The fourth WHCA Member’s Meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, July 8th in the great room at Zion Lutheran Church.
Now that we’re well into summer, I expected a modest group attending. Even so, and despite some late afternoon rain, some 23 neighbors gathered to hear our guests and receive an update on WHCA activities.
Act One
The first guest was Thomas Wheaton, Director of Communications from CM Castillo’s District H Office. He highlighted the council member’s Prop A initiative to move the last public session each month into the evening. WHCA is one of many civic clubs that signed onto a letter to the mayor and council in support of this proposal.
The simple fact is that working people find it challenging to go to the afternoon public sessions. This fundamentally alters the feedback that council gets from the residents. A late afternoon or evening session will improve the chances that council hears representatives on all sides of any particular issue.
City council took up the issue the following day, and it passed! The first evening session is going to be 6pm Tuesday, August 26th. Now it’s up to us to attend these sessions, to show council that they have real merit.
Mr. Wheaton concluded by handing out a flier asking everyone to fill out the 2026 Council District Service Fund (CDSF) Survey. This is an effort to collect community input spending priorities, including; public safety, sidewalks, parks and more.
Act TWO
The second guest speaker was Sherry Weesner, President of The Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority (aka TIRZ5.) Sherry outlined a number of projects in the area, eventually settling on a new effort that focuses on updating Stude Park.
The headline here is that HPARD and TIRZ5 have committed $1M to improvements to the park. The process starts with an evaluation of state of the park, and study of how it might be improved to better address how it’s used. The first capital project will be a playground renovation.
Sherry emphasized that the study will require significant public input from park users. She urged the assembled audience to make their voices heard in that process, to ensure the project reflects the needs of the community. As more information including meeting dates becomes available WHCA will be sure to provide information on how you can make your voices heard.
The final phase of her presentation answered the question, “What is a TIRZ and how does it work?” This little civics lesson was follow-up to the very basic intro to TIRZ and management districts that was part of the March Member’s Meeting.
Act THREE
Louise Moss rose to give an update on plans for the 2026 Woodland Heights Home Tour. The committee heads are still seeking homes to profile. If you’d like your home to be considered, or know of a home you think should be considered, please contact Louise Moss or Megan Mastal.
There are just a few weeks left in this stage of the process. In the late summer they will be selecting the homes to be featured, such that photographs can be taken before the holiday season is upon us.
Later in the year, they will be seeking volunteers to help with the execution of the event. It takes over one hundred fifty people to act as docents, guiding attendees through the historic homes.
Act Four
Lauren Snead followed with an update on the Lights in the Heights Bash. The 2025 LITH Bash will be held the evening of Thursday, November 13 at the historic Heights Fire Station on 12th Street. . Many thanks to the Houston Heights Association for partially sponsoring the event venue costs, we welcome their sponsorship of the event.
Lauren was seeking a new co-chair to help plan the event. Danielle Garcia has stepped up and will be co-chairing the Bash with Lauren! Welcome aboard Danielle so very happy to have you working with Lauren!
Volunteers and donations for both the live and silent auctions are needed. In the past, the auction has featured a wide variety of items, for example, a week in a country house, sports tickets, home & yard services, jewelry, photographs or paintings, fine wine, and fine dining gift cards.
If you would like to engage in any fashion please contact: bash@woodland-heights.org