Commissioners Re-Vote on Road Funding
We recently wrote about a surprise vote in Harris County Commissioners Court to restructure the distribution for funding coming from the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The vote effectively took $9 million of transportation funding from Precincts 3 and 4 and redirected it to Precincts 1 and 2.
There were allegations of the original vote being in violation of the Open Meetings Act, so the court re-voted this week. Unsurprisingly it passed on party lines with Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioners Ellis and Garcia voting for it and Commissioners Cagle and Radack voting against.
The agenda item is intended to restructure the funding structure until the county can complete a countywide road study to determine needs.
During the meeting, several speakers testified against the shift, including State Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) and a staffer for State Rep. Gina Calanni (D-Houston) testified to urge the Democrats on the court to drop the item until a determination can be made based on the needs of the four precincts.
