Demystifying SW Houston's Government: What Does the Southwest Management District Do?
Already yawning? I get it. "Management district" sounds about as exciting as mowing the lawn. But if you didn't ever mow your lawn, you'd get surrounded by a jungle. Jungles are interesting, but most people don't like to live in them.
Local government is a lot like mowing the lawn or changing your car oil. It's not flashy or adrenaline-inducing, but when it's done right, it helps keep life running smoothly. When it's done wrong, it can be like your mechanic filling your car with the wrong level of oil or your yard guy forgetting to mow your lawn for two months.
So if you're from the Sharpstown area, don't fall asleep yet.
Sharpstown has hyperlocal government bodies that focus on our area of Southwest Houston. One is TIRZ (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone) #20.
Another is the Southwest Management District. With a budget of nearly $3 million, it packs weight.
The SMD's mission is to make its service area—Sharpstown, most of Westwood, and some of Braeburn—a desirable place for businesses, investors, and residents. That includes making (and keeping) the district safe and visually appealing.
The SMD spends a small portion of local businesses' property tax money on local projects like cleaning up trash and graffiti, providing license plate reader cameras for HPD, hiring private security officers, hosting an annual Liberty Fest, and—you guessed it—mowing. If you'll excuse the car maintenance analogy, the SMD is a bit like a carwash, dent repair, rust removal, and painting service with LoJack thrown in.
Each commercial property owner within the district boundaries pays an "assessment"—essentially an extra property tax: 0.0008% of their property value. For example, on a $15 million property, the owner would pay the district an assessment of approximately $12,000. In 2023, the SMD collected $2.6 million in assessments. By the way, that means the total value of commercial property in the district is roughly $3.25 billion.
If you don't own a commercial property in the area, you probably don't pay the SMD directly, but if you live in a local apartment, your landlord probably pays the SMD using a fraction of your rent.
Loads of important information about the SMD is posted publicly on its website—if you're willing to dig through agendas, meeting minutes, and 200-page board books. If you're not keen on that, here's an overview of the basics.
Who's in Charge?
The SMD is run by a volunteer board of ten local businesspeople appointed by the Houston City Council. SMD chairman Kenneth Li is often called the "unofficial mayor of Chinatown."
The paid executive director, Josh Hawes, is a partner in the firm Hawes Hill & Associates, which contracts with several management districts and tax increment reinvestment zones across Houston. For roughly $30,000 a month in "professional fees," Hawes Hill advises the district's board and manages many of the day-to-day operations, including communicating with the public, planning events, and coordinating projects.
License Plate Reader Cameras
Chances are high that your car has passed one of the district's many Flock LPR (License Plate Recognition) cameras. Both the SMD and TIRZ #20 pay for cameras that can spot a wanted or stolen vehicle and alert HPD. According to TIRZ #20 spokesman Don Huml (a Hawes Hill employee), only HPD can access the images and other data from the cameras.
In 2023, the district spent ~$298,000 on security cameras.
S.E.A.L. Security Patrols
The Sharpstown Civic Association hires private firm S.E.A.L. Security to patrol the single-family residential neighborhoods of Sharpstown with K-9 units. But the SMD also contracts S.E.A.L. to patrol across the district.
In 2023, the SMD spent $532,789 on its "Enhanced Security Initiative," most of which appears to have been paid to S.E.A.L (based on monthly financial reports in board books).
Liberty Fest
Each year, the SMD is the primary sponsor and event organizer for Liberty Fest. Roughly one weekend before the Fourth of July, the parking lot of PlazAmericas Mall fills with vendor booths, inflatables, a concert stage, fireworks, and thousands of festivalgoers from across Houston. The festival's goal—other than celebrating American freedom—is to support local businesses and nonprofits and bring local tourism to the district.
In 2023, the SMD spent ~$144,000 on Liberty Fest.
Landscape Maintenance & Litter Pickup
Used to seeing overgrown lots, medians, and ditches? The state of public landscape maintenance in Southwest Houston is bad enough that District J City Councilman Edward Pollard created the Supplemental Maintenance Team this year to mow ditches and esplanades that don't get enough attention from the city. But it would probably be worse if not for the efforts of the SMD.
The SMD contracts with SMC Landscape Services to mow right-of-way, pick up litter, take down bandit signs, repair damaged irrigation systems, and clean up underpasses across the district. In July, SMC Landscape mowed 76.9 miles of right-of-way, collected 6,700 pounds of trash, and removed 334 bandit signs, according to the district's August board book.
In 2023, the district spent ~$293,000 on landscape maintenance and ~$30,000 on irrigation repair.
You can report litter and other issues on the district's website. You can also view monthly photo reports on litter and underpass cleanup here.
Graffiti Abatement Program
The SMD budgets $40,000 per year to clean up graffiti within the SMD boundaries and restore marked surfaces to their original condition, or as close to it as possible.
Curious to see what graffiti is being cleaned up and where? The SMD posts monthly graffiti abatement reports—with photos—here.
Want to get rid of some graffiti on public property or your business? You can report graffiti to the SMD here.
Bissonnet Track Gate Maintenance
When Harris County Precinct 4 and HPD installed permanent swing gates to barricade two legs of the infamous Bissonnet Track, the SMD signed an agreement to repair the gates if they ever get damaged.
Resources for Local Businesses
The SMD offers regular workshops for local business owners and provides info for local developers about demographics, economic feasibility studies, EB-5 visas, tax incentives and abatements, and more.
The district also offers Business Improvement Grants of up to $10,000 to people who own a business within the district and want to revitalize the property. Grants are approved on a case-by-case basis and require a 50/50 match from the business owner.
Business Directory
The SMD maintains a directory of local businesses on its website.
Monthly Board Meetings
The SMD's monthly board meetings are open to the public. If you'd like to learn more about local happenings and have a voice in community government, you can attend and even deliver public comments. Check out The Sharpener's community calendar to find the next meeting date.
Tyess Korsmo, Editor-in-Chief
Thoughts on the Southwest Management District? Let me know at sharpstownsharpener@gmail.com.
Comments ()