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Nonprofit requests legal review after alleging procurement conflicts with city-backed arts organizations
Summary
Soleil International founder Danny Asbury alleged that city-sanctioned entities competed for Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) contracts and asked the council to direct a legal review under municipal and state procurement rules.
A Houston nonprofit leader asked the Arts and Culture Committee on May 21 to investigate an alleged conflict of interest involving Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) contract awards and city-sanctioned arts organizations.
Danny Asbury, executive director of Soleil International, said city-funded or city-affiliated entities that receive municipal grants and contracts — specifically Houston Arts Alliance and Fresh Arts — competed against independent nonprofits for TIRZ contracts in December 2024, creating "an unfair playing field," he told the committee.
Asbury asked the council to direct the city attorney to examine the matter under Chapter 15 of the City Code and Chapter 171 of the Texas Local Government Code, to disclose relationships between bidders and city funding sources, and to adopt procurement rules preventing city-sanctioned entities from competing against independent nonprofit applicants for the same municipal contracts.
"This creates an unfair playing field because...as city-sanctioned organizations, Fresh Arts and Houston Arts Alliance have insider access to city priorities, staff, and decision-making processes that independent nonprofits do not have," Asbury said in public comment.
Council staff told Asbury they would arrange follow-up meetings with the city's legal office and provide his contact information to the council chief of staff for next steps.
The committee did not take a vote; staff said they would coordinate a meeting between the speaker and city legal staff to gather more information.
