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Affirmative ActionWelcome to Aboul Qasim, who joins AAD from the Public Works & Engineering Department, and to Norma Meadows … Congratulations to Yanira Bermudez, promoted to community liaison, and to Alvita McKinney, promoted to administrative coordinator. – Patsy Jackson AviationCity Star Executive announced the first business-only service between Houston and Aberdeen. The new service is scheduled to take off in January. City Star Executive joins 17 other foreign carriers offering access to more than 70 direct international destinations from George Bush Intercontinental Airport … The Snowbirds, Canadian Forces’ 431 air demonstration squadron, took center stage at Ellington Field during Wings Over Houston Oct. 6-7. Other attractions included civilian aircraft, World War II reenactments, an autograph-signing tent with aviation legends, a children’s carnival, food, and live music … William P. Hobby Airport has a new state-of-the-art United Service Organizations facility. Located inside the Central Concourse’s secure area, the multiple-room, 1,000-square-foot USO lounge offers more space and amenities for sailors, soldiers, marines, and airmen. All the facility’s contents were donated … Characters from the Star Wars universe crowded Hobby’s central concourse awaiting the flight carrying Luke Skywalker’s Jedi lightsaber. Southwest Airlines, Space Center Houston and Lucasfilm sent the famous movie prop into space with the crew of the space shuttle Discovery in October. Back from the trip, the lightsaber will be displayed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center before returning to Lucasfilm … This year’s CMC runway race at Bush was renamed the Mutt Strut & Runway Race and benefited the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Houston SPCA added a one-mile mutt strut to the Oct. 20 outing. Prizes were awarded in several categories including best-dressed, best kisser, and best owner-pet look alike. Since 2001, the annual event has raised more than $200,000 in donations for community and charity groups … On Aug. 29, the department rolled out the red carpet to dozens of companies and businesses at the Humble Civic Center. The all-day event provided opportunities to network and to get a contract at one of Houston’s airports. Supply, purchasing, planning, architecture, electrical, construction, retail, and food and beverage contracts are available with the airport system … According to July figures, international air cargo traffic increased by 11 percent, and international passenger traffic climbed 3 percent compared to 2006. Total air cargo traffic for the Houston Airport System increased by 10 percent during July over July 2006. More than 30 million passengers had been served by Houston’s airports through July … On Oct. 16, the 16th annual IAH Charity Classic Golf Tournament took place at the Cypresswood Golf Club benefiting the interfaith chapel inside of IAH Airport at Terminal C. Each year the chapels at Bush and Hobby airports donate $1,000 - $5,000 to needy individuals and organizations and offer $6,000 in college scholarships for area students. – Juan Alanis City CouncilNo submission from this office.
City SecretaryNo submission from this office. Controller's OfficeNo submission from this office.Convention & Entertainment
Pamela Walko, Steven Ivery, Demi Hoang, and Debra Ramon were recently honored in the department’s monthly recognition program … On Jan. 2, one construction project was completed as ground was broken on another. A new underground parking garage opened across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center. The 663-car facility will serve convention attendees and visitors to the new Discovery Green Park and to restaurants on the property. Meanwhile, at Miller Outdoor Theatre, workers began a 120-day project to improve accessibility and pedestrian traffic flow in and around the covered seating area … Welcome aboard to newcomers Louis Elliott, Lisa Hargrove, Sandra Ha and John Harris … Best wishes in retirement to GRB staffer Martha Guillory Guidry. – Pete Radowick Finance & AdministrationDirector Judy Gray Johnson retired Jan. 25. Johnson joined the city in 1980 as deputy city controller under Controller Kathryn J. Whitmire. From 1990 to 1993, she served as F&A deputy director, and in 1998 she became chief deputy city controller under Controller Sylvia Garcia. In January 2003, she was sworn in as city controller to complete Garcia’s unexpired term. City Council confirmed her as F&A director in January 2004. Johnson received a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Houston, and in 2003, was named a “Woman of Excellence” honoree by the Federation of Houston Professional Women, who recognized her for her community involvement, career, and education.– Carlethya Guillory Fire
