Appointments come after a July 8 Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meeting, where a 3-2 vote approved the creation of the committee, and a July 22 meeting in which Republican court members appointed six members to the committee.
Zooming in
Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage and Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy each appointed two members to the committee, including:
- Pamiel Gaskin, financial officer of the Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District (appointed by Prestage)
- Richard Morrison, former Precinct 1 commissioner (appointed by Prestage)
- Nicole Roberts, attorney and municipal utility district board director (appointed by McCoy)
- Dora Olivo, former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives (appointed by McCoy)
- Jacob Lee, committee head
- Robert Beham
- Wendy Duncan
- Ryan Yokubaitis
- Upendra Sahu
- Mike Gibson
Although McCoy appointed two members to the committee, he said he maintains his previous stance that the redistricting effort is unnecessary.
“It is an affront to what has been standard course of action,” McCoy said. “The entire effort is inherently flawed based on the rationale that has been presented.”
McCoy said he based his appointments to the committee on the diversity of the county in terms of both ethnicity and gender.
“The folks who are on the committee aren’t as diverse as our community, and that’s unfortunate,” McCoy said. “Especially as we’re talking about the most diverse county in the country, and a diversity in ethnicity, socioeconomic status and thought.”
What else?
The county also approved a requirement for all committee appointees to attend guidance training and compliance checks by the county attorney’s office.
The move comes after First Assistant County Attorney Michelle Turner said attorney’s office employees saw committee members meeting without giving the office or the public prior notice. However, Lee said he provided notice of the Aug. 25 workshop to Court Services Manager Olga Payero on Aug. 21.
County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson said the emails are not public notices of a meeting as defined by the Texas Open Meetings Act.
During the meeting, Lee said the committee:
- Heard a presentation from legal counsel
- Began initial map review
- Received an overview of redistricting software
- Considered committee member map concepts
- Created a timeline for map development
Looking ahead
The committee’s first official meeting will be Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. at Fort Bend County’s Historic Courthouse, located at 401 Jackson St., Richmond.
The committee plans to hold four public meetings—one in each commissioner precinct—to gather community impact, although a schedule has not been finalized, Lee said.
