter from CTC (32 kb PDF) for the legislative record. Key excerpts:
While CTC is very much in favor of expanding the power of our franchise and democracy in general, HB 1813 fails to accomplish this. As submitted, HB 1813 proposes to take the current system of accountability to directly elected officials, and replace it with an alternate system of special interests funded by those with the most to profit from eating at the public trough. Nowhere in HB 1813 is there a mechanism to mandate and ensure the regional perspective and cooperation that are vital to make METRO successful. HB 1813 is a recipe for bad public policy.
Within Houston, the Port of Houston Authority and METRO are governed by appointed boards. These boards are charged with managing professional agencies with staffs who possess highly-specialized skills. Houston’s elected leaders have depended on appointed members of these boards since their inception. The result is a world-class port responsible for more than one fifth of the regions’ economic output, and a transit agency that has implemented one of the best commuter transit systems in the country and one of the most successful light rail lines in the country. It’s no wonder that the same appointed board structure was chosen for the soon to be created Harris County Freight Rail District.
Fundamentally, the future of Houston’s transportation system depends on both coordination among the many agencies building it, and also a long-term view. It defies belief to propose that sound long-range planning might possibly come from board members caught up in a two-year election cycle.
Tuesday night, the Transportation committee left this bill and many others (like the Safe Passing Bill) pending in committee. We should know on Tues Apr 10 which bills will be sent to the House floor for broader consideration.
In the meantime, CTC welcomes public participation in our forums.