CITY & COUNTY
News from Sugar Land, Missouri City & Fort Bend County
Sugar Land City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. April 18 and 25, and May 2 at 2700 Town Center Blvd. N., Sugar Land. Meetings are livestreamed and in person. 281-275-2900. www.sugarlandtx.gov Missouri City City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. April 17 and May 1 at 1522 Texas Parkway, Missouri City. Meetings are livestreamed and in person. 281-403-8500. www.missouricitytx.gov Fort Bend County Commissioners Court will meet at 1 p.m. April 25 and May 9 at 401 Jackson St., Richmond. Meetings are livestreamed. 281-342-3411. www.fortbendcountytx.gov MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS MISSOURI CITY Three new positions were approved at Missouri City City Council’s March 20 meeting that leadership said will increase the efficiency of running Missouri City. Former Chief Information Officer Sedrick Cole will become the new deputy city manager, while former Parks and Recreation Director Jason Mangum and former Chief Financial Officer Allena Portis will become assistant city managers. The decision to adjust Missouri City’s organizational structure was approved by the City Council unanimously. MISSOURI CITY City Council approved a capacity expansion to water and wastewater projects within Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2, located in the southeast part of the city. The capacity expansion, which was approved at the March 6 meeting, increases the total allocatable funding and project capacity within the TIRZ from $9.5 million to $39.5 million for water and wastewater projects. The city also approved a request to allocate $7.5 million from TIRZ 2 for water and wastewater improvements, making up half of the $15 million needed for eight projects that will be completed by 2024.
Missouri City facing 17% police officer shortage
BY JACK DOWLING
POLICE PAY COMPARISONS
MISSOURI CITY A police officer shortage in Missouri City is unlikely to be resolved by the end of the year without emergency action. Residents and Missouri City Police Officers Association members spoke during the March 20 City Council meeting to ask why nearly 20% of the city’s police force is missing. Jay McClellan, vice president of the Missouri City Police Officers Association and one of seven sergeants in the Missouri City Police Department, said the city has reached a “crisis level” for vacant positions due to salaries that are “20% below” the regional market. The police department is budgeted for 110 officers, according to the city’s public information archive, and is short 19 police officers and 2.5 telecommunications officers, according to Allena Portis, an assistant city manager and chief financial officer for Missouri City. The city sits $10,000- $18,000 below comparative police departments in terms of starting salaries, according to the Missouri City Police Officers Association. “We’re not just losing people to other agencies—we’re losing people to other fields,” Portis said.
The city of Missouri City is missing nearly 20% of its total police force. Some residents and the Missouri City Police Officers Association blame this on noncompetitive pay.
STARTING PAY
*PLUS $10,000 SIGN-ON BONUS
Missouri City
$55,970*
Sugar Land
$64,314
Friendswood
$64,500
Pearland
$64,866
The city is preparing to hear the results of a competitive salary survey set to be completed April 15, Portis said. If completed by April 15, the survey will be presented to City Council and the community by May 1. SOURCES: MISSOURI CITY POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, CITY OF SUGAR LAND/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
Fort Bend County talks 2023 bond
Smart Financial Centre business bounces back
CENTRE SNAPSHOT The number of shows planned for Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre in 2023 is exceeding prepandemic numbers.
BY JACK DOWLING
SUGAR LAND After two rocky years due to the COVID-19 pan- demic, the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land is back, the venue’s general manager said. “It finally feels like we’re normal again,” General Manager Elyse Scally said at Sugar Land’s March 21 City Council meeting. The Centre returned to live programming in 2021. Scally said it has brought back 100% of its full-time employees since before the pandemic and is set to host a similar number of events as 2019.
BY ASIA ARMOUR
FORT BEND COUNTY Officials are collecting a list of projects to inform a potential November mobility and parks bond in Fort Bend County. Commissioners approved this in a 4-1 vote March 7. County Auditor Ed Sturdivant said he would propose the bond be priced at $600 million or less. Commissioners said they would work to prioritize projects and identify funding before the deadline to vote on the approval of a bond election in August.
100 120
60 80 20 40
0 2021 2020 2022 2023* 2019
SOURCE: SMART FINANCIAL CENTRE/
*PROJECTED
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SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION • APRIL 2023
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