The San Jacinto River Authority’s search for a new leadership continues after calls for the removal of the former general manager led to his resignation.Â
SJRA General Manager Jace Houston announced in May that he would resign from his position after State Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, added an amendment to a sunset bill in the Texas Legislature, which called for his removal.
Houston resigned before the legislation passed the House and Senate after his announcement.Â
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Houston ended his 16-year tenure with the river authority on Friday.
Lehman and Associates LLC were hired to search to lead the search for a new general manager. Ed Shackelford, the director of operations for the river authority, was appointed to serve as the interim general manager during a June 22 meeting.
“You can see the pain and the expressions on the staff as all this has happened,” said Mark Micheletti, the agency’s treasurer, during the June meeting. “You can tell how Jace has been loved by the staff, which I think says a whole lot of him as a person. I can assure you it hurts the board members.”Â
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Houston served as the river authority’s deputy general manager in 2007 before being appointed general manager in 2012.
House Bill 1540 was created to bring the agency in line with recommendations made by the Sunset Advisory Commission in 2022. During the 2020-21 biennium, commission staff found public trust in the river authority had suffered due to legal disputes over contracting issues and water policy decisions related to lake levels.Â
The staff recommended requiring the river authority to develop a public engagement policy and improve its public communications strategy, but the Sunset bill did not pass.
In the 2022-23 biennium, commission staff found the river authority had made concerted efforts to meaningfully engage with the public, but said the authority’s relationship with the public was still strained and there was more improvement to be made.
Metcalf said in a previous story his amendment wasn’t about Houston, but about the issues in Montgomery County. He said issues related to the river authority’s surface water treatment plant on Lake Conroe and fees remain a top concern for residents. There has been ongoing litigation with the river authority over contracts related to the countywide groundwater reduction plan for more than 7 years, he said.
Catherine Dominguez contributed to this report.
