Dominic Anthony Walsh / Houston Public Media
Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks about his proposed budget on May 5, 2026.
The City of Houston’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has declined to investigate Mayor John Whitmire’s $60,000 payment to podcast producer Owen Conflenti, according to the Houston Progressive Caucus, which said it had filed a complaint with the office more than a month ago.
According to a Thursday statement from the Houston Progressive Caucus, it filed a complaint alleging waste over Whitmire’s $60,000 taxpayer-funded agreement. However, the caucus said the OIG declined to investigate the complaint.
In response to the caucus’ complaint, the OIG said it was not “the correct venue” for the complaint, according to a copy of the OIG’s letter shared with Houston Public Media on Thursday.
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“Because your concern relates to a legislative, rather than an investigatory matter, OIG is not the correct venue,” the OIG said in the letter.
The caucus has accused the OIG of covering for the mayor’s office because it is a division of the Houston City Attorney’s Office and therefore under the mayor’s authority.
“The mayor built the system that just cleared him,” the caucus said in a statement. “[The caucus] is calling on Houston City Council to move oversight of the Inspector General out of the City Attorney’s office and into an ordinance the mayor can’t unilaterally rewrite and to consider an elected city attorney like other jurisdictions.”
Whitmire’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the caucus’ request.
The caucus said it has also filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission and the City Controller’s waste, fraud and abuse division.
RELATED: Mayor Whitmire faces ethics complaints over city-funded podcast
The City Controller’s Office declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. The Texas Ethics Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The complaints from the Houston Progressive Caucus aren’t the first clash between the group and Whitmire. In December, the group led the charge to admonish Whitmire and revoke his ability to receive the endorsement of the Harris County Democratic Party. At the time, Whitmire described the individuals responsible for the admonishment as “a small portion of the Democratic electorate.”
In April, Houston Public Media reported that Whitmire’s office paid up to $60,000 for his podcast, “901 Bagby: Inside The Mayor’s Office.” According to the purchase order, the work provided by podcast host Owen Conflenti — owner of Conflenti Media and former KPRC 2 news anchor — was described as “advertising services.”
Under the 6-month engagement outline provided to Whitmire’s office — obtained by Houston Public Media in June — Conflenti is expected to produce and host the weekly podcast, produce and host a weekly “department feature story” for the city’s City Pulse program, and provide editorial and production support for City Pulse.
Those deliverables appear not to have been fully executed.
In the 18 weeks since March, Conflenti has produced and hosted 12 episodes of the podcast. Whitmire has been the primary guest on about half of them. Others have featured top administration officials, like the library department director and fire chief.
There is no evidence of a weekly “department feature story” hosted by Conflenti throughout the time of his work with the administration.
Whitmire’s office and Conflenti did not respond to questions about the agreement.
Conflenti also has a content production contract with the Houston First Corporation, the city’s tourism and convention arm. Under the agreement, obtained by Houston Public Media, Conflenti is paid $2,000 per project — which each calls for the production of multiple video posts for social media platforms as well as copywriting.
From March through December, the Houston First contract outlines up to eight projects for a total cost of $16,000.
“901 Bagby” currently has 2.9 out of 5 stars on Apple Podcasts. The featured comment references a quip from the wealthy matriarch, Lucille Bluth, of the television comedy “Arrested Development.” “It’s one podcast, Michael, what could it cost? $60,000?”