Woodshire Civic Club About Us | Woodshire Civic Club

Dear Woodshire Neighbors, Your neighborhood is changing! My name is Sulmaan Lateef and I am honored to continue being your Woodshire Civic Club President for the 2016/17 term. I am joined on the Board by the existing officer incumbents who you already know (VP Bernard Murphy, Recording Secretary Judy Budnik, Corresponding Secretary Myrna Khan, and Treasurer Anwar Khan). Edward Puente continues as our Ex-Officio Advisor to the Board role in 2016/17. As many of you know, the city is beginning a new drainage reconstruction project of our neighborhood in 2017. As a result of the Drainage Project, we are all the beneficiaries of new streets and sidewalks. The City of Houston (COH) will fund a portion of the upgrade cost, and as a result, we need to raise funds to cover the difference. The street upgrade will allow us to have decorative lighting just like our neighbor subdivision Woodside has as well as many of the neighborhoods in Bellaire and West University. Why does this matter and what will this eventually mean for you? My research shows that home values experience strong appreciation as a result of new concrete streets, sidewalks and decorative lights. The Board of Directors (BOD) and I have agreed on the following goals for Woodshire over the next 12 months:

1) Dues are now officially due before June 1st of every year

We’ve confirmed that under our neighborhood Bylaws, only due paying members are eligible to vote on issues put forth by the board. Current dues are only $200 a year.
We have created a new convenient payment option for our residents. In addition to mailing a check to our Treasurer at 4118 Levonshire, dues can be paid via paypal.com now! Simply click on “Send”, enter our new community email address info@WoodshireCivicClub.org, then enter the annual due amount ($200 or whatever additional amount you can afford), then select “Friends or Family” and complete the final steps. Please note in the comment section your home address and whether the amount is for annual dues or if a portion goes towards our light campaign noted further below.

2) Keep TOP GUN Security

3) Increase Dues Paying Members to 80% in 2016

This requires all of us to get out and talk to our neighbors, especially the ones we really don’t know. Last year we hit 63% membership! I believe this difference is simply comprised of residents who are not in the know. Per the 80/20 rule the last 20% is always the most challenging which means 80% is achievable. If we could all contact 1 new person and only half of them join the Civic Club, we will hit our goal!
Let’s all play as a team. It is not fair for some members to shoulder the cost burden while all residents receive many of the benefits.

4) Collect a one-time special assessment due of $300 from each household for Decorative Street Lighting

Let’s invest in the neighborhood!
We did the math, and this is the number we need everyone to commit to in order for us to afford the difference in light costs from the standard gray (some currently rusty) poles in our neighborhood to the decorative light poles.
By increasing the number of non-night sky polluting decorative lights via the option granted to us by COH, we are increasing the safety in Woodshire.
Collection options include a one-time payment of $300, or 3 payments of $100 over the next 18 months (before our bill comes due).
We’ve already raised 30K in 2015! Let’s keep it going and get to 60K in 2016!

5) Sidewalk Forward Plan

Let’s invest in the neighborhood!
COH has told us that typically neighborhoods are not involved at this stage of the planning. Through the hard work of Edward, Bernard and a couple of very active community members, we have however been fortunate enough to have a voice.
The standard template is a five foot non-curbside sidewalk. Per the city, this is the only sidewalk they will put in within the street right of way, which extends 16 feet from the curb into our yards. This is their easement right. This is also a safer sidewalk for pedestrians and children.
COH has already surveyed the neighborhood and has planned sidewalks that circumnavigate large trees
The BOD position is to follow the standard sidewalk plan as outlined by COH. Every street will get 2 new sidewalks. This will bring consistency and safety to the neighborhood. Note that in some cases, the new sidewalks could alter select small trees and shrubs, however in the long term new consistent sidewalks will be better and more valuable for our neighborhood.
If you are curious to see how COH navigated large trees, please drive through Woodside. You will see places where the sidewalk went curbside for a house or two only, or simply veered slightly over to allow for a large tree. This is the same plan for Woodshire.

The BOD sincerely believes that executing on these priorities are all for the betterment of the community. Please note that it would be impossible to adhere to every member request, but we will certainly try. Also, any POSITIVE CHANGE is impossible without YOUR MEMBERSHIP & SUPPORT! Please expect monthly correspondence from me via email and this website. As you already know, communication is key which is why we are pushing for transparency (our new website for example) and cooperation. Don’t delay, invest in your home, invest in your future! Join the Woodshire Civic Club today!!

Very Best,

Sulmaan Lateef
President Woodshire CC

2016/2017 Officers

PRESIDENT

Sulmaan Lateef

4025 Glenshire

VICE PRESIDENT

Chris Carbajal

4041 Newshire

TREASURER

Ken Dunek

4042 Martinshire

RECORDING SECRETARY

Judy Budnik

4142 Glenshire

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

OPEN

DEED RESTRICTIONS

Steve Honore

4131 Levonshire

SECURITY LIAISON

Paul LeBeau

4021 Glenshire

BEAUTIFICATION

DeeDee Hernandez