Stevens was unable to speak specifically about Williams' duties at the finance corporation, though the words "assist"and "recommend" were prominent. He eventually did confirm that Williams is a consultant to the finance corporation, though he doesn't know how much he's being compensated. Nor was Stevens sure when Williams might have begun work for him. "Sometime in the last three to six months" was his best guess.
The mystery surrounding Williams' new mayoral appointment is reflected in the vagueness of Stevens' job description as Lanier's unpaid housing advisor. Despite the broad responsibilities, the operation is run out of Stevens' business address on Dairy Ashford, a good 20-minute drive from City Hall. There, according to Stevens, he "coordinates" a murky pool of funds comprising proceeds from the finance corporation's tax-exempt bond issues, city housing money and federal grants.
Most recently, the Houston Housing Finance Corporation put up $3 million to help purchase the Rice Hotel, though which pot of money the funding came from is anyone's guess. The Rice was turned over to private developer Randall Davis, who plans to spend $20 million to build loft apartments. In a speech last week, Stevens mentioned that other projects are on the immediate horizon, including the demolition of Allen Parkway Village. A $40 million campus-style, mixed-income development is planned for the site.
Despite the public largess that makes such projects possible, Stevens makes no effort to disguise his -- and the mayor's -- contempt for the bureaucratic process. His job, he explains, is a fast-track approach similar to the one employed by Williams for the Greater Houston Wastewater Program. Its major test has been Homes for Houston, which hopes to encourage private builders to construct 25,000 housing units by the year 2000.
The project has been slow getting off the ground, mostly because providing housing in the initially targeted neighborhoods close to downtown has not proven popular with builders. The program was recently expanded to include any land within the boundaries of the city.
While Williams -- a master implementer, by all accounts -- might be able to help with Homes for Houston and other projects, his employment with the Housing Finance Corporation could eventually pose a conflict for the Midtown Reinvestment Zone, a tax increment financing district covering a potentially desirable swath of land between downtown and the Texas Medical Center. The district was created by city ordinance, and allows a board of directors to reinvest the tax revenues generated by new construction back into the district.
The problem is that Williams is chairman of the Midtown Zone. City Council approved Williams for the position in April 1995, shortly after he announced that he was jumping ship from the wastewater program to Montgomery-Watson. But instead of questioning Williams about the revolving door act, councilmembers praised him profusely for his efficient management of the Greater Houston Wastewater Program.
Likewise, when he was reappointed this May to chair the Midtown board, Council was aware -- or should have been -- that he also worked for the Houston Housing Finance Corporation.
Last week, at the monthly forum of the Downtown Houston Association, Stevens announced that construction of multifamily housing was due to begin in Midtown in "six to nine months." Like Council, Stevens apparently won't consider the possibility of a conflict between Williams' finance corporation contract and his City Council appointment. Midtown has made no requests for funding from the finance corporation, Stevens says, and he seems willing to cross that bridge only if and when he comes to it.
Either that, or he's got a pretty good sense of humor.
"The City Council pretty much has a say-so on everything that Midtown does," Stevens says, "so there's really a major oversight program.
In the August 22 story "Travels with Doug," staff writer Brian Wallstin erroneously reported that Jimmie Schindewolf was never confirmed by City Council as director of the city's Public Works and Engineering Department. Schindewolf's appointment was unanimously approved by Council on May 19, 1993.
