Building Partnerships One Project at a Time
Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey has ably navigated the highways, bayous and 63 parks within Precinct 3 for ten months at the helm of Harris County’s largest precinct, stepping into the mammoth footprint created by the irrepressible Steve Radack, who held the position from 1988-2020.
Ramsey has an admirable track record of improving the safety, infrastructure, livability, and financial health of the communities he serves in the fastest growing precinct, with a population of 100,000 more than in neighboring precincts. More than 140 countries are represented among his 1.3 million residents, within his 453 square mile purview, 75 percent of whom live in unincorporated areas.
Most recently, he worked with Houston City Councilman Ed Pollard to approve a resolution condemning human trafficking across the county, but specifically on the Bissonnet Track which runs from the Beltway to U.S. Hwy 59. “We need to focus on this area and we have a new tool that can help us make a bigger impact,” says Ramsey. “We are the first state in the United States to make solicitation of prostitution a felony. We can now arrest the johns and if the act takes place in their car, District Attorney Kim Ogg tells us that we can impound the car as well.”
His office is created bright orange signage to raise awareness of the new state statute and utilizing cameras where the solicitations have been taking place. Johns with no criminal history face up to two years in jail if convicted. “We had a meeting at the Higher Dimension Church in Westwood with key stakeholders such as – Pct. 5 Constables, Minal Patel Davis with the Mayor’s Office of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem,” Ramsey says. It starts with arresting the people who come to the Bissonnet Track for anonymous sex. The focus is on the people doing the soliciting,” he explains. “We consider the women on the sidewalks the victims. They range in age from early teens to 50s and they are forced by the johns to work, often against their will,” he says. “We are working with support agencies to help these women get the resources they need in order to change their lives. They need housing, job training, jobs, rehab and education.”
“What people need to see is an example,” Ramsey believes. “We are going to focus our resources in this area – before we go to multiple locations in the precinct, we’re going to focus on the Bissonnet Track.”
“No matter how complex or complicated the problem is, we are here to address it,” says CM Ed Pollard, who is partnering with Ramsey to make a difference.
Harris County was the only entity with a bond issue in 2018.” Every bond project we started in 2018 is ahead of schedule,” Ramsey says. “So, Hurricane Harvey hit and we, the County, have focused and worked hard to leverage those dollars and it’s up to $5B. In terms of responding to the storm, we have leveraged the money and expect to receive $750M from the General Land Office. So, we’ve done more than any entity in terms of responding to a storm.”
“I like to talk in terms of dump trucks – we have created 500,000 dump trucks of detention since Harvey,” he says, proudly. “That’s a lot of detention.” He’s identified other needs at the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs to provide protection for downtown and the Port of Houston. He plans to build a tunnel 40 feet in diameter and 100 feet below Buffalo Bayou”. It will be like the Romans in Caesarea 2,000 years ago with siphons and its pragmatic. We need a vision – we don’t need to continue to dig a bunch of holes, we need to do something that actually fixes it. We’re doing a core level report now on this particular tunnel. In Boston they have the Big Dig, we’re going to have the Big Drain. I’m pretty excited about what all this means.”
He approved $10 Million to increase detention and retention volumes in the upper Cypress Creek Watershed. “I have a good friend who is Lebanese, Elie J. Alkhoury, P.E., who is tremendously knowledgeable about drainage and I rely on his direction. Alkhoury serves as the Director of Hydraulics, Surveying and Mapping for TxDOT.
Ramsey testified in front of the Texas Transportation Commission in Austin about the necessity of moving TxDOT’s I-45 improvement project forward because of the $9 Billion project, $2.5 Billion is for drainage improvements. He views it as a necessity when the next time comes for evacuation before a hurricane. “TxDOT has been working on the plan for 15 years and now there’s a group that’s come along and said they are being mistreated. I told them it was a really bad idea to sue your partner and encouraged the group that’s fighting the expansion to drop the lawsuit.”
“It’s important that we have mobility in the region,” he says. “TxDOT is following the federal highway guidelines. Here’s who I advocate for – the millions of people in underserved neighborhoods who live south of town who won’t be able to evacuate when we have a hurricane. What they are proposing is adding shoulders and two transit lanes in each direction in the middle of I-45 – that’s how you do transit.”
