1/26/26 – Progressives are wrong to critique local leaders for working across the political aisle on flooding: an Op-ed about partisanship originally published in the Houston Chronicle Opinion Section.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire (l) with Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey coordinating first responders after severe flooding in Kingwood. (Personal image substituted for copyrighted Chronicle image.)
For eight years, I have hosted the website ReduceFlooding.com, which focuses on the need to reduce flooding in Houston. Pretty straightforward.
This also means I spend plenty of time interacting with government officials at all levels.
People form governments to solve the big problems that individuals can’t. That is especially true for local governments. Municipalities provide police and fire protection, build and maintain water and sewer systems, manage garbage, repair streets and do all of the critical and unglamorous work of making a city run. That includes flood mitigation.
Recently, however, partisans have been politicizing local governments by insisting elected officials become involved with issues over which they have little, if any, control. They confuse virtue with partisan purity.
Here in Houston, the most notable examples are the progressive attacks on Mayor John Whitmire.
I have followed the Chronicle’s coverage of extremists within the mayor’s own Democratic Party. They criticize him for not adequately towing the party line. My understanding is that his cardinal sin was attending a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican.
I fail to see the sin in working across the partisan divide to improve the lives of Houstonians. I have no problem with our mayor attending any event for any elected official of either party if it will help us get the critical funding that Houston needs to improve infrastructure and control flooding. Floodwater does not discriminate based on party affiliation. It destroys the homes and lives of Democrats and Republicans alike.
Before Whitmire was first elected mayor, he asked me to educate him about local flood issues in Kingwood. Then he asked me to set up meetings with flood victims and community leaders so he could learn firsthand about their needs. It didn’t matter whether they were Republicans or Democrats — they were human beings who needed help.
For the partisan extremists, however, purity is more important than solving citizen’s everyday problems. Their mantra has become “Whose colors are you wearing?” Blind obedience to the political party is more important than working together toward common goals that make communities better places to live.
And it’s about more than campaign events.
For instance, on a cold and blustery Saturday morning earlier this month, I saw a refreshing example of what it looks like when local politicians put partisan purity aside: Whitmire himself working shoulder to shoulder with more than a hundred volunteers to improve public safety in Kingwood. For this lifelong Democrat, it didn’t matter that Kingwood is Republican-friendly territory. What mattered was coming together to solve the problem of runaway vines taking over the median of Kingwood Drive. The vines were choking trees, spilling into the roadway, crowding traffic, limiting visibility, and creating a public safety hazard.
Kingwood residents have long recognized the vines as a nuisance. They dodge them every day on their way to and from work. To help control them, District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger has organized a series of trim-fests called “Median Madness.”
Vines had become especially troublesome in front of Kingwood High School – home to thousands of inexperienced teenage drivers. So, on that Saturday morning, more than a hundred volunteers showed up for “Median Madness: Round 5” to attack the vines in front of the high school. Most of the volunteers were students from the high school itself.
No one wore a red shirt or a blue shirt. No clothing shouted political slogans. Everyone came with work gloves and work boots. To make their community a better, safer, more beautiful place to live and work. For the benefit of everyone — regardless of political affiliation.
And when the camera crews left and the press was finished covering the Median Madness event, the mayor didn’t leave with them. He stayed to help clear the vines and improve traffic safety — in blue jeans and work boots with lopping shears – like everyone else.
Like I said: critical and unglamorous work.
In doing so, Whitmire set an example of what public service should be. He put politics aside and worked with residents for the good of the community – young and old, male and female, Democrats and Republicans. He communicated an unspoken message about the importance of public service for scores of high school students.
I have seen this practice repeatedly with Whitmire. He focuses on issues that actually improve residents’ lives. He sees past the debilitating, divisive national dialog undermining trust in government. Even if it means toiling in miserable weather for hours on a Saturday morning.
