The Alief Super Neighborhood Council held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at the Huntington Village Clubhouse, 9511 Cook Road. Since the Alief Community Center is being demolished, ASNC meetings will be held at this location for the foreseeable future.
ASNC Treasurer reported that we have $7,148.57 on hand. Cynthia Young, Secretary was absent, so meeting minutes for the month of January were not available.
Introduction
Noreen Smith introduced Melisa Meza, who will be the project manager for the newly established MUM (Maternal Upstream Management) project which is being conducted in partnership with the HOPE Clinic. The goal of this project is to determine and reduce the rate of maternal and infant mortality in the Alief area. The project is currently hiring bi-lingual people to assist in community outreach.
Equipment needed
When the ASNC met at the Alief Community Center, we could borrow their projector when needed for presentations. Chair Barbara Quattro announced that we needed one and Alan Steinberg mentioned that he could possibly find one for free. If he is unable to obtain one, we will buy one.
Veronica Hernandez – Mayor’s Office
Ms. Hernandez spoke on behalf of the Planning Department concerning the critical need to collect census information during the 2020 census period. The census determines not only federal funding (average of $15,600/per person over the 10-year period), but also redistricting for federal and state representation. She announced that the federal census form can be completed online, by mail, or in person, by anyone over 15 years old. The City is also looking for a building to paint a census-related mural to bring attention to the need for all to be counted. The projected timeline is as follows:
March 12: Response form sent
March 16 Reminder letter sent
Marc 26 Postcard sent
April 1 Census Day
April 8 Reminder sent
April 20 Final Reminder Sent
May Door-to-door canvassing
July 31 Census period ends
Officer Tim Whittaker – Westside Command
Officer Whittaker gave a report on crime/crime statistics for the Alief area:
• Keep Houston Safe: This is a citywide public safety campaign involving a collaborative partnership between citizens, businesses, and the Houston Police Department. Additional information can be found on the houstontx.gov/police website
• March on Crime is another information sharing initiative with HPD and RING doorbells
• Crime Stats: Sexual assaults were up 33%, but violent crime is down 25%.
• Officer Whittaker reminded everyone to lock their doors and set their home alarms. In addition, attendees were reminded once again to not leave anything of value in vehicles parked outside.
• The federal government will be capturing crime statistics in a different manner in the near future. This will probably look as if crime has increased due to the nature of the new reporting.
Houston Community College
A community learning program is being offered at the Alief Center for Advanced Careers. These non-credit classes are being offered at half price for senior citizens. In addition, HCC is also offering senior citizens the opportunity to take two credit classes per year for free.
District F Report
Long Nguyen announced that since our new Council Member Tiffany Thomas has taken office a very high volume of service requests has been submitted. Long asked that residents submit all requests through 311 so they can be tracked and handled appropriately.
• The City is doing road repair/line work on Westpark at Houston Center Boulevard. Attendees were advised to take alternate routes because the project will take another 4-6 months.
• District F office will be holding a CIP planning meeting on 03/26/2020 at the Judson-Robinson library on Wilcrest. The goal of this meeting is to discuss future CIP projects as well as district service funds distribution.
• Mayor Sylvester Turner will hold a CIP meeting to discuss current Alief CIP items. No location for the meeting was available as of the ASNC meeting date.
• Another Complete Communities meeting will be held on March 22 at 9745 Bissonnet.
• Each Friday, the District F office will have open meetings at their offices at the City Hall Annex. District F residents are invited and no appointment/registration is required.
March meeting canceled
Since the March ASNC meeting conflicts with the Mayor’s scheduled Alief CIP meeting, we will NOT hold the March meeting. The next ASNC meeting will be held April 28, 2020.
Announcements
• Community Garden Cleanup on Saturday, February 29, from 9 – noon
• Alief Community Center demolition delayed until asbestos abatement determined.
• Vietnamese hero street signs are, as far as we know, slated for removal. Time to be determined by District F office.
• Roland Gramajo: We need a stronger Harris County presence in Alief, such as a library and driver license office. Also, his organization is furnishing bikes to kids who do well in school and they need donations. Pollo Campero has agreed to donate 25% of purchases on April 23rd from 6 to 9 pm