The City of Tomball has suddenly become, if not a hotbed, then at least a simmering pot for political protests after at least three rallies were staged last month against the city’s controversial Day Labor Site.

On Aug. 27 and 28, representatives of a group calling themselves “We the People – Concerned Citizens of Tomball,” staged a pair of protests at the entrance of the city’s Day Labor Site off Main Street just west of the rail road tracks.

Holding signs and chanting and calling out protests on bullhorns, the small crowd of a dozen or came from all parts of the Houston area to converge on Tomball.

Pictured, a group of protesters stage a rally Aug. 27 at the entrance to the Tomball Day Labor Site.

They came to protest the use of the Day Labor Site and the city’s involvement of the facility. Earlier this summer, it was brought to the attention of the Tomball City Council that a lease contract with the property owners where the site is located expired and was up for renewal.

For the past 10 years, the City of Tomball has paid the property taxes on the site, about $1,500 a year. Now that the lease is up, the council is considering not renewing the lease. Many Tomball residents, however, have come out in support of the site, claiming it helps keep the streets clear of day laborers, many of whom are suspected of being illegal immigrants.

But recently, opponents of the site have made their voice heard at city council meetings and on the streets of Tomball. However, the vast majority of those speaking out against the site live outside the city limits, and that may be a factor in an upcoming decision by council.

“I represent the citizens and the business people of Tomball,” council man Mark Stoll said. “I don’t represent the people who try to tell Tomball and the residents what to do.”

At a recent city council meeting, nine people spoke out against the day labor site, asking the council to close it down, or not support it. None of those who spoke lived within the city limits.

Newly-elected council man Preston Dodson said most of the city residents he has heard from want the Day Labor Site to remain.

“What I have heard is basically what was stated at the public comment session at city council meetings, that the residents of Tomball are by and large in favor of having the Day Labor Site stay right where it is, because it tends to manage a problem,” he said. “The people that are, with a couple of exceptions, speaking out against it are outside the city. I think they are the same people that are promoting the demonstrations.”

Both Stoll and Dodson said they supported the right of the groups to protest, however.

“Those people are free to do what they want,” Stoll said. “The great thing about our country is you have the right to protest.”

Dodson questioned the influence such protests may be having on local residents.

“Some of those signs say ‘Honk if you want the Day Labor Site to close.’ I don’t hear a whole lot of honking,” he added.

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