clients with respect and dignity, regardless of
their offense, and tried to reflect that in any
report that I prepared for the court.”
In 2005, she retired from the Federal
government with about 21 years of service,
leading an active retirement conducting background
investigations as a contractor, substitute
teaching and directing a nonprofit church
organization in San Antonio. However, after her
husband’s passing and her son’s graduation
from high school, Howard-Mullins moved back
to Huntsville with her son to be closer to family
and to help take care of her mother who was ill.
Having travelled the state for nearly 30
years with a successful career, Howard-Mullins
had not planned to stay in Huntsville for long,
but after a year passed by, her sister encouraged
her to become involved in the community.
Howard-Mullins’ work started with volunteering
at the Sam Houston Cultural Center,
however she soon found herself running for
city council on a whim with a resume of board
positions throughout her career to back her.
“I had a working knowledge of city government,
county government and state
government, so I ran, and actually enjoyed it,”
Howard-Mullins said.
The councilmember’s first term will be up
this year, and although it was a challenging
one , it hasn’t deterred her from pursuing
reelection.
“This has been real challenging in the year
of COVID, in the year of the bond proposition
passing and making sure that we spend the
tax payers’ money wisely … I look forward to
serving the citizens of Huntsville for another
two years,” Howard-Mullins said.
For her second term, Howard-Mullins is
looking forward to seeing plans for the new
Emancipation Park put into action, projects
related to affordable housing revitalization
to stabilize the community and creating a
city that incentivizes SHSU students to stay in
Huntsville.
“I think Huntsville is an incredible community,
and I know that there are a group of
people that don’t want change, but change is
coming,” Howard-Mullins said. “Change looks
like growth, change looks like new opportunities
for everyone, change looks like diversity,
change looks like equal representation, change
looks like a community that’s thriving and
values everyone, and that’s what I’m moving
towards.”
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