At its August 31, 2021 meeting, the Commission unanimously approved TxDOT’s 10-year plan (Unified Transportation Program, UTP) retaining allocations for funding the I-45 improvement project in Houston. The project, commonly known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project, or NHHIP, is supported by the majority of people who commented during the UTP’s public comment period. TxDOT received more than 8,000 comments on the NHHIP during the UTP’s 30-day public comment period, with 2/3 of them submitted in support of maintaining the NHHIP as proposed for funding in the UTP. However, since the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) still has the project on pause, the Commission chose to approve the UTP and retain the proposed funding on the project with a caveat to revisit the decision in 90 days to allow time for federal and state partners to address project concerns.
The NHHIP will address critical needs including updating the highways to current design and safety standards, relieving traffic congestion, improving storm water drainage, and improving the evacuation routes. The NHHIP will add four managed express lanes on I‐45 from Downtown Houston to Beltway 8 North; reroute I‐45 to be parallel with I‐10 on the north side of Downtown and parallel to US 59/I‐69 on the east side of Downtown; realign sections of I‐10 and I‐69 Downtown to eliminate the current roadway reverse curves that limit capacity; and depress I‐69 between I-10 and Spur 527 south of Downtown to improve safety by eliminating unsafe weaving.
NHHIP’s purpose is to implement an integrated system of transportation improvements that would:
- Bring I-45, I-10, and US 59/I-69 up to current design standards to improve safety and operations.
- Manage I-45 traffic congestion in the NHHIP area through added capacity, MaX lanes, options for single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) lanes, and improved operations.
- Improve mobility on I-45 between US 59/I-69 and Beltway 8 North by accommodating projected population growth and latent demand in the project area.
- Provide expanded transit and carpool opportunities.
Ramsey is tough on crime and recently voted for an additional 50 police officers to patrol the most underserved neighborhoods would cost $5 Million.
“Murders are up 91 percent – we can’t ignore that fact,” he says. “I had a friend who went for take out on a Friday night a few weeks ago. On the way home, he was shot by a gang of thugs and they hit an artery. He called his wife to tell her he’d been shot and he bled out – that is unacceptable. Every other week in Commissioners’ Court, we see the tragedy of people who’ve been shot by someone who has been let out of jail on a low bond. We are putting the names of the judges out there and we’re working closely with Crime stoppers.”
He also approved five community groups for youth development programs in Gulfton, an underserved neighborhood in southwest Houston.
Ramsey teaches two Sunday School classes, the Ticket to Heaven and Sojourners’ Class at Second Baptist, a megachurch with a membership of 83000. As Mayor of Spring Valley Village from 2012-2020, he reduced the city’s tax rate by 21%, invested more than $38 Million in infrastructure, and oversaw Spring Valley’s ascent to safest neighborhood in Harris County, according to relevant FBI statistics. A trusted expert often called upon by his peers and other community leaders, he served on the Harris County Storm Water Task Force and the Imelda Assistance Fund Board.
His private sector experience spans more than four decades. He served as Senior Vice President of Klotz Associates before selling the company in 2017.
His deep project portfolio includes the Hardy Toll Road, Brazoria County Master Drainage Plan, Galveston County Master Drainage Plan, Harris County Drainage Plan Update, Houston Safe School Sidewalk Program, Precinct 3 road improvements, multiple hike and bike trails for the Houston Parks Board.
A Texas native, Tom grew up in Crockett, and graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Tom and his wife, Marsha, raised their three children in Spring Branch ISD, and have lived more than 30 years in Precinct 3. They have seven grandchildren, all of whom live in Precinct 3. Tom’s love for this county and its people also drives his work in the church. He is past president of the Harris County Council of Mayors of Small Cities, composed of 34 cities. An award-winning civil engineer turned senior executive and public servant, Tom has led companies, the City of Spring Valley, and worked with 50 cities in 20 counties throughout his 42-year career.
He is building partnerships for change, whether it’s helping residents who want to ride horses in the parks or make drainage improvements. One of his favorite parts of his new job is that he has the resources to do things.” In a time when government is resource short we have the ability to respond. That’s what attracted me to this job. It’s a great opportunity.” He tells the council members who serve in his area, “Go find me a project, but it’s got to be something that’s worthy of both our attention.” His work ethic mirrors what he witnessed watching his dad work deep in East Texas. “When your father is a pastor for 60 years and you see your dad go out every day and without any sense of what he’s going to get out of it, he’s going to really try to do something that matters, it’s inescapable. My brother and sister and I were so fortunate to have that as an example.”
He treasures the friendships he developed with the Lebanese community here and in East Texas and enjoys traveling to Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast.