Members of the Flood Czar’s Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force

Dec. 29, 2017

Acquaro, Peter, is a resident of Sharpstown and former president of the Sharpstown Civic Association Board as well as a former candidate for Houston City Council. He is a financial advisor and director of training development for the Fitzpatrick Group, and president of the Houston branch of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

Bell, Tomaro is an officer of the South MacGregor Civic Club, Super Neighborhood 83, and chair of the Super Neighborhood Alliance’s health and public safety committee. She is co-owner with her husband of Bevco Consultants.

Blancett, Janet is a chemical engineer, a member of the board of directors of the Houston Forensic Science Center, and senior manager for business consulting at Sapient Consulting.

Bloom, Michael is a mechanical and environmental engineer, certified floodplain manager, and Sustainability Practice Manager at R.G Miller Engineers, Inc., a large engineering firm contracting with the county and city and private industry. He serves on the Public Policy Committee of the Urban Land Institute Houston District Council, Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Bacteria Implementation Group, and the Steering Committee of the Houston Land and Water Sustainability Forum. He is also on the executive committee of the Bayou Preservation Association.

Blount, John, a civil engineer, is the Harris County Engineer.

Bulloch, Kathlie is the managing engineer for Utilities in the Engineering Services Section of the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering. The section reviews plans for construction of water, wastewater and storm sewer utilities in new development, as well as permits for driveways, alley entrances and culverts and manages the Texas Pollution Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) as required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Burger, Linda is chief executive officer of the Jewish Family Service of Houston.

Buscha, Tim is an agricultural engineer and certified floodplain manager with IDS Engineering Group, “planning drainage for a master-planned community to maximize development potential, appealing FEMA watershed designations, or analyzing long-term impact of planned regional detention.” He worked for twelve years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service, is active in the Texas Floodplain Managers Association, Texas Water Conservation Association, and is former chair of the stormwater committee of the Houston Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies.

Butler, Christon is acting deputy director of the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering responsible for building code enforcement.

Calvert, Rogene Gee is co-chair of the executive committee of Blueprint Houston, a non-profit promoting Plan Houston. She is director of Outreach Strategists and a former candidate for Houston City Council

Clegg, John is a principal with Page Southerland Page, a global architecture firm founded in 1898 in Austin.

Cole, Kevin is a developer, president of The Matrix Group, and former member of the Pearland city council. He is a co-founder and chairman of the Greater 288 Regional Partnership.

Colombo, Anthony is president of MC2 Civil Engineering and a member of the board of directors of the Houston Contractors Association.

Costello, Steve is a civil engineer, founder and former president of Costello Engineering, Inc. He is a former member of the Houston city council, former candidate for Houston mayor, and author the City’s Rebuild Houston program.

Dargan, Eric is deputy director and chief operating officer for the city’s Department of Public Works and Engineering, responsible for capital projects, transportation and drainage, and water lines.

De la Pena, Jose is vice-president of stormwater management at 5engineering, llc. He is a former project manager for engineering firms Lockwood, Andrews, Newnam, and Klotz, Assoc.

Dishberger, Mike is chief executive officer of Sandcastle Homes and former president of the Greater Houston Builders Association.

Edmondson, Becky is president of the Westbury Civic Club and co-president of Westbury Super Neighborhood 37. She is the owner of Vintage Underwriters, an insurance company.

Edwards, Keith is a commercial real estate land broker and senior vice president of Caldwell Companies, a real estate developer. He is active with the North Houston Association.

Friedrichs, Edwin is a civil engineer with Houston-based Walter P. Moore, another engineering firm frequently contracting with the city and county as well as private industry. He is executive director for infrastructure and a member of the management committee for the Houston branch of the Urban Land Institute.

Gant, Johnny is in the construction and real estate business with JRSG & Company.

Grothues, Julie is president of the Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association.

Haddock, Carol is deputy director of the city’s Public Works and Engineering department in charge of capital projects, responsible for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and new construction or expansion of the city’s infrastructure. She formerly worked for the Harris County Flood Control District.

Hendricks, Julie is a vice president of Kirksey Architecture and director of Kirksey’s EcoServices team.

Hightower, David is a civil engineer and executive vice president for development at Midway Companies, a real estate investment, development, and management firm. He formerly worked for Wolff Companies and RG Miller. He is a past president of the West Houston Association, on the board of the Urban Land Institute – Houston District Council, the Greater Houston Partnership’s Real Estate Advisory Committee and the Houston Real Estate Council.

