A public hearing on educational opportunities in Spring Branch was held on Thursday (July 16) at HCC Spring Branch Campus Performing Arts Center - Theater II, 1010 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. N.
The following are excerpts from Thursday's hearing. Complete transcripts of the hearings will be posted to HCC's Web site during the next two weeks. More details about the hearings.
Bill Thorne “I'm not a long-term resident of Spring Branch but I lived 30 years in a community college district with a brand-new startup community college and I am as averse to new taxes as anybody on the face of this earth. When it comes to fiscal things, I am probably somewhere just to the right of Attila the Hun; but I up-close personally watched the impact that a community college had on that community; and I will tell you, for my thinking, this is a no-brainer.”
Ken Arnold "We have a huge population of that in Spring Branch that is not coming into engineering. They need a community college to show them the way. They need the community college to help them in the first two years to get them into engineering. They need the community college to have the technology backgrounds if they're not going to become engineers, as well. And I want to lobby you all, build that building quickly. The nation needs it."
Charlene Kinsey "My name is Charlene Kinsey; and as of yesterday, my husband and I are proud owners of a home now in Spring Shadows. We're very glad to be here. I also wear another hat, and I teach for Houston Community College at the Fry Road campus. I'm very excited about the fact that I'm moving into a district that is considering voting in Houston Community College, not because I work there, but because when I was 40, never expecting to go back to college, I did. I lived in a district that was lucky enough to have a community college. I went back to that community college there to get a job."
Gene Frazier "My name is Gene Frazier, and I'm a lifelong resident of Spring Branch, I have my business in Spring Branch; and I'm opposed to this tax. We already in Spring Branch have spent quite a bit of money on the school bond election that just passed. As a business owner, we have a business tax that's also posted on our property. Of the tax they're going to collect which is estimated between $12 and $15 million, $2 million of which would be the maximum return for the tuition savings, that savings alone to me is a 6 to 1 collection of tax. I think that's a little bit more than is necessary."
Bill Penzak "I have four children who have been educated by state universities here in Texas, so I value it. And I see a lot of dedicated educators here; but, you know, I'm just troubled by another increase in my expenses."
Bill Thorne
Ken Arnold
Charlene Kinsey
Gene Frazier
Bill Penzak