The Houston City Council and Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously confirmed Francis Castaneda as chair of the Pilots Commission during a Jan. 1 joint session.

Councilor Castillo moved to nominate Castaneda to the Pilots Commission chairmanship; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The meeting clerk recorded the vote as unanimous. Castaneda thanked the council and commissioners for the nomination and for their support.

In remarks after her confirmation, Castaneda described her background growing up in the East End and said she was honored to be the second chair and the first woman of color to lead the Pilots Commission. She outlined the pilots’ mission to maneuver vessels safely on the Houston Ship Channel and said pilots operate “24 hours a day, 360-5 days a year” and navigate 52 miles of the channel. Castaneda said pilots assist “over 21,000 commercial ships annually” and cited a cargo tonnage figure “about 247,000,000 tons” and an associated value she described as “about $802,000,000,000 to the U.S. economy” (figures as reported during her remarks).

Castaneda said she supports outreach to attract young people, people of color and women to maritime careers and pledged to promote “progress, stability, fairness, and respect” on the commission. Council members and commissioners who spoke at the meeting praised her experience on the inaugural pilots board and pledged support for the commission’s work.

The Pilots Commission confirmation followed a round of nominations and public remarks on port leadership and regional freight issues and concluded without further action on the joint agenda.

The confirmation and Castaneda’s remarks were recorded in the joint-session transcript.