Harris County Commissioners Will Consider New HCFCD Head Thursday

6/22/2026 – On Thursday, 6/25/26, Harris County Commissioners will consider appointing Marcus Stuckett to replace Dr. Tina Petersen as the new head of Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). Petersen resigned under pressure after the last Commissioners Court meeting on 6/11/2026. Slow project delivery during her tenure threatened the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

The question facing Stuckett is whether he can quickly restore the momentum that HCFCD had when he previously worked there as Director of Engineering.

Stuckett’s Background

Stuckett is a professional civil engineer and Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) who has spent much of his career working on flood mitigation projects in the Houston region.

• He joined HCFCD in 2015 and worked his way up through the organization. As Director of Engineering he oversaw planning, design, and implementation of flood-risk-reduction projects throughout Harris County. 
• Before and after his time at HCFCD, he worked in the private engineering sector and has roughly two decades of experience in stormwater, drainage, and flood-control engineering. 
• He has represented HCFCD in regional flood-planning efforts, including nomination to the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group in 2021. 
• He was the public face for several major flood-control initiatives, including projects on South Mayde Creek and other watershed improvement efforts. 

Stuckett is not a newcomer. He is thoroughly versed in engineering and planning discussions regarding detention, channel conveyance, floodplain management, and implementation of the 2018 flood-bond projects. 

The context surrounding his nomination is significant. He would take over amid concerns that some federal funding could be jeopardized if spending deadlines are missed. Those issues contributed to Petersen’s departure and will likely be among the first challenges facing the new director. 

The big question surrounding Stuckett: Can he speed up procurement and project delivery to improve compliance with Federal grant requirements?

What Distinguishes Stuckett?

Stuckett comes directly from the engineering side of flood control. He spent years inside HCFCD managing project development and engineering delivery. People familiar with Stuckett, point to strong qualifications for the job at hand:

• Greater emphasis on project execution and delivery – He reportedly has a greater sense of urgency than the leader he may replace and is more confident in his decision making.
• Strong institutional knowledge – He has been involved in HCFCD projects for more than a decade and understands the agency’s internal processes and technical staff. Same for the county.
• No learning curve – Unlike an outside hire, he already knows the flood-bond program, federal grant requirements, watershed studies, and ongoing capital projects. 
• Potential return to an engineering-led culture – Stuckett worked under Petersen’s predecessors who placed more emphasis than she on technical decision-making (as opposed to political decision making) and project delivery. 

Issues to Watch

Stuckett’s potential return on Thursday suggests Commissioners Court may now be placing a premium on technical expertise and institutional experience at a time when project delivery and federal funding compliance are under intense scrutiny. 

The key question is not whether Stuckett understands flood-control engineering; he clearly does. The more important question is whether he can convert that expertise into faster delivery of major projects while navigating the political and funding challenges that have recently affected HCFCD. 

Votes of Confidence from Former Co-Workers

For this post, I spoke with several engineers and managers who previously worked with Stuckett in various capacities. They unanimously sang his praises.

One of the strongest recommendations came from Eric Heppen, head engineer for Harris County Precinct 3. He worked with Stuckett for more than a decade and said “I have zero doubts about Marcus being able to do this.”

Heppen explained. “When Marcus started with flood control, he started as a coordinator between Flood Control’s Capital-Improvement-Project Department and Harris County Engineering to make sure that everything that the two offices did was properly coordinated.”

“After that,” said Heppen, “Stuckett worked his way up through watershed management into engineering and through the leadership ranks. He did a fantastic job and has been able to handle everything that we/I have ever thrown at him. He has a great handle on what it takes to get capital projects moving.”

Heppen described Stuckett’s management style. “It’s always ‘Let’s sit down. We’ll take an hour. We’ll sort through it. And we’ll move on.’ Stuckett doesn’t take six months to make a decision. It’s, ‘Let’s make the best possible decision today based on the facts. Then we’ll verify that it works. If we need to pivot, we’ll pivot. But let’s figure out what the ‘Decision-One’ point is today.”

Posted by Bob Rehak

3219 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.