In the end, our steady 76-year-old mayor taught everyone at Median Madness perhaps the most important lesson of all without saying it outright. He showed that we have more to gain by working together than fighting each other. Public safety requires cooperation not competition. And that’s a pretty important lesson.
It’s a lesson the progressive activists in Whitmire’s own party still need to learn.
Bob Rehak is the host of ReduceFlooding.com and Precinct 3 representative to the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/26/26
3072 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20240503-RJR_3404.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2026-01-26 15:59:312026-01-26 15:59:32Natural Disasters Don’t Care About Partisanship. Neither Does Mayor Whitmire.
1/25/26 – One in every five Texans lives in a floodplain, according to the first Texas State Flood Plan. We have the second highest number of repetitive loss properties in the country, according to the Insurance Journal. And 30 states have populations smaller than the number of people living in Texas floodplains.
The number of floodplain dwellers in the San Jacinto watershed alone exceeds the entire populations of 15 states and the District of Columbia. And it’s not all because of rainfall, flat land, or our proximity to the Gulf. Government secrecy compounds those issues.
Purpose of FOIA and TPIA
While governments at all levels pay lip service to transparency, the reality can be quite different. Journalists and concerned citizens frequently have their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) requests denied. Usually, the denials occur when they might embarrass someone in government. Yet that’s exactly why those two acts were passed decades ago. And that’s why we need to rededicate ourselves to openness.
State, County, Municipal Examples
Let me give you three recent examples.
Scarborough Land West of Kingwood
A Dallas-based company called Scarborough bought 5,300 acres at the confluence of Spring, Cypress and Turkey Creeks where they join the San Jacinto West Fork. Virtually all the land is in floodplains or floodways. The developer says the State of Texas is his partner.
Land purchased by Scarborough last year. All but the dark gray areas within the red are in floodplains or the floodway.
The Texas School Land Board invested an undisclosed amount of money for undisclosed terms in the development of the property.
The state has rebuffed attempts to discover why it is investing in the development of such dangerous property.
The Texas General Land Office oversees the School Land Board but has refused to clarify media requests and repeatedly appealed FOIA requests to Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton keeps finding reasons to avoid compliance with the spirit of the law.
The state even refused a request from a Texas representative. They demanded the lawmaker sign a non-disclosure agreement. The lawmaker found it so onerous, he said he refused to sign it.
Paxton has announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate. And Dawn Buckingham, GLO Commissioner is running for re-election.
Harris County Flood Maps
The term “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) goes back 2,000 years to Roman times and became firmly embedded in English Common Law during the Middle Ages.
For people to know whether they’re buying land in a floodplain, they need access to current flood maps based on the best available information. But 8.5 years after Hurricane Harvey, Harris County Flood Control District has not released updated flood maps – effectively keeping buyers in the dark about their flood risk.
HCFCD has repeatedly ignored media requests for the new flood maps. The cover story is that their contract with FEMA prohibits release of the flood maps before FEMA vets them. But the County refuses to produce the contract. And other counties throughout Texas routinely publish “draft” maps, with the understanding that they are subject to revision by FEMA.
Romerica Land in Kingwood
Several years ago, Romerica bought more than 300 acres between Kingwood Lake and the San Jacinto West Fork. Virtually all of it lies in floodplains or floodways.
Yet the company has persisted in trying to develop it.
First, they wanted to build 25- to 50-story high rises around a marina that would hold boats too big to float on the West Fork.
Then, they wanted to build luxury homes on stilts, even though homes built on 25 foot stilts had already flooded.
Recently, they announced plans to build a 500,000 square foot, two-hotel complex surrounded by 125 luxury, 8,600 square foot villas.
Even though the most recent plan is on Romerica’s highest ground, the swampland still floods badly and repeatedly.
Location of Romerica’s proposed new development in May of 2024
When Sylvester Turner was Mayor, he reportedly instructed Public Works not to approve any building permits for the property. Turner had personally seen how badly that area flooded.
But now Houston Public Works has approved a preliminary drainage survey for the two hotels (including a Fairmont) and 125 massive villas.
