The Texas land commissioner is firing shots at Houston's housing authority after it emerged that staff had snapped up city property like $10 iPads and $75 laptops. Commissioner Dawn Buckingham branded the move as "greed and incompetence" revealing that the Housing and Community Development Department might've played dirty, selling off surplus electronics to its employees on the cheap instead of auctioning them off as required.
Buckingham's office has pledged to get to the bottom of whether the sold items were bought with federal disaster recovery bucks. Referring to the splurge as part of a pattern of "corruption and cover-ups," Buckingham said in a statement, "For years, my disaster recovery team has offered training on following federal and state regulations and delivering effective housing assistance the right way."
Houston’s Housing Director Keith Bynam came under fire after the alleged policy breach was uncovered. Bynam had reportedly flouted city rules by giving certain staff dibs on 174 laptops, iPads, and monitors. The investigation unearthed records that showed these items, dating back to a post-Hurricane Harvey outreach program, being let go for a song, as per Houston Chronicle's report. Yet Bynam, claiming ignorance to such sales breaching city policies, attempted a backpedal, ordering the gear's return—which mostly failed.
The matter has stirred Mayor John Whitmire, who criticized his predecessor's lack of robust action against the housing executives in question. A sign of solidarity with Buckingham for transparency and accountability, Whitmire assured, "I have asked my team to investigate what happened in the Housing and Community Development Department and ensure there will be accountability," as stated in a statement obtained by the Houston Chronicle. The lurid tale of cut-rate iPads is weaving into a complex narrative of local governance, funds, and the tough balance of doing right by the city's fiscal policies and its people.
While Bynam insists the sales had a benign intent to aid employees in need, especially those working from home needing proper work furniture, Buckingham is unimpressed, maintaining her stance against the previous administration and advocating for vigorous cooperation with the new mayor. The city's tangled confrontations with the Texas General Land Office during the Turner era, particularly over Harvey relief dollars, have only thickened the plot. With both the land commissioner and the housing department keen on closing chapters of controversy, Houstonians are left to wonder how deep the roots of this "entrenched issue" truly go.
