Who's really supporting Cy-Fair ISD bond initiative?
Cy-Fair ISD is taking a $700 million bond initiative to the voters and the Chronicle's Jason Spencer has uncovered a bit more to the story:
A political action committee, or PAC, calling itself Citizens for Cy-Fair ISD Bonds plans to spend more than $60,000 on the campaign, touting "local support" for the referendum, which begins early voting today. But what the ads don't say is that almost all the money behind the ads is coming from companies that stand to make millions if the proposal passes.
Among the biggest contributors are four architectural firms that have a history of doing business with the district, which stretches across 186 square miles in northwest Harris County.
And apparently this is par for the course:
"Potentially, it means a lot of work for a lot of companies," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America based in Alexandria, Va.
Construction firms spending money to promote bond packages isn't unusual, he said. In 2002, for example, when the Houston Independent School District asked voters for $808 million to build new schools, Atlanta-based Heery International gave $15,000 to the PAC that successfully advocated for the bond package. Heery is now managing construction projects worth nearly $200 million in bond money.
Records show the four architectural firms have already won plenty of school contracts, collectively billing Cy-Fair ISD $7.2 million last school year for design work related to a $470.5 million bond package approved by voters in 2001.
Good for Spencer, getting this information out in the open. He's the same reporter who unmasked the HISD superintendent candidates.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/24/04 01:14 PM | Print |
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