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25 June 2005
Spellman testifies in Cleveland/Houston corruption trial
Chronicle reporter Dan Feldstein checks in from Cleveland, where former Brown Administration officials have been testifying in court:
A chief of staff for former Houston Mayor Lee Brown testified this week that he advised contractors to select minority subcontractors based on their support of the mayor.
As they prepared bids for city work, prime contractors would sometimes call and ask which firms in the city's affirmative action program were "preferred," said Oliver Spellman, testifying against Cleveland entrepreneur Nate Gray.
"Certain minority firms are more supportive of the mayor than others," Spellman explained to the jury.
The testimony came during the federal court trial of Gray and two other men snared in a Cleveland-based bribery investigation that has reached to Houston and other cities.
Brown has not been accused of wrongdoing. He has said that he was unaware of improper efforts to influence contracts listed in charges against Spellman and another former Brown official, building services director Monique McGilbra.
The bad thing is, given how former Mayor Brown was generally oblivious to the city falling down around us on his watch, it's almost believable and certainly plausible that he didn't know the degree of corruption on his staff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ corruption trial"> 06/25/05 07:21 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
26 January 2008
Lee Brown's legacy
In Matt Stiles' story about the arrest of Mike Surface and Andrew Schatte, he garnered a laugh-out-loud quote from former Mayor Lee Brown:
Brown said Friday that the corruption alleged in the indictment should not tarnish his legacy of running the city.
He noted, for example, that the city's inspector general had launched an investigation of McGilbra before deferring to the federal authorities. Brown also said he had no dealings with Schatte or Surface.
"Many very positive things happened during my administration," the former mayor said. "It's one event, which does not characterize six years of my administration."
Pause and let that sink in for a minute. Actually, it may take several minutes, once you realize he wasn't kidding.
How should Mayor Brown's administration be characterized? Well, there was plenty of corruption, as has already come to the fore.
He loved going on international trade missions, earning the nickname Out-of-Town Brown. He abhorred bandit signs, with a passion. He didn't get bogged down in the intricacies of public infrastructure. And his dazzling budget skills eventually landed him the chairman's seat at a bank.
How about some more?
He left behind a $1.5 billion pension mess; he required a personal chef; and government work seemed to go on without him even when he was in the same room.
Remember when Laurence Simon cracked that Rice University would use a dumpster to house Mayor Brown's personal papers? Yeah, that's closer to Lee Brown's legacy.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Lee Brown's legacy"> 01/26/08 06:02 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
16 January 2006
HBJ business humor: The bank of Lee P (cont'd)
The usually staid Houston Business Journal seems to be trying its hand at business humor today:
Popular ex-mayor banks on new career
Newly minted investor Lee Brown wants to expand Unity National Bank's focus in his new role as chairman
Jim GreerLee Brown, the former three-term Houston mayor, has been elected chairman of Unity National Bank six months after becoming an investor in what officials call the city's only African-American-owned bank.
In July, Brown and Houston energy executive Kase Lawal led a small group of investors who took a stake in the local community bank. Coinciding with Brown replacing Limas Jefferson as Unity's chairman, the Lawal-led investment group has assumed majority ownership of the bank.[snip]
"I was kind of surprised to see Lee Brown as head of that investment team and come in to be chairman," says Hugh Barrett, a longtime banking consultant who runs Houston's The Strategic Alliance Group.
Although Barrett doesn't think of the former mayor as a banker first and foremost, the consultant points out that Brown's name means something, especially in the African-American market.
"My background has been in managing organizations," says Brown, who was the national drug czar in the Bill Clinton administration.
[snip]
Meanwhile, Brown's background in law enforcement and city governments could come in handy in the heavily regulated banking industry.
"The things that I've done in the past, whether it's in law enforcement or as mayor, we had to follow regulations, too," he says.
Ah yes, and as the guilty pleas regarding corruption keep coming in from former Brown Administration officials and more damning news continues to be released regarding the HPD crime lab, we can see that Brown ran a tight ship while serving the city of Houston. And then there's the matter of the underfunded municipal employees pension that developed under his watch, which we would (wrongly) think ought to be of concern to those who would put the man in charge of a bank.
