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Community stands up for Palm Center

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Community members from the greater Old Spanish Trail (OST) area filled Judge Zinetta Burney’s courtroom on the second floor of the Palm Center to the max as they questioned city officials and Marlon Mitchell of the Houston Business Development Inc. about the rumored closure of Palm Center.

Palm Center is a staple for the greater OST region as a place of economic development. Ken Bolton, former Assistant Director of Economic Development for the city of Houston’s Housing and Community Development, addressed the assembled first about the vision for Palm Center for the past 25 years as a place for revitalization and business development. Bolton went on to say that the Palm Center is an engine for economic development and wherever economic development is there is money.

Councilmember Wanda Adams quickly approached the crowd to offer her support and to publicly say she stands with the community she represents in District D.

“I offer my commitment as an elected leader,” said Adams. “There is no way there are any plans to sell Palm Center.”

For there to be a sale of Palm Center it would be up to a city council vote and Councilwoman Adams strongly said there won’t be any support for it amongst her colleagues.

Elected officials and hopefuls from around the city took turns trying to quiet the concerns of the people assembled. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee called as she was in Washington at the time to say that the federal dollars she allowed to trickle down for Palm Center would not just fade away in vain.

“I will fight to make sure there is no sale to Palm Center,” said Lee. “A change to Palm Center won’t be tolerated.”

The city of Houston Housing Department represented Mayor Parker. They presented a letter from Neal Rackleff, Director of Housing and Community Development, stating that the City has placed Land Use Restrictions (Restrictive Covenants) on the Palm Center for a period of 20 years “to insure that HBDI will use the Palm Center Project for economic development purposes” and that HBDI may “not sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of the Palm Center Project Property, without the prior approval of City Council and if “HBDI agrees that its failure to abide by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, including the Restrictive Covenants … will result in a default. The city of Houston will enforce the contract in order to make sure a sale of Palm Center doesn’t happen.

Carroll Robinson, Board Trustee, District IV Houston Community College spoke to HCC’s role in the rumored closure of Palm Center’s closure. Originally Palm Center was a target area for the westward expansion of HCC’s campuses but the proposal did not make much headway with HBDI and HCC will expand in the Medical Center.

At this point is where the confusion set in for the proposal from HCC was a main catalyst for concern about the future of Palm Center. Leaders such as Judge Zinetta Burney and Constable May Walker of Precinct 7, whom have their offices located in the Palm Center, both declared that HCC could not make a home inside Palm Center even though they are champions for growth in the area.

“I was told by high level people that HCC wants to buy Palm Center,” said Burney. “I hope HCC puts a campus nearby just not at the Palm Center.”

The entertaining of the idea of closure cause for serious upset and Constable Walker demanded to know what the plans would be for Palm Center stating that everyone needed to know what was going on.

For now Palm Center is safe. There will be no sale of the facility but across the street there will be a state of the art, two story library built with $6 million from the HISD bond that was voted on in last November’s election. The Young Branch Library will break ground in June 2014.

News

Senate shoots down gun reform legislation

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Gun reform supporters stand and rally together.
Gun reform supporters stand and rally together.

Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

The fight for stricter gun laws on Capitol Hill is proving to be a steep uphill battle and the Obama administration has yet to see a victory. Gun rallies are taking place all over the country in hopes to make a social change with the violence that has been associated lately with guns.

Recently the Senate shut down the plan to extend background checks to online and gun-show sales. The vote tallied 54 to 56 leaving the bill six votes short of the 60 votes needed for it to pass. The proposal to ban rapid firing assault weapons failed in the Senate as well.

Americans are praying for “gunsense” as the death toll is rising and the families of the slain are crying out for justice and help. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has taken to the fight of gun law reform and wants the nation to see what gun violence has done to America, families and children.

“I think it’s intolerable that we don’t have an up or down vote,” said Congresswoman Lee as she rallied for some type of vote to be rendered earlier in April.

The types of guns that the public should possess gives way to the contrition that is making the debate a fiery one, being that assault rifles are under immense scrutiny.

“We need a vote to eliminate assault weapons as well as registration standards,” said Constable Walker. “Only law enforcement need assault weapons.”

Constable May Walker of Precinct 7 approves of universal background checks and anti- gun trafficking law.

The ideology of right and wrong is one of the biggest factors in the gun reform debate as the nation’s conscious feels it is wrong when children are murdered yet it is right that Americans should hold their rights of bearing arms in tact. Congresswoman Lee’s stance is regulation as she reminds the public of the victims of gun violence.

America is the most “gunned” country in the world. In 2011 there were 89 guns for every 100 Americans which would make one presume America would be a safer country yet it’s not.

Legislators urged by their constituents are pushing for sensible gun legislation that will ban assault weapons; diminish the use of multiple round clips and the closing of the gun show loopholes. With the recent tragedies of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, the theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado and statistics like 500 homicides linked to gun violence on the streets of Chicago in 2012, the American public have had lit fires that are burning under President Obama to make some type of reform with firearms.

With all the push for reform there are just as many if not more people who do not feel the same sentiment. The urgency for change is meeting opposition from legislators and organizations such as The National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA is fighting with all the fire power they have to keep the gun laws as is. In a statement released earlier in April the NRA said, that the amendment “would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution.”

The battle is far from over as politicians on both sides of the issue are not going to back down. The issue filibustered in the Senate and made many angry while causing the public to rally for a decision.

April 17, 2013 the Senate shot down the President’s gun legislation leaving a large majority of the country bitter and looking for a new direction.