By Mary Alys Cherry
Congressman Brian Babin was the keynote speaker when Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership members gathered for an update on Washington at their Aug. 27 meeting.
Among the crowd were a number of elected officials, including State Sen. Larry Taylor and State Rep. Dennis Paul, Mayors Jon Keeney of Taylor Lake Village and Carl Joiner of Kemah, Port Commissioner John Kennedy, and City Councilmen Wayne Rast of Kemah, Dave Martin and Michael Kubosh of Houston and Bob Warters of Nassau Bay.
Dr. Babin, a lifelong resident of East Texas who represents District 36, which includes a part of Pasadena, Seabrook, Nassau Bay and Baytown, quickly reminded his audience of his district’s prominence in the nation – not just because of the Johnson Space Center but also because it is the petrochemical capital of the country.
“It has the highest number of petrochemical plants in the entire United States,” he told the crowd at Lakewood Yacht Club. “We are providing jobs for tens of thousands.
The Woodville dentist then discussed the challenges of fighting over regulations in D.C., going on to attack “a really out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency, which is costing and will cost us thousands and thousands of jobs.”
He also talked about the Waters of the U.S. regulatory proposal, a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA, which he called one of the biggest grabs of private property by the U.S. Government.
The first-term representative is also against the Iran nuclear deal, he said.
Others in the audience were UH-Clear Lake President Dr. Bill Staples, Provost Dr. Carl Stockton and Business Dean Dr. Ted Cummings; Pasadena Director of Economic Development Paul
Davis, Tammie Nielsen from Harris County Commissioner Jack Mormon’s office, Fay Picard of Dr. Greg Bonnen’s office and Ron Servis, representing Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
They mingled with a crowd that included Port of Houston Director of Government Relations Spencer Chambers, Webster Economic Development Specialist Karen Coglianese, realtors Pamela Archer and Simon Urbanic, John Collins, BAHEP’s Dan Seal, Harriet Lukee and Barbara Cutsinger, Betsy Lake, and Diane Gillebaard, plus two former mayors and their wives – Seabrook’s Jack and Marcy Fryday and Pasadena’s John and Gina Manlove.