Roy W. Sanchez, Employee Trustee Position 6

Roy W. Sanchez was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2010.  He is Chair of the Audit Com-mittee, Vice Chair of the Investment Committee, and previously chaired the Disability Committee.  Mr. Sanchez has served the City of Houston for over 26 years as a Senior Electrical Inspec-tor in the Code Enforcement Division of Houston Public Works Department.

Mr. Sanchez is currently serving as President of American Federation of State County and Mu-nicipal Employees (AFSCME) Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) Local 123, former 4 term Treasurer of Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) Local 123.  He also serves as a Departmental Union Representative and was part of the negotiation team for the Meet and Confer for all Houston municipal employees.  He is currently a Member of the Executive Board of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO and Texas AFL-CIO Vice President of District 3.

Mr. Sanchez completed the Certified Trustee Training (CTT) offered by the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS), an in-depth course on ethics, investments, fiduciary duties, actuarial matters and legal matters.  He also completed the Program for Ad-vanced Trustee Studies at Harvard Law School.  Mr. Sanchez attended San Jacinto Junior Col-lege, the University of Houston, Houston Community College and Eastern Community College.

Lonnie Vara

Lonnie Vara brings a wealth of experience to his role as Trustee. Mr. Vara began working in the City’s Civil Services Department in 1974 and retired as the Human Resources Director in 2006 after 32 years. Mr. Vara was a long-time Board member prior to his retirement, and was first elected to the Board as a retiree Trustee in 2008.  He serves as the Chair of the Personnel and Procedures Committee. He also serves on the Budget and Oversight, External Affairs, and Investment Committees. Mr. Vara was a founding member of the Association of Retired Houston Municipal Employees (ARHME) and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of the Houston Employee Relief Organization (HERO).

Roderick J. Newman

Mr. Newman graduated from the University of Houston in 1977 with degrees in Social Science Teacher Education and Sociology.  Prior to attending college, he served honorably in the United States Air Force and is a Vietnam veteran.

Mr. Newman is a 32-year city employee and was first elected to the HMEPS Board in 1992. He was the first African American to be elected to the Board and served in an active employee Trustee position for more than 16 years. He was also the first African American to serve as Chairman of the HMEPS Board. He currently serves as an elected Retiree Trustee and has over 20 years of experience on the HMEPS Board and chaired or served on numerous committees such as Disability, Personnel & Procedures, External Affairs and Audit. Rod has completed Certified Trustee Training offered by TEXPERS and has received training in finance, ethics, fiduciary responsibilities, Pension Law and Actuarial science.

He also serves on the Boards of the Association of Retired Houston Municipal Employees (ARHME), the Houston Employee Relief Organization (HERO), and the Houston Metropolitan Federal Credit Union (HMFCU).

In his personal life, he is married and the father of two lovely children and is also actively involved in school, church and community activities.

Rhonda Smith

Rhonda Smith was elected to the HMEPS Board in 2020 and currently serves as Secretary of the Board.  Ms. Smith is the Chief Financial Officer/Deputy Director for the Houston Police Department (HPD).  She and her team provide oversight of HPD’s general fund, special funds, and capital improvement budgets, procurement administration and grant management. Ms. Smith also oversees HPD City Council liaison responsibility on behalf of the department, and is part of the Executive Command Staff.

Ms. Smith previously served as the Executive Director of HMEPS and the Deputy Director of the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund.  Before returning to the public sector, she worked as the CFO for large nonprofit organizations including the Greater Houston American Red Cross and the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Ms. Smith has served in volunteer roles with numerous professional and non-profit organizations, including National Executive Board Member and Chair of Audit Committee for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), American Leadership Forum (ALF) Senior Fellow and Board Member; Advisory Committee Member for the Texas Wall Street Women organization and general member of Greater Houston Chamber of Commerce, Executive Women Partnership - Greater Houston Partnership and the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE).

Ms. Smith holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Houston and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from The Ohio State University.  She is a graduate of the Rice University Certified Financial Planner Certification Education Program.  Ms. Smith was recently recognized by the Texas Executive Women as a 2019 Women on the Move recipient and by the Houston Business Journal as one of Houston’s top Women Business Leaders - 2018 Women Who Mean Business recipients.

Lenard Polk

Lenard Polk has been a Trustee on the HMEPS Board for over 12 years and currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Board. He also serves as Chair of the Disability Committee, Vice Chair of the Audit and Budget and Oversight Committees, and serves on the External Affairs, Investment and Personnel and Procedures Committees. Mr. Polk is a Deputy Director in the Controller’s Department where his responsibilities include analyzing the City’s budget. Mr.  Polk earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston and an Associate of Arts degree from Houston Community College. He is also a founding member of HOPE Local #123.