And what is with that headline? Popular?
Like I said, the HBJ must be trying its luck with business humor.
PREVIOUSLY: The bank of Lee P.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Lee P (cont'd)"> 01/16/06 08:37 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (3)
14 June 2005
Former mayor's brother implicated in corruption trial
Former Brown Administration officials Oliver Spellman and Monique McGilbra have already admitted to taking bribes while working for the city.
Now, the Chronicle's Dan Feldstein reports that prosecutors have alleged that Nate Gray also tried to bribe former Mayor Lee Brown's brother Earl Brown in exchange for influence at City Hall:
The brother of former Houston Mayor Lee Brown received thousands of dollars during Brown's administration to influence him on behalf of contractors, prosecutors alleged Monday in federal court.
Earl Brown never was a registered lobbyist in Houston, according to city records. Lee Brown previously has said his brother never spoke to him on behalf of clients.
Earl Brown has not been charged with any crime. But on the first day of a major bribery trial here of three other men, prosecutors played a wiretapped cell phone conversation in which Cleveland businessman Nate Gray brags that "the mayor's brother and I are like this."
"I can go into Houston and have more juice than a local guy," Gray told a young attorney who wanted to learn the ropes of Gray's consulting business.
"Greasing palms" was how to get things done, said Gray, who faces 44 counts of bribery-related charges.
As we've noted previously, this investigation and related trials are likely to get very interesting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ corruption trial"> 06/14/05 07:29 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
11 January 2006
The Bank of Lee P
Matt Bramanti alerted us to this news about former Mayor Lee P. Brown this morning:
Former Houston Mayor Lee Brown is part of an investment group that has acquired a substantial interest in Unity National Bank, and the former city leader has been named chairman of the board.Brown and Dr. Kase Lawal lead the business group that applied last July to acquire a significant stake in the Houston-based bank. The U.S. Office of Comptroller of the Currency has authorized a change in control from the previous owners to Kase.
The announcement Monday was the first of several changes expected at Unity National, including restructuring of the management team, making new financial products available and increasing the number of bank branches.
Do you think one of the changes will be tracking down that towering sign of Lee P. that used to greet airport visitors, and putting the thing in the front of the bank?
It's stunning that Mayor Brown could oversee so many messes -- the massively underfunded municipal employees pension plan, HPD's manpower shortage not to mention the crime lab, and corruption that involved Brown appointees peddling city contracts -- and still wind up as chairman of the board of a bank!
I suspected Bramanti was just spoofing me earlier until I tracked down the HBJ article. There are some good quotes from the article Bramanti passed along:
"I am honored by my selection as the new bank chairman and I would like to thank Limas Jefferson for his years of service and commitment to growing Unity National Bank as a financial institution in Houston," Dr. Lee P. Brown said. "I also look forward to working with the Unity board and the senior management team on our new strategic goals of becoming the financial partner of choice customers and business owners can rely upon for all of their banking needs."
Limas Jefferson added, "This is an exciting time in the history of this institution, and the change of control is a signal of a great new beginning. It is indeed an honor and a privilege to have an opportunity to work with such distinguished individuals as Dr. Lee P. Brown and Dr. Kase Lawal. They have brought energy, leadership, and capital to a great institution and are to be commended for such dedicated service to our city and nation."
I'd advise anyone with money at Unity Bank to get it out of there QUICKLY.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Lee P"> 01/11/06 10:10 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (10)
16 May 2005
McGilbra pleads guilty to federal charges in Houston
Monique McGilbra pleaded guilty in Cleveland last week to federal extortion and conspiracy charges.
Today, the former Brown Administration official pleaded guilty in Houston to additional charges:
A former Houston official entered a guiity plead Monday on federal bribery charges.
Monique McGilbra was the former director of Houston's Building Services under Mayor Lee Brown.
McGilbra has admitted to accepting meals, champagne, ski vacations and Neiman Marcus gift certificates while dealing with companies competing for contracts with the city.
[snip]
Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in a separate case.
Authorities say the investigation into corruption at City Hall continues.
