West U police was called to the Rec. Center on Tuesday, Oct. 15 around 3:39 p.m. because someone had spray painted graffiti on a back wall of the Rec. Center.

West U police was called to the Rec. Center on Tuesday, Oct. 15 around 3:39 p.m. because someone had spray painted graffiti on a back wall of the public facility.

City staff reported the incident and a crew from the public works department was able to paint the wall, removing the graffiti.

West U Police Capt. Thad Olive said they believe the incident was an isolated act.

Anyone with information about the incident is asking to contact West U police.

To report suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the police department at 713-668-0330.

West University Elementary School’s magnet program will be eliminated next school year, which will cost the school $273,562 in funding.

West U Elementary is one of 20 HISD magnet programs that will be eliminated next school year because they are not drawing enough students from outside of the neighborhood.

The elementary school’s enrollment is 1,254. Of those, 41 are non-zoned magnet students, which represents 3.3 percent of the overall student population, HISD Media Relations Manager Jason Spencer told InstantNewsWestU.com. Magnet schools are expected to have about 20 percent non-zoned students, according to HISD policy.

West U’s school-based magnet programs include math and science. Magnet programs offer an integrated and enriched curriculum and teachers receive specialized training depending on the school’s focus, according to the school district.

The 20 HISD magnet programs that will be eliminated have a combined magnet budget of $4 million which will be used for other academic purposes. West U will no longer receive the additional $273,562 in magnet funding that it had been getting, Spencer said, and will be funded like all other non-magnet neighborhood schools.

HISD says that students who are currently enrolled in magnet programs that are being eliminated after the current school year will be allowed to continue attending those schools until they complete the highest grade level offered at those schools.

The phasing out of the magnet programs was developed along with a new magnet program policy that was adopted by the HISD Board of Education. The policy set minimum standards for magnum programs to meet with it comes to attracting students from outside their attendance boundaries. While some magnet programs are being eliminated, the district is also adding new magnet programs to meet current demands.

West University Elementary Principal John Threet says that the school has been anticipating the decision to eliminate the magnet program for several years but the school will continue to provide educational excellence without any of their programs suffering.

Threet issued the following statement this morning:

“The decision to close the Magnet program at West University Elementary School has been anticipated by us for many years. When our school began to achieve Exemplary status in 2001, and received recognition from the Texas Business & Education Coalition as an Honor Roll School, from Children At Risk as one of the higher performing schools in Houston and Texas, and from the National Center for Educational Achievement as a Higher Performing School, our enrollment from families within our school attendance zone began to grow dramatically. Like many successful HISD schools, we accommodated this neighborhood growth by reducing the number of Magnet transfer students we accepted each year. While we are a whole school Magnet program and all children benefit from the program, our Magnet transfer enrollment has dropped to thirty-one children. Our percentage of neighborhood children has grown from 65 percent in 1996 to 98 percent today.

“One goal of the Magnet policy is for all Magnet schools to have 20 percent of their students transfer from outside the school attendance zone. In order to meet this goal and still educate the 1,200 students who live within our neighborhood, we would have to have a total enrollment of more than 1,600 students. This isn’t possible given the size of our building.

“We anticipated the eventual reduction or loss of Magnet funds over 15 years ago and began planning for it. The District has discussed the new goals for the last couple of years and we knew we would probably lose our program. Our PTO, administration, and community have already begun planning for this eventuality and will make sure that the educational excellence for which our school is well-known will continue without any of our programs suffering. We will continue to have the same great classes, teachers, and programs upon which our reputation stands.”

Starting Nov. 4, the city will be implementing new recycling pickup days, which will be coordinated with trash pickup.

Starting Nov. 4, the city will be implementing new recycling pickup days, which will be coordinated with trash pickup. Residents will still have curbside recycling collection once a week, but it will be collected on one of the trash pickup days.

Currently, the city collects recycling on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Assistant Public Works Director Dave Beach said. The route restructuring will change pickup days to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. By not collecting recycling on Wednesdays, it reduces the city’s overhead costs and gives the city an alternative day to collect during the holidays.

For example, Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 28. Residents who have a Thursday recycling pickup day will have their recycling picked up on Wednesday, Beach said. Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, so the pickup day won’t be affected.

