Port Of Houston Official's Son Works For Company That Got Port Security Contract: Featured Video

Our quote of the day today is this one, from an assistant DA in Harris County: “Are you guys trying to go to jail?”

The people to whom he’s posing that question are the commissioners of the Port of Houston Authority.

Yes, still more allegations of wrongdoing at the port from ABC 13′s Wayne Dolcefino. It’s today’s featured video on the Texas Watchdog home page.

The latest ethics trouble at the Port is that new lucrative contract for unarmed guards. They’re front line of the Port’s security defense.

The company that won the job for three more years already had it, and the port says they’ve done a good job.

But you see this guy? Turns out that Port security supervisor who helped evaluate the bids may have had a conflict of interest. State records show his son was already on the payroll of one of the companies that stood to benefit from the deal.

Oops.

So, what other companies bid on that contract, and how much did they want to charge? The port authority doesn’t want to release that. They’ve asked the state attorney general for permission to withhold that information. But Dolcefino says he knows already that the company in question didn’t have the lowest bid.

Oops again.

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Spotted a good video? Shoot a note to jennifer@texaswatchdog.org.

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Photo of massive cranes at the Port of Houston by flickr user ljmacphee, used under a Creative Commons license.

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