Refusing my FOIA request was hilarious. In their letter to the AG, an assistant City Attorney cited information I didn’t even request to enhance her chances of keeping the study secret. Public Works even refused to supply a copy of the drainage analysis to Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger.
I have obtained similar drainage studies from Harris, Montgomery and Liberty Counties without such objections.
Illusion of Transparency
Usually, when people have nothing to hide, they quickly volunteer information. When they withhold information, they might have a valid reason. More likely, in my experience, they may have something to hide.
FOIA was passed in 1966 to shift the presumption of government information from secrecy to disclosure. Its core purpose was to give citizens, journalists, and Congress a legal mechanism to see how the government actually operates—rather than relying on voluntary or selective releases.
Before FOIA, government information was disclosed at agency discretion. After FOIA, disclosure became the default.
FOIA passed because Congress concluded that a rapidly expanding federal bureaucracy had become too secretive, too insulated, and too powerful—and that democracy required legally enforceable transparency, not voluntary disclosure.
Newspapers across Texas demanded reform. Voters were openly angry. Lawmakers feared losing office. Reform candidates surged in the 1973 elections. But according to many journalists and activist groups, transparency laws were imposed on a system that never truly wanted them.
Texas recently required creation of a searchable database of letter rulings under House Bill 3033, but as of January 23, 2026, Paxton’s office had only gotten up to 2023. None of the PDFs would open. And HTML files were unavailable.
Screen capture from Rulings website. Site froze when I tried to open first PDF.
According to his office, Paxton received 40,000 appeals of open records requests in 2023 alone. So, there’s no way to determine whether Paxton’s office exhibits a systematic bias for or against TPIA requests. However, 40,000 is a shocking number. It shows how frequently local and county jurisdictions want to keep matters secret.
Why This Matters for Floodplain Development Issues
Texas adopted transparency laws in 1973 for the same reason they matter today:
Decisions affecting land, money, and power tend to drift toward secrecy without legal force.
In floodplain development, appeals of FOIA and TPIA requests commonly cite the privacy of developer studies as the reason for not releasing them. But in my humble opinion once a government official stamps such a study “approved,” the public should have the right to see the basis for the approval. Anything less is government by secrecy.
In the case of flood safety, such secrecy can destroy lives, homes, and life savings. And the statistics in the first two paragraphs of this post prove it.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/25/2026
3071 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/HumbleFloodFromHCFCD-e1761946748900.jpg?fit=1100%2C821&ssl=18211100adminadmin2026-01-25 19:49:152026-01-29 06:39:39How Government Secrecy Contributes to Flooding
In fairness, before getting into concerns, let me state several things about the plans.
The consulting engineer clearly labeled the drainage analysis as preliminary.
Each page of the drainage analysis contains a disclaimer that says, “Note: The drainage plan is conceptual in nature and the final drainage design shall be in conformance with the latest City of Houston Infrastructure Design Manual.”
Page 3 states that:
All structures will have an elevation two feet above the 500-year flood level.
All proposed structures will be built on piers to reduce the need for fill.
Dirt excavated from detention ponds will be hauled away from the site.
Questions Raised by Plans
However, the preliminary drainage analysis raised more questions than it answered. For instance:
It did not claim “no adverse impact” downstream. Why?
The drainage impact analysis was dated 2/19/25 and approved by the City’s Floodplain Group on 3/3/25. Why the long delay before making them public?
Why deny me the analysis, but give it to Bloch?
A Public Works employee told me the plans were based on new, post-Harvey flood maps. But Page 2 states that they’re based on 2007 maps.
With that in mind, the 2007 maps show virtually all of the proposed development in the 100-year floodplain. How much of that is now in the floodway? Neither Public Works, nor Harris County Flood Control District will reveal the new flood map for this development. Why the secrecy?
The drainage analysis does not show roadways or trails which have the ability to back water up into existing neighborhoods. Why?
