2018 Board of Directors
Steve Paterson President & CEO League City Regional Chamber
Politics and Needs
Never has there been such urgency in our Bay Area . Spurred by expansive growth and a series of disasters , this has exposed the tender belly of our markets . Hurricane Harvey , Hurricane Ike , massive construction projects , combined with demand for water , more schools and utilities and the needs for more roads for mobility in our communities , which are becoming stretched to their fiscal limits . Even with all the growth that we have experienced , tax revenues have lagged . League City in their budget meetings this past week , stated that there is a need of twenty-five million dollars each year to keep up with the community improvement projects needed , which is not being met . We have shared recent misfortunes with other communities of the Texas gulf coast , the west coast of Florida , the Caribbean Islands of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and the wildfires of the Western United States . These are straining federal and state funding to a point , where competition for those funds is becoming very political and diluted .
We , the local communities , have grown way to dependent on federal and state funding to bail us out of messes , which we cannot locally afford to mitigate ourselves . Candidates running for office on a platform of lowering taxes is a good thing , when it is bringing control on out of control or flagrant miss use of tax dollars . Nobody likes to have higher taxes , including me . However , I also realize that taxes are necessary to fund projects , which keep my community in good working order and provides services which bring me public safety , good roads , clean drinking water , my property high and dry , great schools and amenities , which bring happiness to life . However there needs to be enough tax dollars to do that correctly .
Galveston County and the surrounding communities have prided themselves on lowering our tax burden and instituted governmental reforms to make sure our tax dollars are well spent the past ten years . However there comes a time , like now , when communities need to make investments in the present as well as the future . Driven by the unfortunate events of Harvey and uncontrolled accelerated growth and the need for a coastal barrier system as well as additional highways for hurricane evacuation and mobility to support the growing population our county and communities now face the reality that there will be a need to increase taxes . They also need to fund solutions by floating Bonds to get us to be where we need to be , not only to catch up for today but to have a sustainable future .
I challenge our currently elected officials and those who are seeking office to seek regional solutions , share costs , build partnerships and to be honest with the citizens on what our needs are currently and what they will be . That to continue to experience the quality of life we enjoy that there will be a price to pay . Be straight forward on what needs to be done , what it will cost , how long we will be indebted , and manage the projects well . Those who will want what is needed in this area will step up and vote to invest in our communities . Those who will settle for what could happen will not or will leave . My gut tells me there are more of the former .
In 1900 , the citizens of the city of Galveston , raised an island , built a seawall and volunteered to be part of the solution . All this without outside support . Only a few years later a storm , stronger than the great storm of 1900 , did hardly any damage because of those efforts of those citizens who took on the task to save their island . Maybe it is time to move from the land of government hand outs and to taking responsibility on our own to fix our own problems . With growth comes costs and more importantly in the future all things will need to be replaced or fixed and their needs to be a solution for that as well .
Steve Paterson
2018 Board of Directors
Chair , Rebecca Lilley
Memorial Hermann
Treasurer , Bix Rathburn
RPC Consulting
Secretary , Gloria Greene
EliteCare 24 Hour ER
Past Chair , Ray Soto
Soto Financial & Insurance
2019 Incoming Chair , Bill Provenzano
Hometown Bank of League City
Elga Boeker
Houston Methodist St . John Hospital
James Brockway
Brockway Realty / Commercial
Dr . Laura Dupont
CCISD
Matthew Mathias
Clear Lake Regional Medical Center
Dr . Warren Nichols
College of the Mainland
Kalpesh Patel
Hampton Inn & Suites / Candlewood Suites
Chris Premont
Ron Carter Cadillac Hyundai Genesis
Dan Seal
BAHEP
Debbie Simmons
Anchor Point
Becky Trout-Unbehagen
UTMB Health
Rolando Villareal
Hilltop Securities
Peter Wuenschel
CIS - Bay Area
John Baumgartner
Ex-Officio , City of League City
Amanda Fenwick
Ex-Officio , City of Clear Lake Shores
Lisa Howard
Ex-Officio , HOT Tax Board
Peggy Zahler
Ex-Officio , HOA Alliance of League City