Thursday, Sep 01, 2011, 07:00AM CST
By Mike Cronin
Gaps in the ethics policies of the Houston school district make it difficult to verify whether its board members are awarding contracts fairly.
The loopholes are so significant that recent efforts by trustees and school system officials to make the Houston Independent School District more transparent fail to prevent potential abuses of influence.
Last year, for example, a new policy forbade board members from speaking to vendors during the 30 days leading up to a vote on a contract for which those vendors are bidding.
Yet such an improvement begs the question: How can HISD officials enforce it?
“When you think about it, all laws, rules and regulations, at some level, depend on voluntary compliance by individual citizens,” said David Thompson, a Houston lawyer who has been special counsel to the HISD board for the last 20 years. “It's part of the social contract.”
The 1.1 million residents who live in the district, with its $1.6 billion annual budget, have observed their school board members do specific things that are legal, but which experts nationwide say are unethical.
They have watched board members accept extravagant gifts. They have watched board members vote on contracts with vendors run by friends and with vendors for whom they have done consulting work. And they have watched board members talk to vendors within the 30-day silent period.
“On ethics, the law should be the floor, not the ceiling,” said Judy Nadler, a former mayor of Santa Clara, Calif.
Texas state law allows elected officials – including HISD board members – to accept gifts, such as tickets to a Houston Rockets game or a trip to Costa Rica. And as long as the gift-giver is present at the event, the tickets and trips don’t have to be disclosed.
HISD Trustee Larry Marshall twice last year flew to Costa Rica on trips arranged by state Rep. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat who also is an insurance agent who services some of HISD's flood insurance. Miles was not along on the trips, but Marshall disclosed the November trip on his most recent ethics disclosure form.
Thompson said that law often surprises people.
Nadler was stunned.
“You're not kidding me, are you?” asked Nadler, who is a senior fellow for government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
“That's like lobbying on steroids,” Nadler said. “It is the ultimate access to someone who's going to be making policy decisions. I find that very troubling.”
Martha Perego, director of ethics for the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C., said elected officials “should decline all gifts – with the exception of a plate of cookies or a bouquet of flowers.”
But in Texas, it's legal for elected officials to accept gifts of food, lodging, entertainment and transportation, said Tim Sorrells, the deputy general counsel of the Texas Ethics Commission in Austin.
The commission is a state entity funded by Texas citizens. Its duties include monitoring financial disclosures by public officials, Sorrels said, but doesn't often venture into the realm of local school districts.
“Whether people want to debate the merits of the law, it is one that has existed for many years in Texas,” Thompson said.
Due to questions asked by Texas Watchdog and Ericka Mellon at the Houston Chronicle, HISD board President Paula Harris said last month that she would no longer vote on contracts involving Westco Ventures, a firm owned and run by a close friend.
That's not only good for public trust in the school board, Nadler said. It's also good for the vendors.
“If a vendor is selected, then it comes out that a personal relationship exists with a board member, it gives a black eye to the vendor,” Nadler said.
Before Harris' announcement last month, she voted to approve four contracts that included work for Westco, a Houston-based company owned by her friend, Nicole West. They traveled to Italy together in April, during the silent period on a contract. She told the Chronicle she didn’t discuss business with West on the trip.
Until Houston reporters began asking HISD officials questions, district board members were about to negotiate a $640,000 no-bid contract to Alken Health Resources, a Houston company run by Dr. Kenneth D. Wells. Marshall and Wells traveled to Costa Rica in November on the same flight to explore “medical tourism” in that country. Medical tourism is the practice of paying for medical procedures abroad at lower costs than exist in the United States.
“When things like that happen, the public says, 'Oh, it's all an inside deal,'” Nadler said. “There's no opportunity for someone from the outside.”
It's all about trust, said the International City/County Management Association's Perego.
“People who live in the school district need to be able trust that the board is making the best decisions and are being really careful with how the money is being spent.”
Board members are also allowed to vote on contracts involving companies for whom they have done consulting work. Marshall voted in summer 2010 in favor of renewing the school district’s multi-million-dollar contract with Community Education Partners, which runs alternative schools for HISD.
Marshall had worked as a $1,500-a-day consultant for CEP on issues outside of Texas until 2004, when HISD board members banned the district from contracting with any firm in which a trustee had a financial interest.
Business owners seeking to win contracts with HISD also should care about the integrity of the process, Nadler said. It's not only the elected board members whose reputation is on the line.
“If vendors care about their reputation and words gets out that you're buying off board members or buying contracts – ultimately, it will be the district who will not want to deal with someone with that much baggage,” Nadler said.
“Maybe they don't investigate things like that in Texas,” Nadler continued. “Most places avoid any hint of impropriety and want to ensure the public that they have received bids in a fair and open matter. It's better for business. It's better for everybody.”
Thompson, the HISD board special counsel, said he could not divulge ethical advice he's given to board members behind closed doors. But he said he regularly gives advice during public meetings to the board on the requirements of law and local policy.
Ultimately, however, Thompson said, “My role is not to tell them, 'Here's what I would do.' I am their lawyer, not their confessor. My job is to make sure they know what their legal requirements are as they take actions.”
