How long until this guy gets walked out of city hall in handcuffs?
Following a city council vote to delay hiring an outside investigator Wednesday, Houston Councilman Greg Travis formally called for the Texas Rangers to investigate allegations surrounding the city’s contracting for affordable housing.
“The residents of Houston deserve to have the many questions about this project answered,” wrote Travis in a letter addressed to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Last month, Housing and Community Development Director Tom McCasland jolted the Houston City Council when he accused Mayor Sylvester Turner and his administration of rigging bids to favor a company with ties to Turner’s longtime law partner Barry Barnes.
“I’m being forced to participate in a charade that this was a competitive process when I know it was not a competitive process, and I’m being forced to ask my teammates to participate in that charade. And that’s not something we can do and that’s not something we will do,” McCasland reportedly told the city council.
The $15 million contract awarded to Huntington at Bay Area would have constructed 88 units for senior citizens, but McCasland alleged that other contractors scored more highly and could have provided four times as many units at a cost of $16.2 million.
Within hours of McCasland’s appearance at city council, Turner announced that McCasland had been fired, saying in a written statement that the administration had “lost confidence in his leadership and abilities to manage the department in the city’s best interest.”
Turner then ordered a review conducted by his own legal department and countered with accusations that McCasland had mismanaged the housing department and used a company run by his wife to assist applicants for affordable housing.
Both the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) are conducting investigations into the allegations, but Turner has vehemently denied any involvement or wrongdoing saying, “There’s no fraud. There’s no illegality. There’s nothing wrong here.”
Three weeks after the McCasland allegations, Turner announced he would not be recommending the contract award to Huntington at Bay Area.
Travis told The Texan that he had spoken with Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday and had sent the Paxton documents related to the controversy but did not know if his office would also launch an investigation.
“I don’t know what’s going on because we just don’t get that information,” explained Travis. “The mayor said today he’s not given us any documents, and that’s the problem, and then [Turner] threw grenades at McCasland.”
“We need to know if there’s something nefarious going on or not. I hope not, but there needs to be an investigation.”
During Wednesday’s meeting as council members mulled approving $325,000 for an independent law firm to investigate, Turner quipped, “There’s nothing there there.”
Council members Dave Martin and Leticia Plummer advocated referring the item back to the mayor’s administration, which was approved by the council. The item will reportedly come back before the council in 30 days.
Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston, speaks during the 2019 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Friday, March 15, 2019. The program provides comprehensive insight into the global and regional energy future by addressing key issues from markets and geopolitics to technology, project costs, energy and the environment, finance, operational excellence and cyber risks. Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg via Getty Images