CM Stephen Costello
At Large #1 incumbent CM Stephen Costello is running for his third term. While most new Council members spend their first term learning the ropes and staying more in the background, CM Costello made an immediate splash by spearheading the charge for Renew/Rebuild Houston, the charter amendment that created a fee to fund road and drainage repairs and improvements, converting the process from debt service to pay-as-you-go. It was a tight election that had to survive a lawsuit afterward and some controversy surrounding its implementation, but it has transformed the infrastructure process and now offers the city a chance to redo a lot of its roads as Complete Streets. Since then, Costello has been at the forefront of the debate over the city’s long-term finances, as he chaired a task force to study the issue and recommend solutions, and he has worked on diverse issues like food deserts and payday lending regulation. We discussed all that and more in this interview:
You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2013 Election page.