Rebecca Haas, Mayor, City of Richmond

Invest: sat down with Rebecca Haas, mayor of the city of Richmond, to discuss the city’s growth trajectory, its historic identity, and the infrastructure and housing priorities shaping its future. “What Richmond has is history,” Haas said.

How would you describe Richmond’s role in Greater Houston’s growth, Fort Bend County’s growth, and the overall region?

We are growing by leaps and bounds. It is wonderful. Every city around us in Fort Bend County is growing because of the population that keeps coming in. We are fortunate that we are the county seat, so we do have a big role, and we are trying our best to keep up with that.

Being the county seat also has disadvantages because we do not really have that much room to grow, and the county keeps taking more and more property from us. The county has about 40% of the buildings in our city, and with that our ad valorem taxes are down because of those tax-exempt properties.

We are reaching out to landowners on Highway 59 and Highway 90A because those are prime gateway locations for Richmond. We are working with them to get infrastructure to them and make them part of Richmond.

What trends or changes are shaping development and investment in Richmond right now?

I was at a meeting and was told that there is an investor who wants to come in and expand our girls’ softball facilities to a total of 15 fields. Right now, we have five, and there are 370 girls enrolled this year. If that grows, it is going to bring a lot of people into Richmond. With that, we will also need places for them to eat, rest, and more things for them to do.

We are still in our development stage. I keep saying we are like a diamond in the rough, and we are polishing it off a little bit at a time. Things do not work as quickly as I want them to, but we do have a lot of opportunities.

We also have to get quality retail in. Once that starts working along the freeways, then we can take the money we get from taxes and bring it into downtown. Downtown is wonderful, and we are trying to develop that too. We have an old fire station, and a company called Revive is going to come in and completely redo it. They take old buildings and make them into something beautiful while keeping the same theme. Once that happens, downtown is going to start booming.

For someone less familiar with Richmond, what differentiates the city from other communities in the region?

What Richmond has is history. We are one of the first towns to develop in Texas, and we were incorporated in 1837. That deep heritage is what sets us apart.

I am a direct descendant of one of Stephen F. Austin’s original 300 families, so that history is personal to me as well. Richmond has roots that go back to the earliest days of Texas. We have connections to people like Jane Long, Deaf Smith, Sam Houston, and Mirabeau Lamar. There is so much history here, and a lot of people do not realize it.

Right now, we are working on our old depot. The museum sold it to the city, and the Henderson-Wessendorff Foundation purchased a whole block for us. So not only do we have the depot, but we also have the McNabb House. There are so many things that go into Richmond that make it special, and that is what we have to build on.

How is the city balancing new development with preserving its historic character?

We have a fantastic Richmond Historical Commission. Before something comes into downtown, it has to be approved, and we do try our best to keep the facades looking like they did before.

We also welcome any type of business that we feel is quality. We are not going to turn anybody down from having a pre-development meeting. New ideas are coming out all the time, and we need to grab hold of something that is new and unique to Richmond.

The redevelopment of the old fire station is a good example. It is going to include restaurants, and that gives people another reason to come downtown. We need more of that, but we also need to go further out toward Highway 59 and bring in retail, hotels, and restaurants so that when people cross into Richmond, they feel like they have arrived somewhere distinct.

What are the city’s biggest infrastructure needs as Richmond grows?

Because we are the county seat, our finances are not at the same level as some neighboring cities that have had more room to grow and more tax base come in with that growth. We do have several big subdivisions that have started, and we are also working on development agreements so that future growth can annex into the city.

A major focus right now is getting infrastructure to key properties that are not yet in our city limits. If we can get infrastructure to them, that helps them develop without relying entirely on mud districts. Mud districts do have their place, but they are not my favorite because they tend to stay around. We want agreements that work for both sides and help us share in the tax base if those areas are going to annex into Richmond.

Another major need is an overpass over the railroad in one of our older neighborhoods. There are times when a train stops for 45 minutes, and residents have no way out because they have the river on one side and the railroad on the other. If someone is sick or waiting on emergency services, that is a long time. We have partnered with Fort Bend County on that, and I have been advocating for it for a long time.

In March, we had a train derailment in Richmond. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it could have been much worse. That only reinforced how important that overpass is. We are also looking at whether Amtrak and the railroad might be able to help fund it since they pass through Richmond and have been investing in other communities.

How are you approaching housing and quality of life as the city develops?

We realize there is not enough middle ground in housing. You cannot have only high-end houses and low-end starter housing. You have to have housing that people can afford. We are working with developers to see what we can do, but quality matters.

I am not one for a lot of apartment complexes unless they are done right. If builders are just throwing something up and it is not going to look good in five years, that does not help anyone. We have to work hard with developers to make sure they are building something of quality.

We are also getting a new city hall, which is a big deal for Richmond. It has probably been around 60 years since the city had a brand-new city hall. People are on top of each other in the current one. In the new building, all of our departments will be together, and that will help us coordinate better and serve residents better.

There are also older apartments in Richmond where people are not living a quality life because of the landlord situation. That is something I am passionate about. People should not have to live that way. We have residents from all walks of life, and they all matter.

How important is regional collaboration to Richmond’s future?

It is important. We work well with Fort Bend County and partner with them a lot. We also work closely with nearby cities. We have a mayor association that meets regularly, and we talk through the different problems we are facing. The cities in this area are close, and that matters.

The railroad is one issue that shows how important collaboration is because it affects more than one city. We have to work together on that. We also have to work with the county and with the state as we keep growing.

I also believe strongly in transparency. If people have questions, I want them to come to me. If I know the answer, I will tell them. If I do not know the exact facts, I will find out and tell them. If people do not know what is happening, they make things up. I would rather be direct and honest.

What are your top priorities for the next few years?

My top priority right now is to continue building Richmond’s tax base, both retail and ad valorem. That is what is going to help us do more for the people who live here. We need quality housing, restaurants, and retail. We need to work with the landowners at our gateways because those locations are key to our future. If we do not work with them and get what they need, development will go somewhere else.

We also have to keep working with the county and neighboring cities, and we have to keep communicating clearly with our residents. I want Richmond to be memorable for people. I want them to want to come back, and I want them to want to live here.

I think the way you do that is by speaking transparently, telling people the truth, and saying it in a way they understand. You have to be able to speak with everybody. You cannot make people think that you are below them or above them. People have to feel that you are equal. That is my philosophy.