CM Edward Pollard brings a personable vitality to the
District J office.
He is polished, respectful and understands the value of the pivot.
His district is one of the city’s most diverse, encompassing Gulfton, Sharpstown, Braeburn and Westwood and bounded by West Loop 610 and Beltway 8 in southwest Houston. “We’re the most diverse district in the city and the most densely populated. We pride ourselves on being able to work well with different communities – the Lebanese, the Chinese communities. We’re a melting pot.”
“The average population in Houston is 3,000 residents per sq mile,” Pollard says. “In District J, we have 10,000 residents per sq mile, over 75 percent of our constituents speak English as a second language. We are the Ellis Island of Houston, when people come in as refugees. Many times, their first home is District J. We’re proud that our diversity is our strength. 85 percent of our residents are apartment renters. We have 1000s of units. That’s what makes us so dense.”
The diversity of the issues he confronts daily is good training for a larger platform, one that many who are behind-the-scenes believe is great preparation for a mayoral run.
Pollard has a sister who has autism. “I grew up in a household with a family member who had challenges through her disability. I started early on to advocate for those on the spectrum and to look for ways in which to enrich their lives. I told myself that once I was elected to office that would be one of my priority issues.”
He saw firsthand what his mother went through to create a quality of life for his sister and is working with Social Motion to find a hub for the program in southwest Houston. “Gethsemane Methodist may be the best home for it – we are in conversations with them now,” he says. The CDC statistics show that one in 54 children are born with autism and boys are four times as likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. He has been working to create a campus in southwest Houston that will be accessible to his families who need support.
The Social Motion team has toured the Gethsemane campus and Pastor David Horton has toured the Social Motion headquarters in Spring Branch. “Social Motion is looking forward to a possible partnership with St. Luke’s United Methodist Church’s Gethsemane campus to bring afterschool social skills classes and transition-to-employment training for youth with autism and similar special needs to an underserved area,” says Emily Smart, Executive Director for SM. “We are grateful for the wonderful support of CM Pollard who has helped make this expansion of our services possible. This proposed partnership will increase access to life changing services for low-income families of children with special needs, and we are excited about the potential impact for the entire Houston community.”
“I hope they get the funding and we’d love to host them,” says Horton. “Right now, there are some transportation issues that would be involved in getting a child with autism to Spring Branch so we’re hoping they can have an after-school program here, at 6856 Bellaire Blvd.
One of the key issues for Pollard is public safety – reducing crime so people feel safe in their daily routines. “Our district came up with a community led concept where we focus on neighborhood crimes – districtjpatrol.com – that’s where residents can report issues – illegal dumping, junked cars parked on the lawn, panhandling – they see that they want HPD to address and this specialized patrol will come to their neighborhood and address those issues. My office pays for their vehicles and for their OT pay for the officers. This is the first of its kind concept to bring additional protection to residents of District J.
His initiative to combat the human trafficking on the Bissonnet Track with the warnings that solicitation is now a felony is working well. “We already have reports that there has already been a reduction of visibility,” Pollard says. “I personally drove there to monitor the activity. I only saw one woman, which is a significant reduction. Now we have to be more than just a message. We’ve had conversations with Assistant District Attorney Denise Oncken and Johna Stallings with the Harris County District Attorney’s office about actually accepting the charges and pursuing the prosecution. Now that it’s a serious offense, we want it to be taken that way. We have to have consistent enforcement. We utilize our cameras, and we are using the non-profits and faith-based resources to educate the women who have been trafficked.”
Pollard has done a great job working with Up Art Studio and local artists like Amy Malkan and CHAT (Cultural Health Advancing Together) Academy Students to invite children who live in the Gulfton community to create murals. “We are using art as a way to welcome the children and help them engage and express themselves,” he says. “We were approached about a need for civic art in the underserved community of Gulfton in Houston. Veronica Hernandez, with the Mayor’s Citizens’ Assistance Office, encouraged us to engage with the Growing a Brighter Tomorrow project in Gulfton and create murals in partnership with Elia & Noah Quiles. Noah Quiles selected a wall continually tagged with graffiti as part of a turf war between opposing gangs. (The resulting mural ended the tagging and graffiti). The project was selected to receive the Keep Houston Beautiful Chairman’s Select Award in the 2018 Mayor’s Proud Partners program.
Pollard worked to secure funding for a Census mural by local artist Anat Ronen, with assistant Eduardo Membrano. Then he worked to secure funding for another mural inside the Ashford Crescent Oaks apartment complex at 6711 Hornwood and one the basketball court with artist Thaddaeus Arvie. The new art murals were made possible by generous funding from Houston LISC and 1st Choice Accident & Injury. The neighborhood has been elevated by the beautiful, colorful, collaborative community murals in other locations, like the side of a Salvation Army Family Store and Donation Center on a wall that had been bombarded with gang graffiti. Alongside it is a creative, interactive “play sidewalk” painted for games, encouraging children to play and be active — converting an ordinary sidewalk into an area for play and fitness.
Pollard has also introduced yoga for HPD officers to help teach some calming and relaxation skills. “After the murder of George Floyd and the calls for police reform, we understood the high-pressure nature of the job and the need to be clear minded in situations that could easily become dangerous,” he says. “A yoga teacher reached out to us and asked if she could teach yoga to the officers. The Houston Police Officers union provides the space and is paying the instructor and the program is working well. The officers receive sound therapy, training in journaling and other outlets where they can safely express themselves,” Pollard says. “We just extended the program through the end of the year.”
His negotiation skills have truly helped him in making arguments with his fellow councilmembers about why it’s important for them to get behind an issue and also in his conversations with the community as far as greater engagement and helping constituents have a clear understanding of why being involved in local politics matters and how they can make change. Negotiation is about communication and not talking in a form that people don’t understand.
What is he doing to help minority and women-owned businesses? The Office of Business Opportunity, minority and women owned business program provides that when the city puts forth contract opportunities to bid, whether that be for construction, landscaping, accounting or legal, some of those contracts will go to these businesses. “With the MWSBE program under Director Marsha Murray, every contract over 100,000 for services and over 1M for construction, a certain percentage of those has to go to a minority or woman-owned business,” he says. “Every minority-owned company should apply for certification so that they can bid on the upcoming work.”
Edward Pollard is a proud product of Southwest Houston. He attended all HISD schools (Lovett, Johnston, Lamar), before accepting a basketball scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, a nucleus of Black male excellence founded in 1867 known for producing leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Oscar winner Spike Lee. While in college, Edward was recognized as an NCAA Academic All American and graduated with honors earning his BA in Political Science. After playing professional basketball in the Republic of Singapore and Chile, South America, Edward returned to Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston where he graduated with honors earning his Juris Doctorate, concentrating in Government and Policy. Edward also received his Certificate in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business School.
Professionally, Edward is the principal owner of Pollard Legal Group, LLC, a boutique civil litigation law firm located in District J. He also founded Suits for Success, a 501c3 organization that mentors teens on life skills at District J high schools. The semester long program focuses on public speaking, etiquette training, personal finance, resume building, interview techniques, and how to tie a tie. At the completion of the program, each student receives a suit, shirt, and tie for high school graduation and life beyond.
“Our office prides itself on being open-minded and maintaining an approach of mutual respect. By doing so, we want to build strong relationship with the Lebanese community and we want to listen and look at ourselves as global partners. We have some division in politics so if you truly engage, you can find ways to pull through any issue together. Our office is here to serve the Lebanese community.”