Stephen C. Costello
Stephen Costello is a former at-large member of the Houston City Council in Texas, previously holding Position 1. He was first elected to the council in 2009.[1] Costello ran for Mayor of Houston in 2015, and was defeated in the general election on November 3, 2015.
Biography
Costello earned a civil engineering degree from the University of New York at Buffalo. He co-founded Costello Engineering and Surveying, a civil engineering firm, in 1991. He previously worked as a civilian with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Galveston. He has served on the boards of the Memorial Park Conservancy, Marathon Kids, Family Services of Greater Houston and Trees for Houston.[1]
Campaign themes
2015
Costello's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
Public safety
- Excerpt: "In the weeks ahead Steve is going to describe how a Costello Administration will look to fund the police chief’s recent request for over 1,500 new HPD patrol officers, additional investigators, and more, quality resources – doing so in a way that won’t involve new taxes but rather a smarter and more efficient local government."
- Excerpt: "And these public safety personnel also deserve fair pay, and assurances that Houston will honor our commitment to fully fund the retirement benefits they have earned."
City finances
- Excerpt: "As a member of the Houston City Council, Steve Costello launched a citywide campaign to root out waste and abuse, and force your city government to begin to learn how to become more efficient, and more effective. As your mayor, he will implement those recommendations and watch over tax dollars like a hawk; making sure every single penny of taxpayer money is wisely spent."
- Excerpt: "And when talking about local solutions, Steve promises you this – as your mayor, he will finally put an end to the damaging cycle where the City of Houston fails to fund its pensions thereby racking up tens of millions of dollars in new debt. That’s an unfair practice and also a recipe for financial catastrophe."
Roads and traffic
- Excerpt: "I believe that fixing our roads is priority number one. That is why I took the lead in advancing an important first step. I helped design and later pass a citywide effort called ReBuild Houston, which created a more responsible and conservative way to fund road reconstruction and drainage improvements across our entire city – moving away from decades of neglect and the failed patch and repair mindset that has plagued our city."
Elections
2015
- See also: Houston, Texas municipal elections, 2015
The city of Houston, Texas, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 24, 2015.[3] In the mayoral race, the candidates were former Congressman Chris Bell, Houston Councilman Stephen C. Costello, Joe Ferreira, Adrian Garcia, Ben Hall, Bill King, Victoria Lane, Marty McVey, Rafael Muñoz Jr., Nguyen Thai Hoc, Demetria Smith, Dale Steffes and Representative Sylvester Turner.[4] Sylvester Turner and Bill King advanced from the general.[5]
Sylvester Turner defeated Bill King in the runoff election.
| Mayor of Houston, Runoff election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sylvester Turner |
50.2% | 104,639 |
| Bill King | 49.8% | 103,961 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 208,600 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Runoff Election Results," December 12, 2015 | ||
| Mayor of Houston, General election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Sylvester Turner |
31.3% | 81,735 |
| Bill King |
25.3% | 65,968 |
| Adrian Garcia | 17.1% | 44,758 |
| Ben Hall | 9.5% | 24,805 |
| Chris Bell | 7.4% | 19,345 |
| Stephen C. Costello | 6.7% | 17,546 |
| Nguyen Thai Hoc | 0.9% | 2,325 |
| Marty McVey | 0.5% | 1,378 |
| Demetria Smith | 0.5% | 1,234 |
| Victoria Lane | 0.3% | 908 |
| Rafael Muñoz Jr. | 0.2% | 515 |
| Dale Steffes | 0.1% | 302 |
| Joe Ferreira | 0.1% | 240 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 261,059 | |
| Source: Harris County Texas, "Official general election results," accessed November 16, 2015 | ||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Costello and his wife Debbie have two sons and two granddaughters. He enjoys running and has competed in marathons and triathlons.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Stephen + Costello + Houston"
- All stories may not be relevant due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
- Profile from the City of Houston
- Official campaign website
- Steve Costello on Facebook
- Steve Costello on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 City of Houston, "District 1," accessed December 8, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Steve Costello campaign website, "Issues," accessed September 4, 2015
- ↑ Harris County, "Important 2015 Election Dates," accessed January 12, 2015
- ↑ City of Houston website, "November 3, 2015 General Election Candidates," accessed August 27, 2015
- ↑ Harris County Texas, "Unofficial general election results," accessed November 3, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Houston City Council, At-large Position 1 2010–2016 |
Succeeded by Mike Knox |
 |
State of Texas Austin (capital) |
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