Near Northsider – Houston

I was asked by the Go-Neighborhoods project to make a presentation at the Meeting at Jeff Davis High School on March 29th about the Leonel Castillo Community Center that was being planned for the old Robert E Lee Elementary School building. I put a powerpoint presentation together with lots of visuals to present the history of the building, the County’s three options for the building (which I can’t show here because I was asked not to distribute), and possibilities for how the building could be saved and used.

The Houston Read Commission presented another solution for the building, which would be to make the building a Toyota Literacy Center. The woman making the presentation stated that such a facility would be the only one of its kind in Texas, even though there are several such centers across the country. The organization was already talking to potential funders that seemed interested and enthusiastic about the idea. The solution proposed is that the Literacy Center could help to fill the funding shortfall needed to renovate the building for use.

The Community present did not receive this idea with any kind of enthusiasm. The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of Seniors from Saint Patrick’s Church and members of LULAC. It was difficult to determine if there was any other community interest represented, since the Seniors and LULAC were the most vocal during the Q&A session.   The Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman was not in attendance, but some of his staff was there.  The Commissioner’s staff asked not to be recognized and did not participate as part of the presentation nor as part of the Q&A session.

In general, what I heard during the Q&A session was that the community present was mostly interested in two things: 1) They want the senior center that was promised to them by the previous Precinct 2 Commissioner, Sylvia Garcia, and 2) they want to make sure it retains Leonel Castillo’s name and that it’s not renamed to please any potential funding partners.  They said it over and over again and they said it loud.  It got really heated when some attendees began screaming at those of us on stage; asking us where the money went that Sylvia Garcia told them was there to create this center, and who were we to “represent” them in front of the new County Commissioner?  Eventually a man from the Commissioner’s office (I didn’t catch his name) got up, introduced himself, and told those present the Commissioner’s Office really just attended the meeting to hear what the community wanted, and that he seemed to get a sense of it from the Q&A session.  Strangely, no one at the meeting asked him pointedly about the money for the project.  Instead, they just yelled at us again when he finished speaking.

City Council Member Ed Gonzales (District H) attended.  He also got up and spoke at one point to agree that the building needed to be saved and that he appreciated the sentiments expressed about the need for a senior center and keeping Leonel Castillo’s name.  He encouraged more discussion and said that he would look into any ways that the City of Houston might be able to help.  Father Sal from Saint Patrick’s stood up and encouraged tolerance, patience, and for everyone to keep an open mind and remain calm as the discussion continued.  Leonel Castillo himself was present, but I think his health prevented him from being able to speak at the meeting.

The meeting ended with no real solutions agreed upon, and no specific actions taken.  After all the yelling, the arguments, and the emotion, people got up and shook hands with each other.  I saw laughing and mingling  as the attendees shuffled out of the Jeff Davis cafeteria.  I was stunned for a moment from having such energy thrown at me and the others on the stage.  Thinking back on it , that night showed me that our community’s expression of needs is getting mixed in with a general sense of neglect, misrepresentation and broken promises that span generations.  As I was leaving, a neighbor came up to me, patted me on the back and told me while laughing, “They just needed to yell at somebody and you were there!”