Houston Mayor Turner Fires City Housing Director: Report

HOUSTON, TX — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner fired Tom McCasland, the city's housing director, on Tuesday after he accused the mayor of a "charade" of a bid process for affordable housing to benefit a certain developer.

Turner selected a proposal in Clear Lake, called Huntington at Bay Area, which would provide 88 affordable housing units for $15 million, all for senior citizens, over housing officials' recommendation for four projects totaling $16.2 million that would finance 362 affordable units, according to the Houston Chronicle. Three of those four projects would be geared toward low-income families, the city's stated preference for affordable housing projects.

One of the companies with a stake in the Huntington at Bay Area proposal, Harbor Venture Group, is run by Barry Barnes, the mayor's longtime law partner, and Jermaine Thomas, another partner at Barnes' firm, according to the Houston Chronicle.

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In a memo to City Council members, McCasland accused the mayor of benefitting a certain developer at the expense of working families in need of affordable housing, according to the Chronicle's report.

Turner denied wrongdoing in a statement Tuesday, and said the city attorney, chief of staff, the economic development officer, and the Housing and Community Development Department director made the recommendation to move forward in a final review.

"There is no charade. Comments made by the former director of the city of Houston Housing and Community Development Department are puzzling, inflated, and wrong," Turner said in the statement. "The administration has lost confidence in his leadership and abilities to manage the department in the city's best interest, and it is time to move on. We wish him the very best."