Derrick Reed, Pearland’s lone Black city councilmember, is on a mission to make city leadership more diverse, believing Pearland’s lack of diversity will mean Pearland’s people of color, despite their numbers, will have little influence.
“Missouri City has been predominantly Black for decades yet has only recently elected its first Black mayor,” said Reed. “We have more than enough people who are capable to come onto City Council or one of the commissions, like I did when I got my start.”
According to Reed, many in his city are now pushing for city councilmembers to be elected by districts, a change from the current process where all run citywide.
“The east side is very different than the west side of Pearland. I’m the only [councilmember] who lives on west side of 288. That’s 40,000-45,000 people living on the west side, and to only have one councilmember from this side speaks to a lack of involvement.”
“It almost hurts me to know that I’m going to step down [at the end of his term] and the council is not diverse. There needs to be an Asian on council, a Latin American who appreciates their culture…”
Still Reed’s work alone has made a difference.
“I’m proud that we’ve increased diversity of police dramatically, from seven Black officers out of 150 when I started, to 20-something.”
In the aftermath of the police shootings in Dallas in 2017, Reed called the police chief and city manager together to strategize how to make sure such racially charged events don’t befall Pearland.
“Our efforts have trickled down to some positive things, with more to come. And knock on wood we will never have those issues in Pearland,” Reed said.
