The Houston City Council on Wednesday approved up to $400 million in contracts with six firms to build new housing and repair single-family homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
After more than an hour of discussion and an unsuccessful attempt to delay the vote, the council voted 15-2 to tap into the Department of Housing and Urban Development's recovery funds. Homeowners can expect to see work begin in late February or early March, Housing Director Tom McCasland said.
The City Council approved the item over the reservations of several members, including District J Councilman Mike Laster, who chairs the council's Housing and Community Development Committee.
Laster last week "tagged" the item, a procedural motion to delay the vote one week, because he lacked information about subcontractors, which will perform a portion of the work under the six primary companies. The city's procurement division provided Laster with a list of the 90 subcontracting firms at Tuesday's housing committee meeting, though he still had not been told by Wednesday who owns the firms.
"I think it's reasonable to ask those general contractors that are about to receive $60 million to let us know who they intend to use," Laster said. "We don't want to learn about problems after the fact."
Prompted by Laster's concerns, District G Councilman Greg Travis sought to delay the vote a week, but his motion was shot down on an 11-6 vote by council members who said they were reluctant to push back home repairs any further.
"Once we get that list of names of the subcontractors, what are you going to do with that?" District K Councilwoman Martha Castex-Tatum asked. "Do you know those people? Do you know what they're going to do? Do you know they're going to do a good job or a bad job? I don't understand how that warrants us to delay."
Those who voted to hold off on the contract — Laster, Travis, Robert Gallegos, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le and Brenda Stardig — contended that waiting another week or two to approve the funding was worth it to make sure members had sufficient oversight over the contracts and could ensure the repairs were done correctly. At 17 months after Harvey, Travis said, the council could wait another week.
Mayor Sylvester Turner disagreed, urging council members not to delay the vote.
"I vehemently oppose the delay because there are people who are in homes, there are seniors who are in homes, whose homes need to be repaired, and they have been waiting for 17 months," he said.
After the meeting, he implied that council members may have opposed the contracts because they hoped the procurement division would select other firms.
"Just because somebody didn't get their deal, that's their problem," Turner said. He repeated several times that the procurement division vetted the companies just as they do for other city contracts.
Tempers briefly flared Wednesday when District D Councilman Dwight Boykins accused some members of playing politics by seeking to delay the contract.
"Whether you agree with the mayor or you don't, it's not time to play politics based on whatever issue," Boykins said. He later added: "We're talking two weeks? Come on, man. We can't do this to these people."
Travis acknowledged that he faced a difficult decision, saying it would look "heartless" if the council voted against the funding. Still, he said, he was reluctant to vote for the item without enough information.
"This isn't about playing politics," Travis said. "Then again, I never understand what Councilmember Boykins means when he says things. So, I'm at a loss to respond to his comments."
Even before council approved the contract Wednesday, McCasland had set the wheels in motion, making available an online survey to help residents determine whether they meet federal requirements for the grant program. To date, the city has received more than 3,500 responses to the survey.
After reviewing the responses, McCasland said, the city plans to send out applications, prioritizing low-income, elderly and disabled families.
The contracts approved Wednesday are for three years with options for two one-year extensions. The six firms are Burghli Homes, DSW Homes, James W. Turner Construction, Moss & Associates, SLSCO Ltd. and Tegrity Homes.
The $400 million will be divided equally among the six firms, with each receiving $66.6 million in work.
