City sues Bush, GLO over Harvey recovery
Turner eyes a permanent injunction to block agency from assuming control of grant funds
The city of Houston on Wednesday sued the Texas General Land Office and Land Commissioner George P. Bush over the state agency’s move to assume control of federal Hurricane Harvey housing funds.
The lawsuit, filed in Travis County state district court, concerns $1.27 billion in grant funds allocated to the city by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mayor Sylvester Turner is seeking a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction to block Bush from taking over the funds.
Bush has said he is seeking control of the city’s largest recovery program — a more than $400 million effort to repair or replace single-family homes damaged during Harvey — but may let Turner’s administration “negotiate the possible retention” of the programs that make up the remaining funds, such as its multifamily rental and home buyer assistance programs.
In a statement, Turner accused the GLO of “playing politics with citizens who need their Harvey damaged homes repaired.”
"I am disappointed the state agency is engaged in an illegal attempt to take control of the funds, without any regard to those who need help,” Turner
said.
Bush was not immediately available for comment, but he previously said the GLO has faced “consistent opposition by the city” when it tried to help Turner’s administration “allow for more timely disbursement of allocated funding.” A spokeswoman for Bush also previously said the city was not on track to spend the funds by the August 2024 deadline.
Turner said Wednesday that he “strongly opposes” the GLO’s move, and argued that the city’s programs are “successful and on schedule.” A March 31 program status report showed repairs had begun on 59 homes in Houston, while 44 homeowners had been reimbursed for work they had paid for themselves. Turner said Wednesday that the city has “fully served” 234 homeowners through its single-family programs, though he did not say if that referred to completed repairs.
The lawsuit comes more than two months after Bush notified Turner that he planned to take over the Harvey recovery money. The mayor immediately promised to use “all necessary legal steps” to fight the move.
In their bid to halt the takeover, city officials contended that their contract with the GLO requires their written consent on any changes to the amount of funds they receive. The city also is arguing that the GLO violated the contract by “interfering with the City’s attempts to fulfill its program obligations” and “running its own parallel program within the City which has not been approved by HUD,” according to the petition.
The GLO administers recovery programs in all the other counties that received federal Harvey aid. It began accepting applications in May from Houston residents seeking repairs, rehabilitation or reconstruction of homes damaged by Harvey. With the takeover still pending approval from the federal government, Houston officials still may accept applicants to their program, as well.
While Turner and Bush repeatedly have butted heads over Harvey recovery matters, the GLO negotiated a friendlier agreement with Harris County officials to assume control over about a third of the county’s Harvey housing recovery dollars.
Under that agreement, the GLO is set to take control of about $338 million of the county’s $1.2 billion project, heading up federally funded repairs of Harvey-damaged homes while the county maintains control of its other programs, such as developing affordable rental units and building new single-family homes.
Turner said the debate revolves around the city and GLO’s differing priorities about delivering aid to low-income and elderly residents.
“The City has specifically created its programs to ensure that Houston’s most vulnerable residents are able to recover from Harvey,” Turner said. “At the heart of the dispute with the GLO is whether the State will allow local control to meet the community’s priorities or whether the State can override the priority’s set by the local community.”