Be on the lookout for an information packet from the city starting Monday, Oct. 21. City staff will be hand delivering packets to every resident with information about their specific new recycling day. The packets will also include maps showing the new recycling and street sweeping days, holiday schedule for the remainder of 2013 and all of 2014.

West U will be implementing new curbside recycling pickup days throughout the city starting Nov. 4. The restructuring of these routes will maximize service efficiency and reduce the city’s overhead costs.

Recycling collection will remain once a week but the recycling day will be coordinated with one of your trash collection days. The restructuring will also mitigate the missed collection days due to holidays, by providing an alternative day.

Assistant Public Works Director Dave Beach said. The new schedule will allow the city to collect recycling during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The city receives complaints for the missed recycling days for two weeks in a row during the holiday.

The changes will also reduce time, fuel and mileage by $3,500 a year, Beach said.

Starting Monday, Oct. 21, staff will begin hand delivering information packets to every resident.  They will be left on the front door.  These packets will contain information that has their new recycling day, updated maps showing the new recycling and street sweeping days, holiday schedule for the remainder of 2013 and all of 2014 and other information on the services provided.

For more information, click here.

The city sought applicants for positions on the zoning and planning commission, the zoning board of adjustment, the building and standards commission, the parks board, the recycling and solid waste reduction board, the senior services board and the Friends of West U Parks board.

The three statutory boards in West U are the ZPC, the ZBA and the BSC.

Council appointed Richard Wilson to serve as chairman of the ZPC. Other members include Philip Snyder, Mary Anne Jay, Sam Parikh, Lauren Griffith, Connie Clark and Michael McEnany.

Council appointed Carole Steen as chair of the ZBA. Other members include Sandy Hellums, Samantha Brantley, Prias Coffey and Milton Frankfort. Alternates include Donald Yurewicz, Don Culbert, Ed Sobash and Katherine Brem.

Longtime ZPC Chairman Steve Brown was appointed chair of the BSC. Other members include Sylvette Bobb, Vernon Tyger, Denny Powers and Frank Griffin. Alternates include Charles Marshall, Bruce Beneke, Kris Westbrook and David McDaniel.

Parks Board member Melissa Pifko has been named the new chair of the board with Kevin Boyle being named the new vice chair. Other members include Tracy Larson, Donald Armstrong, Jon Trevelise, Amanda McGee, Moya Varner, Susan Reeves, David DeAnda and Burt Ballanfant.

Council has appointed Orval Lee Marlow II as the new chair of the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board. Other members include Mary Birch, Vibhu Sharma, Jason Ball, Bill Rankin, Owen Rutz, Mimi Tsai, Mary Barnwell, Yvonne Jacobs, Jerome Brown and Edwina Forster.

Council reappointed Stan McCandless and John Neighbors to serve as co-chairs of the Senior Services Board. Other members include Pieter Vrancken, George Baker, Michelle Moore, Sarah Ballanfant, Selby Clark, Janet Vrancken, Becky Arnold, Mary Ryerson, Joe Mitchell and Virginia Lootens.

Katie Hill was appointed to the Friends of West U Parks Fund.

The term for the boards and commissions began Sept. 1 and will end on Aug. 31, 2015.

The adopted budget accounts for $32.4 million in expenditures and $34.4 million in revenues.

The budget is expected to raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $537,848 or 3.43 percent. Of that amount, $116,637 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.

Property taxes account for 50 percent of the city’s revenue, or $16.3 million.

The general fund budget, which funds almost all city services, accounts for about $14.5 million in revenues and $15.6 million in expenditures.

The largest portion of the general fund accounts for personnel and benefits.

The city is eliminating two full-time positions through attrition due to technology enhancements and increased efficiencies in delivering services. The city will have 123 full time employees in 2014 compared to 125 in 2013.

The city has budgeted for a 3 percent pay-for-performance increase in anniversary dates for city employees. The city has also budgeted $1.7 million for employee health benefits.

The city budgeted for several capital projects including demolition and rebuild of the animal control shelter, a partial roof replacement on the municipal building, community building re-insulation and senior services heat pump and air handler replacement, Colonial Park concession area enhancement and pump house energy-efficient lighting additions.

The budget also includes replacement of seven public works vehicles.

