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Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks about his proposed 2027 budget and a new trash fee proposal during a presentation at City Hall in Houston, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Mayor John Whitmire campaigned on rooting out waste, corruption and conflicts of interest in city government, but has not reformed Houston\u2019s ethics policies despite pressure from council members and recent incidents<\/a> revealing gaps in how the city investigates allegations of wrongdoing<\/a>.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s main investigative office lacks transparency and independence from the mayor\u2019s office, the council members seeking reform say, while the Houston Ethics Commission can operate openly but has no teeth \u2013 and hasn\u2019t met in perhaps a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two recent cases have highlighted some of these weaknesses.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RELATED: Mayor Whitmire accused Chris Hollins of ‘pay to play.’ Investigators quietly closed the case.<\/a><\/p>\n Whitmire\u2019s office last year referred a \u201cpay-to-play\u201d allegation against Controller Chris Hollins<\/a> to the city\u2019s main investigative arm, the Office of Inspector General, which is housed inside the city legal department.<\/p>\n The OIG quietly closed the case last fall<\/a>. As most of the office\u2019s work is confidential, the only publicly available information on the case was a label stating the complaint was \u201cnot sustained\u201d in a document the Houston Chronicle obtained through an open records request.<\/p>\n Though the city Ethics Commission can handle allegations against office holders and other city officials, the Hollins matter was not referred to the commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Neither was a case that became public last summer in which Council Member Tarsha Jackson requested favors<\/a> from a city contractor via text message. Records show the matter was not referred to the commission or the OIG, which also can investigate elected officials, along with most other city employees.<\/p>\n DEVELOPER FAVORS: Houston council member sought favors like personal home repairs from city contractor, records show<\/a><\/p>\n Andrew Cates, a lawyer and expert on Texas ethics laws, said Houston\u2019s ethics commission, like others across the state, lacks the staff and expertise to be effective. The inspector general has broader investigative authority, he added, but is less transparent.<\/p>\n \u201cThese systems only work if you keep up with them, and you keep them evolving and you keep them funded,\u201d Cates said, adding that failing to do so means, \u201cYou did the job for all the bad actors on their behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n City Attorney Arturo Michel and council members have said the Whitmire administration is working on OIG reforms but have not described what changes might occur. Whitmire\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Several council members have proposed making the OIG more transparent and more independent from the mayor\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n