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Residents press Freeport council to certify petition and challenge industrial tax breaks
Summary
Speakers during public comment urged the council to restore a validated petition to the agenda and criticized tax abatements for local industry, citing safety concerns and historic incidents at Freeport LNG and other plants.
Several Freeport residents used the council’s public-comment period to press elected officials on two related themes: the certified petition process and the city’s agreements with large industrial facilities.
Troy Rivers told the council that a validated petition was reviewed but not certified and urged new members to ‘put this issue back on the agenda,’ saying, “Certify the petition. Let the people vote.” Rivers framed the issue as a broader matter of trust, telling the council that doing nothing “is not neutral.”
Other speakers connected that demand for responsiveness to local complaints about industrial activity. Manning Rollerson, speaking with representatives from local groups, said the community had repeatedly asked for accountability following incidents at Freeport LNG and accused regulators and companies of allowing hazardous releases. “We are still arguing about a vote that the people asked for,” Rollerson said, and urged city leaders not to accept industry assertions without independent review.
Thomas Cool criticized the city’s practice of granting tax breaks to large industrial projects, saying companies have not fulfilled promised benefits and have contributed to local environmental harms. “Why should we give them tax breaks? They’re not community friendly,” he said, pointing to past explosions, flaring and alleged delayed community notification as reasons to reconsider abatements.
Melanie Oldham urged more public participation in budget workshops and warned that industrial-district agreements have, in her view, cost the city revenue that could have funded local services. She encouraged councilmembers to host ward-level town halls so residents can weigh in on the budget.
Council members listened but did not take immediate substantive action in response to these comments during the meeting. The public comments were placed on the record ahead of later agenda and budget actions the council said it will consider in subsequent meetings.