West U residents may pay more in property tax rates in 2014 even though the city’s tax rate decreased due to the increase in appraised property values.

The city is currently accepting applications until Nov. 1 for tree plantings from its Tree Trust. Residents who wish to apply can fill out out an application here.

The Tree Trust was established to ensure the regeneration and diversity of the city’s urban forest. The Tree Trust is funded by payments from residents and contractors who remove trees for construction purposes and cannot replace them due to space limitations.

The city offers several varieties of trees including Cedar Elm, Bald Cypress, Nuttal Oak, Bur Oak, Monterey Oak, White Oak, Live Oak, Drummond Red Maple, Savannah Holy (recommended under power lines), Texas Redbud (recommended under power lines), Lacebark Elm, Black Gum, Water Oak, Shumard Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Mexican Sycamore, Loblolly Pine, Green Ash and Chinese Pistache (recommended under power lines).

The city will plant, stake, mulch and fertilize the trees for residents in January. The city is not responsible for maintenance after planting.

Trees will only be planted in the Street Right of Way and residents are asked to consider available planting space when selecting the type of tree they request.

Tree species that mature into large trees will not be planted beneath the canopy of an existing healthy tree or overhead utility lines.  Residents are also asked to consider visibility triangles at street intersections and at street and driveway intersections.

Residents who have the required growth space and are approved will receive a 30 gallon tree at no cost.  Trees will be approximately 10 feet tall and 2” in caliper.

For more information, contact West U Forester Craig Koehl at 713-662-5313 or ckoehl@westu.org.

PLEASE TAKE THE POLL BELOW.

Residents will be paying an additional $2 a month in solid waste fees starting in January to cover the cost of a decline in the sale of recyclables. Senior citizens and disabled residents will be paying $1 more a month. The West U City Council will close the recycling center in January to make up for revenue shortfalls.

City staff is also projecting an increase in solid waste fees in 2015.

This November, the city council may ask residents to pay approximately $2 more a month on top of the rate increase to pay to recycle yard waste.

City Manager Michael Ross said council has asked to talk about implementing yard waste recycling and will be having a discussion about the city’s fee schedule in November. Council will look at fees for green waste as well as recreation fees, he said.

The city recycled yard waste from around 1994 to 2006, Assistant Public Works Director Dave Beach said. During that time,  the city collected between 1,400 and 1,600 tons each year.

Yard waste is now collected with trash and diverted to a landfill.  Because yard waste is collected with trash the cost is the same, approximately $32 a ton, he said.

Yard waste, commonly referred to as green waste, is composed of grass, flower cuttings and hedge trimmings, as well as domestic and commercial food waste.

Beach said the city stopped recycling yard waste because the city’s composter, located off of IH-610, sold its property and the closest composter that could handle the volume of yard waste was located on US 290 past Beltway 8. The facility was not close enough for the city’s trucks to drop off the yard waste and make it back in time to complete their routes, he said.

If city council decides to implement yard waste recycling, there is a composter located east of SH 288 and Beltway 8 that the city would look at, Beach said.

The estimated cost of implementing recycling yard waste is about $125,000, Beach said, which would cost residents about $2 a month.

Every year the council hears recommendations from it’s Recycling and Solid Waste and Reduction Board.

“Every year we ask them and every year we’re turned down,” Immediate Past Chair of the Recycling and Solid Waste and Reduction Board Jan Kellogg said. “Their argument is that it’s always too expensive.”

InstantNewsWestU.com contacted the mayor and city council about their thoughts on yard waste and many of them said they need to know more before they formed a decision about whether or not they support it.

“There’s always been good reasons not to do it,” Mayor Bob Fry said. “If there is something new to discuss I’ll listen.”

Fry said that council has always been fiscally conservative but they are having to deal with solid waste fees one way or the other.

“It’s not an easy one,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts.”

Councilwoman Joan Johnson said she doesn’t know enough about it at this time.

“If we can do it and justify it that would be great,” she said.

Councilman Ed Heathcott said the whole city would have to buy into recycling yard waste.

“We as a community haven’t bought in on recycling,” he said. “It seems we don’t have a citywide inclination to recycle. I don’t see the majority of citizens are wanting to do this.”

