A division of HR

This interview with Patrick Walsh, P.E., Planning and Development Department Director for the City of Houston, was conducted and condensed by Mahogany Johnson.

MMJ: What do you wish more people knew about the Planning and Development department?

I think Houston is a great place to work and live. We have so many exciting challenges here, and Houston is such a dynamic city. It’s neat to see the Planning Department just dive into some of these really challenging issues. For instance, how do you balance the need to continue to reinvent and redevelop the city with the need to preserve its unique history? How do you balance the need to encourage reinvestment in our neighborhoods with the need to keep them stable, and allow them to preserve their character? How do you encourage economic development while minimizing our mobility challenges? This is such an exciting time for Houston, and I hope that everyone sees the opportunities Houston can provide. Sifting through issues, finding solutions, and helping the public to a better end is a tremendous opportunity and a privilege for us to be a part of.

MMJ: How will Plan Houston improve the community’s success and what has the response been from citizens on how you inform them of your progress?

PW: The community has been really supportive of having a general plan. They’re pleased that Houston’s finally taking that first step to actually having real goals and strategies for achieving those goals. We heard a lot of support for Plan Houston when we went through City Council last September. We continue to hear the community asking for action on implementation. We’re now in our first year of having a plan, and we are moving forward with taking the high-level goals and strategies of Plan Houston and distilling them into specific projects for fiscal year 2017.

It has always been our process to use the plan as a high level guide for identifying near term action in the next fiscal year or two. It’s a new process and we’ve already identified some projects that we want to pursue. We’re working with multiple departments on how to complete the goals. At the same time of having a new plan, we also have a new mayor. Those two factors just happened to occur simultaneously. Mayor Turner has expressed support for the implementation of Plan Houston. We’re now working with the mayor to understand his priorities as we develop our near term implementation plan.

There are so many interests that need to work together and they need to be facilitated properly in order to gather the consensus and support that is needed to get some of these efforts approved. We live in a democracy, and many of the proposals that we deal with in this department are subject to the approval of a body, and to get that approval you will need support. In order to maximize community support, we participate in community engagement to ensure recommendations reflect community interests. I believe it’s a fundamental belief that good public policy represents the interest of the community. We attempt to understand those interests as best we can as we formulate a recommendation. Of course that helps generate support and gets things through the approval process.

MMJ: What is the major consensus among residents for mixed-use development and transit-oriented developments?

PW: Houston is growing, but we’re also becoming denser. It’s exciting to see the economic development that comes with densification and the benefits to quality of life, in terms of creating vibrant and active urban centers where people can walk, bike, or ride transit. I see densification as an opportunity for jobs and a greater tax base, which then generates more amenities and attracts more growth. It becomes a virtuous cycle. The challenge lies in the accompanying mobility impacts.

One of the ways to achieve this virtuous cycle of economic development without having a mobility impact is to develop in a responsible way. Encouraging growth in more compact mixed-use areas where people can walk, bike, and do more without getting into a car is a good thing. If we can connect compact mixed-use centers to each other with strong, multimodal connections that’s a good thing too. We can continue to enjoy the benefits of this economic development with the minimal amount of mobility impacts. We are reaching a point in Houston where in a number of cases we are unable to widen roads. Either it’s too expensive to build and maintain or it has impacts on quality of life because when you widen the road it’s less walkable and enjoyable. Ultimately, widening the roads can have minimal, long-term impact on reducing congestion because it invites more growth.

In a saturated system you have roadways that are congested. So, as soon as you widen a road, you’re going to see congestion shift from adjacent roadways onto the newly widened roadway. You may provide a little bit of relief, but it’s incremental. Over time, it’s going to continue to develop and densify, then you’ll be right back where you started. Ultimately, you need to make a decision about how to oversee mobility in an affordable way while also preserving quality of life. What other cities do as they become very dense is recognize that for all of the aforementioned reasons, widening the roads to add single occupancy vehicles doesn’t make sense. They look for other means of transportation such as walking, biking, and transit. Transit in Houston has to be a growing part of our transportation mix because we are becoming denser. We’ve not only got to coordinate the mobility systems amongst themselves, but also with how we grow and develop. The actual built form of the city has to be done in a strategic manner so that we can further economic development and all of its benefits without as much of a mobility impact. That is something that we’re working on right now.