***
Contact Mike Cronin at mike@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow him on Twitter at @michaelccronin or @texaswatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of 'How to Break in a Chalkboard' by flickr user zugaldia, used via a Creative Commons license.
Last year, for example, a new policy forbade board members from speaking to vendors during the 30 days leading up to a vote on a contract for which those vendors are bidding.
Yet such an improvement begs the question: How can HISD officials enforce it?
“When you think about it, all laws, rules and regulations, at some level, depend on voluntary compliance by individual citizens,” said David Thompson, a Houston lawyer who has been special counsel to the HISD board for the last 20 years. “It's part of the social contract.”
The 1.1 million residents who live in the district, with its $1.6 billion annual budget, have observed their school board members do specific things that are legal, but which experts nationwide say are unethical.
They have watched board members accept extravagant gifts. They have watched board members vote on contracts with vendors run by friends and with vendors for whom they have done consulting work. And they have watched board members talk to vendors within the 30-day silent period.
“On ethics, the law should be the floor, not the ceiling,” said Judy Nadler, a former mayor of Santa Clara, Calif.
Texas state law allows elected officials – including HISD board members – to accept gifts, such as tickets to a Houston Rockets game or a trip to Costa Rica. And as long as the gift-giver is present at the event, the tickets and trips don’t have to be disclosed.
HISD Trustee Larry Marshall twice last year flew to Costa Rica on trips arranged by state Rep. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat who also is an insurance agent who services some of HISD's flood insurance. Miles was not along on the trips, but Marshall disclosed the November trip on his most recent ethics disclosure form.
Thompson said that law often surprises people.
Nadler was stunned.
“You're not kidding me, are you?” asked Nadler, who is a senior fellow for government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
“That's like lobbying on steroids,” Nadler said. “It is the ultimate access to someone who's going to be making policy decisions. I find that very troubling.”
Martha Perego, director of ethics for the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C., said elected officials “should decline all gifts – with the exception of a plate of cookies or a bouquet of flowers.”
But in Texas, it's legal for elected officials to accept gifts of food, lodging, entertainment and transportation, said Tim Sorrells, the deputy general counsel of the Texas Ethics Commission in Austin.
The commission is a state entity funded by Texas citizens. Its duties include monitoring financial disclosures by public officials, Sorrels said, but doesn't often venture into the realm of local school districts.
“Whether people want to debate the merits of the law, it is one that has existed for many years in Texas,” Thompson said.
Due to questions asked by Texas Watchdog and Ericka Mellon at the Houston Chronicle, HISD board President Paula Harris said last month that she would no longer vote on contracts involving Westco Ventures, a firm owned and run by a close friend.
That's not only good for public trust in the school board, Nadler said. It's also good for the vendors.
“If a vendor is selected, then it comes out that a personal relationship exists with a board member, it gives a black eye to the vendor,” Nadler said.
Before Harris' announcement last month, she voted to approve four contracts that included work for Westco, a Houston-based company owned by her friend, Nicole West. They traveled to Italy together in April, during the silent period on a contract. She told the Chronicle she didn’t discuss business with West on the trip.
Until Houston reporters began asking HISD officials questions, district board members were about to negotiate a $640,000 no-bid contract to Alken Health Resources, a Houston company run by Dr. Kenneth D. Wells. Marshall and Wells traveled to Costa Rica in November on the same flight to explore “medical tourism” in that country. Medical tourism is the practice of paying for medical procedures abroad at lower costs than exist in the United States.
“When things like that happen, the public says, 'Oh, it's all an inside deal,'” Nadler said. “There's no opportunity for someone from the outside.”
It's all about trust, said the International City/County Management Association's Perego.
“People who live in the school district need to be able trust that the board is making the best decisions and are being really careful with how the money is being spent.”
Board members are also allowed to vote on contracts involving companies for whom they have done consulting work. Marshall voted in summer 2010 in favor of renewing the school district’s multi-million-dollar contract with Community Education Partners, which runs alternative schools for HISD.
Marshall had worked as a $1,500-a-day consultant for CEP on issues outside of Texas until 2004, when HISD board members banned the district from contracting with any firm in which a trustee had a financial interest.
Business owners seeking to win contracts with HISD also should care about the integrity of the process, Nadler said. It's not only the elected board members whose reputation is on the line.
“If vendors care about their reputation and words gets out that you're buying off board members or buying contracts – ultimately, it will be the district who will not want to deal with someone with that much baggage,” Nadler said.
“Maybe they don't investigate things like that in Texas,” Nadler continued. “Most places avoid any hint of impropriety and want to ensure the public that they have received bids in a fair and open matter. It's better for business. It's better for everybody.”
Thompson, the HISD board special counsel, said he could not divulge ethical advice he's given to board members behind closed doors. But he said he regularly gives advice during public meetings to the board on the requirements of law and local policy.
Ultimately, however, Thompson said, “My role is not to tell them, 'Here's what I would do.' I am their lawyer, not their confessor. My job is to make sure they know what their legal requirements are as they take actions.”
***
Contact Mike Cronin at mike@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow him on Twitter at @michaelccronin or @texaswatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of 'How to Break in a Chalkboard' by flickr user zugaldia, used via a Creative Commons license.
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