in Houston, Texas
Port of Houston treats people with port connections to fancy dinners, free alcohol on port tour boat: Featured video
Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 10:54AM CST
By Jennifer Peebles
Port boat

First of all, I'm jealous. For two reasons.

When I took the free Port of Houston tour on the M/V Sam Houston a couple of years ago, they told us we couldn't bring our cameras along. I had to go back and put mine in my truck in the parking lot at the dock.

It's bad enough that I couldn't take my camera when apparently everyone on Wayne Dolcefino's Sam Houston cruise had a camera with them. But there's even more to be jealous about.

It turns out that while Dolcefino and I were only treated to soft drinks and coffee on our tours, some VIPs with connections to the port authority got treated to thousands of dollars worth of filet dinners and free alcohol. 

And our tax dollars paid for it.

It's yet another installment in Dolcefino's "Port of Plenty" investigation into spending by the Port of Houston Authority, and it's today's featured video on the Texas Watchdog home page. 

Turns out one group of VIPs treated to filets and alcohol have some kind of ties to a woman who is a principal in a private company with port president Alec Dreyer.

And another group of VIPs were the Pearland high school basketball team, which includes the son of the port authority's former PR director -- the one who got the $300,000-plus severance package a while back.

Where's my filet? 

***

Spotted a good video? Texas Watchdog is always looking for good video examples of watchdog journalism, or reporting on Texas government and politics or government accountability or transparency. Shoot a note to jennifer@texaswatchdog.org

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