HOUSTON -- The Houston City Council held its first official meeting of 2008 on Thursday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The agenda was kept fairly light to give new council members a chance to catch up on some of the issues.

Wanda Adams, Jolanda Jones, James Rodriguez and Mike Sullivan are serving their first term in office.

The council met briefly on Wednesday so Mayor Bill White could name Adrian Garcia as mayor pro tem and Sue Lovell as vice-mayor pro tem.

Garcia's position is largely ceremonial but is high profile as he prepares to run for Harris County sheriff. He said he does not see a conflict between his city council position and his campaign for higher office.

"I don't believe there will be a conflict in terms of the balance," he said. "I think you know me to be a hard worker. I spend a lot of time in my office, I spend a lot of time in my community and so it is just going to be really challenging myself to do more of that."

All of the council members and the mayor said improving public safety is a top priority. White said he is glad that the violent crime rate in the city was down 9 percent since 2003. He said he is particularly concerned about an increase of burglaries.

The council is expected to soon tackle the city's proposed billboard ordinance and work to reduce the number of false burglary alarms.