The annual Houston Firefighters Memorial Ceremony will be 10 a.m. March 15 at the Houston Firefighters Memorial Garden at the Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund, 4225 Interwood N. Parkway. The ceremony, open to HFD members, friends and family, remembers all firefighters who are gone but not forgotten … During an Oct. 2 luncheon at Houston Baptist University, the department recognized local pastors who partnered with the fire department in the Pastors in Partnership program. The program established a network of pastors to assist in crisis situations and help get fire and safety information and training to certain areas of the community … On Oct. 4, the department and members of the community emergency response teams kicked off quarterly meetings to create a better understanding between the fire department and trained CERT members, citizens specially trained to help themselves, family and neighbors in the case of a disaster … Volunteers from CenterPoint Energy and other organizations teamed up with HFD to install smoke detectors in the Manchester area of southeast Houston Nov. 10 as part of the “Get Alarmed Houston” free smoke detector program … The Houston Apartment Association, Kidde, the Texas Lottery, Texas Chevrolet Dealers and others donated 15,000 smoke detectors as part of the nationwide “Operation: Save A Life” campaign. The donations will allow the department to equip its 90 fire stations with at least 100 smoke detectors to be installed in homes in their service areas … On Dec. 6, the department hosted a grand reopening celebration at Fire Station 9, 702 Hogan Street, after a major renovation project … On Dec. 14, the department and community leaders conducted a massive smoke-alarm installation in the neighborhood around Fire Station 43, 7330 N. Wayside. HFD distributed and installed several hundred smoke alarms in the homes of residents who could not afford or install one themselves … HFD, former councilwoman Addie Wiseman and members of the community hosted an open house at Fire Station 105, 14014 Lake Houston Parkway at Deussen Parkway, Dec. 20. The new $2.3 million station, which houses an engine company and a medic unit, went into service Jan. 3. The cost of constructing the station was financed through capitol improvement project funds and offset by a private contribution from a local developer, PNE. General ServicesWelcome new team members Roderick Williform, Christopher Zeise, Jamie Howell, Luis Lucio, Lugine Jones, Summer Norwood, DaTechia Specht, Ray Cruz-Turcios, Shari Ingram, Wael Taha, Jesus Vasquez, Christopher McLarty, Amanda Webster, Kim Jackson, Elder Jimenez, Sammy Sosa, Latonja Jones, Intan Sauer, and Maria Rodriguez … Congratulations on well-deserved promotions to Eric Ward, Morgan Porter, Lisa Krolsky, Lee Lopez, Michael Alfred, Joel White, Patrick Johnson, James Pettit, Carolyn Peterson, Glenda Coleman, Chamarian Eaglin, and Juan Cabrera … Best wishes to retirees Frank Fennell, 30 years; George Bomer, 10 years; and Henryka Gazdyszn, 10 years. – Jacquelyn L. Nisby Health & Human ServicesThe department published “The Book of Alzheimer’s for African-American Churches.” The book describes the disease, its prevalence in the black community, ways to provide quality care to people with the disease, approaches that caregivers can use to maintain their own health and well-being, and techniques that professionals and churches can employ. The department’s Harris County Area Agency on Aging worked with local religious leaders and public health professionals on the publication. Scientific studies suggest African-Americans have a much higher risk for Alzheimer’s than whites … Arming local community-based organizations with