MMJ: What are some growth opportunities that you have in place or are developing to help recognize the skills of your employees?

PW: One of the things that we’re doing is an internal strategic planning project that includes the department’s values, and aligning our work with those values. I am a believer in mentoring, and I feel like there are really good people in this department who have a lot of valuable life experiences. I would like to see more sharing of those experiences within the department. It would be interesting to have the leadership of the department think of the top five lessons that they’ve learned in their career and then pick the things that had a significant impact or those aha moments in their careers. This could be accomplished by having them share an inspirational encounter or points during their careers that altered their perspective. Perhaps we could create a Lunch and Learn to share with the department. Of course, this idea has not yet been implemented, but it’s an idea that would not only benefit the employees, it’d be a good way for our department to build internal relationships and trust.

We are big on training in Planning and Development, and we attempt to train our staff to the best of our ability with the resources we have available. We do look for conferences, webinars, and other affordable ways to giving our staff the ability to learn the best in their trade. We strongly feel that one of the most important ways for us to provide excellent service to our customers is for us to have well-trained staff.

MMJ: What advice would you give to budding professionals looking to break into your field of work and what qualities do you look for in a potential candidate?

PW: I think the planning field is a really exciting field. It is full of fascinating policy issues that don’t have easy answers. At what point do we exchange vehicular function of a street for bicycle function? How do you balance the need to grow the economic base of a city by encouraging development with protecting a neighborhood from change? These are not easy questions, and there’s a diversity of opinions about what the answer should be. The challenge for us is to remain credible and fair, and have unbiased arbiters, which allows for a discussion that we hope everyone can live with.

It is exciting to have the opportunity to walk through these gray areas and come up with an answer we think makes sense. If someone is comfortable with hearing a variety of opinions that are not often in concert with each other and then sorting through the best approach to solve the problem, then I would encourage them to become a planner. It’s different from being an engineer, which I am. I’m a licensed civil engineer, trained as an engineer the majority of my career. Engineering has its own gray areas but often has black and white areas as well. Planning tends to be a little fuzzier, but I think that’s cool and I enjoy it.

My formalized engineer training has been a great benefit especially when we’re dealing with engineers in this industry, and particularly in our transportation planning division. I think it helps to be able to talk to the engineers as someone who has that background.

MMJ: How do you get people on your team to live your leadership philosophy?

PW: I view my leadership philosophy as collaborative with those around me. I feel like my job is to solicit the best advice and work out of my staff. I’m constantly monitoring the people that I work with and sifting through how I can nurture the best results and outcomes from them. I do a lot of listening and I have a lot of subject matter experts on my team who know much more than I do about what we do in Planning and Development. I depend on them and I’m honored to be part of such a great team. We work hard here, sometimes under difficult circumstances, and there are a lot of competing priorities that we deal with on a routine basis. My intent is to support my staff as best I can. I listen and solicit the best advice from them and ultimately decide which direction we need to head.

I have a great team and I’m so blessed to be in this position. I truly am.

MMJ: Tell me about a time you realized you had the power to do something meaningful.

City Council’s approval of the first ever general plan for the City of Houston was the greatest accomplishment of my career. Putting it into historic context, there have been a variety of general plan-like efforts that dates back to 1927. In 1927, Houston assembled its first Planning Commission and zoning had just been authorized by the state of Texas. There was a pro-zoning individual named Will Hall who became chairman of the Planning Commission. This Commission went about the business of creating the first general plan for Houston, and they did it entirely in secret to avoid political interference. The Planning Commission published this general plan, and it was an outstanding plan. It included planning roads, transit, streetcars, drainage, and parks. It even looked at demographics – it was very thoughtful. They attached to it an appendix with a zoning ordinance. The property rights advocates opposed the plan because of the zoning ordinance. The baby was thrown out with the bathwater, and the entirety of the plan was never approved. They could have just taken that portion out and proceeded.

With that being said, having some sort of general plan has been under consideration for over eighty years. Many people have contributed to getting us across that finish line. I want to especially give kudos to a group called Blueprint Houston. Houston is perhaps one of the very few cities in the United States that has a 501(c)(3) dedicated to the sole purpose of helping its city adopt a general plan. Houston finally achieved its outcome last year. It was a huge effort of this department, and there are so many people here that worked so hard. I give kudos to the people who participated because we had a number of committees who just gelled and worked very well together, and the time was right. Then Mayor Parker was supportive, and we had a development community that wanted to see more coordination between the departments – it’s really about good governance.

