Winehole23
02-05-2022, 10:38 AM
Amazing not that it happened, but that the local paper followed the money and laid it all out for us.
So far as any member of the public can tell, Harris County commissioners bankroll their campaigns through hundreds of donations from civically engaged constituents, many so invested in local politics they are willing to contribute more than $10,000.
Commissioners’ campaign finance reports omit a crucial piece of context, however: Most of that money comes from executives at companies awarded no-bid contracts by those commissioners.
From 2020 through 2021, commissioners relied on county vendors — through political action committees, employees and their family members — for 79% of their campaign contributions while steering 93% of engineering, architecture, surveying and appraisal work to firms who contributed.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2022/harris-county-commissioner-contributions/
So far as any member of the public can tell, Harris County commissioners bankroll their campaigns through hundreds of donations from civically engaged constituents, many so invested in local politics they are willing to contribute more than $10,000.
Commissioners’ campaign finance reports omit a crucial piece of context, however: Most of that money comes from executives at companies awarded no-bid contracts by those commissioners.
From 2020 through 2021, commissioners relied on county vendors — through political action committees, employees and their family members — for 79% of their campaign contributions while steering 93% of engineering, architecture, surveying and appraisal work to firms who contributed.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2022/harris-county-commissioner-contributions/