Council Member Sue Lovell was interviewed in 2010 by Eric Doctor and Chelsea Smith.
Lovell agreed that the students could mount a Wikipedia entry about her. The original Wikipedia entry is provided below.
Informed consent, a video, and extended paper documentation for the interview are available at the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.
Return to the SWGS 201 interviewee list.
Sue Lovell is an American politician and businessperson currently serving on the Houston City Council, holding the at-large position 2, which she has held since 2005.[1]
Lovell was born into a large Irish Catholic family in 1951 in Fresno, California. During her childhood she excelled in athletics, which led to her playing semi-pro softball during her teenage years.[2] She first came to Houston, Texas to watch the 1969 softball national championship. On January 31, 1970, when she was 19 years old, Lovell left California for Houston with "three suitcases and 35 dollars."[3] Lovell's first job in Houston was at Riviana Food, where she first learned how to operate a printing press. In 1975, Lovell bought Long Point Printing & Rubber Stamp in Spring Branch, Texas, assuming the company's $35,000 debt. She worked at Academy Sports and Outdoors to supplement her income and help pay off the debt.[2] She later sold the company to one of her first employees.[4] Following the sale of her printing company, Lovell worked at Federal Express. From 1994 to 1999, Lovell worked in the office of the Texas Comptroller in the Local Government Assistance Division. In 1999, she worked for the Mills Corporation, where she created and implemented a job training and welfare-to-work program that later became the MATCH program (Mills Access to Training and Career Help).[4] Lovell currently lives in Houston with her two children and her partner.
Lovell became involved the Houston GLBT Political Caucus when she printed their newsletter pro bono. During Lovell's early involvement, the Caucus gained significant political influence, seeing its first endorsement and victory with the election of Eleanor Tinsley to Houston City Council in 1979.[5] In 1981, Lovell was elected to the Caucus' board of directors. In 1982, she was elected Vice President, and in 1983 she became the first female president of the Caucus when the then-president stepped down.[2] Her tenure as president was marked by a failed attempt to pass a referendum on a city ordinance to prevent workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. She served as president until 1985, when she lost a runoff election against now-Mayor Annise Parker by one vote.[2]
In 2005, Lovell was elected to Houston City Council At-Large Position 2, and she was re-elected in 2007 and 2009. In January 2008, Lovell was elected Vice Mayor Pro-tem.[4] She chairs the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Aviation Committee, and additionally serves on the Quality of Life; Budget and Fiscal Affairs; Ethics; Human Services and Technology Access; Public Safety and Homeland Security; Sustainable Growth; and Regulation, Development and Neighborhood Protection Committees. She has also chaired the Historic Preservation Subcommittee.[4] As chair of the Transportation Committee, Lovell spearheaded a consent agreement between the City of Houston and Houston METRO to ensure that public works would not be interfered with during expansion of the METRORail.[6]
In 2000, Lovell was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Committee. She is the only openly gay Texas delegate to the DNC.[7] She supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries.[8]
In 1982, Lovell helped found AIDS Foundation Houston, on whose board she served for 12 years. The foundation provided a food pantry and residential facilities for people with HIV/AIDS, as well as creating an AIDS education brochures to be distributed in the United States.[3]
At her church, St. Stephen's Episcopal, Lovell played an integral role in the creation of Havens Center, an after-school program for middle school youth and health-care program for low-income women. Lovell was a strong advocate for housing the Center in a nearby historical building, rather than constructing a new building.[3]