Here in Lubbock, West Texas Organizing Strategy (WTOS) has used the organizing strategies of the IAF (individual, house, and community meetings) to identify common issues which affect the quality of life in our community. Most recently these include: payday and auto title lending debt traps, inequitable residential water rates, and inequitable storm water run-off fees. WTOS leaders held an accountability session for local candidates for city offices, providing a public place for the citizens of our community to hear what each candidate had to say about these important issues. We continue our work, in part, by visiting each elected official to hold them accountable for their commitments.
Since the founding of WTOS in 2001, countless hours by passionate volunteers have been spent to determine the common needs in our community and strategize ways to meet those needs, with an emphasis on building relationships within our community that can create long-term systemic change. This happens by organizing many people to speak with one voice, not as isolated individuals. We develop "people power" as leaders gain confidence to advocate for the needs of their neighborhoods and community. In the process, participants' lives are changed as they work collectively with representatives of many cultural, social, and religious groups.
2024 Accountability Session Issues
Code Enforcement
With commercial and industrial projects and businesses moving closer to and becoming more integrated with neighborhoods across the city of Lubbock, ensuring that these projects and businesses follow zoning regulations in the unified development code becomes ever more important to the welfare of the adjacent neighborhoods. WTOS is working with neighborhood organizations, residents, city officials, and business proprietors to bring issues resulting from nearby facilities to light, and ensure they are not only following all written regulations, but that they are doing everything reasonably in their power to be good neighbors.
Solid Waste Transfer Station
In 2023, the city of Lubbock announced a solid waste transfer station to be built north of the Marsha Sharp Freeway between Alcove avenue, Upland avenue, and 66th street. The transfer station will provide the department of solid waste with critical infrastructure to keep collection trucks on their routes for longer. The transfer station will do this by allowing the collection trucks to drop off waste at the transfer station and return to their route immediately, while the waste is loaded on to tractor trailers to be hauled to the landfill in Abernathy. This reduces wear on the collection trucks, saves fuel, and allows for the collection trucks to collect more loads per day.
The collection trucks will come from all directions, depending on their individual routes, but will all converge on 66th street between Upland and Alcove, where they will turn to the south into the transfer station. The tractor trailers are most recently said (by the city of Lubbock) to exit the transfer station onto 66th street to the north, then use Alcove avenue to reach marsha sharp where they will u-turn and use the highways to the landfill.
WTOS, after hearing concerns from nearby neighborhoods and officials from Frenship ISD, and attending multiple public forums, is working to ensure that the transfer station is not made operational until the surrounding infrastructure is made safe for the traffic coming to and from the station to drive on. Namely, Upland avenue to the east, 66th street to the north, and Alcove avenue to the west (the border between the city of Lubbock and the city of Wolfforth) which are all today two lane, poorly paved if paved roads without sufficient traffic control.
Notice and Citizen Consultation
Over recent years, several city-sanctioned projects and zoning changes have taken place in already populated areas across town, frequently adjacent to existing neighborhoods. Unfortunately, citizens have often expressed that they were unaware of projects, or did not feel that they had the opportunity to voice their concerns before the project was initiated.
WTOS is organizing neighborhoods to help them be more aware of projects in their area, as well as cooperating with city officials to ensure that residents in the affected vicinity of such projects have ample notice and opportunities to make their voices heard regarding projects that affect their daily lives, and protest the projects if they feel it appropriate.
Past Campaigns
HEALTHY FAMILIES
"Health Care Access and Affordability"
How well are people served by the health care facilities multiplying in Lubbock? And how widespread is access to these facilities? WTOS member churches are holding meetings to address these questions, in search of issues that can lead to beneficial action. Issues discussed so far include mental and behavioral health, diabetes, dental services, access to care for low income (including prescriptions), and food insecurity. Discussion of obesity and diabetes has led to an interest in helpful cooking classes. House meetings have spotlighted limited access to health facilities in East Lubbock: early pharmacy closures in that area compel journeys to Avenue Q to get prescriptions filled. Participants are doing further research to determine what actions are possible on all the matters under discussion.
STORM WATER FEES
Storm water fees will not change until after the loan payments for drainage improvements have been completed in 2018. Rate decreases are promised after the loans are paid off.
RESIDENTIAL WATER RATES
New water rates became effective in September 2017. Residential and commercial water rates will go up. They are being redistributed to attempt a more equitable share of paying for Lubbock water.
ALTERNATIVES TO PAYDAY LOANS
Costly Payday Lending: Working for Alternatives 
Since early 2016, WTOS has been addressing the issue of payday and auto title lenders who push borrowers to take out small loans at rates that easily grow to be exorbitant. In 2015 in Lubbock and Hockley Counties, payday and auto title lenders made new loans totaling $11,780,000, for which borrowers were charged $11,300,000 in fees. 569 autos were repossessed from 15% of auto loan borrowers. Unlimited fees and rollovers can cause a $500 loan to wind up costing $3,000 to repay.
WTOS collaborated with the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops and Texas Appleseed to advocate for a Lubbock municipal payday lending ordinance, meant not to put lenders out of business but to rein in the worst abuses. Forty Texas cities have passed such an ordinance. We laid our case before City councilors and supported a City Councilman who agreed to propose the ordinance. Although the proposal was defeated, that was not the end. We brought the issue to public attention. We identified two banks, American National Bank and Alliance Credit Union, which are prepared to offer small loans at far less than the charges levied by predatory payday and auto title lenders. We are continuing conversations with the aim of making Alliance’s and ANB’s services better known to low-income borrowers; we have begun and plan to continue support for financial literacy classes for borrowers.
ELECTRIC RATES
The electric rates will go up in September 2017. There is anticipation for lowering rates when Lubbock becomes part of ERCOT, the Texas multiple energy resource organization. There is a grid that uses power from solar, wind, coal, and oil so that bulk purchases and multiple forms of energy allow lower costs for power. Lubbock has to build the path to the power grid. If Lubbock is approved to enter ERCOT, projected power may be available in 2018 or 2020. LP&L representative stated on the news that the rate increase this year should be the last in a 5 year plan to put power in a stable situation.
WTOS and LEAD are collaborating with a local lawyer to present information to the public about the rights of immigrants in Texas. This is a great way to learn more about what to do to keep yourself and/or your loved ones safe in this time of fear and uncertainty. So far, three "Immigration Academies" have been presented at local churches with more planned for the future. If you would like more information about these information sessions contact us at [email protected].