HOUSTON – On Wednesday morning at Houston City Hall there will be 74 agenda items heard by city council members. The agenda, which is one of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s final ones as Mayor, is unusually long.
The one item that caught the eye of KPRC 2 Investigates is “Agenda Item 34.″
The item reads as follows, “ORDINANCE amending Revenue Agreements with SSP AMERICA IAH ITRP, LLC; PARADIES LAGARDERE @ IAH 2021, LLC; LATRELLES GALLEY, LP; and AREAS HOU JV, L L C for Food and Beverage and Retail Concessions at George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)”.
Each agenda item has what is called a back-up and what makes this one unique is what is being proposed, “Revenue agreements to be amended to require City Council approval for terminations for convenience or cause. All other terms of the agreements would remain unchanged.”
In the past, the Director and the Mayor could cancel a contract. The agenda item backup clearly states, “The four Revenue Agreements contain clauses granting the Director of the Houston Airport System (HAS) authorization to terminate the
Agreements at any time for convenience with 30 days’ written notice.”
However, now Airport Director Mario Diaz wants Houston City Council to change this practice. As a result, it will be more difficult for a future Mayor to cancel city contracts by making it necessary for a vote on a contract cancellation to go to the city council for a vote.
In December 2018, after KPRC 2 Investigates uncovered tens of millions in spending and mismanagement of the International Redevelopment Project (ITRP) at Bush Intercontinental Airport. When we spoke to Mayor Turner about approximately $85 million spent without much earth being moved on the project the mayor explained why contracts were canceled, “When I came in and reviewed what was before me, I was not confident that it was the best deal so we reset it.”
Sources tied to City Hall tell KPRC 2 investigates the Areas-Pappas food fight is the driving force behind this agenda item designed to make it difficult for the next mayor to undo if they desire. Considering the new measures being proposed and the timing of it, the eleventh hour of Mayor Turner’s second term, we emailed the airport and the mayor’s office for answers to these specific questions:
• Why these specific concessionaires?
• Why concessionaires only? There have been several contracts awarded to the airport in recent years, so why not include any of these?
• How is a City Council Member without airport operations experience more qualified than an Airport Director in canceling contracts?
Neither the Communications Director for the airport system nor Mayor Turner’s office responded to our inquiries.
TOP FIVE INVESTIGATIONS INTO CITY OF HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM 2018 to 2023
The last five years within the Houston Airport System have been filled with controversial below-the-radar hires, partnerships, and contracts. KPRC 2 Investigates is the team doing all of the exposing. As a result here is a breakdown of the Top Five Airport Controversies from 2018 to 2023:
4. The Pappas Food Fight at Hobby
3. Airport Director’s Cozy Relationship with Subordinate
2. Federally Convicted Former City Council Relations Director William-Paul Thomas and Jason Yoo (Airport Fines and Porsche Partnership)
READ: Porsche partnership uncovered by KPRC 2 Investigates deep inside Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office
1. The $95,000-a-year Intern: Marvin Agumagu
KPRC 2 Investigates continues to work on its investigations into the Houston Airports System.