HOUSTON – A dozen companies with questionable connections to city employees were awarded millions of dollars from Houston Public Works to repair broken waterlines. When we first exposed the conflicts of interest to the City of Houston city leaders told us they referred the allegations to the Office of Inspector General to investigate. Now, six weeks later Investigative reporter Amy Davis is explaining what that office does and does not do.
What is the OIG?
Almost every government agency has an Office of the Inspector General. The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Service, and even The Department of Justice. They are independent arms of the agencies that investigate allegations of fraud, wage theft, and employee misconduct. The City of Houston’s OIG is set up differently. In Houston, it’s part of the city’s legal department.
These three cases, when exposed, were referred to Houston’s Office of the Inspector General.
- A friend of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, making $95,000 in a specially created city internship
- Turner’s press secretary, withholding thousands of pages of public information
- A Houston Public Works manager accused of giving millions of dollars in city contracts to herself, family, and friends
The city attorney Arturo Michel is in charge of the City of Houston’s OIG. Michel serves at the will of the Houston mayor, not independently. Outgoing city council member Mike Kubosh says that’s problematic.
“They all are employees of the mayor. They answer to the mayor. They’re not gonna do anything that the mayor’s not in agreement with.,” said Kubosh. “I’m very suspect of it because I don’t believe that it’s transparent and there needs to be an independent investigation.”
Another high-level employee switch is raising yet another red flag about a possible conflict of interest.
Roel Garcia is the former Houston Public Works Chief of Staff who also reported directly to Carol Haddock. Garcia was recently promoted from Public Works to the city’s Office of the Inspector General.
The Houston OIG is also *not* a law enforcement agency. It has no authority to press criminal charges if it appears an employee has violated the law.
Who is investigating the Houston Water Department contracts?
We have asked the mayor and the city attorney if the OIG confirms criminal wrongdoing, does it refer the case to law enforcement? And we asked if that has ever happened in Mayor Turner’s tenure over the last 8 years. We will let you know what they tell us.