New Woodlands board steps in as Robb, Long, Bass step down

Gordy Bunch, John Anthony Brown, Brian Boniface and Bruce Rieser are sworn into office during The Woodlands Township's board meeting Wednesday in The Woodlands. Gordy Bunch, John Anthony Brown, Brian Boniface and Bruce Rieser are sworn into office during The Woodlands Township's board meeting Wednesday in The Woodlands. Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close New Woodlands board steps in as Robb, Long, Bass step down 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

As one of his final acts as a member of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors, Ed Robb prayed for each of the new members.

"Guide these elected directors to be good leaders," Robb, the pastor of The Woodlands United Methodist Church, prayed during the invocation at the board meeting Wednesday.

Both Robb and Jeff Long decided to retire from the board earlier this year, opting not to run a contentious political race that resulted in the ouster of incumbent Mike Bass.

Each of the outgoing board members was honored at the meeting with a framed proclamation enumerating the contributions each one gave to the community.

Robb, who has lived in The Woodlands since 1978 and has served on The Woodlands board and its precursor, the Town Center Improvement District, since 1999, helped The Woodlands transition into its current form of government. He founded The Woodlands United Methodist Church before The Woodlands had a gas station or a grocery store and grew it into a congregation of 12,000. He's served on a number of community boards, including the South Montgomery County YMCA, Interfaith of The Woodlands and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

Long, a retired public works director, served on the residential and design standards committees and as president of the Woodlands Community Association - which, along with the TCID, was a precursor to the current township board. He worked with Robb to usher The Woodlands into becoming a township and delayed the possibility of being annexed by the cities of Houston or Conroe.

Both Robb and Long posed with Gordy Bunch, who was acting chairman at the beginning of the meeting, for a picture with the framed proclamations honoring their service.

Outgoing board member Mike Bass also was honored with a proclamation praising his involvement on the township board, as well as the Woodlands Road Utility District and a number of other committees and community boards.

New leadership

After Robb and Long vacated their seats, newly elected board members Brian Boniface, John Anthony Brown, Bruce Rieser and Bunch were sworn in, committing to faithfully execute the duties of the office and defend the Constitutions of the nation and the state.

Just a year after he was narrowly defeated by Robb for the board's chairmanship in a 4-3 vote, Bunch slipped easily into the position without opposition. Board members John McMullan, Laura Fillault and Ann Snyder were elected to serve as vice chair, secretary and treasurer, respectively, also without opposition.

"It's an honor to serve," Bunch said. "I'm looking forward to representing our community as chairman."

Bunch named combating certain roads on the Montgomery County Major Thoroughfare Plan, addressing flooding issues and clear-cutting and development pains among his top priorities for the coming year.

Throughout the meeting, the board voted unanimously, a change from the previous board, which often was split 4-3.

"Consensus," Bunch said after the board voted unanimously on an agenda item.

"How about that?" Rieser joked.