Come and experience our Administrative Development Program (ADP) that will equip you with the tools, techniques, and behavioral skills you need to maximize your success! If you are looking to improve your skills in communication, technology, professionalism, and other areas, then this is the program for you.

ADP is our multi-track program consisting of 16 sessions designed to enhance and empower administrative effectiveness and efficiency. Please note the ADP is only available to administrative assistants and those who wish to be promoted to administrative assistant.

New courses begin Monday, June 20, 2016. ADP courses are held weekly every Monday, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the LDC.

All registration requests can be sent to Bonnie.Sandberg@houstontx.gov

For more information, please visit the TMS website: https://talent.houstontx.gov

LIP is a citywide program designed to implement leadership and succession planning at all levels of management and supervision throughout the city. This eight-month program culminates in a project week where by all projects are subject to recommendation to the Mayor's office for implementation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Houston, TX—May 23, 2016—The 9th Annual LIP Graduation Ceremony took place at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 23, 2016, at the Learning and Development Center—4501 Leeland Street, in Houston, Texas. This year’s graduating class was comprised of fifty-seven City of Houston employees.

Jane E. Cheeks delivered the opening remarks followed by Wendy Standorf, Human Resources Director for the City of West University Place, who delivered the keynote speech where she quoted Mother Theresa, saying "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” In closing, Standorf encouraged graduates to create ripples and develop leaders who will develop other leaders. The employee address was delivered by Paul D. Green, Department of Neighborhoods.

“The LIP program gives you the tools that you need in order to work in teams. The ability to work as a team is essential to success in our profession. “You must know me to get to we,"” said Paul D. Green, Senior Counselor and Program Manager, Department of Neighborhoods.

Council Member Jerry Davis delivered remarks encouraging the class to be the type of leaders people want to follow. The closing remarks were delivered by Kelly Shreck, Chief Learning Officer of the Learning and Development Center, who encouraged participants to keep learning and growing to become the most effective leaders they can be, and to do their best for our citizen's.

The program officially launched in 2008, and the number of LIP graduates continues to grow exponentially. To date, the LDC has graduated nearly one thousand City employees.

As the program grows in the future, the LDC will continue to foster this ever-expanding workforce of mid-level managers, senior-level managers and front-line supervisors, spotlighting their tremendous successes and working to cultivate more leaders in the public sector.

Event photos and additional information about the graduation can be found on the LDC’s website at http://www.houstontx.gov/ldc/

About the Learning and Development Center

The Learning and Development Center (LDC) is a strategic development and employee performance improvement organization that offers comprehensive training solutions that significantly affect performance and institutional outcomes. The LDC’s consultancy is comprised of an experienced team of professionals with the knowledge and capabilities to design and implement strategies that help our clients’ achieve their goals. The LDC’s primary focus is to provide transformational learning programs that enhance the skills, job competencies, and improve performance and overall satisfaction for the City of Houston's workforce.

For more information, please visit the LDC website at http://www.houstontx.gov/ldc/

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Contact: Mahogany Johnson

Tel. 832-395-4895

Email: Mahogany.johnson@houstontx.gov

This Organizational Development initiative was designed to provide employees tips that can be useful and beneficial in helping them to become more polished interviewers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Houston, TX—April 26, 2016—The Learning and Development Center's Organization Development (OD) and Auxiliary Service team in partnership with American Intercontinental University hosted a Career Development Workshop on Tuesday, April 26, 2016.

Conducted by Dr. Jerrod McLeeland, this brown bag workshop was designed to teach participants the implications of new resume trends, and provide useful tips to help them become polished interviewers.

This unique workshop encouraged participants to assess the current structure of their resume against the hard and fast rules of the industry. Participants discussed their common interviewing fears, different types of interview questions, and what it takes to become a STAR interviewee.

Goals and objectives of the workshop included:

• How marketable is your current resume?
• Does your resume pass the 30 second test?
• Resume must-haves!
  