RELATED COVERAGE: Chronicle, Associated Press.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/05 09:51 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (4)
08 June 2005
Lee Brown's legacy cont'd: Expensive art for fire stations!
Rich Connelly does some original reporting for the Houston Press:
Few things say "culture" more than government-sponsored art, and Houstonians should prepare themselves for seeing more and more of it.
A 2001 ordinance, just now beginning to be implemented, calls for 1.75 percent of the construction budget for some city buildings to be devoted to public art. One of the first projects under the ordinance is a new fire station in the Denver Harbor neighborhood.The city wants to spend $43,650 on a ceramic-tile mural by Suzanne Sellers, but the expenditure has been held up by councilman Adrian Garcia, whose district includes Denver Harbor.
"When we saw '$43,000 for art' [on the agenda], we just had some questions," says Giovanni Goribay, Garcia's chief of staff.
It turns out other bids had come in at $90,000, so the city got something of a bargain. (Disclosure: Eleven years ago Sellers painted the mural on the building the Houston Press now occupies.) Still, as the new ordinance is implemented, councilmembers are hoping for more information on neighborhood input and what happens to any of the 1.75 percent that isn't spent. (With a politico's appreciation of things artistic, Goribay notes of any excess cash, "The councilman would like it to stay in his district, at least.")
Surely nothing says Houston is a world-class city like spending tens of thousands of dollars on "public" art for a fire station (where most of the public will never see it)!
Now let's try and remember.... Who was mayor when this latest instance of fiscal insanity was apparently conceived?
Yes, that would be one Lee P. Brown!
The legacy (of corruption, potholes, crime-lab mismanagement, pension-plan mismanagement, and general nitwittery) continues to grow. Who knows how many more gifts he's left for us that we'll soon be discovering?!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Lee Brown's legacy cont'd: Expensive art for fire stations!"> 06/08/05 09:55 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (13)
20 December 2005
Atlanta contractor charged with bribing Brown official
Today, the Chronicle's Dan Feldstein continues his reporting on corruption in the Lee Brown Administration with news that Atlanta contractor Floyd Gary Thacker has been charged with bribing Monique McGilbra, Houston's former building services director under former Mayor Brown:
The criminal information alleges that Thacker gave $50,000 to an Atlanta official with the understanding that a portion be passed to a second Atlanta official. Gallagher said he could not name the officials. Thacker attorney Justin Thornton of Washington, D.C., also declined comment.
In Houston, Thacker and McGilbra had a "personal relationship" in 2002, according to his charges and her plea agreement. He got a subcontract with Reliant Energy to improve the energy efficiency of Houston's traffic signals and expected a net profit of more than $250,000.
McGilbra got earrings, a $700 Luis Vuitton gift certificate, expenses for trips to Miami and New Orleans and about $6,000 cash, never disclosing her gifts to the city.
In a wiretapped phone call, Gray and a Honeywell official panicked because of a tip that Reliant might give Thacker some of the business that Honeywell hoped to receive. The tip was provided to them by Mayor Brown's brother, Earl, who was on Gray's payroll.
McGilbra assured Gray it was only because Reliant needed a minority partner. But in fact, she testified at Gray's trial, it was also because she received gifts from Thacker.
The city let Thacker design the energy saving system, but canceled his contract in 2004 before the construction stage and paid him $202,000. New building services director Issa Dadoush said Monday that he had been uncomfortable with how Thacker got the contract.
By 2004, of course, Bill White had taken over as mayor.
No doubt he continues to spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning up other messes left to him by his predecessor, whose legacy continues to grow.
ARCHIVES: Monique McGilbra.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Brown official"> 12/20/05 09:09 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
25 January 2008
FBI arrests two in local corruption investigation
It was at the end of December that we learned that Mike Surface had resigned as chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., citing "personal and professional interests" as reasons. About one week later, his name emerged in an FBI investigation as reported by KTRK-13's Wayne Dolcefino:
We've learned the FBI has delivered subpoenas to Houston City Hall looking for records of dealings with two companies and contractors with close ties to a slew of local politicians involved in the creation of city fire stations, county jails and even our football stadium.
