Our KPRC 2 Investigation into water department issues leaving you ‘DRAINED’ is now getting the attention of the candidates competing to be Houston’s next mayor. Investigative reporter Amy Davis has been investigating failures at the Houston water department for 18 months. And in that time city leaders have been very quiet about the problems we have been screaming about. Until recently.
“Stop the increases on water bills until we can absolutely get transparency,” said Senator John Whitmire. “Is it a bad computer? Is it bad management? The problem is no one cares.”
“The water department. It is broken. We need to do a complete landscape oversee,” said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
This week during a live mayoral debate hosted by FOX 26 News, Senator John Whitmire referred to our investigation that exposed millions of our tax dollars awarded to companies created by a Houston public works employee, her friends and family members.
Amy Davis knocked on the door of the owner of one of those fraudulent businesses that received a $4.5 million dollar contract. The exchange went like this:
Amy: “Amy Davis with KPRC. We want to talk to you about your business, Lu’s construction.”
Andrew: “Um, now is not a good time right now.”
Amy: “Okay. I just want to talk about how you happened to get a city of Houston contract for $4.5 million.”
Andrew: “Yeah, I can understand, but just it’s not a good time.”
Amy: “What we find troubling is that your sister works for the city of Houston. Did she give you that contract? "
Andrew: “Let me see your card.”
Amy: “Yeah, this is my card. Let me write my cell phone number on it for you. What’s your experience fixing water lines and breaks? What gives you the experience, I guess, to do that?”
Andrew: “Like I said, I can give you all that information. I am on a call right now.”
From the Mayoral debate, here is what Senator Whitmire and US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee had to say about the water contract investigation.
“Look at last week, contracts were given out to people that have ghost businesses. And when the press tries to ask them at their apartment about their newfound business and their 4 million dollars of city contracts, they won’t even come outside. So, I want everyone to know there will be changes at city hall. There will be transparency. There will not be conflicts of interest as we currently witness,” said Senator Whitmire.
“From the time that I started campaigning, I’ve talked about transparency and that will not change. We expect to have a person in my office dealing with ethics and as well working with an inspector general. We’ll investigate anything that doesn’t seem it impacts positively the people of this city,” U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.
Mayor Turner and the director of Houston Public Works have declined our repeated requests to talk about the contracts. They say they can’t comment while the OIG is investigating what we discovered.
The woman who approved the more than $80 million dollars in contracts for some family and friends is Patrece Lee. She is suspended with pay while the investigation is pending.
The OIG is investigating the company linked to her and her brother that got a $ 4.5 million dollar contract. We will let you know what happens.
Amy has been waiting nearly 15 months for documents the Texas Attorney General already told the City of Houston to hand over. What’s the holdup?
On Sept. 1, 2022, KPRC 2 Investigates asked for six months’ worth of emails to and from seven city employees and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin with specific keywords that would indicate they were discussing the city’s water issues. (Per Freedom of Information Act and the Texas Public Information Act.) We have been waiting for those records for so long that most of the employees and elected leaders are not even working with the city anymore. And Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who ran on a platform of transparency, won’t even discuss it. [See the full details of the records request and the waiting game.]