Houston Mayor John Whitmire is sharing new details about a plan to help frustrated water customers.
He gave an exclusive interview to Investigative reporter Amy Davis.
‘DRAINED’ has been investigating the water department for nearly two years, trying to help many of you deal with excessive and confusing water bills.
But, we wanted to know, who will be in charge?
The mayor shared details of his plan to begin to fix many of the failures KPRC 2 Investigates has exposed.
We have the full details of what we know about the plan here, but in short, the three key elements are:
- Replace broken remote reading devices attached to every water meter with a goal to replace 100,000 of them by January.
- Set up places where customers can speak to water department representatives in person when they have a problem with their bills.
- The water department is working on a computer program that would alert them before an unusually high bill is sent to a customer so that water representatives can review it and fix it.
The mayor wouldn’t put a timeline on when the new changes will take effect. He said he wants to make sure when they do begin all of the systems are in place to make sure they get it right.
Amy asked about leadership at Houston Public Works. Here’s part of that interview:
Amy Davis: “So who is in charge of getting that plan together?”
Mayor John Whitmire: “The water department, Public Works.”
Amy Davis: “Carol Haddock?”
Mayor John Whitmire: “Carol Haddock. It stops, starts and starts and ends at the top.”
Amy Davis: “Do you think that water customers can trust that Carol Haddock can fix these problems?”
Mayor John Whitmire: “They will trust the city of Houston when I roll out a plan.”
Amy Davis: “And the reason I ask is because for about the last two years, she spent denying that there was a problem and saying 99.2% of all bills are correct.”
Mayor John Whitmire: “That’s right. And I told you a while ago, you’re not going to fix something until you admit that it’s broken. Obviously, we had an election and there’s a new mayor, and I have standards that will be met. I will replace the personnel.”
Amy Davis requested interviews with Director Carol Haddock several times. Her staff told us she would talk to us once she and the mayor released the new water plan.
KPRC 2 Investigations into Houston Public Works
Just last month, KPRC 2 Investigates discovered Haddock memorializing the department with trinkets we’re all paying for. We found the video when a tipster anonymously forwarded the email Haddock sent to every public works employee in mid-January.
She issued ‘challenge coins’ for employees. The coin is a bright, shiny gold coin bearing Director Carol Haddock’s name.
The tipster added their own note, “waste of taxpayer’s money!”
A public information request revealed exactly how much we paid. It costs $15,500 for 5,000 gold challenge coins.
“Some people’s water bills are $15,000. And that’s a problem for me, to know that, people are still being faced with this and that we find it right now at this particular juncture, important to put out a challenge coin,” District D Council Member Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said.
The council member told us every council member had one of the coins at a city council meeting, with no explanation about who it was from or what it was for.
Questionable water department contracts
In November 2023, KPRC 2 Investigates exposed millions of dollars in questionable Houston water department contracts.
A dozen companies with questionable connections to city employees were awarded millions of dollars from Houston Public Works to repair broken waterlines. When KPRC 2 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.
The investigation, which began on Nov. 7, 2023, was to uncover the extent of alleged employee wrongdoing in the emergency contracting process.
Houston Public Works employee Patrece Lee was relieved of duty. She was exposed by KPRC 2 Investigates for directing contracts to family members. One of her supervisors at the water department, Venus Price, was allowed to resign.
The investigation into wrongdoing is still underway.
‘DRAINED’ Investigation will not stop
We will continue following the latest developments on the water department and water bill changes in Houston. Investigator Amy Davis, Producer Andrea Slaydon, and the team will continue our ‘DRAINED’ Investigation into water bill issues. Fill out this form if you need help.