The drainage analysis does not consider water draining into the area from Trailwood, Kingwood Lakes, Kings Forest or Kingwood Drive. Why? These wetlands already serve a flood-mitigation purpose that will likely be destroyed.
The drainage analysis conflicts with promotional literature provided by the developer. The literature, for instance shows the road network being built up to 60 feet and pedestrian paths being built up to 71 feet.
Ground level varies throughout the development. According to the USGS National Map, it averages about 50 feet, ranging down to 46. So how much fill would it take to raise the roads 10-15 feet?
Elevation profile of Romerica land from USGS National Map shows average height of about 50 feet.
The general plan shows approximately 6,000 feet of roadway, with the streets alone being 60 feet wide . (6000L x 60W x 10H = 3.6 million cubic feet.) That’s 133,333 cubic yards of fill. Yet the analysis claims they need only 16,966 cubic yards of fill. And they won’t be getting it from the detention basins, because they say they’re hauling all that off.
So, how are they accounting for another 100,000+ cubic yards of fill? How will they raise the streets?
Next, where is the outflow analysis for the detention basins? None is provided. So, we can’t see whether they are adding or subtracting to flood peaks.
Dubious Benefit of Detention in Floodplain
And then there’s the biggest question of all. Will flood-plain detention that quickly goes under water in floods provide any flood-reduction benefit?
Floodplains already serve as stormwater storage during floods. FEMA considers floodplain storage already “spoken for.”
Still, detention basins are allowed in floodplains with certain provisions. Harris County requires basins to drain by gravity. But the bottom of these basins is 10 feet below the level of adjacent Kingwood Lake and 4.5 feet below the level of Lake Houston. So gravity alone will never drain these ponds in a flood. Pumps would be required. And electricity is often knocked out in floods.
What the Romerica Property looked like in the May 2024 flood. Water rose to treetop level.
And if new basins fill at the same time as the river, it provides zero peak flow reduction. That is why claimed floodplain detention is often illusory. Especially when the pre-/post- runoff ratio will increase almost 4X (Page 5).
Flickinger Wisely Pulls Variance Approval from Planning Commission Agenda
The City of Houston Planning Commission was scheduled to review a variance request today for Romerica. However, City Council Member Fred Flickinger wisely requested deferral of consideration until 2/5/26. That should give us more time to sort out these inconsistencies.
The variance request has to do with not connecting the east-west street to other streets on the east. That’s because there are no streets in that area. A Kingwood Country Club golf course surrounds Romerica’s property in that direction.
The delay gives us extra time to examine the rest of their plans.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/22/2026
3068 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20240504-DJI_20240504090422_0214_D-2-copy.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2026-01-22 21:47:302026-01-23 10:41:17Romerica’s Preliminary Drainage Analysis Raises Many Questions
Natural Disasters Don’t Care About Partisanship. Neither Does Mayor Whitmire.
1/26/26 – Progressives are wrong to critique local leaders for working across the political aisle on flooding: an Op-ed about partisanship originally published in the Houston Chronicle Opinion Section.
For eight years, I have hosted the website ReduceFlooding.com, which focuses on the need to reduce flooding in Houston. Pretty straightforward.
This also means I spend plenty of time interacting with government officials at all levels.
People form governments to solve the big problems that individuals can’t. That is especially true for local governments. Municipalities provide police and fire protection, build and maintain water and sewer systems, manage garbage, repair streets and do all of the critical and unglamorous work of making a city run. That includes flood mitigation.
Recently, however, partisans have been politicizing local governments by insisting elected officials become involved with issues over which they have little, if any, control. They confuse virtue with partisan purity.
Here in Houston, the most notable examples are the progressive attacks on Mayor John Whitmire.
I have followed the Chronicle’s coverage of extremists within the mayor’s own Democratic Party. They criticize him for not adequately towing the party line. My understanding is that his cardinal sin was attending a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican.
