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Author: David Jennings

City Council Reverses Course on City Manager Position

At a Special Meeting of the City of Shoreacres City Council on Thursday, August 28, 2025, called by Mayor Jennings, the Council reversed its previous selection for City Manager. It declined to enter into an Agreement for Professional Services and Employment as City Manager with Walter Gant, III.

The meeting was well-attended, and the Council heard from many residents who were passionate about the months-long process of selecting Mr. Gant. The vote to enter into the Agreement failed on a 1-aye, 4-nay vote. You may view the video on Youtube.

Democracy isn’t always neat and pretty, but it remains the best form of government.

I am thankful to those residents who chose to be involved and grateful to the council for their due diligence.

Mayor Jennings

Shoreacres Selects Walter Gant, III as City Manager

At the Shoreacres City Council meeting held Monday, August 11, 2025, the Council selected Walter Gant, III to be the next City Manager.

Mr. Gant has an extensive background in municipal service during his 27-year career. He has held various positions, including City Administrator, Police Chief, Emergency Management Coordinator, Budget Director, Grant Manager, and Community Development Manager, at different times. His supervisory roles have included Code Enforcement, Animal Services, Health Department, Solid Waste, Compliance, Project Management, Public Safety, and Public Works. He also has experience as an independent grant writer, grant administrator, and in developing business plans for start-up companies.

Mr. Gant is very involved in his community. He has served with the Cloverleaf Volunteer Fire Department as a Lieutenant and Training Coordinator, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Committee, and as a Compliance Officer with the Local Emergency Planning Committee.

Mr. Gant will start his employment with the city on September 1st, and we will host a reception for him at the September 8th meeting of the City Council.

Please join me in welcoming Walter to our community!

Mayor Jennings

Boil Water Notice for Community Public Water Systems

July 21, 2025

Due to a main service line repair, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Shoreacres, public water system 1010207, to notify certain customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes. Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact LaWanda Weiss at (832) 942-1041

Houston Yacht Club to Host Shoreacres Appreciation Day

I received the following email from Ernest Brauner, Jr., CCM of the Houston Yacht Club:

The HYC Board of Directors would like to express our appreciation to the Shoreacres community by hosting a special event on July 12th. We invite the community to join us for complimentary burgers, hot dogs, snow cones, swimming, and a variety of fun activities.

Additional beverages and other food items will be available for purchase throughout the clubhouse. A credit card will be required, and a guest pass can be arranged through the front desk to facilitate these purchases.

RSVPs are requested to ensure we have enough food and space for all attendees. Guests must register using the Eventbrite link: Register at Eventbrite.

Member volunteers will be available to offer tours of the property and answer any questions they may have about the club.

Thank you for your continued support and for all that you do for our community!

Warm regards,

Ernie

This sounds like a very fun event! Many thanks to the Houston Yacht Club for their commitment to our community. I hope that we have a great turnout and support the HYC as well!

Mayor Jennings

Shoreacres Council selects Felicia Ramos as Mayor Pro-tem

L/R Diane Stokes, Municipal Court, Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Ramos, Bernie Anderson, Utility/Permitting

Felicia Ramos was selected as the mayor pro tem in a unanimous vote at the May 12, 2025, meeting of the Shoreacres City Council.

Felicia is entering her ninth year serving on the council. Her educational and work background is in construction and project management. She was a tremendous help in our recent water and sewer infrastructure upgrades.

As you can see in the photo above, Felicia has hit the ground running and attended our staff meeting this morning. I met with her yesterday and gave her a rundown of our current personnel status, finances, and challenges. I look forward to working more closely with her as Mayor Pro Tem.

Please join me in welcoming her to her new role. She may be reached by email at framos@shoreacrestx.us.

Mayor Jennings

From the Mayor’s Desk

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

The 2025 General Election is almost over. All of the votes have been cast, but eleven (11) provisional ballots remain to be counted. These ballots will be taken to the Harris County Election Center, and their validity will be determined.

Provisional ballots are cast when a voter’s name does not appear on the poll books that the county provides to us. Typical reasons are a failure to update addresses or married names. So we will not know the final vote totals until these votes are counted. The current City Council will canvas the ballots and certify the election on Monday, May 12, 2025. For now, these are the totals:

candidatemail-in-ballotsearly votingelection daytotals
Johnny Hill06342105
Chuck Mitchell0553489
Felicia Ramos0462369
Kelli Grabbe0421658
Ron Hoskins0301747
Anthony Martin0351247
Proposition amail-in-ballotsearly votingelection daytotals
For08938127
Against0101525

A huge thank you to all who helped with the election. City Secretary Elaine Goodman did a fantastic job overseeing a months-long process. Election Judge Wes Bell and Election Clerks Kay and Kendall Pickett worked the polls every day they were open. Administrative staff Bernie Anderson and Diane Stokes underwent training on our new equipment and worked a very long Election Day.

Thank you to each of the candidates who participated in this process. It isn’t easy to put your name on the ballot and have people give you a thumbs-up or down—I happen to know this from experience!

I’m looking forward to working with the new council, and we will hit the ground running as we prepare the next budget.

Mayor Jennings

Citizens Police Academy 2025

As you probably know, Shoreacres and Morgan’s Point participate in the La Porte Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy. Those who have attended in the past enjoyed the class and learned a lot about local law enforcement.

