Published: Thu, 12/21/23
Chron.
By Kennedy Sessions
Outgoing Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, decked out in a sparkling red tuxedo jacket, wrapped up his last meeting as head of the City Council with a back-and-forth spat between council members Wednesday after finally winning approval to take the power away from Houston's airport director.
The amendment issued by Vice Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum effectively weakened the Houston Airport director's power to cancel food and beverage contracts at will. Councilors approved the measure in a 9-7 vote. Turner said he believes the proposal shows transparency in the city's process and keeps the city out of potential litigation. Previously, the mayor of Houston and the director of the Houston Airport System had the authority to decide who could terminate a contract.
"What I keep hearing from people is transparency, and then when you offer transparency, certain people don't want it anymore," Turner said Wednesday. "Why wouldn't you want it? From the administration point of view, I'm not going to have the council have the final say if the council doesn't want it."
The city's contractual process has been criticized by Turner's successor, State Sen. John Whitmire, according to Matt Sledge at the Houston Landing. Moreover, Councilmembers Michael Kubosh and Mike Knox have pushed back against the measure tagging the item to be delayed till this week, and argued it hurts the upcoming administration and does not benefit the city.
"I think this amendment is a bad idea and serves no useful purpose for the citizens of Houston, and it hampers our ability to administer these contracts because a threat of cancellation by convenience is a motivator for the vendors to perform well. By removing that we remove that stick," Knox said.
The four vendors who will see contract changes are SSP America and Paradies Lagardere at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and LaTrelle’s Galley and Areas at Hobby Airport. Local company Pappas Restuarant has previously criticized the city's contract process and filed litigation against Houston following the end of its longtime tenure at the Hobby Airport.
While the mayor claimed victory for the airport concession contracts, he failed to win approval for funding of IAH's Terminal B expansion for United Airlines. The vote has been delayed until the city's new administration takes control.