Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers hosted three town hall meetings simultaneously on Memorial Day, May 26, to inform the public and receive feedback regarding proposed changes to voter and commissioner precinct boundaries. Meyers said that public input was needed prior to the presentation of proposed maps and a public hearing scheduled for county commissioners court on Tuesday, May 27.

The meetings – announced in a May 23 post on Meyers’ Facebook page – were held at the Fort Bend County Cinco Ranch Library, 2620 Commercial Center Blvd. in Katy, the Fort Bend County University Library, 14010 University Blvd.in Sugar Land the Fort Bend County Historic Courthouse, 301 Jackson St. in Richmond.

About 20 people attended the meeting at the Cinco Ranch branch library. Meyers was present and visited with attendees as they viewed the maps. Meyers also presented a brief overview of the proposed changes and answered questions before departing to attend the other two meetings being held that evening.

Meyers said that the current precinct maps are illegal because they are in violation of both state and federal law. Under state law, he said, a voter precinct cannot exceed 5000 people and under federal law, county precincts cannot be designed using race as the predominant factor. He quoted Fort Bend County Judge KP George as saying in November 2021 when the last redistricting took place: “This map provides an opportunity District of each of the major communities of interest. This map keeps Precinct 2 as its opportunity district for African Americans, Precinct 3 as an Asian opportunity district [and] will give Precinct 4 district an opportunity for Latino members of our community to have a chance to elect a member of choice.”

In Proposal A – favored by Meyers – the Mission Bend area would move from Precinct 1 (Vincent Morales) to Precinct 2 (Grady Prestage).

The existing map and the three proposed alternatives may be viewed on the commissioners court agenda document at https://agendalink.fortbendcountytx.gov/agenda_publish.cfm?id=&mt=ALL&get_month=5&get_year=2025&dsp=ag&seq=3991. Commissioners court met to consider the matter as the Katy Times was going to press for this edition.

Meyers represented the Katy portion of Fort Bend County from 2001 to 2021, when the precinct maps were redrawn, as they are every ten years. In that change, the north Fort Bend County area became Precinct 1 under Vincent Morales, while Meyers’ new district covered the Sugar Land area.