Houston Ethics Committee Receives OIG Overview and Discusses Transparency – Feb 19, 2026
Houston Ethics Committee Receives OIG Overview and Discusses Transparency – February 19, 2026
The City of Houston Ethics Committee, chaired by Councilman Juan Kimartinez, convened on February 19, 2026, to receive an overview of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) from Inspector General Robin Curtis. The presentation covered OIG's authority, case statistics, types of investigations (discrimination, retaliation, fraud/waste/abuse), the ethics commission, and election season reminders. Council members asked questions about anonymous reporting, ethics commission referrals, transparency of investigations, and gift policies.
Presentation Overview
Inspector General Robin Curtis presented a comprehensive overview of OIG's work. Key points included:
- OIG was established by Executive Order 1-39 and investigates misconduct by city employees, officials, vendors, and related parties.
- In 2025, OIG closed 449 cases with only six investigators.
- Approximately 75% of cases involve discrimination, retaliation, and related employment matters (Title VII, Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, EO 1-50). The remaining 25% involve fraud, waste, and abuse.
- OIG takes complaints from employees, residents, mayoral referrals, directors, city attorney, civil service commission appeals, and federal/state agencies.
- Complaints can be filed 24/7 via the online portal, which provides an instant receipt number.
- OIG does not investigate businesses unrelated to the city or Houston Police Department personnel (by state law).
- Fraud, waste, and abuse categories: employee standards of conduct (Chapter 14-183), city official standards (18-3), conflicts (AP 2-22), unauthorized outside employment, gift policy (EO 1-28), and nepotism policy on hiring relatives.
- The ethics commission consists of seven members from various sectors (Houston Bar Association, AFL-CIO, medical center, city council nominations). It reviews allegations of impropriety by city officials, can issue advisory opinions, and can refer investigations to OIG. If reasonable cause is found, a written report goes to council, mayor, and city attorney; the commission can issue a public reprimand or recommend removal.
- Election season reminders: no use of city resources for campaigns, no solicitation in city buildings, and Texas Election Code prohibits spending public funds for political advertising (including city time, resources, facilities).
Discussion Items
- Councilmember Peck asked about anonymous reporting. IG Curtis confirmed anonymous complaints can be filed via the portal but noted they are difficult to investigate, and expectations should be managed.
- Councilmember Ramides asked about the number of ethics commission referrals (zero current), whether investigators are attorneys (five attorneys, one non-attorney with experience), and whether entire OIG investigations are protected by attorney-client privilege (yes, except closure letters). He questioned transparency and whether council could alter that policy. IG Curtis said OIG is neutral and leaves legislation to council.
- Councilmember Ramides also asked about accepting World Cup tickets from the Sports Authority. IG Curtis confirmed all city rules apply, emphasizing the gift policy's strictness.
- Councilmember Alcorn noted the gift policy (EO 1-28) is old (dating back to Mayor Annise Parker's era) and asked if there is a monetary threshold. IG Curtis clarified the city policy has zero threshold, unlike state law which has a $50 threshold, and the city's policy is much stronger.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or formal decisions were taken; the session was informational.
- Councilman Kimartinez encouraged colleagues and staff to share the online complaint portal with constituents via newsletters and social media.
- Councilman Kimartinez noted this was the first ethics committee meeting in at least 10 years and emphasized raising the bar on integrity.
- IG Curtis offered to submit policy change recommendations to the administration.
Meeting Transcript
My name is uh Councilman Juan Kimartinez, and I'm the chair of the committee. I'd like to start by recognizing my colleagues joining us today, beginning with Vice Chair uh Councilmember Carter. Uh we've also been joined by Councilmember Peck and Councilmember Ramides and staff from Councilmember Castillo's office and Cayman. Vice Chair, if you would like to share any opening remarks. No, thank you. And uh Robin, we look forward to your presentation. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Thank you. And we've now been joined by Councilmember Alcorn and staff from Mayor Mayor Pearl Tem uh Cassis Tatum's office, staff staff from her office. Um as a reminder for council members, please hold your questions until the end of the presentation. When you're recognized, please be sure to speak clearly into your microphone. I will let that you know when your three minutes uh for questions has ended. Um now switching into the meeting agenda today. Uh the committee will be receiving an overview of the Office of Expect Inspector General from the Inspector General Robin Curtis. Uh so let me turn it over to uh Robin to begin the presentation. If you please introduce yourself uh for the record as well as any other members of your team that may have joined you. Good morning. I'm Robin Curtis, I'm the inspector general for the city of Houston. I'm gonna give an overview today of the Office of Inspector General. Uh what I'd like to do, next slide is give you a roadmap of where we're going, and I believe you have the presentation in front of you as well, so you can have a sense of what's going on. We're gonna start with the foundation of OIG, uh OIG by the numbers, uh, the split up about the types of cases to that come to OIG, and we're gonna talk about the part that you had a special interest in, the fraud, waste and abuse portion of what OIG does, the ethics commission, and then of course it's election season. So those are the areas that we will hit today. Next. So OIG was formed, established uh by Executive Order 1-39. You might say to yourself, what does OIG have the authority to do? And the answer is it's quite broad. We investigate misconduct by city employees, officials, vendors, folks related to the city. And misconduct, as you can see from your screen, is an act or failure to act that violates basically a law or a policy. So you say that's very broad. Next. So what does that mean for everyday people trying to get a resolution when misconduct is an issue? There are three areas that individuals go to to get resolution. Generally, they go through the chain of command, they go to HR, and they go to OIG. So the three uh three branches of the tree as you look for resolution and a misconduct issue. And so you might say, what really does OIG do on a regular basis? What kinds of things really come to OIG? And so the OIG investigates discrimination, retaliation. Um Texas whistleblower has a special act. Uh fraud, waste and abuse, of course, violations of federal, state, and local law. Uh referrals from the ethics committee, workplace violence, and wage theft, and city contracts and subcontracts are among those things that we see. Next. So OIG by the numbers. The number of cases that come to OIG has risen fairly dramatically over the years. Uh last year in 2025, uh, we closed 449 cases. Huge number. Six investigators. I'm very proud of them. Special shout out to each and one of them. Um you think about those 449 cases, how are those split up?
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