Brooks, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, has been a community leader in the rehabilitation of substandard housing or the building of new housing for people with low to moderate incomes.
The 48-year-old Brooks has made it clear he intends to be a watchdog on issues of racial balance.
Brooks has raised questions about minority representation on elected governing bodies, in the ranks of city and county government and on the committee's subcommittee on governance.
A consolidated government, he says, must extend the same level of infrastructure, code enforcement and other services to everyone.
"Fears ought to be allayed that one portion of the county or city would receive more favorable treatment than another," he said.
In the committee's second meeting, Brooks asked for organizational charts, budgets and job descriptions for city and county government agencies.
"If we're going to consolidate for the sake of efficiency, then we need to be able to tell people how we've saved them some resources," he said.