As someone who has written extensively about flood issues since Hurricane Harvey, I can tell you that Crenshaw has helped bring hundreds of millions of dollars in flood-mitigation assistance to the Houston area, including $47 Million for additional flood gates for the Lake Houston Dam, more than $100 million for San Jacinto River dredging, $80 million for Community Project Funding Grants to date, and approximately $50 million for Kingwood High School Flood Barrier. Crenshaw also played a pivotal role in securing $25 million federal dollars for the North Shepherd-Durham renovation project..
I fail to see the sin in working across the partisan divide to improve the lives of Houstonians. I have no problem with our mayor attending any event for any elected official of either party if it will help us get the critical funding that Houston needs to improve infrastructure and control flooding. Floodwater does not discriminate based on party affiliation. It destroys the homes and lives of Democrats and Republicans alike.
Before Whitmire was first elected mayor, he asked me to educate him about local flood issues in Kingwood. Then he asked me to set up meetings with flood victims and community leaders so he could learn firsthand about their needs. It didn’t matter whether they were Republicans or Democrats — they were human beings who needed help.
For the partisan extremists, however, purity is more important than solving citizen’s everyday problems. Their mantra has become “Whose colors are you wearing?” Blind obedience to the political party is more important than working together toward common goals that make communities better places to live.
And it’s about more than campaign events.
For instance, on a cold and blustery Saturday morning earlier this month, I saw a refreshing example of what it looks like when local politicians put partisan purity aside: Whitmire himself working shoulder to shoulder with more than a hundred volunteers to improve public safety in Kingwood. For this lifelong Democrat, it didn’t matter that Kingwood is Republican-friendly territory. What mattered was coming together to solve the problem of runaway vines taking over the median of Kingwood Drive. The vines were choking trees, spilling into the roadway, crowding traffic, limiting visibility, and creating a public safety hazard.
Kingwood residents have long recognized the vines as a nuisance. They dodge them every day on their way to and from work. To help control them, District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger has organized a series of trim-fests called “Median Madness.”
Vines had become especially troublesome in front of Kingwood High School – home to thousands of inexperienced teenage drivers. So, on that Saturday morning, more than a hundred volunteers showed up for “Median Madness: Round 5” to attack the vines in front of the high school. Most of the volunteers were students from the high school itself.
No one wore a red shirt or a blue shirt. No clothing shouted political slogans. Everyone came with work gloves and work boots. To make their community a better, safer, more beautiful place to live and work. For the benefit of everyone — regardless of political affiliation.
And when the camera crews left and the press was finished covering the Median Madness event, the mayor didn’t leave with them. He stayed to help clear the vines and improve traffic safety — in blue jeans and work boots with lopping shears – like everyone else.
Like I said: critical and unglamorous work.
In doing so, Whitmire set an example of what public service should be. He put politics aside and worked with residents for the good of the community – young and old, male and female, Democrats and Republicans. He communicated an unspoken message about the importance of public service for scores of high school students.
I have seen this practice repeatedly with Whitmire. He focuses on issues that actually improve residents’ lives. He sees past the debilitating, divisive national dialog undermining trust in government. Even if it means toiling in miserable weather for hours on a Saturday morning.
In the end, our steady 76-year-old mayor taught everyone at Median Madness perhaps the most important lesson of all without saying it outright. He showed that we have more to gain by working together than fighting each other. Public safety requires cooperation not competition. And that’s a pretty important lesson.
It’s a lesson the progressive activists in Whitmire’s own party still need to learn.
Bob Rehak is the host of ReduceFlooding.com and Precinct 3 representative to the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/26/26
3072 Days since Hurricane Harvey
How Government Secrecy Contributes to Flooding
1/25/26 – One in every five Texans lives in a floodplain, according to the first Texas State Flood Plan. We have the second highest number of repetitive loss properties in the country, according to the Insurance Journal. And 30 states have populations smaller than the number of people living in Texas floodplains.
