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At his final City Council meeting Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner’s controversial proposal to strip away the power of Houston’s airport director to cancel four food and beverage contracts at will passed by a razor-thin margin.
The proposal, which has been fiercely criticized by Mayor-elect John Whitmire, passed 9-7 after a debate that veered into personal insinuations despite the Christmas wreath hanging over council chambers.
Also hanging over the council: The prospect that Whitmire could cancel the contract that Spanish company Areas won in March to provide concessions at Hobby Airport. A consortium led by local company Pappas Restaurants sued the city in April, arguing it should have been awarded the lucrative contract.
There was big money at stake for both sides in the 10-year contract. The winning vendor agreed to pay the city $470 million over the life of the contract, while drawing in multiples of that from peckish travelers.
Under the current contracts with Areas and three other vendors, the Houston airport director can cancel them for any reason if he believes it to be in the city’s best interest. Turner initially proposed requiring council approval of such “terminations for convenience.”
Under an amendment proposed by Vice Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum, the final measure that passed Wednesday eliminates the ability of airport directors to terminate the four concession contracts for convenience.
The administration says at-will terminations are outliers for the city’s money-making revenue contracts. Critics say the measure was intended to bind the hands of Whitmire when he takes office.
During his campaign, Whitmire alleged there may have been improprieties in the procurement process that led to the city booting Pappas from Hobby Airport.
“Obviously, that’s to protect the status quo and the people that were the beneficiaries of who they know,” Whitmire said last week. He declined further comment Wednesday.
Turner pushed back against the notion that there was anything untoward about the ordinance on Wednesday. He said the ordinances are designed to prevent the city from being sued if it cancels its contracts from one of the four vendors.
Under the terms of those contracts, the city would have been on the hook for the vendors’ build-out costs upon cancellation. Areas already has racked up $1.6 million in investment expenses at Hobby, City Attorney Arturo Michel said last week.
“You do not want to put the city in a litigious situation, where the city would be out of its pockets for millions. And that is what will happen here,” Turner said.
Under questioning from At-Large Councilmember Sallie Alcorn, Turner said he was not aware during the first vote on the Areas contract that it included a termination for convenience clause.
“If I had known, I would have said no,” Turner said.
Skeptics said they were not sure why they were voting to change a contract that was approved only months ago – and they did not like the precedent it might set.
“I’m not naming any vendors, but the fact of the matter remains, it’s a blatant attempt, as far as I’m concerned, to hamstring the next administration,” At-Large Councilmember Mike Knox said.
Knox, who is running for Harris County sheriff, attempted to derail the ordinance with two procedural maneuvers that narrowly failed.
Turner swiped back at his critics by asking why they kept bringing up Pappas and questioning whether their votes were influenced by campaign contributions from the losing bidders.
That drew an offended response from outgoing District I Councilmember Robert Gallegos, who represents Hobby Airport.
“I am going to have pride leaving this chamber with my head up high, knowing I do not have a blemish on my record. And I don't appreciate being insinuated that my vote is because of a campaign contribution,” Gallegos said.
Pappas Restaurants lobbied against the contract amendments, calling them unwise in light of its pending lawsuit against the city.
The final vote scrambled ideological allegiances while hewing closely to the original vote on awarding the Hobby concession contract.
Voting in favor of the final ordinance were Turner and Castex-Tatum, along with Councilmembers Tarsha Jackson, Carolyn Evans-Shabaazz, Dave Martin, Tiffany Thomas, Karla Cisneros, Edward Pollard and David Robinson.
Councilmembers Alcorn, Gallegos, Knox, Amy Peck, Mary Nan Huffman, Michael Kubosh and Letitia Plummer voted against. All except Plummer voted against the Areas contract in March.
District C Councilmember Abbie Kamin was absent.
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