Harris County Commissioners Will Discuss HCFCD Executive Director in Executive Session

5/9/2026 – During the 5/14/2026 Harris County Commissioner’s Court Meeting, Commissioners will discuss Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen in Executive Session with an eye to taking possible action.

Item #490 on the Agenda reads:

Request by the Commissioner of Precinct 3 for an Executive Session pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.074(a) for discussion and possible action regarding the Executive Director of the Harris County Flood Control District.

Section 551.074 allows commissioners to conduct sessions in private when deliberating the employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee.

Performance Issues

Petersen’s performance has come under increasing scrutiny in the last few years as HCFCD projects have bogged down. For instance:

• Construction of the Mercer Basin in Rodney Ellis’ Precinct One was started in 2022 on an expedited basis. But what should have taken one year took four. The project just finished. (See Item 389).
• Funding for the reconstruction of Poor Farm Ditch in West U and South Side Place was announced in June 2023. But bid approval is on the May 14, 2026 agenda. (See Item 275).
• The construction contract for the Woodridge/Taylor Gully project was awarded in March 2026. Seven weeks later, Item 124 on the agenda shows that HCFCD is just now requesting access to the site. As of yesterday, no construction equipment was onsite yet…not even a construction trailer.
• Item 390 shows that hundreds of millions of dollars of CDBG-MIT and CDBG-DR projects have slipped so badly, they likely won’t meet state and federal deadlines. Of the 11 projects in the DR category only two are in construction and one of those is already seriously behind schedule. Construction bids have not yet been awarded on four others totaling approximately $90 million. Less than 9.5 months remain before deadlines kick on projects that typically take one to two years.

Despite all that, Item 473 on the agenda shows that Petersen is requesting renewal of a $12 million contract to provide “program management, project management, construction management and inspection services for the development and implementation of CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT projects.”

$90,000 Raise Last Year

Despite her department’s less-than-stellar performance, Commissioners awarded Petersen a $90,000 raise last year. That brought her salary to approximately $434,000 per year.

The big question at this point is…

“Will commissioners start projects they may not have money to finish?”

The $868 million in CDBG-DR and -MIT projects is on a reimbursement basis only when the job is done. Commissioners could spend a lot of money and if the projects don’t get done, they might not get reimbursed.

Will 5/14/26 be Dr. Tina Petersen’s “Day of Reckoning” that Commissioner Ellis warned about last month?

The irony here is that we had management at flood control that was doing an excellent job…until Democrats on Commissioners Court pushed them out. You can see on the graph below what has happened since.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/9/2026

3175 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.