"Today’s workshop was pretty phenomenal -- very informative. I came in here thinking that I knew a lot of the information, but surprisingly found out a lot of beneficial things that I didn’t know, and that I’ll add to my toolkit for the future,” said Steven Mullings, Housing and Community Development Department.

"I appreciated this course today. It far exceeded my expectations and it’s given me new motivation to go back and revamp my resume. Next time I go for an interview, I’ll have a better idea of how to get through it,” said Sasha Marshall, Housing and Community Development Department.

This course is very helpful. The enthusiasm of the facilitator was very good. You could feel his passion, and he gave excellent points about things to be cognizant of when building our resume and interviewing,” said Dr. Adria Jackson, Houston Health Department.

The professional development workshops offered by the Learning and Development Center can benefit those employees who are in various stages of their careers, no matter their occupation.

About American InterContinental University

Founded in Europe in 1970, American InterContinental University offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in programs such as business, healthcare, IT, criminal justice and education at campuses in Atlanta and Houston and an Internet-based online campus headquartered in suburban Chicago. AIU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Additional information is available at www.hlcommission.org. AIU cannot guarantee employment or salary. Find employment rates, financial obligations and other disclosures at www.aiuniv.edu/disclosures.

About the Learning and Development Center

The Learning and Development Center (LDC) is a strategic development and employee performance improvement organization that offers comprehensive training solutions that significantly affect performance and institutional outcomes. The LDC’s consultancy is comprised of an experienced team of professionals with the knowledge and capabilities to design and implement strategies that help our clients’ achieve their goals. The LDC’s primary focus is to provide transformational learning programs that enhance the skills, job competencies, and improve performance and overall satisfaction for the City of Houston's workforce.

For more information, please visit the LDC website at http://www.houstontx.gov/ldc/

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Contact: Mahogany Johnson

Tel. 832-395-4895

Email: Mahogany.johnson@houstontx.gov

***Click on the following course title to register in the Talent Management System (TMS).***

Video is a unique beast. It’s more engaging than a training manual, but it’s a pain to record and produce. It helps you scale your training worldwide, but it can bog down your network. It’s a great solution for mobile learning, except when it’s incompatible with employees’ devices. And it’s ideal for just-in-time learning, if only it could be effectively searched.In this webcast, you’ll learn how advances in video technology are helping learning and development teams overcome the five biggest challenges of video learning. We will discuss:

• the limitations of traditional learning and content management systems in managing video content
  
• video capture and management technologies that help talent development professionals overcome traditional challenges of working with video
  
• how companies such as Qualcomm, Siemens, and NYSE are capturing and managing learning video at scale
  

Topic: Overcoming the Top 5 Challenges of Video Learning

Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Time: 2:00 PM EST

Host: www.td.org

About the Speaker:

Ari Bixhorn

Ari Bixhorn is vice president of technical evangelism at Panopto. In this role, Ari is responsible for driving awareness and understanding of Panopto's enterprise video platform. Prior to Panopto, Ari worked at Microsoft Corporation for 12 years, writing speeches for CEO Steve Ballmer, leading business development in the Windows division, and driving product management efforts within the developer tools division. Ari studied computer science at Virginia Tech.

Website: http://webcasts.td.org/webinar/1912?_ga=1.240625098.874248056.1461768965

Trying to grow your business or improve your customer experience? What about your culture—does it need a boost? Managers are the key to it all. Here’s the thing, though: We don’t treat them that way. So, most of the time, they don’t deliver. Get ready to make over your managers to unleash their true talent. Join us for the finale of our Manager Makeover series with author and transformation expert Gary Magenta. We’ll reveal our complete manager makeover strategy and what it takes to be the director of your own manager makeover show. During this webcast, you’ll:

• Learn how your managers, who are responsible for directing 80 percent of your workforce, are the key to engaged employees, lower turnover, and ultimately, higher customer satisfaction
  
• Discover the framework for your managers to connect their team to your organization’s strategy
  
• Learn how to empower your managers to model and drive a customer-first culture
  

Topic: The Manager Makeover Series Finale: From Most Neglected to Simply Perfected

Date: Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Time: 2:00 PM EST

Host: www.td.org

About the Speaker:

Gary Magenta

Gary Magenta is committed to the development of leaders and managers. He has a strong belief that if leaders and managers want to change their businesses, they must start by changing how they engage their people. Gary is a senior vice president of Root Inc., a consulting company that helps organizations execute their strategy through people. During his 13 years at Root, Gary has partnered with CEOs and executive teams at Fortune 500 and Global 2000 organizations throughout North America and Europe with a holistic view of their businesses, their people, and the customers they serve.