Huffmaster, Michael is a retired chemical engineer, president of the Briar Forest Super Neighborhood 18, and chair of the Super Neighborhood Alliance.

Jones, Randy is a manager at Terra Visions, LLC, a developer of single family residential communities.

Klein, Mark is the owner of Mark Klein Content, an advertising and public relations firm. He is chair of the flooding and infrastructure committee of the Super Neighborhood Alliance, president of the Central Northwest Super Neighborhood Council 12, vice president of the board of directors of the Katy Prairie Conservancy and chair of government affairs for the Garden Oaks Civic Club.

Koehl, Robert is project leader in clinical engineering at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.

Lennard, Lee is a civil engineer and president and chief executive officer at BGE, Inc. (Brown and Gay), a Houston-based consulting firm contracting with private and public clients for planning, design and construction management of infrastructure programs and projects. He is a former member of the board of the West Houston Association, immediate past president of the American Council of Engineering Companies – Houston, past president of the Society of Military Engineers – Houston/Galveston Post and serves on the Board of the Houston Engineering and Scientific Society. Brown and Gay, along with Costello, Inc., helped develop homes inside the flood pool of Barker Reservoir.

Menendez, Daniel is vice president of global engineering firm Huitt-Zollars and former deputy director of the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department responsible for the Capital Improvement Plan.

Mengwasser, Drew is a landscape architect and managing principal of TBG Partners’ Houston office.

Murray, Bridgette is associate director at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and former president of the Pleasantville Area Super Neighborhood Council 57 in east Houston.

Nichols, Bruce is a journalist who lives in Frostwood in west Houston.

Parker, Steve is a marketing and job placement consultant and president of the Greater Eastwood/Lawndale and Wayside Super Neighborhood Co-Council. He served on Houston Bike Plan Advisory Committee and is a member of the Rebuild Houston Advisory Committee.

Pinheiro, Rod, an engineer and certified floodplain manager, is assistant director of the city Public Works and Engineering Department in charge of the Storm Water Maintenance Branch, which directs daily operations of the city’s storm drainage system.

Poppe, Russ is a civil engineer and executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District. He has been with the flood control district since 2005.

Ritchie, Andrew is a quality control coordinator for Alliance Residential, a Phoenix-based multi-family residential real estate investment and management company.

Roberson, Abbey is a planner and landscape architect and vice president of planning and development for the Texas Medical Center. She is a member of the Houston District Council of the Urban Land Institute and a volunteer with the Junior League of Houston, Inc.

Salazar, Andres is a water resource engineer and principal in charge of infrastructure projects with the Houston-based global engineering firm Walter P. Moore. (See Edwin Friedrichs above.) He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas, Arlington, teaching graduate courses in hydrology and water resources.

Sanders, Josh is a professional lobbyist and policy director with Hall Attorneys in Houston. He provides government relations and policy advocacy for clients facing regulatory issues, creating nonprofits and political action committees to influence legislation in Houston, including the development code, historic preservation ordinance, urban corridor ordinance, residential buffer ordinance, and others. His clients include Main Bell Realty and Uptown Houston.

Sarman, Stan is chairman of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10. He is a civil engineer retired from a long career with Los Angeles-based AECOM, the largest general architecture and engineering design firm in the world, according to its 2017 Annual Report. The firm designs, builds, finances and operates infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations in more than 150 countries. As a project director for AECOM, Sarman supervised the budgeting, scheduling, design and construction of large-diameter water line projects for the North Harris County Regional Water Authority. Sarman is active with the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce and was chair of the drainage committee and vice chair of the transportation committee.  He is president of the Kingwood Area Super Neighborhood Council 43.

Walsh, Patrick is a civil engineer and director of the City of Houston Planning and Development Department.

Wicker, Madeline is a realtor and director of Leasing and Marketing for the Methodist Hospital.

Wile, Randolph is a commercial and residential real estate investor. He is on the executive boards of the American Jewish Committee and the Texas Bicycle Coalition, among other activities.

Witt, Alan is professor of management and psychology at the University of Houston Bauer School of Business. He is described as a facilitator.

Wolff, Ed is president of Beth Wolff Realtors and a past board member of both the Houston Association of Realtors and the Texas Association of Realtors. His home in Meyerland was flooded during Harvey.

Zeve, Matt, a civil engineer and certified floodplain manager, is chief operations officer for the Harris County Flood Control District. He previously managed the Houston office for IEA, Inc., an engineering firm with offices in Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth. Before that he was the hydrology and hydraulics department manager for AECOM in Houston focusing on flood damage reduction planning, among other things.