the tools to continue providing services during a possible crisis set off by an influenza pandemic received top priority at a one-day conference sponsored by the department. The PanFlu Houston Community Summit sought to minimize gaps in the delivery of human services in the Houston area if an influenza pandemic occurs. Disruption of services offered by community organizations could cause many problems, including cutting off assistance to the blind, interrupting help with daily activities for the frail, stopping meal deliveries to homebound seniors, and cutting off shelter services for the homeless or resettlement of newly arrived refugees … Construction began in the Hiram Clark area on a 42,000-square-foot facility that will house a new multi-service center and the Vinson Neighborhood Library. The center will include office space for nonprofit organizations, a resource room with computers so residents can apply online for everything from a job to food-assistance programs, an auditorium, and areas for youth and senior programs. The library will feature public reading rooms, HPL Express, and a café. The multi-service center and library will share a computer classroom. The construction is the first pilot project undertaken by the General Services Department to combine city facilities and services at one site. Incorporating both facilities in one location reduces overall costs for land acquisition, design and construction … Welcome to two new managers in the Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness. Frank Levy is the bureau chief for public health preparedness, and Susan McFarland joins the department in the newly created position of public health emergency manager. She will have a lead role in developing an all-hazards approach to public health emergency planning and response activities for the department. – Porfirio Villarreal Housing & Community DevelopmentOn Nov. 15, Mayor Bill White joined Director Richard Celli and more than 500 housing industry partners at the George R. Brown Convention Center to educate Houstonians about affordable homeownership and answer questions about the turmoil in the home loan industry … Welcome new employees Kourtney Balfour, Eddie Ellis, Janice Melton, Eva Alcala, Shane Howard, Ching-Chih Yang, Melvin Richardson, Lee Hopes Jr., Averil Julius, Chau Pham, Jesus Cuellar, Marnine Thomas, Elizema DelaCruz, Yolanda Harris, Cesar Verde, Pedro Sosa, Hershel Cooper, Robert Rosario, Belkis Benitez, and Elizabeth Uribe. – Lester Whiteing Houston Emergency CenterNo submission from this office. Human ResourcesRich Barrett, Employee Assistance Program manager, will speak at the Employees Assistance Professionals Association Conference April 25. Barrett will speak on “EAP and Emergency Response” … Marina Mendoza was promoted to Risk Management … Welcome Stephanie Wrights, LeDretric Davis, Janet Opre, Cesar Cuellar, and Joe Clark … Farewell to Ted Low, Paul Garcia and Jillian McKenzie. – John Perry Information TechnologyThank you and farewell to our 2007 Empowering Future Minds student interns: Chris Alanis, Rita Bravo, Jabrelle Lipscomb, Xavier Neal, Krystal Moore, Leonard Parker, Arif Sunesara, and Katina Williams. For six weeks, these high school and college students got exposure to careers in city government with an emphasis on technology. – Bob Nowak
LegalThe following employees received an award for outstanding service: Hope Hammill-Reh, Outstanding Attorney; Nerissa Jewett, Outstanding Paralegal; and Evelyn Gilleland, Outstanding Staff Member. Rashaad Gambrell received the Edward A. Cazares Award presented to an attorney with five or less years of practice for exceptional service to the department … Special recognition to our 2008 Aramco Houston Half Marathon participators, Trudell Eldridge, Gary Wood, Randal Rivin, and Andrea Chan … The department presented Christmas gifts to 35 students at Scroggins Elementary. Dennis Alexander posed as Santa Claus and read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the children …Celebrating milestones are Chan and Shirley Harris, 15 years; Vanessa Birdow, Tim Higley and Harry Shelton, 10 years; Terri Evans, Sameera Mahendru, Jonathan Michaels and Michele Austin, five years … Welcome Rhonda Reece, John Liles, Lan Nguyen, Jan Clark, Lakisha Sheldon