TOO MANY CHIEFS, TOO MANY INDIANS

This publication is dedicated to & maintained by those of us who really care about this city. We are many --- (and growing stronger with more people joining our ranks everyday). We are the nameless , faceless city, county, state, federal, and corporate taxpaying citizens & workers who are sick of the "good ole boy system" here in Houston, Texas --We were born on 7-30-1999. We are --- married & single-male & female, maintenance worker to Deputy Directors. We are the faceless civil servants who year after year do our job. We are the one's who see the hard earned tax $$s of the citizens in this area used & abused and given away to enrich a few greedy people with each new administration. Our hobbies include: Watching our backs---as we try to bring you the truth of what is happening in Houston, and getting the REAL information out to the public

"you have come to see us dance for you,
and dance for you we shall,
but the dance that we will share with you,
is a part that we will choose.
our dance will be filled with our inner passion,
fulfilling our expectations alone.
and if this dance isn't pleasing to you,
then you must find a dance of your own

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ANY DONATION WILL HELP.... PLEASE ......We took in a total of $150.00 last month...(WE SURE COULD USE A FAX MACHINE!!!)

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."-Plato

It has come to HouSnitch's attention this week that Showri Nandigiri has been making a few "changes" during his last days at PW&E.

Seems that Showri has decided there are a few people who are "too friendly with Councilmembers , and the press".

With that praying so hard on his mind ... Showri moved a bunch of Chief engineers, and program managers out of 611 Walker, last week.

Several of them are sitting at a conference table over at the E.B Cape Center. Not doing anything really ... just sitting there ... no phone, no desk, no computer ... no duties.

Another is sitting in a chair in a kitchen area. No duties, not working, just sitting.

Now ya see, these guys weren't neglecting their jobs, or being non-productive .. they were just a little too honest when questioned by a Councilmember or by a member of the press.

Well, just to prove to Showri that they aren't ... HouSnitch went to 611 Walker on Tuesday, Wednesday (same time Harish Jajoo was in a councilmember's office answering questions about a screwed up project) and Thursday we went ...TWICE, to pick up a couple of RCAs and a few other things.

(well, we have to show Vanden Bosch some how that Showri has screwed up again. Lord have mercy, we don't call him one of the Original three stooges for nothing!!)

(Any Resemblance Between The Three Stooges (GARY ORADAT,
SHOWRI NANDAGIRI, AND HERBERT LUM) And
Regular Human Beings, Whether Living Or Dead
Is A Dirty Shame!

Aside from all the manpower being wasted, we wonder how many tax dollar$ are being wasted by NOT letting these people do their jobs? How many projects are being held up?

LET'S SEE .... HMMMMMM, TWO RCAs THAT SHOWS WHAT IN MY OPINION APPEARS TO BE A BUILT IN ILLEGAL DEAL FOR RATNAL& BAHL, PINNED BY SHOWRI NANDAGIRI, AHMMM, ANOTHER REPORT ON A CAR ACCIDENT BY SHOWRI'S PET .. MOHAMMED ZUBAIR, INTER OFFICE MEMOS FROM A PW&E EMPLOYEE WORKING OVER IN BUILDING SERVICES PASSING HIMSELF OFF AS A Professional Engineer WHEN HE ISN'T, AHHH YES, AND AN INTER OFFICE E-MAIL FROM THE TEXAS BOARD OF ENGINEERS. IS THAT PROOF ENOUGH SHOWRI, THAT YOU'RE JUST ON A TIRADE? YOU STILL DON'T KNOW YOUR , WELL, ASS, FROM ONE OF THOSE POT HOLES OUT THERE ON ANY STREET IN HOUSTON?

See that RCA pinned by Showri and of course approved by Oradat ... well they built in a fee for Construction management with that design fee.

You can't do that! It hasn't even been determined how much construction is going to be ... and by the way...The Texas State Board of Engineering has determined that it is a conflict of interest for Design teams to have Construction management contracts for a job they designed.

D) WHO/HOW is the contract negotiated? (if design company is also construction management ... it's to their benefit to keep costs high!)

(some of them may not have a P.E. on board! some of them aren't even located in our city!)

F) Since the P.E. Board has determined this is a direct conflict of interest, why is the city continuing this practice?

THIS IS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CITY/TAXPAYERS. THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY IF DESIGN IS WRONG!

(only here in Houston where bureaucrats get to pay off "buddies" does the City pay design phase & construction phase of the engineering services PLUS Construction Management services for inspection of their own design work!!)

