This week, victories from last year’s City Council and school board elections became official as candidates were sworn into office, including gay and gay-friendly office holders.

The 14 members of the Houston City Council, including lesbian At-Large Position 2 Councilmember Sue Lovell, were sworn into office Tuesday morning during inauguration ceremonies at the Houston Police Officers Memorial.

Mayor Bill White and lesbian City Controller Annise Parker were also sworn in for their second terms during the event, which included a rendition of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” by Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams.

Lovell, who unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 2003, defeated Jay Aiyer in the Dec. 10 runoff election by 579 votes. Parker ran unopposed for reelection as city controller.

“We’re absolutely ecstatic,” said Jack Valinski, vice president of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus. “We worked very hard this year, especially after the defeat of a lot of our candidates last year.”

Ten of the 13 candidates endorsed by the caucus won in the 2005 elections.

Honoring city employees

White, who ran unopposed for mayor, was endorsed by the caucus. He said he picked the memorial as the location for the ceremonies to honor city employees and delivered a speech saying they exemplified his call for a “rededication to public service” by all residents.

“Let the sacrifice of these city employees remind us all—and all other citizens of Houston—to help us make Houston an even greater city of opportunity and hope,” White said.

The mayor recognized Mark Phalesburgh, a 10-year city employee in the Solid Waste Management Department, who lost a thumb due to a malfunctioned machine; Paul Davila, who supervises the maintenance of storm sewers; and Sandy Farmer, a librarian who helped create a recreation area for young Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

“Those are people who work every day for you and many do more than is in their job description,” White said.

White also called on Houstonians to help reduce the high school dropout rate and conserve energy to reduce toxic waste.

“Wouldn’t it be great if Houston was recognized as not only the energy capital of the world, which we’re very proud of, but as the energy-efficiency capital of the world?” he said.

Caucus-endorsed winners

Several other City Council members sworn in Tuesday were also endorsed by the GLBT Caucus, including Peter Brown, At-Large Position 1; Ron Green, At-Large Position 4; Anne Clutterbuck, District C; Ada Edwards, District D; Adrian Garcia, District H; and Carol Alvarado, District I.

Jarvis Johnson defeated caucus-endorsed Felicia Galloway-Hall to win the District B seat. Hall tried to succeed her mother Carol Mims Galloway for the city post.

Caucus-endorsed Natasha Kamtrani, was sworn in Wednesday as District 1 representative on the Houston Independent School District Board of Education.

Kamtrani, a lawyer and former educator, defeated Anne Flores Santiago, during last year’s election. She sought an endorsement from the caucus after Richard Cantu, the group’s first picked, failed to make the runoff.

Kamtrani said she wants to prepare HISD students for college by introducing a more rigorous curriculum, reform the district’s middle schools and build relationships between the schools and the communities they serve.

“I want to send my children to public schools that have the same dream for my children that I do,” she said.

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