The number of floodplain dwellers in the San Jacinto watershed alone exceeds the entire populations of 15 states and the District of Columbia. And it’s not all because of rainfall, flat land, or our proximity to the Gulf. Government secrecy compounds those issues.
Purpose of FOIA and TPIA
While governments at all levels pay lip service to transparency, the reality can be quite different. Journalists and concerned citizens frequently have their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) requests denied. Usually, the denials occur when they might embarrass someone in government. Yet that’s exactly why those two acts were passed decades ago. And that’s why we need to rededicate ourselves to openness.
State, County, Municipal Examples
Let me give you three recent examples.
Scarborough Land West of Kingwood
A Dallas-based company called Scarborough bought 5,300 acres at the confluence of Spring, Cypress and Turkey Creeks where they join the San Jacinto West Fork. Virtually all the land is in floodplains or floodways. The developer says the State of Texas is his partner.
The Texas School Land Board invested an undisclosed amount of money for undisclosed terms in the development of the property.
The Texas General Land Office oversees the School Land Board but has refused to clarify media requests and repeatedly appealed FOIA requests to Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton keeps finding reasons to avoid compliance with the spirit of the law.
The state even refused a request from a Texas representative. They demanded the lawmaker sign a non-disclosure agreement. The lawmaker found it so onerous, he said he refused to sign it.
Paxton has announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate. And Dawn Buckingham, GLO Commissioner is running for re-election.
Harris County Flood Maps
The term “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) goes back 2,000 years to Roman times and became firmly embedded in English Common Law during the Middle Ages.
For people to know whether they’re buying land in a floodplain, they need access to current flood maps based on the best available information. But 8.5 years after Hurricane Harvey, Harris County Flood Control District has not released updated flood maps – effectively keeping buyers in the dark about their flood risk.
Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Yilun Cheng found that 65,000 homes have been built in Houston floodplains since Harvey. That number will also certainly grow when the County eventually releases new flood maps.
HCFCD has repeatedly ignored media requests for the new flood maps. The cover story is that their contract with FEMA prohibits release of the flood maps before FEMA vets them. But the County refuses to produce the contract. And other counties throughout Texas routinely publish “draft” maps, with the understanding that they are subject to revision by FEMA.
Romerica Land in Kingwood
Several years ago, Romerica bought more than 300 acres between Kingwood Lake and the San Jacinto West Fork. Virtually all of it lies in floodplains or floodways.
Yet the company has persisted in trying to develop it.
Even though the most recent plan is on Romerica’s highest ground, the swampland still floods badly and repeatedly.
When Sylvester Turner was Mayor, he reportedly instructed Public Works not to approve any building permits for the property. Turner had personally seen how badly that area flooded.
But now Houston Public Works has approved a preliminary drainage survey for the two hotels (including a Fairmont) and 125 massive villas.
Public Works also recommended a plat variance that could limit emergency access. And Public Works denied my FOIA request for Romerica’s drainage analysis and asked the Attorney General (AG) to support their denial. Regardless, I obtained a copy through another resident that Public Works gave the study to.
Refusing my FOIA request was hilarious. In their letter to the AG, an assistant City Attorney cited information I didn’t even request to enhance her chances of keeping the study secret. Public Works even refused to supply a copy of the drainage analysis to Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger.
I have obtained similar drainage studies from Harris, Montgomery and Liberty Counties without such objections.
Illusion of Transparency
Usually, when people have nothing to hide, they quickly volunteer information. When they withhold information, they might have a valid reason. More likely, in my experience, they may have something to hide.
FOIA was passed in 1966 to shift the presumption of government information from secrecy to disclosure. Its core purpose was to give citizens, journalists, and Congress a legal mechanism to see how the government actually operates—rather than relying on voluntary or selective releases.
Before FOIA, government information was disclosed at agency discretion. After FOIA, disclosure became the default.
FOIA passed because Congress concluded that a rapidly expanding federal bureaucracy had become too secretive, too insulated, and too powerful—and that democracy required legally enforceable transparency, not voluntary disclosure.