McKay, Lynn Klahsen, Kimberly Retzer, El Grecio Gregory, and Alexander Cruz. Also, welcome to our spring interns, Ben Rhem and Antonio Hicks. – Vachel Henry LibraryThe Library will celebrate African-American Heritage Month during February;Women’s History Month and Read Across America in March; National Poetry Month and Día de los Niños in April; and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in May. Neighborhood libraries will have fun, educational, and free programs for families. For more program details, visit www.houstonlibrary.org … Welcome Laura Montegrande, Paula Anicete, Mary Foy, Amber Evans, Esmerelda Gil, Alvia Hubbard, Alice Alves, Nora Abdin, Sarah Coult, Patricia Trevino, Monica Flores, Mark Anderson, Stefanie Uribe, Cedric Casher, Amanda Bales, Tyshasta Harris, Kandis Franklin, Aaron Winslow, James Meadows, Monica Harden, Kevin Richard, Marti Roberts, Adriana Cabrera, Kendra Cook, Michael Broussard, Matthew Hickey, Carly Stanton, Lynn Nelson, Tri Dang Nguyen, Susan Wheeler, Steven See, Virginia Osborne, and Krystal Bazan … Congratulations on well-deserved promotions to Onda Githoro, Tomisha Johnson, Cynthia Villarreal, Eric Tyra, Linda Nguyen, Jacqueline Washington, Alma Chavarria, Edward Melton, Michelle Johnson, Candace Scott, Carol Doyen, Christopher Patrick, Meagan Jones, Pamela Officer, Udelia Vega, and Kemo Curry … Happy retirement and best wishes to Estela Esparza. – Blanca Quezada Mayor's OfficeDwight Williams was promoted to division manager for HTTV … Welcome aboard Techia Specht, Emily Todd, Ada Edwards, Tracey Beavers, Buddy Grantham, and Gwendolyn Lewis. HTTV welcomes Terri Carter and Mariana Oyanguren. – Debra Veal Municipal Courts AdministrationWelcome Karen Williams. Williams moves from Library to become assistant director of public services … Also welcome Rochelle Bullock and Gail McGruder … The collections services unit will move to a to-be-determined central location to enhance its ability to operate the One Call Solution Center. The center, equipped with a state-of-the-art call-management system, will resolve customer issues beyond the assistance offered by 311 and will assist with collection efforts … The new quality assurance unit within the court operations and public services division quickly discovered and reported significant system errors … The information technology team launched eQuery web access to provide defense attorneys with additional information about their clients … During the first Municipal Courts Week, Thangavel Subbu was honored with the customer service award, Cherisse Spikes with the community outreach award and the IT project team with the Amnesty Program for the Change Agent award. Also during the week, employees conducted neighborhood outreach and mini-court clinics at local libraries. Municipal Courts JudicialOn Nov. 28, volunteers from MCJ, Municipal Courts Administration, and the city prosecutor’s office participated in a television call-in program. UNIVISION, Channel 45, sponsored a call-in program for their viewers to ask the panelists questions and discuss traffic-related problems. Callers received valuable information and were urged to come to the courts and resolve their traffic related problems without fear of arrest. The 22 Spanish-speaking “court-savvy” volunteers, which included judges, parking adjudication officers, prosecutors and administrative staff members, fielded 632 calls. – Lilly Warden Parks & Recreation
Fall and winter do not include a slow down for employees. Except for a few cold, wet days, parks and community centers in Houston are as busy as ever… Hermann Park unveiled a major new attraction Dec. 9. A statue honoring Martin Luther King Jr. joined one of Gandhi next to the Garden Center … On Oct. 25, a dedication ceremony was held for new parkland acreage along Brays Bayou. As part of a bank side park that will connect the Ship Channel with MacGregor Park, this piece of Brays Bayou Greenway is now safe from commercial development … Volunteers and park employees began a new flower-planting tradition with the Lady Bird Johnson Tribute Planting. Ten acres of parkland in six sites were sown with wildflower seeds … It was an extravaganza of volunteerism Jan. 26, as hundreds of citizens planted 3,000 trees along 15 blocks of North