Houston Controller Chris Hollins’ investor conference took place Tuesday without the participation of key city officials after Mayor John Whitmore raised “pay-to-play” concerns about corporate sponsorships for the event and requested a city probe.
Hollins countered on Tuesday, calling on the Houston inspector general’s office to also investigate corporate sponsorships for the mayor’s Sept. 17 State of the City address.
“The investigation is in response to Controller Hollins soliciting $100,000 from vendors for a personal meeting with him,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in a press release Tuesday. “It’s the practice of the mayor’s office to not comment on energetic investigations. I did my job by bringing this to light.”
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“Let me be clear: I don’t consider the marketing practices of either event to be illegal,” the controller said in a press release. “But I do consider the identical algorithm should apply equally to each the mayor’s and controller’s fundraising activities.”
Several investment banks, in addition to a law firm, paid $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 to sponsor the investor conference with proceeds earmarked for the non-profit Houston Forward Fund. The mayor’s address had greater than 70 sponsors.
At an Oct. 17 press conference, Whitmire said not one of the previous eight investor conferences had corporate sponsors and that bond underwriting firms raised concerns about violating Securities and Exchange Commission rules.
“The investigation is in response to Controller Hollins soliciting $100,000 from vendors for a personal meeting with him,” Whitmire said in a press release Tuesday. “It’s the practice of the mayor’s office to not comment on energetic investigations. I did my job by bringing this to light.”
Hollins, who has called the mayor’s allegations “baseless,” told the inspector general’s office the identical fundraising model was used for each events, in accordance with the controller’s office.
“The one difference is that the mayor controls the proceeds from the State of the City, while the proceeds of the investor conference flow to a non-profit donor-advised fund, where an independent body has exclusive spending authority,” the controller’s statement said.
The investor conference drew 110-120 professionals and highlighted “the positive investment potential of Houston,” Hollins’ office said Wednesday.
“The mayor’s support turned out to not be very essential,” it added. “The conference still had full attendance and interesting panels.”
Speakers listed in a revised agenda not included Whitmire or city finance, airport, convention center, and public works officials.
Whitmire and Hollins, who each took office in January after winning runoff elections, have had tense exchanges over Houston’s structural budget deficit, in addition to a couple of bond-financed settlement with firefighters and rating outlooks that were revised to negative from stable by S&P Global Rankings and Fitch Rankings.