| Garnet Coleman | |
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| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 147th district |
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| In office October 15, 1991-Present |
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| Preceded by | Larry Q. Evans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 8, 1961 Washington, DC |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Angelique Coleman |
| Website | Rep. Garnet Coleman |
Garnet F. Coleman (born 1961) is a U.S. politician and a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 147 since 1991. He is the son of John B. Coleman, M.D. (a prominent Third Ward physician and businessman).
Coleman graduated from Jack Yates High School in Houston,[1] and the University of Saint Thomas in Houston.
His district includes Downtown Houston, the Hobby Airport area, Midtown Houston, Sagemont, and the Third Ward.[1]
Coleman has been named Texas Monthly Ten Best Legislators List on two occasions. Most recently he received the 2005 Reintegration Award presented by Eli Lilly and Company, a national award given in acknowledgment of efforts to increase services and decrease the stigma associated with mental illness. Representative Coleman has also been recognized by the Congressional Black Caucus as he was named Outstanding Black Caucus Chair for 2004 for his advocacy of voting rights of African Americans.
Representative Coleman has served as the Chair of the Legislative Study Group, a non-partisan house caucus since 2003 when he was elected to the position by more than 40 of his colleagues. In addition, Rep. Coleman is a past chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. As Chairman, Rep. Coleman coordinated efforts among members of the Caucus to help preserve the Top Ten Percent Rule, which assists historically-underrepresented minority students in gaining admission to Texas' top institutions of higher learning.
Coleman is a member of the House Committee on Public Health and the Chair of the House Committee on County Affairs. He has joint authored legislation that simplified access to children's Medicaid for more than 600,000 children in Texas who were eligible for the program but were not enrolled because of bureaucratic barriers. He also helped secure an increase of $161.5 million for at-risk child care services and joint authored legislation that created the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which makes low-cost health insurance available to more than 400,00 children in working families.
Coleman authored legislation that created the Greater Southeast Management District, the Downtown Management District and the Fourth Ward and East Montrose Improvement Districts. Additionally, he sponsored legislation creating Houston's convention center hotel and expanding the convention center itself. Rep. Coleman also authored legislation allowing for the creation of a commercial and industrial development zone in Harris County, which is designed to promote economic development along the transportation corridors that link Houston-area transportation nodes.
Coleman serves on the boards of the Mid-Town Redevelopment Authority, the National Mental Health Association, and the Ensemble Theater. In 1991, Rep. Coleman founded S.M.A.R.T. Kids, an inner city youth development program. He also serves as president and CEO of Apartments for America, Inc., a non-profit affordable housing corporation.
Coleman has been an avid supporter to Houston's LGBT community since taking office; he has supported and endorsed Annise Parker and Sue Lovell. He has also been supportive of the Texas Young Democrats to which its Harris County chapter has invited him as a guest speaker.
Raised in Houston, Representative Coleman attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. and in 1990 graduated from the University of St. Thomas cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts. He also completed the Harvard University Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government.
Coleman and his wife, Angelique, reside in Houston's University Oaks neighborhood. They have two children, Austin and Evan.
Coleman, in regards to the Third Ward, expressed his opposition to gentrification and a desire to keep the original residents in the neighborhood. Coleman had some control over the Midtown Tax Increment Financing District, which bought land in the Third Ward and enacted deeds restricting what may be done with the land, so that the land could indefinitely be used to house low income residents.[2] In 2009, Coleman said "We learned a lot from the debacle in the Fourth Ward. So it would be stupid not to respond to the negative byproducts of rapid development. We want to find people who will make this community better by becoming part of its fabric, not by changing its fabric."[3] In regards to the Fourth Ward in 2009, Coleman said that it cannot recapture the sense of community that it used to have. Coleman added "the residents got pushed to the suburbs, and the businesses got wiped away."[4]
| Texas House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by Larry Q. Evans |
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 147 (Houston) 1991 – present |
Incumbent |
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