Sarah Grunau/ Houston Public Media
A seasoned engineer in line to receive Harris County commissioners’ appointment as flood control director works for a firm that is tied to a delayed flood bond project — a key controversy at the center of the former director’s departure.
County commissioners are set to discuss appointing Marcus Stuckett during a closed-door executive session on Thursday, according to meeting agenda documents published late last week. Stuckett is the former director of engineering at the Harris County Flood Control District and is the vice president of a Houston-based private engineering firm, Pape-Dawson, according to a public LinkedIn profile. He served in various capacities at the flood control district for six years, until 2022.
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Commissioner Adrian Garcia told Houston Public Media on Wednesday that without a look at a pool of qualified candidates, there’s no way of knowing whether Stuckett stands out.
“For a position as critical as director of flood control, I cannot understand why we would abandon a process we have used for every other department appointment,” Garcia said. “The process enables us to understand the capabilities and wherewithal of any candidate seeking to take on significant responsibilities within the county.”
Hundreds of campaign finance, court and public county documents reviewed by Houston Public Media show that Pape-Dawson has made several high-dollar campaign donations to some commissioners on both sides of the political aisle. The company has received bids to complete county flood control projects — including one that’s off track to meet a federal funding deadline — and is facing allegations in district court for a project that left sinkholes in a Katy housing development.
Houston Public Media requested comment from Pape-Dawson, and from Stuckett through the firm, and did not immediately get a response.
Stuckett’s potential appointment comes after Tina Petersen resigned June 11 as director of the Harris County Flood Control District after introducing a framework plan that she said would save several flood bond projects facing a federal funding deadline early next year. The projects were authorized by county voters as part of a $2.5 billion flood bond in 2018, a year after Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston region.
In an internal resignation letter obtained by Houston Public Media, Petersen said her role became a distraction. Her performance had been at the center of criticisms and hours-long closed-door meetings among commissioners since the revelation that many of those post-Harvey projects were not on track to meet the grant funding deadlines. A May report from the flood control district shows that more than $245 million in grant funds are jeopardized as projects linger behind schedule.
A political action committee affiliated with Pape-Dawson has donated $18,500 to Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s campaign since 2023 and $12,500 to Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ campaign since 2021. The PAC’s finance report last month included two payments totaling $1,000 to Commissioner Lesley Briones’ campaign and a $500 payment to Ellis’ campaign.
Briones declined to comment.
“Marcus brings deep technical experience, institutional knowledge, and an understanding of the urgency required to move projects forward,” Ellis said. “I look forward to working with him to restore accountability, improve transparency, protect available funding, and deliver on the commitments made to Harris County voters and residents.”
Pape-Dawson was selected for the third phase of the Kluge Stormwater Detention Basin project, approved by voters as part of the flood bond, in Ramsey’s Precinct 3.
Amery Reid, a spokesperson for Ramsey’s office, said the project appears to be held up in the flood control district’s review process, not by the consultant.
Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for the flood control district, said the Kluge project is set to begin construction this month. It went out for bid earlier this year, she said. Woodell also said she “can’t speak to who was on the [project] team” from Pape-Dawson.
“Commissioner Ramsey looks forward to Marcus’s appointment tomorrow,” Reid said Wednesday.
According to a Pape-Dawson news release about Stuckett’s hiring at the firm in 2022, he has overseen engineering, designing and bidding of the county flood control district’s projects, and served as a liaison to the county’s engineering department.
The firm was sued by a Katy housing development in 2024 for designing a detention pond project that left deep sinkholes in the area. The lawsuit, which is pending, alleges Pape-Dawson failed to follow certain county flood control district specifications to test for erosion susceptibility.
The company denied all allegations in a court filing.
‘Shovels, not scapegoats’
Earlier this month, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham put pressure on the county flood control district to get delayed flood bond projects to construction more quickly. She said there’s “likely zero chance” the district will meet a funding benchmark set by the Texas General Land Office for early next year if county officials don’t set aside differences to eliminate delays.
Jim Blackburn, an environmental law professor at Rice University, said commissioners’ plan to select a more traditional candidate for the job comes when the flood control district needs a creative leader to take on the position.
“I think first and foremost kind of some of the ideas about making room for water, which I think are absolutely essential for Houston, they would involve a lot of buyout,” Blackburn said. “They would involve combining housing policy and flood policy and I don’t see that being a priority with kind of a more traditional viewpoint toward engineered solution and dirt moving. Dirt moving has the appearance of doing a lot. I’m not sure that it is our most effective solution and I think these are some of the key issues facing commissioners.”
Six of the 11 disaster relief projects outlined in the flood bond, including the Kluge Stormwater Detention Basin, are off track for meeting the 2027 funding deadline. Those projects include channel conveyance improvements in commissioner precincts 1 and 2 and stormwater detention basin projects in precincts 2, 3 and 4.
“I would also say that the inequity in past flood control has left areas like Northeast Houston with a system that frankly doesn’t function as well as I think most of the other watersheds in the county do,” Blackburn said.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who publicly criticized Petersen, the former flood control director, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hours after Petersen submitted her resignation letter earlier this month, Hidalgo told Houston Public Media that commissioners court already had a frontrunner in mind to take over Petersen’s position.
“Can I say for a fact replacing her is going to be the solution? No,” Hidalgo said. “I’m making a bet on that. All I can do is do the best that I can with the information that I have and I believe this is that.”