With the election of City Council Member Adrian Garcia to the office of Harris County Sheriff (woo hoo! yippie! hot diggity dog!), we will soon have an open seat in Council. That means that there will be a May election to replace Garcia, and hopefuls are starting to line up for it.

The first person to declare interest in Adrian Garcia's soon-to-be-vacant District H seat has come forward: Karen Derr.

Derr resides in the Heights and is founder and broker for Karen Derr and Associates Realty. She has been active in her neighborhood, recently helping to fund-raise to have a private constable patrol the neighbor. She wrote about this on her blog.

In a press release announcing her intention to run, Derr mentioned better recycling as one issue she is committed to working on.

She volunteers for White Linen Night in the Heights and Heights First Saturday, and is on the board of Opera in the Heights and is the co-chair of the Houston Heights Association Education Committee.

Without knowing who else might jump in, it's impossible to say who might be favored. It must be noted that District H has been held by a Latino since 1993 (now-JP Dale Gorczynski was the last Anglo to win it), and given that Districts H and I are the only two Council positions currently occupied by Latinos, you can be sure there will be some Latino candidates running as well. Expect to start hearing more names soon.