Today, the feds came calling for him and an associate (again via Wayne Dolcefino):
It was just before 9am today when FBI agents arrived with their corruption catch at Houston's federal building. Two of the city's most politically powerful developers, Andrew Schatte and Michael Surface, were arrested on public corruption charges.
Their arrests will likely trigger political shockwaves through town. Before this morning, Schatte had a long list of close friends in Houston government, from city hall to the commissioners court to the Houston Firefighters Pension Fund.
Three years ago, Schattes' name first surfaced in a Justice Department investigation. Houston's former building director, Monique McGilbra, and Mayor Brown's former chief of staff, Oliver Spellman, were snared in that bribery case, but at the time, Schatte escaped indictments.
Schatte and Surface were partners in a company called Keystone, which developed Houston's troubled emergency center and others.
It would appear Schatte and Surface have some major "personal and professional interests" to attend to at the moment.
UPDATE: KHOU-11 adds more:
11 News cameras caught up with the two men as they left court. Surface posted a $100,000 bail.
He and Schatte were indicted on three counts of conspiracy and wire fraud. Surface is also accused of making false statements to authorities.
The charges allege that the two coordinated payments to a city of Houston employee, including trips, football tickets and thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the awarding of the contract to build the Houston Emergency Center and a downtown fire station.
Both men say the charges are based on questionable claims. Both pled not guilty Friday.
Two people have already convicted in the bribery scandal.
Monique McGilbra, the former head of Houston's building services department pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe. She was sentenced to three years in prison.
Oliver Spellman, the one time Chief of Staff for former Mayor Lee Brown also pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for city contracts.
Spellman got probation and a $10,000 fine.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ corruption investigation"> 01/25/08 07:11 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
19 August 2005
Ohio corruption trial wraps up; Houston investigation continues
The Chronicle's Dan Feldstein reports on the Ohio trial of Cleveland businessman Nate Gray that snared several former Brown Administration officials:
The Cleveland, Ohio, businessman accused of bribing two Houston officials was convicted on 36 felony counts in Akron on Wednesday, including bribery-related crimes in four cities.
Federal investigators spent years pursuing Nate Gray, 47, a well-known consultant who was close to Cleveland's former mayor. In the process, they snagged the Houston officials and vowed the investigation is not over here.
Oliver Spellman, who served as former Mayor Lee Brown's chief of staff, and Monique McGilbra, who was the city's building services director, both pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to help Gray or his consulting clients get business in Houston.
They testified against Gray to reduce their sentences.
[snip]
In Houston, the question is this: What did it mean when a federal prosecutor asked FBI agent R. Michael Massie on the witness stand whether the investigation was finished in Houston and Massie testified, "No"?
It probably means that Feldstein is going to be doing some very interesting reporting in the coming weeks and months.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ corruption trial wraps up; Houston investigation continues"> 08/19/05 07:46 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
13 September 2005
The Brown Administration legacy grows
With the trip out of town and the Katrina blogging last week, I neglected to mention that the legacy of the Lee Brown Administration managed to grow just a bit more.
The Chronicle's Dan Feldstein, who has provided good reporting on this story, wrote:
Former city of Houston official Monique McGilbra was sentenced to three years in federal prison Friday for accepting bribes from a Cleveland businessman, while former mayoral chief of staff Oliver Spellman got probation for a similar crime.
McGilbra apparently earned the disdain of U.S. District Judge James Gwin in his Cleveland courtroom, insisting that she thought the gifts she accepted from businessmen seeking city work were purely part of dating.
In a trial against the businessman this summer, she testified that she took gifts from five people or companies seeking business with the city building services department she supervised.
McGilbra told Gwin at her sentencing that she was "a woman, a mother and a lover" and that it shouldn't be a crime to have expensive tastes, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"My involvement with the men in this case was primarily personal that became business. There were personal advances. I never had my position or City Hall for sale," she told the judge.
Judge Gwin apparently was not swayed by that argument.
Later, the Chronicle's Harvey Rice checked in with Houston sentencing:
A former Houston city official was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison today for accepting cash and gifts from businesses seeking her influence in gaining lucrative city contracts.
[snip]
[Monique] McGilbra, 41, is the second Houston city official to plead guilty in a continuing investigation that began in Cleveland and expanded to include Houston and New Orleans.