We think it clearly circumvents Council if design and Construction management are included in same contract. HOWEVER this contract as REWRITTEN AFTER THE FACT. (how many others have been too???)

We further believe it is against the professional services clause set up by the state to require proposals for professional services.

ONE for design ... ONE for Construction management. As it is Showri has amended the original contract without council approval.

JON, WE ADVISE YOU TO INDEPENDENTLY CHECK WORK BEFORE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CLOSE OUT AND ACCEPTANCE. (oh but that's what we pay a managing team to do...right?)

YOU SHOULD ALSO WATCH EACH PROJECT FOR ORIGINAL SCOPE OF WORK AND MAKE SURE SHOWRI HASN'T HAD THE CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT DELETE NECESSARY WORK BECAUSE OF SCREW UP IN ORIGINAL DESIGN.

(yes Jon, under penalty of losing their job, city workers are made to violate CITY REGULATIONS and the law at Showri's insistence. They'd gladly tell you these things but they would just be retaliated against if they did. NOBODY really wants a clean and efficient cost effective PW&E department.)

Currently we have some streets being deleted and added to other projects because of the 5% ceiling councilmembers placed on change orders. Which is pure cheating of us taxpayers!

ANY DESIGN THAT CREATES A CHANGE ORDER EXCEEDING THE 5% CEILING, SHOULD BE SOUL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DESIGN CONSULTANT AND PUNISHMENT AFTER 2 VIOLATIONS SHOULD BE A TERMINATION OF THAT COMPANY DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY.

COUNCILMEMBERS BE WARNED!!! PW&E WILL SOON BE SUBMITTING A RE-DESIGN CONTRACT FOR AUSTIN STREET TO THE TUNE OF $2 MILLION $$$$

THIS IS ACTUALLY A CHANGE ORDER GUYS, RBI MESSED UP DESIGN SO BAD, THAT THERE IS NO WAY THEY CAN STAY INSIDE THE 5% CHANGE ORDER CEILING SO SHOWRI IS GIVING THEM A "RE-DESIGN" PROJECT.

You all remember MOHAMMED ZUBAIR ... Showri's little pet that has a take home car that he uses for personal errands? Remember the time we caught him and his wife at the airline fruit market loading up on a weekend? Well, he had an accident back in October, and Showri didn't make him take a drug test. CLEARLY IN VIOLATION OF CITY POLICY CONCERNING ACCIDENTS!!!

IF YOU'RE A "PET" YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CITY RULES/REGULATIONS/POLICIES.

THANKS JON FOR GIVING US THE SHAFT! WE HOPED YOU WERE BRINGING IN CHANGE ... CLEANING UP ... BUT AS THE OLD SONG SAYS ... "AND THE BEAT GOES ON" .

ON A P.S. ... WE KNOW BUDDY BARNES HAS BEEN SNIFFING AROUND A LOT LATELY. WE HEAR HE'S GOING TO GET OVERSIGHT OF ALL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THROUGH THAT COMPANY HE WORKS FOR ... WE GOT RID OF HIM ONCE ... WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THE OLD CRIMINALS BACK TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME?

(Just an added note ... as of January 2001 Mohammed Zubair, a Chief engineer for the City of Houston , was making $73,190.00 a year. PLUS his city car for his own personal use ... hmmm pets do very well!)

Another of Showri's pets now over in Building Services, makes $68,339.96 a year as of last January, 2001.

You see Boys and girls, he passed himself off as one for more than a year. Even on the City of Houston's website he was listed as a P.E.

Prohibited Acts and Conduct

Sec. 1.2. (a) From and after the effective date of this Act, unless duly licensed in accordance with the provisions of this Act, no person in this state shall:

(1) Practice, continue to practice, offer or attempt to practice engineering or any branch or part thereof.

(2) Directly or indirectly, employ, use, cause to be used or make use of any of the following terms or any combinations, variations or abbreviations thereof as a professional, business or commercial identification, title, name, representation, claim, asset or means of advantage or benefit: "engineer," "professional engineer," "licensed engineer," "registered engineer," "registered professional engineer," "licensed professional engineer," "engineered."

(3) Directly or indirectly, employ, use, cause to be used or make use of any letter, abbreviation, word, symbol, slogan, sign or any combinations or variations thereof, which in any manner whatsoever tends or is likely to create any impression with the public or any member thereof that any person is qualified or authorized to practice engineering unless such person is duly
licensed under and practicing in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(4) Receive any fee or compensation or the promise of any fee or compensation for performing, offering or attempting to perform any service, work, act or thing which is any part of the practice of engineering as defined by this Act.

