Two letters from Texas General Land Office (GLO) – one to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the other to US Representatives Al Green and Sylvia Garcia – explain the GLO’s awards in a recent competition for $1.1 billion in Harvey mitigation funding.
GLO Commissioner George P. Bush sent the first letter to HUD on May 27, shortly after the GLO “snubbed” (according to Mayor Sylvester Turner) Houston and Harris County. Outraged politicians at City Hall and the County Courthouse organized a protest campaign targeted at the HUD and the GLO. These two letters lay out a slightly different mitigation funding story than the one peddled to Houston media outlets by the City and County. Most media coverage trumpeted how Houston and Harris County got “zero” out of competition because of political warfare between Republicans in Austin and Democrats here.
The facts in these two letters got very little play in Houston media.
Bush Letter to HUD Requests $750 Million Direct Allocation for Harris County
Bush’s letter explains to HUD how the GLO organized and scored grant applications in the competition. The letter also explains how:
GLO received more than $6.5 billion in grant requests for $1.1 billion during floods in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Money was awarded based on a numeric scoring system approved by HUD
Harris County was one of dozens of counties affected by the three storms
Harris County and Harris County communities were awarded $90.4 million and $26.7 million for a total of $117,213,863.96 in the first round of mitigation competition.
He (Bush) is submitting a “new action plan amendment” to that will direct $750 million to Harris County.
GLO recognizes the great need for mitigation funding in Harris County.
GLO supports a direct allocation to Harris County (non-competitive)
He (Bush) requests speedy approval of the action plan amendment/direct allocation.
Hmmmmm. $117 million is a little more than zero. However, the point to remember here is that Harris County Flood Control got zero. The $117 went to cities within Harris County to improve resilience.
Havens’ Letter Cites HUD Restrictions, Slow Rate of Drawdown for Previous Programs
HUD did not allow damage from Hurricane Harvey to be used as a metric for allocating CDBG-MIT (Community Development Block Grant Mitigation) funding!
Mark Havens, Deputy land commissioner
Deputy Commissioner Havens also points out that:
The previous HUD secretary was adamant that a direct allocation didn’t go to Houston and Harris County, and that all counties should be eligible for funds.
If you add the $117 million mentioned above to the $750 million direct allocation requested by Bush, Harris County would actually get $867 million which the County could then share with the City of Houston as it saw fit.
Harris County also set aside $120 million in infrastructure funding out of the original $2.5 billion allocated to the County and City in the first round of Hurricane Harvey funding.
The City also received a direct allocation of $61,884,000 in mitigation funding out of the original $2.5 billion.
Out of the $2.5 billion, only $91,225,206 – or 3.6% of the total has been drawn down to date.
If the City and County don’t dramatically speed up the distribution of these funds, the funds will be returned to HUD.
HUD not yet responded to the request for the $750 million direct allocation.
Flood mitigation should be non-partisan. This is about helping people whose lives were destroyed by flooding, not finger pointing. I’m not taking sides. I’m just trying to help give you the information you need about mitigation funding to intelligently question the officials you elected to serve you.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/15/2021
1386 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TS-Harvey-8-30-17-209.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=17681024adminadmin2021-06-15 20:07:292021-06-15 20:10:31GLO Letters to HUD, Green, Garcia Tell Another Side of Mitigation Funding Story
The Houston Chronicle reported this afternoon that Russ Poppe, the Executive Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, submitted a letter of resignation and plans to leave his office on July 2.
Poppe helped former County Judge Ed Emmett sell the historic $2.5 Billion Harris County Flood Bond in 2018 with a whirlwind, barnstorming tour of all 23 watersheds. After voters approved the bond, Poppe, in essence, became the head of multi-billion enterprise overnight.
Russ Poppe
Summary of Work to Date on Flood Bond Projects
His focus immediately turned to hiring staff and contractors to begin hundreds of projects identified in the watershed meetings. In April, he provided an update on the projects’ progress through the end of the first quarter of 2021.
Accepting 25 grants totaling approximately $960 million with Bond funds providing around $259 million in local matching funds
Executing 326 engineering agreements totaling $241 million
Awarding 39 construction agreements totaling $296 million
Procuring 19 staff augmentation agreements providing 113 contract staff members
Acquiring nearly 340 properties at a value over $208 million for construction projects, floodplain preservation, and wetland mitigation banks
Making $115 million available to the Office of the County Engineer to manage and construct drainage improvements in nearly 100 subdivisions across Harris County
Conducting 140 community engagement meetings with over 11,413 attendees
Completing nearly 630 home buyouts at a value over $130 million with over 680 additional in process for a buyout (since Hurricane Harvey)
Completing a repair program worth more than $125 million to address damages to District infrastructure causedby Harvey
At the end of March, only 21 bond projects had not yet been initiated. All in all, a pretty amazing record in less than three years.
