Happy holidays to all of our WHA members and friends. Before I came to the West Houston Association on November 2nd, several people told me that WHA has outstanding members. Over the past eight weeks, I have discovered that they were absolutely right. WHA’s members combine the best leaders, thinkers, and doers in our region. That helps explains why this area is growing faster and more intelligently than anywhere else in the United States.

I have learned so much from listening to our members, and I look forward to meeting with each of you and learning more. If you would like to schedule a time to meet with me, I would be very happy to come by your office or grab coffee somewhere. And you are always welcome at the WHA Office. Thanks to recent renovations and help from MetroNational, we have an excellent meeting space with a nice view of Memorial City.

During this time of uncertainty, we have an opportunity and a need to plan for our area’s future. This group can bring our expanding community closer together and improve the quality of life and the business environment in the 1,000 square miles that WHA represents like no other group can. Read more

Mark Kilkenny is Executive Vice President of Development and Government Affairs at Mischer Investments, Chair of the City of Houston Planning Commission, Chair of the Texas Alliance for Responsible Growth, Environment, and Transportation (TARGET), President of the Utility District Advisory Corporation (UDAC), and past-Chair of the West Houston Association. He currently serves on WHA’s Executive Committee.



Q: You recently re-incorporated TARGET, which fought for fair air quality rules almost a decade ago. What can you tell us about TARGET’s latest efforts?
A: The entire gulf coast region of Texas is faced with changes in rules related to the Clean Water Act. The current administration in Washington is enacting new rules that could severely limit our ability to continue to grow and provide quality communities for the area. The proposed rules are not based on good science and are purposefully written to be vague and arbitrary. TARGETs members, which includes West Houston, have filed suit in federal court against the EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers to specifically focus on a Texas specific portion of the rules dealing with coastal prairie wetlands. The rule as written is totally unpredictable, something we cannot have if we’re to provide affordable product for the consumer.

Q: Given that you started at Mischer in 1980, a few years before Houston’s Oil Bust, what advice do you have for young professionals on how to handle the uncertainty in the market?
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