CITY& COUNTY
News from the city of Humble, Harris & Montgomery counties
QUOTEOFNOTE “I DONOT AND WILL NOT CAVE TOBULLYING OR POLITICAL DIRTY TRICKS.” LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY JUDGE NUMBER TOKNOW Harris County commissioners approved the allocation of federal pandemic relief money to fund prosecutor positions at the district attorney’s o ce on April 5. This followed an update on the county’s criminal court case backlog—which consists of 24,000 misdemeanor cases more than six months old and 18,000 felony cases more than one year old. About $7.5 million will cover additional prosecutors and salary increases for existing prosecutors. District attorney’s o ce o cials said they need to be fully staed to retain prosecutors and continue chipping away at the backlog. The funding was approved in a 4-0 vote with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo abstaining. $7.5M Harris County Commissioners Court will meet at 10 a.m. April 26 and May 10 at 1001 Preston St., Ste. 934, Houston. 713-274-1111. www.harriscountytx.gov Montgomery County Commissioners Court will meet at 9:30 a.m. April 26 and May 10 at 501 N. Thompson St., Ste. 402, Conroe. 936-756-0571. www.mctx.org Humble City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. April 28 and May 12 at 114 W. Higgins St., Humble. 281-446-3061. www.cityoumbletx.gov MEETINGSWE COVER
3 Harris County employees now facing felony indictments
BY EMILY LINCKE
FOLLOWING THE CONTROVERSY Harris County’s $11 million contract with Elevate Strategies for COVID-19 vaccine outreach sparked controversy, leading to the recent indictment of three county employees. June 2021: Harris County Commissioners Court approves an $11 million contract with Elevate Strategies. September 2021: Republican commissioners share concerns about the integrity of the contract awarding process, and the contract is canceled. October 2021: Texas Ranger Daron Parker begins his investigation into the contract. March 2022: Search warrants are executed for laptops, phones and Google les of Harris County employees. April 2022: Three Harris County employees are indicted for criminal felonies related to the contract. SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS RANGERS, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT CLERK¢ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
HARRIS COUNTY Three Harris County employees are facing indictments for the felony charges of misuse of o cial information and tampering with records, according to Harris County district clerk records. The indictments come one month after search warrants were rst executed in connection with a controversial county contract. Aaron Dunn, Wallis Nader and Alex Triantaphyllis are each facing warrants for their arrests for the criminal charges, according to the district clerk’s records. Dunn, Nader and Triantaphyllis serve as the senior adviser for public safety and emergency management, policy director and chief of sta for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s o ce, respectively. “I do not and will not cave to bullying or political dirty tricks,” Hidalgo said in a statement April 12.
Montgomery County establishes payroll department budget
Humble City Council unanimously denies variance request fromBarefoot RVPark LLC
BY HANNAH ZEDAKER
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CITY OF HUMBLE The fate of 34.7 acres of property remains unclear after Humble City Council unanimously denied a variance request made by the property owners—Barefoot RV Park LLC—at the March 24 City Council meeting. Barefoot RV Park purchased the property in 2013 with plans of developing an RV park, according to Robert Saville, who represented Barefoot RV Park at the meeting. However, in December 2018, the city of Humble approved new regulations that Saville said hinder Barefoot RV Park’s ability to build an RV park. In response, Barefoot RV Park made a variance request. However, Mayor Norman Fun- derburk said the new regulations,
BY JISHNU NAIR
MONTGOMERY COUNTY Montgomery County commissioners allocated $271,289.15 toward its new payroll department at an April 12 Commissioners Court hearing. The new payroll department was created after commissioners voted to strip Montgomery County Treasurer Melanie Bush of her payroll-related duties March 8, alleging repeated errors. The funding was taken from Precinct 4 Commissioner James Metts’ department budget. County Judge Mark Keough previously told Community Impact Newspaper the new department would be cost neutral to the county.
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while strict, were implemented purposefully. “We feel like if someone is going to come in here with a develop- ment, in this case an RV park, we need to set the bar high,” he said. Following a motion by Fun- derburk, Humble City council members unanimously denied the variance request.
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • APRIL 2022
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