In addition, Poppe made countless trips to Austin and Washington to lobby for funding. He reportedly had strong relationships in both places and helped attract $495 million in US Army Corps funding for Harris County projects currently being deployed. He also helped attract $260 million in funding for projects on Clear Creek and was head of the San Jacinto River Planning Group.
Navigating the Political Process
Most who watched Poppe in action at Harris County Commissioner’s court meetings were impressed by his calm, steady demeanor in a tumultuous political environment.
Shortly after the flood bond was sold to the public, Lina Hidalgo was elected County Judge in a blue wave of straight-ticket voting. That gave Democrats a majority in Commissioners Court and they systematically started replacing the heads of departments.
Despite his successes, Poppe came under fire from Democrats for not attracting partnership funds fast enough. That supposedly threatened projects in low-to-moderate income areas. Anyone who watched Commissioners Court regularly witnessed constant backbiting in recent months.
In March, it reached a crescendo. Democrats demanded that Poppe identify the next seven years of partnership funding in 90 days. Commissioner Rodney Ellis threatened “we’ll all have blood on our hands” if those projects in Halls and Greens Bayous don’t get completed. The implication was that Poppe was dragging his feet in adopting the Democrats “equity” plan.
FOIA Request Shows Poor Watersheds Already Far Ahead
To see if that last point was true, I started investigating those watersheds. I also submitted a FOIA request for HCFCD spending by watershed over several different time periods, including since Harvey and since 2000. I have now correlated that with other information and have spent months analyzing it. (It will soon turn into a series of articles.)
Suffice it to say that Poppe and his team were not dragging their feet.
A quartile analysis showed that the poorest watersheds were already getting twice as much flood-mitigation funding compared to the richest.
You’d think that would make Lina Hidalgo, Rodney Ellis, Adrian Garcia, Shiela Jackson Lee and Al Green happy. However, it appears to this observer that the Democrats have driven out a tremendous asset who was working hard to please his political bosses. In my opinion, they should have just declared victory and let Poppe do his work.
It will be hard to find a replacement as qualified as he is. At their June 29 meeting, Commissioners will have three options:
Take no action
Name an interim director
Appoint a new director
Make sure you watch that meeting. The fate of the flood-mitigation in Harris County is at stake. Poppe was highly respected according to multiple sources and will make a tremendous asset to some organization. People of Poppe’s calibre rarely make moves like this without having a plan in mind. I hope he decides to stay in the region.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/12/2021
1383 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Headshot_Russ_Poppe.jpg?fit=824%2C960&ssl=1960824adminadmin2021-06-12 15:49:242021-06-14 14:52:34Russ Poppe, Head of Flood Control District, Resigns
According to the National Hurricane Center, an area of cloudiness and showers has developed over the Bay of Campeche and adjacent land areas. Slow development of this system is possible over the next several days as it moves slowly and erratically.
A tropical depression could form by the middle of next week.
NHC
Due to the slow motion, regardless of development, heavy rainfall is possible over portions of Central America and southern Mexico. So keep your eye on the Bay of Campeche next week.
Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent.
Chance of formation through 5 days has increased to medium…40 percent.
Beyond that, no one is predicting at this point. If nothing else, this should be a good reminder to think about preparedness.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/12/21
1283 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/two_atl_5d1.png?fit=900%2C665&ssl=1665900adminadmin2021-06-12 09:46:422021-06-12 09:48:53Brewing in Bay of Campeche
GLO Letters to HUD, Green, Garcia Tell Another Side of Mitigation Funding Story
Two letters from Texas General Land Office (GLO) – one to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the other to US Representatives Al Green and Sylvia Garcia – explain the GLO’s awards in a recent competition for $1.1 billion in Harvey mitigation funding.
GLO Commissioner George P. Bush sent the first letter to HUD on May 27, shortly after the GLO “snubbed” (according to Mayor Sylvester Turner) Houston and Harris County. Outraged politicians at City Hall and the County Courthouse organized a protest campaign targeted at the HUD and the GLO. These two letters lay out a slightly different mitigation funding story than the one peddled to Houston media outlets by the City and County. Most media coverage trumpeted how Houston and Harris County got “zero” out of competition because of political warfare between Republicans in Austin and Democrats here.
The facts in these two letters got very little play in Houston media.
