Board of Directors and Management

A Board of Directors, consisting of six directors who serve without compensation, governs the Agency. The governing body of each of the three Member Cities appoints two persons to serve on the Board. Under the concurrent ordinances that created the Agency, the terms of the members of the Board are two years, with the term of one member from each city expiring annually. The greater of four (4) or a majority vote of a quorum is required for the Board to take action. Four Directors constitutes a quorum. The Board of Directors sets the Agency’s policies and administrative procedures which, at the direction of the Board of Directors, are administered by the Executive Director.

The members of the Board and the Executive Director are as follows:

Carl Pickett is currently serving a sixth term as Mayor of the City of Liberty.

A native of Liberty, Mr. Pickett is a graduate of Liberty High School, the University of Texas (BBA with a major in Accounting), and the University of Texas School of Law.  He is a principal in the firm of Pickett & Pickett, P.C., and has practiced law and accounting for over 40 years.

Mr. Pickett is an active member of the Liberty Rotary Club and he and his wife, Laura, have a son and two daughters.

Prior to his becoming Mayor of Liberty, Mr. Pickett served as a member of the Liberty Independent School District Board of Trustees for 21 years.  He continues to serve as a Trustee of the Lee College Foundation Board of Trustees and is involved in other community activities.

Mr. Pickett has served on the Agency's Board of Directors since January 2009.

Clarke Evans is an Alderman of the City of Livingston, Texas.  He was first elected to that office in May 2003 and served in that capacity until being elected Mayor on May 10, 2008.  Mr. Evans served as Mayor until May 2018, at which time he chose not to seek re-election as Mayor but ran for and was again elected as an Alderman.  Mr. Evans is the owner of Evans and Associates, a real estate agency specializing the commercial real estate development, and is active in number community and charitable organizations including the Livingston Lions Club and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

A native of Livingston, Mayor Evans attended Livingston High School and graduated with honors from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, with a Bachelors of Science degree and a Masters of Education degree.  He is a member of the Livingston Lions Club and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and has served in numerous capacities with various organizations including the First United Methodist Church of Livingston, of which he is a life-long member, the Livingston ISD Board of Trustees, the Polk County Appraisal District, and the Polk County Appraisal Review Board.

Mayor Evans is a nine year veteran of the United States Army, during which time he achieved the rank of Captain.

Mr. Evans has served on the Agency's Board of Directors since November 2009.

Denise Kelley is the City Manager and Director of Finance and Budget for the City of Jasper, Texas.  She has been with the City since January of 2004 and, after two interim terms as City Manager, she was appointed City Manager in March 2014.  She still holds the position of Director of Budget and Finance.  She was appointed to the Sam Rayburn Municipal Power Agency Board of Directors in December 2017.

Born and raised in the Houston area, Mrs. Kelley is a 1976 graduate of LaPorte High School and a 1980 graduate of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance.  Mrs. Kelley has over thirty-eight years experience in banking, public accounting, and municipal government.

Mrs. Kelley serves on various boards and is a member of several civic organizations as well as the state and national Government Finance Officers Association.  She is a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church.  She and her husband, Glenn, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Mrs. Kelley loves spending time with her family, cooking, sports, and relaxing on the Angelina River.

Mrs. Kelley has served on the Agency's Board of Directors since December 2017.

Judy Cochran is the Mayor of the City of Livingston.  She was elected as Alderwoman in May 2005 and served in that capacity until being elected Mayor in May 2018.  Judy is retired after handling the investments of her husband's estate for many years but remains active in the Rotary Club of Livingston, where she served as President in 1995-1996, and she serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Livingston.  She also serves on the Advisory Board of the CHI St. Luke's Memorial Hospital in Livingston and on the Board of Directors of CHI St. Luke's Memorial Hospital in Lufkin.

Judy was born in Garrison, Nacogdoches County, Texas.  She graduated from the Southwestern Business University in Houston, Texas, and was employed by Gulf Publishing Company in Houston for five years.  Judy has served in many areas of the First United Methodist Church where she has been a member since 1972.

When not busy with her civic duties, Judy enjoys traveling, shopping, and watching the Houston Astros play baseball.

Ms. Cochran has served on the Agency's Board of Directors since April 2017.

Gary H. Gatlin is the Mayor of the City of Jasper, Texas, having been elected in November, 2017. Gary was on the school board for the Jasper ISD for approximately 19 years in the 80’s and 90’s. Gary was the City Attorney for the City of Jasper for approximately seven years in the 1990s, and was specially appointed as the City Attorney for the City of Kirbyville in the late 80s for a special assignment. Gary was State District Judge for the 1st Judicial District of the State of Texas from 2009-2011, when he resigned to go back into private practice.

Mr. Gatlin claims to be a lifelong resident of Jasper, although he moved from Jasper immediately prior to beginning the 9th grad, he moved back to Jasper immediately after completely law school and taking his State Bar Exam in 1974; he has been continuously engaged in the practice of law or serving as State District Judge from 1974 to the present date; he is married to his wife, Ceci, for almost 46 years, has two children and 4-grandchildren. He is a member of First United Methodist Church, Jasper, Texas. Gary was a member of the Jasper Lions Club where he served as the Rodeo Parade Chairman for over 25 years.

Mr. Gatlin has served on the Agenyc's Board of Directors since March 2018.