I mean, it sure sounds reasonable.
Chris Hollins
Controller Chris Hollins penned a letter Tuesday to the Office of the Inspector General and City Council Ethics Committee calling on Mayor John Whitmire’s State of the City address to be included in “pay to play” ethics probe requested against him.
Whitmire asked for the investigation into Hollins after he solicited sponsorships for Tuesday’s City of Houston Investor Conference — Hollins’ first as controller.
In a Thursday news conference, Whitmire said banks called and told him the sponsorships gave the appearance of a “pay to play” system. Hollins fired back later in the day and called Whitmire a “walking conflict of interest,” saying the State of the City address featured plenty of sponsors with city contracts.
Whitmire wrote in a statement Tuesday that the investigation requested is “in response to (Hollins) soliciting $100,000 from vendors for a private meeting with him.” The mayor added that he did not solicit sponsorships for State of the City and that the “controller’s attempt to divert attention from the appearance of the pay to play is under investigation.”
“It is the practice of the mayor’s office not to comment on active investigations,” Whitmire wrote. “I did my job by bringing this to light.”
The letter obtained by the Chronicle states that the controller’s office used the same fundraising model the mayor used for the State of the City event. According to the letter, those similarities included:
- Both events being marketed to city vendors
- Both events selling sponsorships
- Both featuring VIP receptions for those who gave large monetary contributions
- Both using their respective official’s names and likenesses in marketing the events
- Both providing respective visibility of both offices
The only difference in the events, Hollins wrote in his letter, was who controlled the proceeds. The mayor controls the money for the State of the City, he said, while funds from the Investor Conference went to BankOn Houston and an independent body.
“Bias has no place in public service,” Hollins wrote in a Tuesday statement. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let me be clear: I do not consider the marketing practices of either event to be unlawful. But I do believe the same set of rules should apply equally to both the mayor’s and controller’s fundraising activities.”
[…]
In addition to calling for an ethics probe, the mayor also called for all city employees to stay away from the conference, and even suggested it should be canceled.
The conference ultimately went on as planned, but did not include speakers from the city beyond those with the controller’s office.
See here for the background. This is good politics, though not without risk, as the OIG may conclude Hollins’ event was problematic while the State of the City as constituted is fine. It sure looks like a lot of similarity to me, at least on the surface, but we’ll see what the OIG says. I assume Mayor Whitmire either expected this or correctly concluded there was no non-whiny way to gripe about it when it happened. I will note again it is well within his power to put forth an ordinance that addresses this issue in whatever way he sees fit. The Houston Landing has more.
The OIG works for the mayor. I expect they would do what any employee who wants to keep a good-paying job would do.
I am sure, not, that “banks” called Whitmire. Which officials, which banks? Sounds like goper style lies.
“Some people are saying someone at the banks called me, many people are saying it, that I was their best client and the sharpest tool in the shed and, ya know, the sharpest dresser, I’m the sharpest dresser out there…and blah blah blah check his birth certificate…blah blah blah lock him up.”
That’s all I’m hearing.