H-GAC rejects sustainable consultant choice

Committee decision overruled

David Crossley, Jun 28, 11.

A major consultant decision made by the Coordinating Committee of the 13-county Houston region’s Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program has been overruled by the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Board of Directors, who chose a different consultant, according to a story from Guidry News.

[Disclosure: Houston Tomorrow is a member of the Coordinating Committee, and was also a member of the consultant selection team.]

The Guidry story said:

The board voted to negotiate with AECOM, one of 11 consultant teams that responded to a request for proposals to conduct public engagement for the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program, but the vote was not unanimous. Audio of meeting.

H-GAC staff had recommended AmericaSpeaks and AECOM as finalists, but Galveston County Commissioner Ken Clark moved to negotiate with AECOM only.

“I think a local presence is extremely important,” Clark said, noting that AECOM has done work for Galveston County in the past.

AmericaSpeaks is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.

Dickinson City Council Member Kerry Neves and Houston City Council Member Anne Clutterbuck voted against Clark’s motion to negotiate with AECOM.  There may have been another vote against the motion, but the audio record is not clear who that was and H-GAC does not record votes.

Commissioner Clark, whose motion to move to AECOM came immediately after the staff presentation on the issue, noted that “AECOM is the firm that did the environmental study on the Galveston County portion of the Grand Parkway,” and said further that “America Speaks is a nonprofit out of Washington DC and that concerns me.” He also noted that the AECOM proposal came from the Atlanta office, not the Houston office.

Earlier, H-GAC’s Finance and Budget Committee had considered the America Speaks recommendation and a heavy majority approved it and sent it to the board. A recording of that meeting is available at the H-GAC ftp site. The file is named “F&B Com 06212011.mp3.” The section about the Sustainable Communities recommendation is about 22 minutes into the meeting. During the conversation, one member is heard to be concerned about the fact that America Speaks is located in Washington DC and thus “part of the Washington insider scene.”

AECOM’s business dealings have been questioned in recent days because of stories of conflict of interest at the Port of Houston. According to a story from Channel 13 reported by Wayne Dolcefino, Port Chairman Jim Edmonds took “a Saharan vacation with executives of a port vendor, AECOM:”

For the next two years, Edmonds steered the port toward a consulting deal with Libya. And in late 2010 the AECOM hired Edmonds as a Texas consultant.

“The nexus between Libya and AECOM and Port and the chairman raises lots of questions,” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said.

“And I believe he has a significant conflict of interest that has to be addressed,” Houston Mayor Annise Parker said.

The Coordinating Committee is made up of 24 regional organizations.  H-GAC says “The diverse experience of members of the Coordinating Committee is meant to strike a balance across sectors and begin a dialogue around issues that have not been discussed across geographic areas, political boundaries, interests and regional needs. Members represent a robust cross section of communities and organizations, including government agencies, non-profit/advocacy organizations and research/educational institutions.”

MORE DOLCEFINO:
A Saharan vacation for the Houston port chairman

 

 

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