October is here and the November elections are clearly on the horizon.
Hopefully, so is fall.
Invitations to the Annual meeting have been mailed. Circle that date and
call the Chapter office to let us know you are coming. The night of October
7 presents each of us an opportunity to question and listen to the mayoral
hopefuls. We are structuring the Candidate Forum portion of the evening to
allow each candidate to make a two minute statement on how and where they
stand in relation to urban policy, regional issues and Houston's future,
respond to a group of prepared questions, and most importantly, answer
questions from the membership - from you!
The Chapter's "Avoiding the Brink" in combination with AAF's "Back From the
Brink" documentary, ably led by Jim Hill, AIA, visually and clearly set many
issues on the table for discussion. The Forum is our opportunity to delve
deeper into our candidates minds at greater length than the format of the
television forum allowed. Some of the issues we have already discussed in
our briefings with the candidates: Sprawl,
Transportation Planning, Urban Form, Regional Cooperation, Neighborhood
Alienation, Uneven City Services, Civic Responsibility. What else do we
need to ask to allow each of you and our fellow citizens to make an informed
decision? We have sent to each of the candidates a tape of the community
forum, a list of the issues raised and questions not fully addressed, and a
group of idea papers which directly relate to the issues I mentioned just
above. We have raised these cogent issues and we are being heard.
In addition to the candidate forum, we will be conducting business of the
Chapter in our earlier session. I will be updating you on where we are as
an organization and new directions we have undertaken. I will also have the
privilege to honor a few of our fellow professionals for their service to
the Chapter, the profession and the City. With Ken Ross, AIA, placing names
in nomination, we will also be electing next year's leadership. Lastly, we
will be voting on amending - truthfully updating - our by-laws. Admittedly
most of the items are more housekeeping than anything, but we are making
changes that will further our efforts to keep the Board and the Membership
closely and clearly informed on issues affecting the profession as a whole
and each of us individually. If you would like a more in-depth discussion
of the amendments, please call the Chapter office and we will send you a set
or stop by and pick-up a set.
The basic items we wish to adjust are:
- Substituted "Board" for "Executive Committee" as the governing body,
which is truthfully how we do and should operate;
- Streamlined student membership applications by having the student's dean
sign the application;
- For the first time formally defined our Executive Director's position and
respective responsibilities;
- Restructured the Board to contain the officers - President,
President-Elect, Secretary (and TSA Director), Treasurer, immediate Past
President, and Executive Director - along with nine additional directors
(portfolios established by the Board), ex-officio members consisting of
presidents of the AIAS chapters at the University of Houston, Rice, and
Prairie View A&M University, the Deans of each school, an architect member
from RDA, and an architect from the Foundation Board; the real changes are
TSA Director/Secretary combination and establishing nine directors in lieu
of three at-large and six with specific duties;
- Changed term lengths to two years, with staggered overlaps, for all
members except the President-Elect, President, Past President cycle. This
will assure continuity on the Board year to year.
Our Chapter's committee system and structure is probably one of our greatest
strengths and therefore the reason we are adjusting the directors and their
responsibilities. We currently have one director attempting to work with
nineteen committees - we ask too much. The new arrangement will more evenly
divide responsibilities along common threads with the intent to not overload
any one individual. More importantly the intent is to keep the channels of
communication open and clear allowing the Board and membership to be attuned
the ever pressing issues we face as a profession and chapter and to respond
expeditiously.
I look forward to seeing you on the seventh. I look forward to hearing what
our candidates have to say.
Joe Douglas Webb, AIA
