In the latest round of Mayor John Whitmire’s staffing shuffles, Brian Mason, the executive director of Houston TranStar, will take over as head of Houston’s Office of Emergency Management.
Mason will also replace Tom Muñoz, who currently leads both OEM and the Public Safety and Homeland Security office. Muñoz will make a return to Houston’s Fire Department to take over as chief, replacing Sam Peña. Additionally, Robert Mock resigned as director of Houston Emergency Center, with India Summers stepping in to serve in the interim.
“Brian has demonstrated exemplary leadership as the executive director of Houston TranStar and Houston Public Works Emergency Management Lead,” Whitmire said in a Friday news release.
Whitmire said the office will also be organized to work more closely with the Public Works Department.
“This new organizational model will enhance our ability to resource this critical public safety and disaster management function,” he said in the news release.
Mason has served in multiple positions across City Hall before moving to TranStar in October 2022. In 2014, he was hired as a safety administrator for Houston Airports, and in 2018 he was a deputy assistant at Houston Public Works. Mason became the assistant director of Public Works in 2020, juggling his duties there with his duties at TranStar.
During Hurricane Beryl, Mason made the news for his pleas to CenterPoint to get the city’s wastewater treatment facilities back online. His calls for help were not listened to, and 150,000 gallons of untreated water were eventually released into Brays Bayou.
John Lomax V contributed to this report.
Read More: TranStar’s Brian Mason to lead emergency management