Top Three Issues: Crime, Infrastructure, Drainage/flooding and economic development
Marital Status: Single Mother
Religious Affiliation: Member of St. Stephens Episcopal Church
Council Member Sue Lovell was elected to her first term in 2005. She is running for re-election to her third and final term. She’s been active on council as chair of the Quality of Life committee and the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Aviation committees. She’s also the city’s representative on the Houston-Galveston Area Council, and serves on H-GAC’s Transportation Policy Council. As if that’s not enough, she’s also the Mayor Pro Tem.
Her top issues are crime, infrastructure, drainage/flooding and economic development. She voted to increase the public safety budget for more cadet classes. She supports working to help expansions for all three area airports, as well as encourages zoning around the airports to protect homeowners. She supports a separate enterprise fund devoted to fixing drainage/flooding problems. She supports METRO’s light rail expansion and creating more summer jobs for young people.
Her accomplishments include:
- Protecting public parkers by preventing indiscriminate boots and tows
- Leading the effort to support Metro’s Consent Agreement as one of the keys to the light rail expansion
- Leading the effort to establish the first health clinic in Acres Homes
- Leading the fight against graffiti in Houston with additional funding for removing graffiti, as well as anti-graffiti resources.
- Partnering with Council Member James Rodriguez and his wife, Wendy Montoya Rodriguez, on the SOS (Send One Suit) benefit for Dress for Success, an organization that provides interview-appropriate suits to low-income women seeking employment
Lovell some opponents.
One opponent, Griff Griffin, garnered almost half of the vote in 2007. Some say this was because Council Member Lovell didn’t run a campaign. She actually spent her time helping other candidates with their campaigns. Despite not running a campaign, she’s proud of beating her last opponent by 6 percentage points. She says that’s a good showing for not doing any campaign work. Maybe she’s right.
This time it is different. She’s got a full court press with the campaign and is busy seeking endorsements and supporters. That list is long and the contributions have provided a good amount of funds on which to campaign. It includes labor unions, local Political Action Committees, and Houston’s political insiders. As an incumbent she has the tools necessary to wage a strong campaign.
