The Houston city council is making a change to how emergency contracts work in order to prevent another multi-million-dollar corruption scandal like the one KPRC 2 Investigates exposed in the Houston water department.
KPRC 2′s ‘DRAINED’ investigation led to seven criminal indictments in May.
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Investigative reporter Amy Davis went to the Houston City Council meeting Wednesday to learn how the change will impact the contracting process.
Problem: Contracts awarded with no bidding or real background checks
The alleged corruption we uncovered went unnoticed for so long because the contracts were awarded as emergency purchase orders (EPO). With EPOs, there are no bidding or real background checks on the businesses getting tax dollars, because they are hired to do work ASAP.
The lax oversight made it possible for Houston water maintenance manager Patrece Lee to award tax dollars to companies created just months prior, at least one of them created by herself. Now, city council member Amy Peck has pushed through a new requirement that if any department submits a business for an emergency contract for council approval, they must disclose if the company is less than a year old.
“Emergencies do come up. So there definitely is a place for emergency contracts in the city, but we need to do our due diligence still and make sure that it’s legitimate and that there isn’t corruption,” said Peck, Houston council member District A. “These are tax dollars, so we need that level of scrutiny.”
Peck says Mayor John Whitmire approved the amendment and that the new disclosure will take effect in 30 days.
In the meantime, Patrece Lee is still in jail on a $460,000 bond. She has been charged with bribery and abuse of official capacity.
Five other people are charged in the corruption investigation and have posted bonds.
Andrew Thomas, Lee’s brother, is the only defendant indicted by the grand jury in May who still has not turned himself in.
Houston water department contract corruption investigation ongoing
Even with all of the defendants, the Harris County District Attorney’s office said they are still investigating, and there may be more people charged in this case. They’re asking anybody with tips or information to call the Texas Rangers at 281-517-1400.
We are staying on top of this active investigation.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire and District Attorney Kim Ogg gave credit to Amy Davis and the KPRC 2 ‘DRAINED’ Investigation for uncovering the shady contracts that tipped them off to the alleged corruption.
Do you have a tip you want Investigator Amy Davis to hunt down? Email her at: ADavis@kprc.com.