Councilman Dick Yehle said he needs more information, but in his mind he doesn’t see yard waste as a pollutant.

“Council clearly needs to make a decision on it,” he said. “Its very difficult when you have these cost items because you fight like the devil to save a buck here and spend a buck there.”

Mayor Pro Tem Susan Sample says she will support implementing recycling yard waste.

“I’m for it,” she said. “Our motto is the city that recycles. I want to be fiscally conservative but green waste isn’t much.”

The West U City Council will decide next week whether or not to close the recycling center, RecyclExpress, at 5004 Dincans.

If council decides to close the facility, staff will recommend closing it by January 2014, City Manager Michael Ross said.

Council will meet on Thursday, Sept. 26 to discuss and vote on a recommendation from city staff to close the center.

City staff has been monitoring the expenditures of the center for years. City officials have said that the recycling center has not broken even and the cost to operate the center is more than it makes in revenue.

Assistant Public Works Director Dave Beach said the center loses between $150,000 to $200,000 each year.

“The majority of council agreed that the recycling center should close,” Ross said. Council met during a public budget workshop on Saturday, Sept. 14 and discussed the city’s options regarding the center.

Mayor Bob Fry told InstantNewsWestU.com that the decision is a hard one for council but he supports city staff’s recommendation to close the facility.

“It’s a decision that’s long overdue,” he said. “It’s been costing us more and more every year. It’s one of those hard decisions that the council has to make on behalf of the city.”

Councilwoman Joan Johnson says that she also supports closing the recycling center and believes that residents would not be happy about the added cost to keep it open.

“I’m in support of closing the recycling center,” she said. “I’m sorry to say that it’s necessary.”

Johnson said that the alternative is that residents can have their recyclables picked up at the curb.

Councilman Dick Yehle will also be supporting the recommendation to close the facility.

“It’s an economic decision but service is being maintained for the residents,” he said. “I’ve been reluctant to do that but I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Yehle said data shows that 90 percent of recycling center users are not West U residents, the city is maintaining a recycling service by picking up recyclables at the curb and the city has to look at the cost associated with investing in new public works vehicles. At the same time, the cost of selling recyclables keeps going down year after year.

Councilman Ed Heathcott says he is favor of closing the facility.

“I think the time has come to quit talking about it,” he said. “The situation is not going to reverse itself. Most of our residents are not using that center.”

Heathcott said he doesn’t think he would be doing a good job representing the residents to keep subsidizing the recycling center.

Mayor Pro Tem Susan Sample is the only council member who is not in favor of closing the facility at this time.

“We don’t have any plans for the land,” she said. “Everybody has a service they’d like the city to provide.”

Sample said that 30 percent of residents use the facility once a month.

Former Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board Chair Jan Kellogg is against the closure and said it’s almost like the council is “indifferent about recycling.”

“We could do more but we’re going to start doing less,” she said. “It’s more important to have Little League and senior services that it is to have recycling in this city.”

Kellogg said that the recycling center is costing more than it ever did but so are other city services.

“We used to call ourselves the city that recycled. Now we’re turning into the city that does what it jolly well pleases,” she said. “We’re not even doing as much as Houston. It’s sort of embarrassing. Everyone is doing more than we are. We’ve given up.”

Ross told the news organization that the city council “does not appear to be interested in selling the land at this time.” The property’s estimated worth is between $5-7 million, he said.

Whether or not the city council decides to close the recycling center, city staff is proposing an increase in solid waste fees because of a lower than expected sale of recyclables revenue in 2012 and 2013. The council is expected to discuss solid waste fees at their meeting next week.

The budget public hearing will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. in the council chamber, 3800 University Blvd. View the proposed budget here.

The proposed budget accounts for $32.4 million in expenditures and $34.4 million in revenues.

The proposed budget is expected to raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $537,848 or 3.43 percent. Of that amount, $116,637 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.

Property taxes account for 50 percent of the city’s revenue, or $16.3 million.

The proposed general fund budget, which funds almost all city services, accounts for about $14.5 million in revenues and $15.6 million in expenditures.

The largest portion of the general fund accounts for personnel and benefits.

The city is eliminating two full-time positions through attrition due to technology enhancements and increased efficiencies in delivering services. The city will have 123 full time employees in 2014 compared to 125 in 2013.