The class consists of 13 modules and meets once a week for 13 weeks. The schedule and application are below.

Citizens Police Academy ScheduleDownload
Citizens Police Academy ApplicationDownload

I think that you will find this academy very informative. Please let me know if you attend, and we will recognize you at a City Council meeting.

Mayor Jennings

Hurricane Beryl Recovery Update Thursday, July 18th 

Good afternoon. I want to give you an update on where the city stands in our Hurricane Beryl recovery process. 

As of this morning, CenterPoint is reporting that one residence in Shoreacres is still without power.

Vegetation pickup started this morning and will continue for several weeks. We may be able to speed that up as more equipment becomes available but for now I anticipate that it will be 3 to 4 weeks to complete everything. It is critical for you to remember that this pickup round is for vegetation only and that NO PALM TREES will be picked up. Palm trees are considered trash and you must place them in a separate pile. If you mix palm trees in with your vegetation pile, the trucks will skip it and you will be responsible for removal of the entire pile. 

It is also important for you to have everything out to the street before the trucks service your street. Once they pickup on your street, they will not return and you will be responsible for removal.

The biggest structural damage is privacy fences. If your fence is more than 50% damaged, you are required to go to City Hall and obtain a permit. We have waived the fee for this but because of our relationship with FEMA and flood insurance policy discounts, we have to follow our ordinances. Our residents receive a substantial discount on flood insurance and we do not want to lose that.

Garbage service has returned to normal. 

Blessings to you and your family. 

Mayor Jennings

Hurricane Beryl Recovery Update Monday, July 15th

Good morning. I wanted to give you a short update on the recovery efforts that are ongoing.

As of 7:45 am, CenterPoint is reporting that the number of homes in Shoreacres without power is down to 266. They expect that number to be lowered again today but some of us will most likely be without power until Wednesday or Thursday. Crews have not made it to the back areas of the N Country Club area.

Thus far we have had two homes reporting water ingress of 1-2 inches. One of the homeowners reporting has asked for information on sandbagging for future incidents. Troy and I will research this but if you have any information or can point us in the right direction, we would much appreciate it. 

Debris cleanup will not begin until Wednesday at the earliest. Remember to keep your vegetation separate from trash and other debris. Palm trees are considered trash: please do not place them in your vegetation pile.

Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and his staff continue to offer support to our residents. As I mentioned yesterday, there are two cooling centers open near us. A complete list of centers may be found here: Cooling Centers (hcp2.com). They also have coordinated Points of Distribution for water and food, hot meals, ice, and other supplies. You can keep up with their activities on Facebook or Nextdoor.

Finally, this morning, I want to show you one of the many acts of kindness that our residents have been doing. One of our elderly residents was in dire straits without food or power. City Utility Clerk Bernie Anderson has been coordinating help all week long. Yesterday a team lifted her fence back into place. Here is a picture of them. These acts of kindness are happening throughout the city. It is awesome to see.

Blessings to you and your family.

Mayor Jennings

Hurricane Beryl Recovery Update Sunday, July 14th

Good afternoon. I wanted to update you again on the recovery efforts that are ongoing.

We participated in a call with Precinct 2 Commissioner Garcia, local mayors, and emergency response teams from the cities in our region this afternoon. 

As of 4:00 pm, CenterPoint is reporting that 298 homes in Shoreacres are without power. That is pretty close to my anecdotal guesstimate of 40-50% prior to the call. There are trucks in the city today and crews are working hard in the heat to get us back in service. The power has been restored to City Hall, Police and Public Works and we are no longer running on generated power. 

We hope to have Shoreacres Blvd between Hwy 146 and Broadway open this afternoon. The section that is closed between Broadway and Byway should be cleared tomorrow. We are waiting for a very large tree to be removed by crews from Precinct 2.

Commissioner Garcia asked that we relay several items for your interest. First, his team has set up cooling centers in our area if you need to rest up and charge your phones. The closest to Shoreacres will be the East Harris County Activity Center at 7340 Spencer Highway and the Bay Area Community Center at 5002 East NASA Parkway.

Second, local law enforcement is taking a zero tolerance stance against anyone that threatens or intimidates CenterPoint crews. I find it in incredible that anyone would do that and we have had no reports of those types of behaviors in Shoreacres but our officers will also take this stance. CenterPoint management certainly needs to be held accountable but the workers in the field are not responsible for any delays to our electricity service. If anything, take them a bottle of cold water and say thank you.

Third, Commissioner Garcia and CenterPoint representatives want us to spread the word about the false information being shared on Facebook and other social media platforms. There is no truth to those tall tales about CenterPoint not paying linemen, under paying them, not setting them up in hotels, not feeding them, etc. I have seen those comments and they are clearly false. No company would send their workers out of state into our area without a contract for those items. Please do not share this false information.

It’s been a long, hot and tiring week for all of us. We’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It may be dim right now, but it’s there. I’m one of the 298 that are reported to be without power so I understand how frustrating the feeling of loss of control is. But soon that light will come steamrolling through and we will return to our normal lives. 

Thank you for hanging in there and showing how resilient those of us in Shoreacres are. We will recover and we will be stronger for it. If you are like me, you have found little tricks that have made life bearable during this yucky, sticky, muggy, HOT weather. We need to share those with each other!

Blessings to you and your family.

Mayor Jennings