BUSINESS CONNECTIONS HOUSTON
AT-LARGE #3 SHOWDOWN
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HURRICANE HARVEY CONTRACTS IGNITE PROBE OF HOUSTON, TX MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL KUBOSH AND JANAEYA CARMOUCHE WILL FACE OFF ON DECEMBER 14, 2019 IN THE RACE FOR AT-LARGE #3
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The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security is investigating Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the campaign contributions that he has received from disaster contractors.
FBI QUESTIONS HURRICANE HARVEY DEBRIS CLEANUP
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2019 ENDORSEMENT SPOTLIGHT
Turner has received more than a $350,000 from companies benefiting from the damage done by Hurricane Harvey. The Code of Federal Regulations says that “The officers, employees and agents of the non-Federal entity may neither solicit or accept gratuities, favors or anything of monetary value from contractors or parties to subcontracts.” The question for the feds is this: Do campaign contributions violate this statue? Turner’s relationship with three specific hurricane subcontractors may raise the most questions. Just look at the political contributions to Mayor Turner that came from three of the companies, their leadership, and the leadership’s families:
CITY MATTERS
Ardurra Group: $40,000 IMS Engineers, Inc.: $69,250 Isani Consultants, LP: $59,537
TONY BUZBEE
Attorney Tony Buzbee is endorsed by Eugene “Mean Gene” Hill a professional heavyweight boxer with a record of 34 wins and 2 losses. According to “Mean Gene” he believes that Tony Buzbee is the right man for the job and will fight for us.
MIKE KNOX
City of Houston disaster contracts. While the Office of the Inspector General investigation deals with disaster debris removal, it is important to note that hurricane housing contracts also brought campaign contributions to the Mayor too. Subcontractors on the contract with the company APTIM have donated nearly $200,000 to Sylvester Turner. The APTIM contract is worth up to $14 million. As has been previously reported, the Mayor’s former law partner, Barry Barnes, is also on that contract and has been awarded $7 million. The Office of the Inspector General is not the only federal agency that is scrutinizing the money paid for debris cleanup in Houston after the hurricane. Dolcefino Consulting has confirmed the FBI interviewed Keith Edgar, the former Solid Waste Management Department official who was put in charge of the debris cleanup after Hurricane Harvey. Edgar resigned just weeks after the storm. Edgar was said to be frustrated with delays in the cleanup because certain companies were given exclusive rights to pick up debris, while other companies had no work to do and left. “I think it is outrageous that the Mayor continues to take money from companies benefiting from a natural disaster,” says Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting. “He should have returned the money long ago. It is an insult to the victims and taxpayers and it compromises the ability of City Hall to watchdog and punish contractors who cheat or fail to perform on these lucrative disaster contracts.”
In June of 2019, the company Tetra Tech was awarded a new $4.9 million debris monitoring contract with the Solid Waste Department. Subcontractors on the contract have given Mayor Turner nearly $100,000 in campaign contributions since his first run for office. The contract was given despite Tetra Tech’s growing scandal in California. In August of 2018, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi complained that Tetra Tech had manipulated and falsified records in the cleanup of a radioactive shipyard in San Francisco. The company was sued this month for exposing hundreds of people to hazardous materials as a result. Tetra Tech was paid $300 million for the California job they’re accused of botching. $23 million has been paid out on Tetra Tech’s
Wayne Dolcefino is one of the nation’s most decorated journalists.
Thirty Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Five Charles Green Awards, an Edward R. Murrow award, a Jack Howard Award for investigative reporting, numerous honors from the Associated Press and Texas Association of Broadcasters, and an unprecedented three medals from the international journalism organization Investigative Reporters and Editors.
www.aubreyrtaylor.blogspot.com Councilman Mike Knox is endorsed by Black leaders like Larry Blackmon and Georgia D. Provost in the Saturday, December 14, 2019. Georgia and Larry are both encouraging African Americans to cast their vote to re-elect Mike Knox.
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