Oliver Spellman, 51, chief of staff to former Mayor Lee Brown, received probation and a $10,000 fine Friday in Cleveland federal court for taking a $2,000 bribe from a Cleveland consultant.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore said McGilbra's Houston sentence will run at the same time as the Cleveland sentence, meaning she will spend no more than three years in prison.
McGilbra was more repentant in her statement to Gilmore than in her statement to U.S. District Judge James Gwin in Cleveland, who was unmoved when she told him that having expensive tastes shouldn't be a crime.
"I'd like to say how regretful and sorrowful I am," McGilbra told Gilmore. "I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make amends for that."
[snip]
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Gallagher and Mary Butler, a prosecutor with the Department of Justice's public integrity unit, told Gilmore McGilbra was cooperating in an ongoing investigation.
"We are striving to discover the extent of corruption and we are not going to leave any stone unturned," Gallagher said outside the courtroom.
The legacy could grow even more.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Brown Administration legacy grows"> 09/13/05 07:47 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 August 2005
Another "world-class" boondoggle to boost downtown?
In a clumsily edited piece, The Chronicle reports on the latest grand plans to boost downtown:
Details of two projects that officials hope will reinvigorate key areas of downtown were unveiled Tuesday when a group announced its plans for a "world-class" park and developers said they will construct a three-block retail, condominium and office complex.
The $81 million park, which will be designed by a San Francisco firm that worked on sites for the Sydney Olympics, would be built on 12 acres in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Officials hope that its amenities — including a restaurant pavilion, jogging trail, dog run and an area for wedding receptions — will lure people downtown and draw conventioneers.
Memo to the San Francisco firm: Your PR people need to ditch the references to "world-class."
That is a term that politically savvy Houstonians use with derision, to refer to the inferiority complex that so many Houstonians seem to have about a city that's a fine place to live even if it's not a tourist destination. Indeed, "world class" is a term that pretty much went out with Lee Brown, as he managed to preside over "world-class" messes like huge unfunded liabilities in the municipal employees pension plan, HPD manpower shortages, official corruption, and more. World-class has lost any positive connotation it might once have had here.
Moving on, the Mayor's office thinks the proposal is great:
"One of the things that makes a great city great is that there are multiple places where citizens can gather just to enjoy life in the city," Guy Hagstette, Mayor Bill White's special assistant for urban design, said of the park. "And it needs to be a place where you don't have to buy a ticket. And this park must be one of those places."
We concede that it sounds like quite an improvement over the Bill White Vermin and Solid Waste Memorial Park.
Shifting gears, the reporters turn to the proposed Houston Pavilions:
Houston Pavilions would offer 365,000 square feet of retail space on three levels. It would replace three blocks of surface parking lots. Skywalks over Fannin and San Jacinto would link the retail pavilions.
Rising from the pavilions would be a 194,000-square-foot office tower and a taller, sister tower with more than 200 condominiums.
[snip]
[Developer William] Denton said Houston Pavilions can't be done without TIRZ status because downtown land values make it cost-prohibitive to build a major retail complex.
[snip]
Houston Pavilions developers have asked the city and county to allow a downtown TIRZ — a separate entity set up with the local governments' permission — to float $14.3 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements.
Those include $639,000 for curbs, pavement, sidewalks and landscaping; $685,000 for upgrading the garage; and $4.2 million for elevators, escalators, walkways, landscaping, decorative lighting and graphics. Another $8.8 million has yet to be earmarked.
Apparently, the "world-class" developments known as the George R. Brown Convention Center, Hilton Americas, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, the Main Street Rail Line, the revamped Jones Plaza, and Mayor White's new Vermin/Homeless Park just aren't enough to attract the throngs to downtown and allow our municipal leaders to impress out-of-town visitors that we really are world-class. Another $14.3 million in bonds ought to do the trick, say the self-interested developers to the local media.
Being "world-class" doesn't come cheap.
RELATED COVERAGE: KTRK-13.
RELATED COMMENTARY: The definition of insanity, Part 2 (Isolated Desolation).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/24/05 11:43 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (15)
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