Bush Letter to HUD Requests $750 Million Direct Allocation for Harris County
Bush’s letter explains to HUD how the GLO organized and scored grant applications in the competition. The letter also explains how:
Hmmmmm. $117 million is a little more than zero. However, the point to remember here is that Harris County Flood Control got zero. The $117 went to cities within Harris County to improve resilience.
Havens’ Letter Cites HUD Restrictions, Slow Rate of Drawdown for Previous Programs
Deputy GLO Land Commissioner Mark Havens penned the second letter to Green and Garcia on June 10, 2021. It begins by making some of the same points about $6.5 billion in applications, HUD-approved rules, etc. But then, in regard to the rules he adds something new in the debate.
Deputy Commissioner Havens also points out that:
For More Information
For the full text of:
To see the full text of other documents relating to this issue, see the links this post.
Flood mitigation should be non-partisan. This is about helping people whose lives were destroyed by flooding, not finger pointing. I’m not taking sides. I’m just trying to help give you the information you need about mitigation funding to intelligently question the officials you elected to serve you.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/15/2021
1386 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Russ Poppe, Head of Flood Control District, Resigns
The Houston Chronicle reported this afternoon that Russ Poppe, the Executive Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, submitted a letter of resignation and plans to leave his office on July 2.
Poppe helped former County Judge Ed Emmett sell the historic $2.5 Billion Harris County Flood Bond in 2018 with a whirlwind, barnstorming tour of all 23 watersheds. After voters approved the bond, Poppe, in essence, became the head of multi-billion enterprise overnight.
Summary of Work to Date on Flood Bond Projects
His focus immediately turned to hiring staff and contractors to begin hundreds of projects identified in the watershed meetings. In April, he provided an update on the projects’ progress through the end of the first quarter of 2021.
The highlights included:
At the end of March, only 21 bond projects had not yet been initiated. All in all, a pretty amazing record in less than three years.
In addition, Poppe made countless trips to Austin and Washington to lobby for funding. He reportedly had strong relationships in both places and helped attract $495 million in US Army Corps funding for Harris County projects currently being deployed. He also helped attract $260 million in funding for projects on Clear Creek and was head of the San Jacinto River Planning Group.
Navigating the Political Process
Most who watched Poppe in action at Harris County Commissioner’s court meetings were impressed by his calm, steady demeanor in a tumultuous political environment.
Shortly after the flood bond was sold to the public, Lina Hidalgo was elected County Judge in a blue wave of straight-ticket voting. That gave Democrats a majority in Commissioners Court and they systematically started replacing the heads of departments.
Despite his successes, Poppe came under fire from Democrats for not attracting partnership funds fast enough. That supposedly threatened projects in low-to-moderate income areas. Anyone who watched Commissioners Court regularly witnessed constant backbiting in recent months.
In March, it reached a crescendo. Democrats demanded that Poppe identify the next seven years of partnership funding in 90 days. Commissioner Rodney Ellis threatened “we’ll all have blood on our hands” if those projects in Halls and Greens Bayous don’t get completed. The implication was that Poppe was dragging his feet in adopting the Democrats “equity” plan.
FOIA Request Shows Poor Watersheds Already Far Ahead
To see if that last point was true, I started investigating those watersheds. I also submitted a FOIA request for HCFCD spending by watershed over several different time periods, including since Harvey and since 2000. I have now correlated that with other information and have spent months analyzing it. (It will soon turn into a series of articles.)
Suffice it to say that Poppe and his team were not dragging their feet.
You’d think that would make Lina Hidalgo, Rodney Ellis, Adrian Garcia, Shiela Jackson Lee and Al Green happy. However, it appears to this observer that the Democrats have driven out a tremendous asset who was working hard to please his political bosses. In my opinion, they should have just declared victory and let Poppe do his work.
It will be hard to find a replacement as qualified as he is. At their June 29 meeting, Commissioners will have three options:
Make sure you watch that meeting. The fate of the flood-mitigation in Harris County is at stake. Poppe was highly respected according to multiple sources and will make a tremendous asset to some organization. People of Poppe’s calibre rarely make moves like this without having a plan in mind. I hope he decides to stay in the region.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/12/2021
1383 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Brewing in Bay of Campeche
According to the National Hurricane Center, an area of cloudiness and showers has developed over the Bay of Campeche and adjacent land areas. Slow development of this system is possible over the next several days as it moves slowly and erratically.
Due to the slow motion, regardless of development, heavy rainfall is possible over portions of Central America and southern Mexico. So keep your eye on the Bay of Campeche next week.
Beyond that, no one is predicting at this point. If nothing else, this should be a good reminder to think about preparedness.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/12/21
1283 Days since Hurricane Harvey