After successfully developing into a vibrant community of its own, Mitchell originally had planned for it to be absorbed by a beneficent Big Brother to the south.
But after the controversial annexations of other communities like Kingwood, most people in The Woodlands rightly see Houston more as Big Monster than Big Brother. In a recent sampling of resident opinion, less than a third of residents queried wanted community leaders to keep annexation on the table as one of many options to consider for The Woodlands' future governance. A clear majority of those questioned wanted annexation dropped as an option. And they are right. Annexation is the worst possible of all the options for the future of The Woodlands.
But if not annexation then what? And ultimately, who will decide? That is the question being batted about by The Woodlands Governance Steering Committee, which has been in charge of an exploratory process designed to provide residents and community leaders with more information about and understanding of the very real choices The Woodlands must make about its future.
As part of that process, the committee conducted a series of public meetings and then gathered comments from the residents who attended. Of the 78 residents who were surveyed at the meetings, a strong majority, 96.3 percent, want to continue to explore incorporation; Less than half -- only 40.8 percent -- wanted to continue to look at governing options that would include some form of the current structure.
The results of the survey are interesting, but virtually worthless in any scientific sense.
So committee members still must debate where to go from here, and specifically, how residents will be involved. Will they be polled scientifically, vote on a slate of options, or both?
Some prefer letting residents vote on a preferred option and then having the committee flesh out the details and feasibility; others prefer to narrow down the options first. Some even question whether there should be a vote at all.
In our view, at the very least there must be a vote. Polling is useful for capturing public sentiment, but whenever Americans have had something crucial to decide, it traditionally has been put to a community's vote. Besides, who best to decide the future of a community that someday will boast 120,000 residents than the people who already live there and have a stake in what happens? Whether it becomes a city in its own right, or continues with a form of governance similar to what is in place today, that decision ultimately belongs with the people who must live with the consequences.