Gary brings more than 25 years of business experience to every project, supported by a realistic outlook, a durable street sense for creating results, and a sense of humor that puts things into perspective. He is the author of The Un-Bossy Boss, and is a frequent speaker at client events, industry conferences, and business strategy and human resource seminars. He has been recognized with a Stevie American Business Award for Executive of the Year. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, and Fort Myers Beach, Florida, with his wife and has two sons in college. Gary is a Google fanatic and an unapologetic reality show junkie.

Website: http://webcasts.td.org/webinar/1670?_ga=1.198158182.874248056.1461768965

In today’s dynamic and highly competitive markets, companies are searching for new ways to leverage innovation as a key driver for growth. Many of these same companies undertake initiatives aimed at improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) as part of their talent strategy.

As a talent development leader, you have an incredible opportunity for improvement by connecting the dots among inclusion, diversity, and innovation. Learn from experts and from the secrets of leading companies who are demonstrating the power of D&I in accelerating innovation. These companies leverage the power of inclusiveness and diversity for a virtuous cycle of improvements in employee engagement, innovation, and business results. In this webcast, you’ll:

• Learn how D&I can be linked with innovation to make the most of talent.
  
• Gain practical insights into progressive D&I practices that can generate fresher ideas and faster results from innovation.
  
• Apply lessons from leaders’ case studies in how a culture that promotes innovation and risk taking can reinforce and expand D&I.
  
• Develop action steps for positive change by leveraging the interplay among diversity, inclusion, and innovation
  

Topic: Secrets of Talent Development Leaders: Leveraging Diversity and Inclusion for Innovation

Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Time: 1:00 PM EST

Host: www.td.org

About the Speaker:

Marjorie Derven

Founder, HUDSON Research & Consulting

Marjorie Derven is founder of HUDSON Research & Consulting (www.hudsonrc.com), providing research, training, and organization development strategies to maximize organizational performance, which increasingly involves virtual teams. She is also a senior fellow at The Conference Board, Human Capital Practice, and has written more than 20 articles on topics that include learning, diversity and inclusion (D&I), talent management, and organizational change. Marjorie served as chairperson of the T+D magazine Editorial Advisory Board and is a frequent speaker at global conferences. Visit her monthly ATD blog series on D&I issues at www.td.org/Communities-of-Practice/Human-Capital/Best-Practices-in-Diversity-and-Inclusion.

Rebekah Steele

Rebekah Steele believes we can design a better future. As a business strategist, Rebekah turns breakthrough Diversity & Inclusion strategies into business success stories. When leaders are not achieving meaningful results in what they care about most, Rebekah helps them design new, inclusive ways to make the most of a broad mix of people and achieve groundbreaking outcomes through innovation, integration, transformation, and impact. In complementary roles as Principal of her consultancy and Senior Fellow with The Conference Board, Rebekah creates fresh value with D&I by working with progressive leaders around the world to:

• Design custom strategies and measure the value they create
  
• Lead innovation labs and propel deep, lasting change
  
• Connect vanguard people and practices via speaking, coaching, teaching, writing
  

Michael Docherty

Michael Docherty brings a unique perspective on innovation, having been an entrepreneur, senior corporate executive and venture capitalist. It might explain why he's passionate about the intersection of corporate innovation and entrepreneurship. In his new book, Collective Disruption, Mike reveals how the smartest corporations are learning to partner and co-create with startups for transformative innovation. The book provides established companies with a practical framework for plugging into the startup ecosystem to fuel and incubate new businesses.As CEO of Venture2 Inc., Mike and his organization work with leading companies to develop transformative innovation capabilities, build innovation ecosystems and accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough new products, services and business models.Mike holds an MBA degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School and BSME degree from Drexel University. He is a highly rated speaker on innovation and corporate venturing and an active supporter of the entrepreneurial community.Mike can be reached at mdocherty@venture2.com.