..........................................................................................

Violations and penalties

Sec. 23. (a) Any person who shall practice, or offer to practice, the profession of engineering in this State without being licensed or exempted from licensure in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or any person presenting or attempting to use as his own the license or the seal of another, or any person who shall give any false or forged evidence of any kind to the Board or to any member thereof in obtaining a license, or any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Act, commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.

NOTHING ... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!! OH EXCUSE ME ... HE GOT A 5% RAISE THIS YEAR SINCE HE'S UPPER MANAGEMENT.

GONNA SAY YOU DIDN'T KNOW SHOWRI? ... HERE DARLIN ... HERE'S A COPY OF AN E-MAIL WE PRINTED THAT WAS ON YOUR COMPUTER:

(under Texas Statutes YOU as P.E.'s are supposed to formally report him ... you haven't ... that's in violation of your own codes. We'll file the proper complaint, then another one against YOU for not filing the original!)

Engineering, Construction,and Real Estate Division Showri Nandagiri, P.E., Deputy Director

Now ... HouSnitch can place Hollingsworth in San Diego in April, but it appears to be a legitimate business trip.

June 10, 2002, 10:16PM

Council outraged over resignation

Tech chief had quit before software OK'd

By MATT SCHWARTZ

Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

Denny Piper, the city's chief information officer, told City Council members two weeks ago that they should fire him if a controversial software contract he recommended didn't save the city as much money as he said.

But he never gave them the chance.

It turns out Piper had turned in his resignation that day, May 28, a week before council narrowly approved the $9.5 million SimDesk contract with Houston-based Internet Access Technologies.

Council members learned of Piper's resignation to take a job with San Diego County only

Friday, two days after the 8-7 vote to approve the IAT contract. And it wasn't until Monday that they learned when he had given his notice.

Last week's annoyance and incredulity at Piper's resignation boiled into fury Monday afternoon, with even supporters of the SimDesk project blasting Piper and Mayor Lee

Brown's administration for keeping the resignation quiet until after the crucial vote.

"To make sure that everything was above board, I think there should be an (Office of the Inspector General) investigation to just make sure that there wasn't anything improper involved in his recommendation of this deal," said Annise Parker, the last council member to decide to vote for the contract.

"The fact the guy who is recommending these multimillion-dollar purchases already was leaving town was good information that we should have known," she said. "If the administration knew this and didn't tell us, I feel betrayed. ... The argument that kept being made was, `He's the person we hired to run IT. He's our expert; we need to listen to our expert.' Our expert who already was halfway out the door and didn't bother to tell anybody. It infuriates me."

Piper has denied wrongdoing.

Councilman Michael Berry, who voted against the SimDesk project, said the city should cancel the contract.

"I think that council was duped," Berry said. "He offered his job as collateral for his credibility on this project, obviously knowing he was leaving."

City contracts routinely include a provision that allows the city to withdraw within 30 days.

Piper denied he withheld or misrepresented anything to council regarding the IAT contract.

"I guess there's never a good time to leave," he said. "I didn't mean to be disingenuous. I'm disappointed they feel that way. It's not my role to talk to the legislative branch on what I'm doing every single day." Council members complained that Piper never mentioned his plans to leave.

"I understand why he's leaving," Councilwoman Ada Edwards said. "I understand that his reputation, his professional reputation, was sullied through this whole controversy. But a lot of my voting for the SimHouston project, in particular, was based upon my understanding that he would be here to shepherd it through, to make sure it went through as smoothly as he suggested it would, and that we would receive the savings that had been outlined."

Edwards said she still supports the SimDesk project, but she said Piper should have been upfront with council.

It was Edwards who, in the May 28 budget workshop, asked Piper to stake his job on the project.

SimDesk is an online computer package that allows users to create, edit and store documents online. Piper said that by converting at least half of the city's computers to

Internet terminals, taxpayers could save $1.6 million in the first year and $7 million in the second year.

The contract also calls for the city to purchase 3 million user licenses to allow all Houston-area residents free access to the software through city libraries.

"I'm staking my reputation and my department's reputation on the delivery of that savings,"

Piper told council members at the May 28 meeting.

Edwards asked Piper, "Are you saying that if you don't come through, you're willing to retire?"

"Yes, ma'am," Piper replied. "You should fire me first."

That's all this time around guys...tell em what you think darlins, we get tired of telling them by ourselves.......

click right there and e-mail them ALL at one time!

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