Houston Controller Chris Hollins’ investor conference took place Tuesday without the participation of key city officials after Mayor John Whitmore raised “pay-to-play” concerns
Hollins countered on Tuesday, calling on the Houston inspector general’s office to also investigate corporate sponsorships for the mayor’s Sept. 17 State of the City address.
”Let me be clear: I do not consider the marketing practices of either event to be unlawful,” the controller said in a statement. “But I do believe the same set of rules should apply equally to both the mayor’s and controller’s fundraising activities.”
Several investment banks, as well as a law firm, paid $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 to
At an Oct. 17 press conference, Whitmire said none of the previous eight investor conferences had corporate sponsors and that bond underwriting firms raised concerns about violating Securities and Exchange Commission rules.
“The investigation is in response to Controller Hollins soliciting $100,000 from vendors for a private meeting with him,” Whitmire said in a statement Tuesday. “It is the practice of the mayor’s office not to comment on active investigations. I did my job by bringing this to light.”
Hollins, who has called the mayor’s allegations “baseless,” told the inspector general’s office the same fundraising model was used for both events, according to the controller’s office.
“The only difference is that the mayor controls the proceeds from the State of the City, while the proceeds of the investor conference flow to a non-profit donor-advised fund, where an independent body has exclusive spending authority,” the controller’s statement said.
The
“The mayor’s support turned out to not be very important,” it added. “The conference still had full attendance and interesting panels.”
Speakers listed
Whitmire and Hollins, who both took office in January after winning runoff elections, have