Carole Snyder

Carole Snyder was appointed to the Board by the elected Trustees in August 2023.

Ms. Snyder retired following a 24-year career of public service with the City and HMEPS.  At HMEPS, Ms. Snyder was the Benefits Manager for over 12 years, where she worked to help deliver excellent service for City employees, retirees and beneficiaries in the entire range of pension plan transactions. As Benefits Manager, she displayed a strong enthusiasm for people and an unwavering commitment to making sure that participants received the benefits they earned.

Before joining the HMEPS team, Ms. Snyder was an Assistant City Attorney with the Houston Fire Department and in the City of Houston Legal Department, where she served in the Labor Division.

Ms. Snyder received a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Wyoming, and her law degree from the South Texas College of Law, where she was a Langdell Scholar and a recipient of the Joe M. Green Merit Scholarship and the Order of the Lytae.

Felix Chevailer

Mr. Chevalier is an attorney with experience advising government agencies and corporations. He is adept at facilitating business development and structuring public-private partnerships. He has served as bond, disclosure, and underwriter’s counsel for City of Houston and Harris County.

Mr. Chevalier also has experience leading strategic partnerships with Urban Capital Network, a venture capital investment management firm, and is affiliated with Cornerstone Government Affairs, a prominent DC lobby firm.

Mr. Chevalier received his B.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law.

David Donnelly

David Donnelly was first appointed to the Board in October 2016 as the Mayoral Appointee.  He serves on the Audit and Investment Committees.  Mr. Donnelly is the Tax Director for the Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC Houston Office.  He has more than 35 years of experience providing tax planning services for clients with an emphasis in real estate and individual taxation in the greater Houston, Texas area. His industries of focus encompass professional service firms, commodity traders, and real estate investors and developers. Mr. Donnelly has previously been named one of the “Nation’s Top Most Influential Practitioners” in CPA Magazine and NPA Magazine.

Mr. Donnelly is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TXCPA). He chairs the Federal Tax Policy Committee for the TXCPA.  Mr. Donnelly received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas.

Adrian Patterson

Mr. Patterson was first appointed to the Board in February 2013 as a City Council appointee.  He serves on the Investment and Personnel and Procedures Committees.  Mr. Patterson’s practice focuses on public finance, acting as bond counsel, underwriters counsel and disclosure counsel for bonds for cities, counties, school districts, state agencies, university systems, hospitals, special districts, municipal water and sewer systems and airports.

Mr. Patterson also has experience acting as counsel to banks providing credit and liquidity support for tax-exempt financings for municipal, healthcare and school district borrowers.

In addition, Mr. Patterson represents political subdivisions with respect to numerous public law issues, including compliance reviews, elections, the Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act.

Denise Castillo-Rhodes

Denise Castillo-Rhodes is the Chief Financial Officer of Texas Medical Center, where she oversees accounting, finance, revenue cycle, risk management, tax compliance, debt management, and the investment fund. Additionally, as a member of the executive leadership team, she is involved in the formation of the long-term strategic initiatives and planning, which includes the development of the collaborative bio-life science ecosystem.  Ms. Castillo-Rhodes has served Texas Medical Center in this capacity since 2004.

Outside of her work, Ms. Castillo-Rhodes serves in leadership roles, including as the University of St. Thomas Vice-Chairman of the board of directors.  In 2016, Ms. Castillo-Rhodes was named Businesswoman of the Year and "Top 100 Women to Watch in America”.  In 2017, she was honored as an "Outstanding Woman in Banking and Finance,” was named the University of St. Thomas Cameron School of Business Distinguished Alumnus and was a University of Texas at El Paso College of Business Gold Nugget Award recipient.  In 2018, Ms. Castillo-Rhodes was among the women honored as the 2018 ABC 13 Women of Distinction. Additionally, in 2022, Ms. Castillo-Rhodes was appointed by Governor Abbott to serve on the Governor’s Commission for Women.

Ms. Castillo-Rhodes holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.  She is a certified public accountant and is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Public Accountants.

David L. Long

David L. Long has a long history with HMEPS, both as a member and as the plan administrator of the system.  As a member with over 31 years of service, and as the Executive Director of HMEPS for over 23 years, David has gained valuable experience in plan administration, financial matters, investment management, and board governance.

Prior to his work in the public pension arena, David worked for 13 years in the City of Houston Finance and Administration Department, primarily on issuing tax exempt municipal bonds.

David is a graduate of Texas A & M University, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1974, and a Masters Degree in 1976.