Shepherd in celebration of Arbor Day … On Dec. 8, volunteers planted 2,007 crepe myrtles along Monroe Street, near Hobby Airport, as part of 2007’s Guaranty Bank Tree Planting … The Hermann Park train that has delighted families for 50 years has been temporarily shut down as new, larger rails and more spacious, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant train cars are installed. The first phase of the new track should open in March, with more improvements to come, including more stops, a new depot, and an expanded lake plaza … The department hosted the 11th annual CMC Golf Tournament at Gus Wortham Nov. 3 … Visitors to Lake Houston Park can take part in the Winter Bird-A-Thon by recording all the bird species they see at the park between Jan. 1 and March 31, with fun prizes for the highest count … The current Activities in the Park catalog is available at www.houstonparks.org. – Don Whitaker Planning & DevelopmentHistoric preservation efforts proved successful in 2007. The city added four historic districts and created the first “Protected District” in the Old Sixth Ward. There are now 10 historic districts. Within those districts, 2,658 historic buildings are classified as either contributing or potentially contributing to the historic character. In addition, there are 192 individual landmarks and 47 protected landmarks. To learn more, visit www.houstonplanning.com and click on “Historic Preservation” … During several days in the fall, department employees took time out of their busy schedule to visit with youth from KIPP Academy. The high school group learned about different aspects of planning, including civic engagement, land development, historic preservation and geographic information systems … Good-bye Leah Hayes, who moved to Waco to be city attorney. – Suzy Hartgrove PoliceAt the department awards ceremony Nov. 7, the following received awards: Officer Wade L. Smalley, Medal of Valor and Hostile Engagement; Officers Kenneth S. Polka, Adam B. Clay, Emmitt D. Smith, Hostile Engagement; Officers Gilbert Reyes, Jason N. Campbell, Emnor L. Chew, and Miguel A. Daniel, Meritorious Service; Officers Manuel E. Garcia, James P. MacIntosh, and Michael D. Zientek, Chief of Police Commendation; jail attendant Asim Qureshi, cadet Leon Laureano, and Officer Charanda McClain-Ferdinand, Life Saving Award; Officers Christopher D. Duncan and Clinton Ponder, Award of Excellence; Capt. Bruce D. Williams, Lt. Craig S. Williams, Sgt. Charles L. Davis, Sgt. John Chomiak Jr., Officers Warren V. Jones, Whitney L. Labbe, Jed Rose, Muzaffar Siddiqi, Delinda A. Compton, and Barry L. Harris, Administrative Assistant Carolyn L. Williams, Forensic Photo Supervisor Timothy Palmer, chief inspector Edward Robinson, and inspectors Lester D. Howard, Shanika L. Tucker, Bernard Garrett, Will A. Reynolds, Humanitarian Service. Public Works & Engineering
Kudos to the engineering right-of-way maintenance crew, from Michael Moore, mayor’s chief of staff, for ensuring that the Chevron Houston Marathon ran smoothly … On Sept. 19, the contract compliance section sponsored a citywide training session with guest speaker W. Michael Kramer, an attorney and consultant specializing in the investigation and civil prosecution of corporate fraud and corruption … Congratulations to Carl Bowker Jr., on his retirement from the U.S. Army Reserves after 28 years of serving his country … Department employees joined Rebuilding Together Houston to repair Linda Williams’ home. Williams is a disabled, low-income resident … Reginald Jefferson, Herbert Bowers, Charles Williams, Sharon Fletcher, Elroyal Morris, Justin Jefferson, Wendell Smith, Michael Green, Harold Hill, Craig Smith, Nadine Norman, Gregory Tutt, Crystal Woodson, Fredrick Greeno, Willie Cook and Eric Dargan, of the right-of-way and fleet maintenance division, helped restore the homes of low-income, elderly or disabled residents as part of the Volunteer Home Repair Program … Playing the role of Santa Claus, Roberto Medina paid a surprise visit to the Ponce family Dec. 20. The director’s office staff had collected cash and gifts that Medina delivered to the single mom and her two children. – Alvin Wright Solid Waste ManagementNo submission from this office.
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