Harris County commissioners appointed Toll Road Authority Executive Director Roberto Trevino as chair of its new infrastructure working group aimed at moving county projects forward.
The big picture
At the July 9 meeting, County Administrator Erica Lee Carter spoke after having discussions June 11 for the need to develop a task force to simplify executing infrastructure-related projects across all county departments.
“It could be very useful,” Carter said. “There are many things that overlap, they do try to connect when they can, but sometimes a few things don’t connect, and they want a space where they can make sure that all the synapses are connecting.”
The members will include representatives from the Harris County Flood Control District, Office of the County Engineer and the Toll Road Authority with Trevino as chair, who would report to the Commissioner’s Court, and Carter as co-chair.
What they’re saying
While speaking on the formation of the work group, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said he believes the court offices already work well together, and the creation of an additional committee seemed unnecessary.
HCFCD Executive Director Marcus Stuckett and Milton Rahman, executive director for the Office of the County Engineer, both said it would be helpful to have different departments collaborate with one another.
Sorting out the details
Commissioners also chose to amend the agenda to alter the initial designations of the Infrastructure Coordination and Performance Committee and the title chief infrastructure officer to the infrastructure working group and chair.
This was deemed necessary by commissioners to mitigate scrutiny from state legislation, limit confusion in the chair’s influence over the departments it partners with and to promote a less structured meeting schedule.
Before you go
The commissioners voted for the work group to provide the court an annual report or as often as needed, and Trevino will hold his title of chair for a one-year term.
Editor Jessica Shorten contributed to this report.