The city has budgeted for a 3 percent pay-for-performance increase in anniversary dates for city employees. The city has also budgeted $1.7 million for employee health benefits.

The city is budgeting for several capital projects including demolition and rebuild of the animal control shelter, a partial roof replacement on the municipal building, community building re-insulation and senior services heat pump and air handler replacement, Colonial Park concession area enhancement and pump house energy-efficient lighting additions.

The budget also includes replacement of seven public works vehicles.

The city council has set a not-to-exceed tax rate of $0.37411 per $100 valuation, which is the current tax rate as last year but it is higher than the effective tax rate.

The effective tax rate is the rate that would raise the same amount of revenue for the city as last year.

West U residents may pay more in property tax rates in 2014 even though the city’s tax rate may decrease due to the increase in appraised property values.

The proposed rate for 2014 is $.037400 per $100 value. The 2013 tax rate was $0.37411 per $100 , which is a proposed rate reduction of .00011.

The city will also hold a tax rate public hearing on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. A second tax rate public hearing will be held on Sept. 30.

The city council is expected to approve the budget and tax rate on Oct. 7.

The resident called police on Sunday, Sept. 8 around 7:25 p.m. because he saw a man enter his neighbor’s garage and come out with a bag. The resident also told police that he saw the suspect get on a METRO Bus.

West U police were able to stop the bus at the Bellaire Transfer Station and arrest the suspect following a chase through the City of Bellaire, West U Police Capt. Thad Olive said. West U police were assisted by the Bellaire Police Department, the Houston Police Department, METRO police and Harris County Precinct Constable 1.

Police arrested the 35-year-old homeless man for burglary of habitation. The suspect is currently on parole for a previous burglary of a habitation arrest and has three prior convictions, Olive said.

The residents of the West U residence were not home at the time of the burglary and it was unsecure, Olive said. Because of the “good observant citizen,” police were able to catch the suspect, he said.

Olive encourages all residents to always call police if something doesn’t seem right.

“Call us every single time,” he said.

To report suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the police department at 713-668-0330.

Police were called to the Verizon Wireless store, 5310 Kirby, on Friday, Aug. 30 around noon for a robbery in progress.

Two black males in their mid 20s came into the store armed with handguns. The suspects took two employees and one customer to the back of the storage room and made the victims lay on the floor while they cleared out an electronics storage cabinet, according to police.

The suspects were wearing bandanas over their faces and made off with iPhones and iPads, West U Police Capt. Thad Olive said. They were in and out of the store in a matter of minutes.

The robbery at the Verizon store was the third robbery in West U during the month of August. On Aug. 29, three armed men robbed the Texas Gulf Bank on Kirby. The Radio Shack on Kirby Drive was also robbed on Aug. 14 by two armed teenagers.

Olive said that there are a lot of robberies everywhere, it’s not just happening in West U.

Anyone with information about any of these robberies is asked to call the West U Police Department at 713-668-0330.

Penley’s vehicle the day she received a citation for parking on the sidewalk.

Suzanne Penley, who lives in the 4200 block of Rice Boulevard, pled no contest in West U Municipal Court this week and paid a $60 fine for parking on the sidewalk.

Penley was ticketed by the city on June 20 after receiving several warnings about parking on the sidewalk. She was in the process of resolving the issue by installing pavers next to her driveway when she was ticketed. Penley requested a jury trial when she appeared in court on July 16.

Parking on a sidewalk is prohibited in the State of Texas.

Penley said when she appeared in court this week she had the opportunity to talk with the judge about her situation and said that while she did park over the sidewalk for years she did not know it was illegal.

“I just wanted to be heard,” she said. “I didn’t want people to think I was above the law.”

Penley lives in a 1930s West U home with a single car garage. She owns two SUV’s that she routinely parks in her driveway. Penley says that her garage is too small to park one of her vehicles in it and she prefers not to park on the street because she’s afraid that her vehicle will get damaged or burglarized.

Penley received her first warning by Paripovich on April 1. A second warning was issued on a second vehicle in her driveway on June 3 and a third warning was issued on June 12.

Penley got a permit for installing pavers along her driveway the day after she was ticketed.

