New City Council committee assignments announced

Some committees reorganized

Steve Hawley, Jan 14, 10.

The 2010 Houston City Council committee assignments have been announced and Mayor Annise Parker and City Council have reorganized the committee structure, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Houston Politics blog.

The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Aviation Committee has shrunk from 12 members to eleven. Sue Lovell will remain the chair and Jarvis Johnson the vice chair. Wanda Adams, Ed Gonzales, Jolanda Jones, Melissa Noriega, and Mike Sullivan also return to the committee. The new members are C.O. Bradford, Stephen Costello, Oliver Pennington, and Brenda Stardig, replacing Peter Brown, Ronald Green, Pam Holm, Toni Lawrence, and James Rodriguez.

The Housing and Community Development Committee has grown from six to seven members. Jones is still the chair, and Pennington is the new vice chair, replacing Brown. The returning members are Adams and Johnson, and the new members are Bradford, Costello, and Al Hoang, replacing Green and M.J. Khan.

The Quality of Life Committee is now the Neighborhood Protection and Quality of Life Committee and has grown from six to 10 members. Adams is the new co-chair, replacing Lovell, and the vice chair is Stardig. Anne Clutterbuck and Gonzales return to the committee. New members are Bradford, Hoang, Johnson, Pennington, Rodriguez, and Sullivan, replacing Holm and Lawrence.

The Sustainable Growth Committee has been eliminated and its responsibilities incorporated into the new Development and Regulatory Affairs Committee, which says that among other things, it is responsible for “strategies to encourage viable, sustainable development that is appropriate to the surrounding community.” Lovell will chair the committee and Noriega will serve as vice chair. Both sat on the Sustainable Growth Committee. Adams, Clutterbuck, and Rodriguez also sat on the Sustainable Growth Committee and are members of the Development and Regulatory Affairs Committee. The other members are Costello, Gonzales, Johnson, and Stardig. Brown and Lawrence, who sat on the Sustainable Growth Committee, no longer serve on City Council.

Other new committees include International Business Initiatives and Ethics and Council Governance, according to the Chronicle.

Mayor Parker appointed Clutterbuck as mayor pro tem, and the City Council appointed Gonzales as vice mayor pro tem.

Houston Tomorrow staff members attend and take notes at relevant City Council committee meetings.