Golf Cart Ordinance
We love our golf carts… and I do too!
UNTRUTH #1: I am against golf carts. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT THE TRUTH! When this appeared on the council’s agenda, my no vote was against a RUSHED golf cart ordinance. It became evident, approval was the agenda without addressing and/or sufficient due diligence regarding safety concerns.That is what I will do.
HERE ARE THE FACTS ABOUT ORDINANCE NO. 2022-03
1. House Bill 1548 was passed in 2019 to address golf carts on roads that were 5 miles from a golf course and 2 miles from where they were domiciled. My first question was — can we ignore these requirements in Tomball’s ordinance?
2. Did anyone reach out to the area schools to get their opinion. What about driving golf carts in the morning when school starts and afternoons when school dismisses? The answer given was NO. My question then was do we need to put a provision retricting golf carts on roads like Zion and Quinn during school zone times? Typically with a max speed of 22 miles per hour, a golf cart may pose a traffic hazard especially since there are no street shoulders for them to drive and allow for cars, let alone a school bus to pass. My concern was about our children's safety!
3. Chief Bert in the beginning of his Zoom presentation (He was home ill) clearly stated he did not have time yet to throughly explore the HB 1548. Chief Bert had drafted his preliminary Tomball’s ordinance hastily for discussion purposes only as requested by council. His plan was to include council’s comments on this presentation plus address all required safety concerns into a final Tomball ordinance.
The proposed preliminary ordinance was called for a vote without addressing the children's safety but would be subject to Chief Berts final reccomendations.
On the 2nd reading March 21, I had a family emergency 30 minutes before the beginning of our meeting and was not able to attend. The ordinance passed with Chief Bert’s safety requirements.
UNTRUTH #2: If I'm elected, I will abolish the ordinance.
THIS IS SIMPLY NOT THE TRUTH! The Tomball Golf Cart ordinance was approved by a majority of council and only council can change an ordinance. NOT the Mayor! All proposed ordinances that come before council should be read and analyzed from every angle. That is what I will do.