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Eckels, Newby to head Ike recovery effort

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2008

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Gov. Rick Perry has announced that former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Brian Newby will lead a Hurricane Ike Recovery and Coordination Effort. Newby will step down from his current role as the governor’s chief of staff to co-lead an effort involving residents, business leaders, and local and federal officials focused on ensuring Texas communities devastated by Hurricane Ike get the resources necessary to rebuild.

“There are a whole lot of moving parts involved in putting this area back together and it requires determined, focused leaders who can start immediately and guide the effort to a speedy conclusion,” Perry said. “Judge Eckels and Brian Newby have the right combination of experience, people skills and access to statewide leaders necessary to get the job done right and done quickly. I will miss having Brian as my chief of staff, but this job is that important to our state.”

Perry named Jay Kimbrough, deputy chancellor and general counsel of Texas A&M University System, as his new chief of staff.

While serving Harris County, Judge Eckels was instrumental in the area’s preparation and recovery related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, working side-by-side with the state to get area residents the assistance they needed.

“Ensuring that the state fully recovers from the devastation of the storm is of paramount importance,” Perry said. “That is why I asked the highest ranking person on my staff and the former highest ranking official in Harris County to undertake this assignment—I want people to know that, when they raise a concern with Judge Eckels or Brian, they have my ear, too.

Newby, Perry’s former top lawyer for more than two years and chief of staff since July 2007, will work with Eckels to assemble working groups of county judges, mayors, business leaders and experts to fully assess and document the damage from Hurricane Ike, and to work with the Texas congressional delegation in seeking Texas’ full share of federal aid.

The goal of this effort will be to gather input from all stakeholders in Southeast Texas, and make sure their voices are clearly heard in Washington with the ultimate goal of ensuring Texas is treated fairly when it comes to the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.

“Texas learned a lot of helpful lessons from Rita that have helped us prepare for subsequent storms like Ike,” concluded Perry. “Unfortunately, one of those lessons came when the federal government promised to fund Texas’ recovery from Rita at the same level as Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, but delivered substantially less,” Perry added.

Kimbrough previously served in the Perry Administration as homeland security director and twice as deputy chief of staff. In December 2002, Kimbrough was named deputy attorney general for criminal justice by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. In that position, Kimbrough continued to coordinate homeland security efforts for the state, working directly with the governor.

“I am excited that Jay is returning to my staff. He is a man of integrity with a proven track record and my complete trust,” Perry said. “Jay is a decorated combat veteran, a man of action and sound judgment, and will help lead us through the upcoming session.”

Kimbrough also was the first conservator of the Texas Youth Commission, taking decisive steps to fix the troubled agency when it was placed in conservatorship in 2007. He played a similar role several years earlier for then-Gov. George Bush, fixing the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) when it was in conservatorship.

Kimbrough also served as director of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division and in a variety of roles in federal, state and local government since 1966. A decorated Vietnam veteran, Kimbrough was awarded the Purple Heart for his service in the Marine Corps and served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He also is a former county judge and county attorney in Bee County. He also has served as the executive director of the Texas Commission on Private Security and TCADA.

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