On June 17, Paripovich and City Planner Debbie Scarcella spent nearly half an hour answering questions and suggesting ways to widen Penley’s driveway.

On June 20, Penley said she came home for half an hour and was going to leave shortly when she came out and found the ticket.

“The city needs to do a better job about communicating what’s appropriate and what isn’t,” she said. “I’m not the only person doing this.”

Penley said that she has numerous photos of cars parked throughout the city violating parking laws.

The city launched a Parking Etiquette Campaign last October, which was the result of three town hall meetings and deliberation by city council.

The purpose of the program is to encourage a friendlier approach to enforcement and better parking practices.

At the beginning of August, Paripovich had written 324 parking related first-time warnings. Of those, 257 were issued for parking on a sidewalk. He has written 25 parking tickets and two tickets for parking on a sidewalk.

The West U City Council has approved ballot language for a charter election this November.

Residents will be voting for or against the following propositions:

Proposition 1

Authorize an amendment to Article II Section 2.03 of the charter relating to the limit on successive terms for mayor and council, to increase the number of successive terms from two(2) to three (3).

Proposition 2

Authorize an amendment to Article IV, Section 4.01 of the charter relating to the power of initiative, to increase the number of signatures required on Initiative petitions submitted to council from three percent (3%) to five percent (5%) of all qualified voters of the city.

Proposition 3

Authorize an amendment to Article IV, Section 4.02 of the charter relating to the power of referendum, to increase the number of signatures required on referendum petitions from three percent (3%) to five percent (5%) of all qualified voters of the city.

Proposition 4

Authorize an amendment to Article IV, Section 4.06 of the charter relating to results of election, to limit the four-fifth (⅘) vote requirement of council to repeal or amend an ordinance to a six (6) year period and allow a simple majority of council to repeal or amend an ordinance eight (8) years after adoption.

Proposition 5

Authorize an amendment to Article VI, Section 6.02 of the charter relating to the city manager, to authorize the city manager, with the approval of city council, to appoint the city secretary.

Proposition 6

Authorize an amendment to Article VI, Section 6.03 of the charter relating to the city secretary, to delete the provision regarding city council appointment of the city secretary and include a provision setting forth the powers and duties of the city secretary.

The city is required to appoint a Charter Review Commission to review its charter every six years. The commission presented their proposed changes to council last November, but the council delayed moving forward with the changes at the time. The council recently made finalizing the city charter amendments and preparing for the November 2013 election one of their goals for 2013-2015.

Mayor Pro Tem Susan Sample said Monday night that all of the council members have differing views and opinions about the amendments.

“Putting these out there for a vote doesn’t mean council is supporting this wholesale,” she said.

An unknown person spray painted the word “Illuminati” on a fence protecting a lift station at the intersection of Byron and Community.

Police say that it happened in the night and there are no suspects at this time. A city employee found the damage, West U Police Capt. Thad Olive said.

The estimated cost of the damage is $200. A contractor was scheduled to replace 14 boards on the fence and gate at the lift station, Public Works Director Chris Peifer said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police department at 713-668-0330.

The City of West U has installed new wayfinding signage around city hall and the community building to help residents find what they are looking for.

Residents driving on University at Auden and Auden at Rice will notice new two-sided signs for drivers  that say where buildings are in the city and how far away they are. There is also a pedestrian sign located between city hall and the fire station that shows a map of the city and where facilities are located.

Two interior signs were also installed inside city hall.

The project was spearheaded by West U Executive Assistant Rachelle Moody.

“We’re really happy with the product,” she said.

The city hired NEC to design and create the signs. The signs were installed this week.

The total cost of the project was $9,703. The city is currently working on digital signs for inside city hall.

Police were called to the store, located at 5804 Kirby Dr., on Wednesday, Aug. 14 around 8:17 p.m. for a robbery in progress.

Two young black teenagers between the ages of 15 and 16 came into the store armed with semi-automatic handguns. The boys jumped over the checkout counter, pushed the employee and made off with cash from the register, iPads and iPhones, West U Police Capt. Thad Olive said.

The suspects were wearing white baseball hats with black bandanas with a white graffiti pattern over their faces, Olive said. They were in and out of the store within a minute or two.

Two customers were in the store at the time of the robbery but no one was injured, he said.