Website: http://webcasts.td.org/webinar/1905?_ga=1.226619220.874248056.1461768965

HR is not becoming a more data-centric profession, it already is. But people data is still data, and the tools we use, the structure of information systems, and the policies and procedures governing proper data usage is relatively consistent regardless of type. Knowing how information is stored, processed, and secured within our organizations is necessary for modern HR professionals, and this webinar will help you understand how interacts with IT, and the best practices for people data governance.

The presenters are Cliff Stevenson, Principal Analyst of Workforce Management at the Brandon Hall Group. Cliff has written extensively on human capital data and analytics for Brandon Hall Group as well as for outside publications such as HR Executive and Talent Management Magazine.

He will be joined by Bill Docherty, Vice President of Product Management at SumTotal, a Skillsoft company. Bill has 18 years of experience directly working with human capital data in technology, and has been instrumental in creating modern methodologies for automation, security, and privacy in people data.

Attendees of this webinar will:

• learn the core concepts of data governance
  
• see the research that shows the importance of proper governance
  
• understand how systems control the data, and how to use that data across functions
  
• discuss the implications of the relationship between HR and IT in a cloud-based solution
  
• review some issues regarding data privacy, and how regulations may affect our roles in the future

Topic: Is Your Learning Technology Holding You Back?

Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Time: 12:00 p.m. CDT

Host: http://brandonhall.com/

Website: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4691915556434266372

The Learning and Development Center (LDC) develops and provides programs designed to empower and enhance employee skills and competencies for improved performance and job satisfaction. Our services also extend to external businesses, organizations, and communities.

Our mission is to build a world-class, responsive and results-oriented workforce by providing the following:

• Learning that meets critical business goals and needs
• Lifelong learning opportunities that will prepare employees for life and work in an increasingly technological society

The LDC is a two-story, 54,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility featuring:

• An auditorium capable of seating 150 with fold-down desktops
• Instructor computers connected to HD projectors and the Internet
• 170 available campus parking spaces
• Break-room area with microwaves and refrigerators
• Welcoming lobby area
• Open atrium for al fresco activities

Email: ldcrooms@houstontx.gov
Website: http://www.houstontx.gov/ldc/
Location: 4501 Leeland Street, Houston, TX, United States
Phone: (832) 395-4900
Facebook: facebook.com/COHLDC
Twitter: @cohldc

A groundbreaking women’s leadership expert and popular conference speaker gives women the practical skills to voice and implement the changes they want to see—in themselves and in the world

In her coaching and programs for women, Tara Mohr saw how women were "playing small" in their lives and careers, were frustrated by it, and wanted to "play bigger." She has devised a proven way for them to achieve their dreams by playing big from the inside out. Mohr’s work helping women play bigger has earned acclaim from the likes of Maria Shriver and Jillian Michaels, and has been featured on the Today show, CNN, and a host of other media outlets.

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In gave many women new awareness about what kinds of changes they need to make to become more successful; yet most women need help implementing them. In the tradition of Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly, Playing Big provides real, practical tools to help women quiet self-doubt, identify their callings, “unhook” from praise and criticism, unlearn counterproductive good girl habits, and begin taking bold action.

While not all women aspire to end up in the corner office, every woman aspires to something. Playing Big fills a major gap among women’s career books; it isn’t just for corporate women. The book offers tools to help every woman play bigger—whether she’s an executive, community volunteer, artist, or stay-at-home mom.

Thousands of women across the country have been transformed by Mohr’s program, and now this book makes the ideas and practices available to everyone who is ready to play big.

Website: http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Big-Voice-Mission-Message/dp/1594206074

Tara Mohr has an MBA from Stanford and an undergraduate degree from Yale. Mohr has been a columnist with the Huffington Post since 2010 and has been featured on the Today show, in MORE, ForbesWoman, Harvard Business Review, Whole Living, The Financial Times, and numerous other media outlets. She lives in San Francisco.

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

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*Opinions expressed in interview statements and messages from featured articles are not necessarily the views of the staff of the LDC or employees of the City of Houston.

** This message is being directed to ALL City of Houston employees. This e-mail was approved for citywide distribution by the COH HR Department. If the reader of this e-mail is not an intended recipient, it has been delivered in error. Any review, dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and permanently delete the copy you received. **