TPIA passed in 1973 in direct response to the Sharpstown Stock Fraud Scandal. It involved so many officials that public trust in government collapsed. At the time, Texas governments considered transparency a courtesy, not a right.
Newspapers across Texas demanded reform. Voters were openly angry. Lawmakers feared losing office. Reform candidates surged in the 1973 elections. But according to many journalists and activist groups, transparency laws were imposed on a system that never truly wanted them.
Texas recently required creation of a searchable database of letter rulings under House Bill 3033, but as of January 23, 2026, Paxton’s office had only gotten up to 2023. None of the PDFs would open. And HTML files were unavailable.
According to his office, Paxton received 40,000 appeals of open records requests in 2023 alone. So, there’s no way to determine whether Paxton’s office exhibits a systematic bias for or against TPIA requests. However, 40,000 is a shocking number. It shows how frequently local and county jurisdictions want to keep matters secret.
Why This Matters for Floodplain Development Issues
Texas adopted transparency laws in 1973 for the same reason they matter today:
In floodplain development, appeals of FOIA and TPIA requests commonly cite the privacy of developer studies as the reason for not releasing them. But in my humble opinion once a government official stamps such a study “approved,” the public should have the right to see the basis for the approval. Anything less is government by secrecy.
In the case of flood safety, such secrecy can destroy lives, homes, and life savings. And the statistics in the first two paragraphs of this post prove it.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/25/2026
3071 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Romerica’s Preliminary Drainage Analysis Raises Many Questions
1/22/26 – Despite the City of Houston appealing my FOIA request for Romerica’s drainage impact analysis to the Texas Attorney General, this morning the City emailed both the analysis and a new general plan for Romerica’s proposed floodplain development to another Kingwood resident, Chris Bloch. Bloch shared his copies with me and they raise many questions.
First, Some Disclaimers
In fairness, before getting into concerns, let me state several things about the plans.
Questions Raised by Plans
However, the preliminary drainage analysis raised more questions than it answered. For instance:
Ground level varies throughout the development. According to the USGS National Map, it averages about 50 feet, ranging down to 46. So how much fill would it take to raise the roads 10-15 feet?
The general plan shows approximately 6,000 feet of roadway, with the streets alone being 60 feet wide . (6000L x 60W x 10H = 3.6 million cubic feet.) That’s 133,333 cubic yards of fill. Yet the analysis claims they need only 16,966 cubic yards of fill. And they won’t be getting it from the detention basins, because they say they’re hauling all that off.
Next, where is the outflow analysis for the detention basins? None is provided. So, we can’t see whether they are adding or subtracting to flood peaks.
Dubious Benefit of Detention in Floodplain
And then there’s the biggest question of all. Will flood-plain detention that quickly goes under water in floods provide any flood-reduction benefit?
Floodplains already serve as stormwater storage during floods. FEMA considers floodplain storage already “spoken for.”
Still, detention basins are allowed in floodplains with certain provisions. Harris County requires basins to drain by gravity. But the bottom of these basins is 10 feet below the level of adjacent Kingwood Lake and 4.5 feet below the level of Lake Houston. So gravity alone will never drain these ponds in a flood. Pumps would be required. And electricity is often knocked out in floods.
And if new basins fill at the same time as the river, it provides zero peak flow reduction. That is why claimed floodplain detention is often illusory. Especially when the pre-/post- runoff ratio will increase almost 4X (Page 5).
Flickinger Wisely Pulls Variance Approval from Planning Commission Agenda
The City of Houston Planning Commission was scheduled to review a variance request today for Romerica. However, City Council Member Fred Flickinger wisely requested deferral of consideration until 2/5/26. That should give us more time to sort out these inconsistencies.
The variance request has to do with not connecting the east-west street to other streets on the east. That’s because there are no streets in that area. A Kingwood Country Club golf course surrounds Romerica’s property in that direction.
The delay gives us extra time to examine the rest of their plans.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/22/2026
3068 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.