The Pollard Press, Dec. 2022

Council Member Pollard and the Regional Black Chamber of Commerce led a delegation on a trade mission to Belize. Leaders and professionals from Houston met with local dignitaries about opportunities to strengthen trade and relationships between the two. The delegation met with the Mayor of Belize City, the Hon. Bernard Wagner and the Deputy Mayor Allan Pollard; the Mayor of the capital city Belmopan, the Hon. Sheran Palacio; and Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Cordel Hyde. They also took a trip to the National Assembly and attended a private meeting at the U.S. Embassy, where they met with the newly appointed US Ambassador to Belize, Michelle Kwan (the former Olympic figure skater). Special thanks goes out to Ms. Leondria Thompson and the entire Tri-Country Regional Black Chamber of Commerce for coordinating the trip.

Free heavy trash removal service is being offered for District J residents once again. Homeowners within the district must register by January 6, 2023, if you want your heavy trash and tree waste items removed from your curb. Crews will pick up the trash on Saturday, January 14th from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. To sign up, call the number below or scan the QR code to access the registration form.

The city of Houston Solid Waste Management Department announces the following holiday schedule:

 

Residents will receive normal garbage, yard waste, and junk waste collections.

Curbside recycling will be serviced on your next scheduled collection day, which will be January 6th and 7th, 2023. All facilities, including Neighborhood Depositories, Westpark Recycling Center, Environmental Service Center, and the Reuse Warehouse will maintain normal operating hours. All administrative offices will be closed on Friday, December 23, 2022.

  

All facilities, including Neighborhood Depositories, Westpark Recycling Center, Environmental Service Center, and the Reuse Warehouse will be closed. 

 

All collection services will resume normal operations. All facilities including Neighborhood Depositories, Westpark Recycling Center, Environmental Service Center, Reuse Warehouse, and administrative offices will be closed.

 

All collection services and facilities will resume normal operating hours.

 

Residents will receive normal garbage, yard waste, and junk waste collections.

Curbside recycling will be serviced on your next scheduled collection day, which will be January 13th and 14th, 2023. All facilities, including Neighborhood Depositories, Westpark Recycling Center, Environmental Service Center, the Reuse Warehouse, and administrative offices will maintain normal operating hours. 

 

CITY HOLIDAY: All Solid Waste facilities and offices are closed.

 

All services resume. Monday’s garbage, recycling, yard waste, and 1st Monday and 1st Tuesday’s tree waste will be collected. All facilities will be open.

 

Tuesday’s garbage, recycling, yard waste, and 1st Wednesday’s tree waste will be collected. 

 

Normal collection services resume.

The District J office has partnered with the Office of Business Opportunity to host the next Turnaround Houston Job & Readiness Fair on Thursday, Dec. 15 in Gulfton at Burnett Bayland Community Center. This will be OBO’s first in-person job fair since COVID. Register by visiting this link or by scanning the QR code below.

The District J office partnered with HPD to provide free toys to families for the holiday season. The vision for this initiative was for children to interact with police officers during good times, so their perception of law enforcement builds trust and not fear. Santa made an appearance and helped officers hand out toys and interact with residents. Special thanks goes out to HPD S. Gessner station for coordinating the event. Also, a big shout out to Exotic Pop, Construction Concepts, Citi Bank, and Gulfton Management District for their sponsorships.

In 2021, Council Member Pollard’s office collaborated with yoga and wellness practitioner Jazmin Porter to bring the Police Enlightenment and Collective Education, or PEACE, program to the Houston Police Department as a pilot project in an effort to help officers. Through mindfullness practices, including meditation, yoga and sound therapy, officers were able to tap into alternate methods of stress relief. More than a year later, the program has now become a mandatory offering as part of police training. Special thanks to everyone at HPD who has had a hand in expanding this important program to help keep officers healthy.

The new Spark Park at the Mandarin Immersion School in District J is now open. Spark Parks are collaborations with public schools to enhance their playgrounds to turn them into neighborhood parks that give the community open access after hours and on weekends. This specific Spark Park was designed for middle school age kids and has new soccer goals with extended protector net, obstacle course, new track and more. One of the best features of this park is that it also has solar powered charging stations so kids can power their devices. This encourages younger generations to get outside while allowing hem to still use their electronic devices. This was a $420,000.00 dollar upgrade to the park. Special thanks to Executive Director, Kathleen Ownby and all the donors partners who helped make this happen.

Rep. Shawn Thierry joined Council Member Pollard to support India House and the Houston Food Bank to provide free groceries to families in need for Thanksgiving in District J. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, and India House for always organizing one of the most well run food distributions in the city.

DistrictJJobs.com is an online portal for employment opportunities located throughout the greater Houston area. The website was created with District J residents in mind, however, every Houstonian is welcome to explore the site and take advantage of job opportunities. The site has listings from companies of all sizes, operating in a variety of industries. DistrictJJobs.com will be updated on a regular basis, with new postings added each month. Residents may visit the website directly or scan the corresponding QR code located at each sheltered METRO bus stop within District J.

 

Forum Park is currently under construction and is slated to be completed in February 2023. The improvements will include a mini-pitch, an updated walking trail, a new half-basketball court, and shade for the playground area. As of now, the mini-pitch and basketball half-court are near completion, and the walking trail is slated to begin in the coming months.

 

Braeburn Glen Park has completed the design phase and is entering the City of Houston permitting review phase. The proposed improvements are an updated playground, renovated volleyball courts, a designated picnic area, benches along the walking trail, and an ornamental fence along the Brays Bayou Greenway. Construction will begin after the permitting process is complete in early Spring 2023, with construction to be completed in Fall/Winter 2023.

 

Houston Public Works (HPW) has made great progress on construction to replace concrete sidewalks and driveways on Westpark Dr. from Hwy. 59 to Hillcroft Ave.

 

A few traffic control boxes in District J were tagged with graffiti. A sincere thanks goes out to AT&T for removing the tags and restoring beauty to the area.

 

As part of the Mayor’s Street Rehab Initiative, work crews have removed and replaced concrete along Harwin Dr. from Hillcroft to Southwest Fwy.

 

The HOT Team assists with picking up scattered debris, removing heavy trash, tree waste and illegal dumping, and handling specific landscaping issues. All requests for assistance from the HOT Team should be submitted via 311. The HOT Team makes pickups according to the following schedule:

 

1st Thursday – Sharpstown

2nd Thursday – St. George, Gulfton and Richmond Plaza South

3rd Thursday – Braeburn Area

4th Thursday – Alief/Westwood

 

 

The HOT Team cleared tree debris near the 8000 block of West Bellfort.

District J Patrol is a three-pronged approach to public safety bridging the gap between the law enforcement officers in District J and the communities they serve. Sponsored by the District J office, this pilot initiative includes community patrolling by Houston Police Department’s Differential Response Team (DRT), the use of two Polaris vehicles and the District J Patrol Task Force. Residents may report small neighborhood violations and infringements, such as panhandling, loitering, overgrown lots, graffiti, homeless encampments and other public nuisances. To file a report, visit the online portal atwww.DistrictJPatrol.com. 

 

To learn more about our new modern approach to community policing, or to file a report regarding a quality of life issue, please visit www.districtjpatrol.com. To retrieve data, research policy, or to file a complaint online, visit houstontx.gov/policetransparency.

The District J office staff is here to serve you.

 

David “Alex” Brizuela, Director of Constituent Services

Ana “Francis” Ellis, District Coordinator

Council Member Edward Pollard

Misty Starks, Director of Communications

Paul Young, Chief of Staff