On Borrowed Time

For example, Kiley and the Renaissance board stonewalled the Press's request under the Texas Public Information Act for five months, claiming the law did not apply to them. Perhaps the reluctance to allow its records to be scrutinized is not so surprising --any nonprofit "charity" that pays its executive director $270,000 a year while failing at its mission should be at least a little embarrassed.

Last week, a day after Lee Brown's press conference, Houston Renaissance board members gathered at the Associated General Contractors offices for their monthly meeting. Apparently, the group was in full damage-control mode. Even though one item on the agenda was "media inquiries," the board refused to allow reporters to attend. Kiley explained that, under the state's open-meetings law, Renaissance was not "legally required" to let the media sit in on the proceedings.

However, one representative of the public, City Councilman Orlando Sanchez, was invited to address the board. According to Sanchez, board members sought to pin some of the responsibility for their nonperformance on Brown, who, since taking over for Bob Lanier in January, has made a point of distancing himself from Houston Renaissance and, until last week, has had very little to say about the Fourth Ward project.

"As they correctly claimed, this was a city-driven initiative, and just because it's a new administration, I don't think the mayor can go, 'Well, I really don't care what happens,' " Sanchez told the Press. "I don't think that's the mayor's attitude, but at this point, if the city is still committed to the project, the administration needs to step up to the plate and show some leadership and find out where the hell they want to go with this. Or, tell them, 'Okay, give us back our money,' and turn the project over to the private sector."

Indeed, after seven months of silence, Brown seems prepared to make some kind of decision, probably after the city and Houston Housing Finance Corporation complete their audits. If Houston Renaissance has a shred of credibility left with the mayor after that remains to be seen.

E-mail Brian Wallstin at brian_wallstin@houstonpress.com.