Houston City Council Proposed Ordinance to Require Obtaining City Permits for Truck Traffic (6)

For Immediate Distribution                                                    TMTA Press Office: 512.478.2541 01 August 2007                                                                               john@tmta.com News Release

Houston City Council Delays Vote on Truck Ordinance for 60 Days  Councilmember taps TMTA President to form Advisory Council   HOUSTON- Houston City Council members voted today to support a 60-day delay of a proposed truck ordinance that would require oversize and overweight trucks to obtain city permits in addition to state issued permits.  The ordinance was delayed to allow for stakeholder’s concerns to be addressed.   “My hats off to the mayor and the city council for allowing us the opportunity not just to take a look at the concerns this ordinance brings about, but affording us an avenue to address those concerns,” TMTA President John D. Esparza said, “we have a track record of doing more than just offering our concerns, but offering thoughtful solutions.”   Councilmember Adrian Garcia, who proposed the original ordinance two weeks ago which launched a firestorm of questions from the business community, asked TMTA to head up an advisory council to address those concerns and work with the city in resolving the issue.   “We have to thoughtfully consider what the implications of the proposed ordinance would be,” Esparza said. “We need to take care of our roads first and foremost; we make our livelihood off of them so it’s naturally in our best interest, bad roads tear up trucks.”   “We can no more tolerate bad roads as we can the negative economic impact that would result from a hastily crafted tax on trucks, we have to look into the technical concerns regarding the practical application of a new permitting system and the net effect of the negative impact on the taxpayers.”      The advisory council will be a working group of various stakeholders representing all segments of the business community as well as the residential community and technical support providers. The advisory council will be named in the coming days.   “We will organize and announce the committee soon so we can get busy working to address all concerns on the table and those yet to be brought before the group,” Esparza said. “The councilman and I have already talked about that and we are both committed to it.”   Several city council members raised concerns during council session today questioning everything from the duration of the delay to the legality of the city to pursue the proposed ordinance.   “These are all things we will work diligently with the City to address, it is inherently clear that the council does not want to inadvertently compromise the economic environment in a manner that would be detrimental to businesses.”    ###

Past Alerts Alert 1 with the full proposal link Alert 2 with TMTA letter to Councilman Garcia and the full proposal link Alert 3 with Mayor and Council Members contact information Alert 4 with Press Release Alert 5