Judge Emmett calls for improved infrastructure and transportation

State of the County Address

Vilas Bhuchar, Feb 15, 10.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett delivered his annual State of the County Address, hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) and the League of Women Voters - Houston, to private, public, and nonprofit leaders at the Hilton Americas Hotel in downtown Houston on Thursday, February 11, 2010.

To introduce the concept of a “state of a county address,” he reflected on the meditative aspect of most religions in the world, in which humans ask the question, “Who am I?” For a county, the question, he said, becomes “Who is Harris County? What is the state of it?”

And for the most part, Emmett noted that the county, while facing a challenging year in which there will “likely be more changes to this year’s budget than any in recent memory,” is doing relatively well compared to other counties around the country.

However, to truly answer the state of the county question, Emmett asked the audience to think about the various viewpoints of county residents. For instance, he used a 35-year old secretary stuck in traffic on 290 as an example. The secretary may ask, “Why can’t someone do something about this (traffic)?” To her, the state of the county, or at least its traffic, is not very good. Thus, the county, Emmett said, is “trying to accomplish” an improved 290/610 interchange and “maybe even have commuter rail from Houston to Hempstead and perhaps all the way to Austin,” to improve transportation options for this secretary and others dealing with similar transportation issues.
Judge Emmett urged the audience to join the county in supporting state legislation involving transportation funding, especially as state funding becomes tighter. He also noted a little later in his speech, in analyzing a driver who might be frustrated with the price of toll roads, that it’s important for citizens to understand that “toll roads have been vital and crucial” to the funding of various projects.

Judge Emmett stressed the importance of transportation again later in his speech when he said the county “desperately needs infrastructure, particularly transportation. If goods and people can’t move, the economy will become stagnant.” To this, he also added, “If we’re short-sighted now, future costs associated with health care, criminal justice, and other issues will spiral out of control, leaving us unable to meet either social or infrastructure needs.”

Finally, in thanking Mayor Annise Parker for introducing him at the event, Judge Emmett noted that Harris County, the City of Houston, and surrounding areas must work together to make things happen:

“Our constituents rightly expect Harris County and the City of Houston to work together whenever possible to eliminate duplication and to provide higher levels of efficiency. For Harris County, that spirit of cooperation goes beyond the City of Houston. It extends to the other 33 incorporated municipalities and even to surrounding counties, because so many of the needs and issues transcend city limits and county boundaries.”

During the introduction, Parker noted that she and Emmett both went to Rice University and have been friends for a long time.

Guidry News posted audio clips from the event, including Mayor Parker’s introduction of Judge Emmett and his entire speech (mp3). The Houston Chronicle focused on aspects of the event considering inter-governmental cooperation including Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack discussing working with the city on jails. Similarly, ABC Channel 13 News focused on the stadium issues facing the County: how to reuse the Astrodome, and where the Houston Dynamos soccer team will settle into a permanent home.