Ousted Bass resigns from township board to pursue Woodlands RUD position

Mike Bass Mike Bass Photo: Submitted Photo: Submitted Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Ousted Bass resigns from township board to pursue Woodlands RUD position 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Woodlands Township board member Mike Bass resigned and is moving on to other ventures after losing is bid for re-election to Brian Boniface in Tuesday's election.

Boniface received 17,940 votes (51.32 percent) to Bass' 17,016 (48.68 percent) for the Position 2 seat.

Bass, who serves on The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1 Board of Directors as the township representative, said a vacancy is expected on that board and he has expressed his interest in being appointed to fill the unexpired term.

To be eligible to fill the potential vacancy on the RUD board, Bass said he must resign from the township.

"I have no sour grapes," Bass said of his loss. "I can't (fill the unexpired term on the RUD) if I sit on the township."

The name of the person resigning from the RUD board was not released since the board has not met and the resignation is not official.

Bass was appointed to the RUD board last year after state legislation passed in June 2013 created two new appointed positions to join the five elected positions. County Judge Craig Doyal was appointed to the second seat as a Commissioners Court representative.

"To broaden (the RUD's) representation, legislation allowed them two more seats on their five-member board," Bass said in a previous Courier article, adding that the purpose is to give the RUD board a broader representation.

In 2013, House Bill 3895 amended the RUD's enabling legislation to allow the board to expand its number of directors, with those two positions being filled by "one or more political subdivisions other than a school district and municipality."

The RUD was created by legislation in 1991. It is funded through property taxes from commercial business at a rate of 36 cents per $100 property valuation.

Since its inception, Bass said, the RUD has funded more than $80 million in projects in The Woodlands and leveraged another $200 million.

Directors serve two-year terms on a rotating basis.

However, because the RUD only taxes commercial property, those who vote for the directors and a potential bond referendum would have to reside in that commercial area. According to Bass, there are only four voters in the RUD.

Some of the largest taxpayers in the RUD are Anadarko, The Woodlands Mall and The Woodlands Development Company.