The city of Houston has many different officials in their local government. All of these positions have separate and important jobs that rely and compliment eachother.
Mayor Bill White serves as the Executive Officer of the City.
As the City's chief administrator and official representative, the Mayor is responsible for the general management of the City, appointing Council-approved department heads, presiding over the City council (with voting privileges), advising the Council of city finances and budgetary responsibilities, and seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced.
Elected in 2004, Mayor White is currently serving his third term in office.
Annise D. Parker serves as Houston's City Controller.
She is the second-highest elected city official and serves as the City's Chief Financial Officer. As well as performing her duties as City Controller, she currently serves on the board of the Holocaust Museum and as an advisory board member of the Houston Zoo, the Montrose Counseling Center and Trees for Houston.
Prior to her election in 2004, Ms. Parker served for six years as an at-large member of Houston's City Council.
The City Council is the City's legislative body, with the power to enact and enforce all ordinances and resolutions. Nine Council Members are elected from districts and five are elected at-large, by all voters of the City.
The fourteen members of Council, along with the Mayor, act only by ordinance, resolution or motion. They adopt and may alter the annual budget and confirm the Mayor's appointments. Council is responsible for the appropriation and issuance of bonds, the awarding of contracts and the approval of City expenditures over $25,000. Council may lease or dispose of the City's real estate and may levy assessments against property. Council determines its own rules of procedure, and its meetings are open to the public.
Council Member Peter Brown
Peter Brown is a prominent architect and urban planner who is in charge of At Large Position 1. He is involved with several organizations for the improvement of Houston neighborhoods, including Build a Better Houston, Houston Proud, the Main Street Coalition, Blueprint Houston, and American Institute of Architects. He also strives for neighborhood stability, flooding, cleaning the air, beautification, affordable housing, and traffic.
Council Member Ronald Green
First elected to At Large Position 4 in 2003, Green is serving his third term. He serves as Chairman of the City's Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee, Pension Review Committee, the Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee, the Housing and Redevelopment Committee and the Quality of Life Committee. Green also serves on the City's Ad-Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs.
Council Member Toni Lawrence
Elected in 2003, Council Member Lawrence serves District A in Houston. She is an avid volunteer in the community, being involved in Olympics 2012, to the Houston Police Department through Positive Interaction Programs (PIP) and Differential Response Team, as well as being active in a former council member's office.
Council Member Pam Holm
Pam Holm was elected in 2003 to represent the people and interests of Disctict G after being a resident in the area for more than thirty years, and is currently serving in her third term. Council Member Hold is also a member of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee; the Quality of Life Committee; the Regulation, Development and Neighborhood Protection Committee; and the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee. Additionally, she chairs the Pension Review Committee and serves as Vice Chair to the Transportation Policy Council.
Council Member Sue Lovell
Council Member Lovell was elected to the City Council in 2006, and Vice Mayor Pro-Tem in a unanimous vote in 2008. Lovell chairs the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Aviation Committee and the Historic Preservation Sub-Committee, and serves on several other committees, including Budget and Fiscal Affairs, Human Services and Technology Access, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Quality of Life, Sustainable Growth, Regulation, Development, and Neighborhood Protection. She is in charge of At Large Position 2 of Houston.
Council Member Jolanda "Jo" Jones
Serving At-large position 5, Council Member Jones is a successful lawyer and athlete, qualifying for the U.S. Olympics in 1996.
Council Member Jarvis Johnson
Council Member Johnson serves as the representative for District B, as well as Executive Director of the Phoenix Outreach Youth Center and Program Coordinator for D.A.R.E. + P.L.U.S. And is additionally involved with Inner City Action Network, serving as Chairperson; Shepherd Park Terrance Civic Club, serving as correspondent secretary. He also serves as board members to The Chinquapin School, Make Ready, Inc., and the Volunteers in Public School serving on the advisory board.
Council Member Mike Sullivan
Council Member Sullivan represents District E in the Houston City Council. In 2004, he was elected to the Humble ISD Board of Trustees and has served as a Community Liaison for Houston City Council Member Michael Berry.
Council Member Adrian Garcia
Serving as the representative for District G, Council Member Garcia was elected in 2004. Currently serving his second term, he was appointed to chair the Minority/Women Business Enterprise, Small Contractor Development and Contract Compliance Committee, and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, as well as to serve as the Vice Chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee. He also serves on nine other committees including the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee.
Council Member Melissa Noriega
Elected in 2005, Council Member Noriega served on the Defense Affairs and State and Federal Relations Committee, Homeland Security, and the Corrections Committee. She serves as the representative for At Large Position 3 on the Houston City Council.
Council Member Anne Clutterbuck
Council Member Clutterbuck was elected in 2005 to serve District C on Houston's City Council. In her second term, she serves on several committees, including Regulation, Development and Neighborhood Protection, Flooding and Drainage, Sustainable Growth, Quality of Life, and Pension Review. In addition to those committees, she also chairs the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee and the Ethics Committee.
Council Member M. J. Khan
Electe in 2003, Council Member Khan represents District F on the Houston City Council. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Asia Society Texas, Holocaust Museum Houston, the Transportation Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee and the National League of Cities, and as an Advisory Director for the Houston West Chamber of Commerce.
Council Member James G. Rodriguez
District I is represented by Council Member Rodriguez. Prior to being elected in 2006, he served as chief of staff to Council Member Carol Alvarado, who also represented District I on the Houston City Council.
Council Member Wanda Adams
Council Member Adams serves as the representative for District D and currently works at the Harris County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Association as a Clinical Coordinator.
Fourteen Council Members are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years. Council Members are limited to serving three terms of two years each, with each term beginning on January 2 of the even-numbered year. Five Council Members are elected At-Large, or city-wide, while the other nine are elected to geographic districts of roughly the same proportion of population. Two more geographic council districts will be added once the population of Houston exceeds 2.1 million (expected in 2010 census).
City Secretary Anna Russell
Anna Russell currently serves as Houston's City Secretary. The duties of the City Secretary include the keeping, recording and preserving of the minutes and proceedings of the City Council, and to be custodian of all the papers and records of the council proceedings of the city, with power to make certificates of any proceedings of the City Council, to affix the city seal thereto, and to do and perform all things and acts usually done or necessary to be performed by secretaries or clerks of cities in connection with the business thereof.
There is a racially and ethnically diverse local government in Houston. The city population itself consists of appriximately 52.66% caucasion, 24.74% African-american. This being the case, the percentage of city officials is relatively balanced in minority representation in the city. Latinos in Houston are also represented by two council members.
