Pct. 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler hosts second semi-annual town hall

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler recently held his second town hall meeting with the public since taking office at the beginning of last year, as part of his ongoing plan to hold such meetings twice a year during his tenure.

The purpose of the town hall, according to Wheeler, is to promote accessibility, collaboration, and transparency to his constituents. With the Cathy Brady Ballroom at the newly opened Kevin Brady Library and Community Center filled with dozens of members of the public, elected officials, representatives of various agencies and offices, and members of the media, Wheeler welcomed the crowd and laid out his agenda of covering recent results from a precinct-wide survey, an update on projects, the status of the road bond funding these projects, budgeting and financing, and a question-and-answer session.

Woodlands Online was able to talk with Wheeler before the event started. “We said when we ran for office and took office that we would be more transparent to the residents and this is one of many ways that we try to give information on what’s going on. We want then to know what their tax dollars are being spent on,” he said.

Wheeler’s revelation of the resident survey responses showed that the top priorities needed for his office involved traffic relief at 58%, road investment at 49%, and fiscal responsibility at 44%. Traffic congestion was by far the top concern for his constituents, and he addressed those issues with an unveiling of planned road improvement projects.

Among these projects are an extensive widening and improvement of Robinson Road, improvements to intersections and traffic signal upgrades at locations like Rayford Road and Discovery Creek, the addition of right-turn lanes along the 99 frontage road, and a replacement of the flood-prone Sawdust Road bridge to give it wider access and higher elevation.

Wheeler proudly touted that 72 projects had been completed in only nine months. Expenditures from the recent road bond had reached $14.3 million. He then broke down in pie chart format a tax breakdown by taxing entity and county expenditure by function.

Besides Wheeler, the room held representatives of various offices including the Montgomery County Central Appraisal District, Entergy Texas, Centerpoint Energy, the County Engineer, Constable Ryan Gable, Sheriff Wesley Doolittle, District Clerk Melisa Miller, County Clerk Brandon Steinmann, and Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae, who manned tables to answer questions from the assembly.

Natalie Saikowski Goertz, a prominent business and banking executive currently serving as the Senior Vice President and Director of Treasury Management at Texas First Bank, was impressed with the event.

“I thought it was very well done and well attended,” she told Woodlands Online. “It’s empowering to have the community resources available and representatives from those resources attend to answer our questions. It’s not often that you get this dynamic of a group together under the same roof, and I’m certainly looking forward to the next one.”

At the conclusion of the event, Wheeler encouraged the attendees to be sure to follow his office on Facebook, Instagram, the official website, the P3 Works phone app, and his regular ‘Wheeler Report’ podcast.

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