"Victoria County Emergency?"

Victoria Advocate
5/1/2020

The investigation started with a tip from a source that we needed to get the audio recording of a Victoria County Airport Commission meeting. This commission, which had flown mostly under the public’s radar, records its public meetings, as it should under the spirit of the Texas Public Information Act. We immediately got the tape and heard a discussion among some airport commissioners that the county might have mishandled Hurricane Harvey recovery money.

That tip led to many more open-records requests, 50 news stories and 10 editorial board opinions -- so far. The sustained news and editorial coverage prompted Victoria community leaders and others to express their outrage at the county commissioners circumventing state bidding laws and failing to follow standard business practices when handling any construction project, much less one that totaled more than $4 million.

We have the ongoing coverage gathered under our website’s special projects section here.

Our coverage revealed a so-called “Fifth Commissioner” pushed invoices past the county auditor and the county treasurer; hundreds of thousands of dollars of work undone after the county paid vague invoices; and repeated calls for a forensic audit to sort out the mess. This coverage eventually attracted the attention of the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office, which called in the Texas Rangers.

The coverage also has raised important public policy questions about how effectively local governments handle and are compensated for losses sustained in an emergency. We've reported on the Victoria school district suing its insurance carrier for $22 million; Refugio County suing the Texas Association of Counties, the same carrier used by Victoria, because of its losses; and the Bloomington school district lacking all documentation for millions of dollars of Harvey repairs.

Most Victoria County commissioners have tried to persuade taxpayers to pay no attention to how they spent Hurricane Harvey recovery money. Our sustained reporting and editorial board crusade have kept that dodge from working. The latest news is the commissioners have relented and are calling for a forensic audit. This is vital accountability journalism that makes a newspaper essential to its community.

Thank you for considering “Victoria County Emergency?” for a Showcase Award for Enterprise and Innovation. Your recognition helps sustain public service journalism.

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Submitted by Chris Cobler.