In the November 7 election, HAR was involved in several races in Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery Counties. In such a low turn-out election where less than 6% of registered voters cast their vote, each vote made a difference between victory and defeat.
Election Results
In Harris County, HAR members serving on the Political Affairs Advisory Group recommended candidates in the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees races. Out of the nine Trustee positions, six were up for election. HAR recommended candidates, Sue Deigaard (District V) and Wanda Adams (District IX), both secured a seat at the table. Two of our recommended candidates, Gretchen Himsl (District I) and Jesse Rodriguez (District III), are now headed for a run-off tentatively scheduled for Saturday, December 9. Robert Lundin (District VI) and John Luman (District VII) were unable to make the mark and lost to Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca and Anne Sung, respectively. We congratulate Holly and Anne on their victories and look forward to working with them.
The Montgomery County Political Affairs Advisory Leadership (PAAL) interviewed candidates for The Woodlands Township Board of Directors. Incumbents John McMullan (Position 5) and Ann Snyder (Position 6) won reelection. Our recommended candidate for Position 7, incumbent Laura Fillault, lost to Carol Stromatt. We thank Laura for her service and congratulate Carol on her victory.
The Fort Bend County PAAL interviewed candidates for the Missouri City City Council races. All of the recommended candidates won: Yolanda Ford (District A), Jeffrey Boney (District B), Anthony Maroulis (District C), and Floyd Emery (District D). We congratulate them on their victories and look forward to working with them.
The City of Houston had Propositions A-E, pension obligation and public improvement bonds, which HAR supported and put its full force behind the bonds’ passage. All five propositions supported by Mayor Sylvester Turner passed by large margins.
The TAR and HAR supported Texas Constitutional Amendment, Proposition 2, which would allow home equity loans to be made available to more Texas homeowners, passed with a healthy 68.2%.
Thank You to Our Volunteers
Thank you to our volunteers who take the time out of their busy schedules to help interview the candidates and help to spread the word on issues important to the real estate industry and the consumers they serve.
We want to thank our Political Affairs Advisory Group (PAAG) and Chairman A. David Schwarz III for their service in conducting candidate interviews to determine who would best represent the interests of REALTORS® at all levels of government. We also thank them for their help in getting out the vote in these elections, which they are tasked with performing this responsibility.
A huge thank you to Ed Wolff and Ray Wade for their service as Co-Chairs on the Governmental Affairs Advisory Group. This year was active with school finance, Hurricane Harvey recovery and Houston bond elections. This group held meetings to discuss and recommend the appropriate action be taken by HAR to make a meaningful difference in our community.
Dionne Randle chaired the Fort Bend Political Affairs Advisory Leadership (PAAL.) We thank her and the volunteers serving on the Fort Bend PAAL for their commitment to helping elect candidates in Missouri City and Sugar Land.
Misty Bacon, who has recently been appointed to serve as the Federal Political Coordinator for Congressman Randy Weber, served as Chair of the Bay Area PAAL. We are pleased her leadership will continue to be put to good use in service to our members. We are grateful as well to all the members who volunteered for two solid days of candidate interviews for the Pasadena and Pearland races. We will dearly miss member Linda Cottar who passed away this year after a valiant fight with cancer.
And last but not least, we thank the Montgomery County PAAL volunteers and Chair Amanda Fails who took the time to interview candidates and keep our members engaged in the process.