Olive said that the Radio Shack gets hit by robbers once or twice a year.

Police were unable to locate the suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call the police department at 713-668-0330.

This incident is still under investigation.

West U claimed the eighth spot on a list of 25 “top-earning towns” across the United States with a population of 15,427, a median family income of $226,311 and a median home price of $737,500.

The news organization writes, “Where do you live when you’ve ‘made it’?” Affluent communities like West U, Scarsdale, N.Y and Weston, CT, which also claimed top spots on the news organization’s list, amongst others. West U’s neighboring city, Bellaire, claimed the 13th spot.

CNNMoney describes West U as an “enclave” that feels like a “small town” even though it’s surrounded by one of the largest cities in the U.S.

“Bordering Rice University and less than five miles from Houston’s downtown business district, West U attracts a slew of doctors, lawyers, and energy executives who enjoy good schools and tree-lined neighborhoods,” the news organization writes.

Some of West U’s street names, like Vanderbilt, Amherst, Duke, Tennyson, Marlowe and Browning are also mentioned.

“West U is a ‘Neighborhood City’ that is an oasis to residents who enjoy the small town benefits and desire to be close to everything but still want to be outside of the urban sprawl,” City Manager Michael Ross said about the designation.

West U was also named a “top-earning town” by CNNMoney in 2011.

Former Mayor Bob Kelly, who has been opposed to one of the changes that would require the city secretary to report to the city manager, told the council Monday night that “there’s no reason to change the city charter” and “it’s unfair to Thelma to have a thumb over her.” Kelly was referring to City Secretary Thelma Lenz.

“You have the right to stop it right here,” he said. “You don’t have to kick the can down the road. If you’re not in favor of it you can stop it right here. If you put this to the voters its implied that you’re for it.”

“That’s a good opinion, but it’s not my opinion,” Mayor Bob Fry responded.

After hearing comments from residents and discussion by council Monday night, the city attorney was directed to prepare ballot language for the charter recommendations. Council is expected to vote on the prepared ballot language at their next meeting, Aug. 26.

Council appointed nine residents to serve on the Charter Review Commission last year. The city is required to review its charter every six years. The commission presented their proposed changes to council last November, but the council delayed moving forward with the changes at the time. The council recently made finalizing the city charter amendments and preparing for the November 2013 election one of their goals for 2013-2015.

“We’ve delayed long enough on this,” Fry said Monday night. “I’m perfectly comfortable putting this to the voters. Our obligation tonight is to decide whether we want to support that committee and put these in a referendum to the voters.”

Mayor Pro Tem Susan Sample made some comments about the recommendations, which Fry said he wished she would have mentioned to the commission prior to Monday’s council meeting.

One of the proposed changes to the charter is to increase the number of signatures required on initiative and referendum petitions from three percent to five percent of the qualified voters of the city.

Sample said that there may be 10,000 registered voters in the city, but only 900 people voted in the May election. Five percent of the total number of registered voters is 500, more than half of the actual number of people who came out to vote in May.

Sample said that 500, compared to 300 signatures, is “insurmountable” and doesn’t want to “put that on the voters.”

In regards to requiring the city secretary to report to the city manager, Sample said that if they change the charter they would probably have to change ordinance language.

An ordinance has been in place since 2008 that requires the city secretary to report to the city manager. The ordinance references current charter language that would need to be changed, she said.

An ordinance is more “nimble” to work with than a charter that is reviewed every six years, she said.

Sample also questioned the recommendation to change the reference of “Commissioners” to “Council Members” in the charter because if they were originally called commissioners before the charter was enacted then they’re not changing anything and “it should be off the table completely,” she said.

Councilman Dick Yehle made a motion to call a charter election for Nov. 5, 2013 to include the recommendations from the Charter Review Committee as appropriately amended.

“We’re moving this forward as the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee,” Fry said.

Council unanimously approved Yehle’s motion to call the charter election, with the exception of Councilwoman Joan Johnson who is on vacation.

InstantNewsWestU.com saw the dog walking by itself in the 3500 block of Rice late Friday morning.

West U Animal Control Officer Daniel Paripovich arrived on the scene and walked up and down the street knocking on doors and looking for the owners.

The dog was held at the city until the owners were located.