Houston Public Works launched a brand new metropolis engineer on Wednesday who left a controversial legacy in Buffalo, New York.
Oluwole “O.J.” McFoy served as chair of the Buffalo Water Board from 2007-2023 and as basic supervisor of the Buffalo Sewer Authority from 2015-2023. A sequence of experiences from Buffalo TV station WGRZ documented considerations concerning the almost 10-year absence of anti-tooth decay chemical fluoride from town’s water system, greater than $160,000 in spending on 55 journeys throughout that point — which McFoy mentioned gave Buffalo “better visibility” and helped safe greater than $250 million in grants — and the alleged violation of the state’s open conferences regulation at two water board conferences in 2024.
In a information launch about his departure, the Buffalo Sewer Authority credited McFoy with an inventory of achievements and awards, and the authority’s board chair described him as a “transformative chief.”
McFoy was launched to Houston Metropolis Council on Wednesday, when the contentious background was not talked about. Houston Mayor John Whitmire described him as an “excellent alternative.”
“I simply wish to understand how on the planet you persuaded him to go away a really accountable job in Buffalo and are available be part of our workforce, however Houstonians would be the benefactors,” Whitmire mentioned.
With the transfer, McFoy’s wage will enhance from $120,000 to $280,000.
McFoy will function “second in command” at Houston Public Works, in keeping with division director Randall Macchi. Macchi was appointed in November, when metropolis council accepted Whitmire’s request to vary metropolis guidelines so {that a} non-engineer could lead on the division.
“So far as the general public works group goes, let there be no query who the engineer is — it is O.J.,” Macchi mentioned. “He’s my proper hand man in the case of the issues that we’ve in entrance of us to do.”
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McFoy advised metropolis council he desires the division to comply with Whitmire’s imaginative and prescient by getting “again to the fundamentals of infrastructure … ensuring that we’ve walkable sidewalks and drivable streets, after which ensuring that our water is the place it must be.”
Houston’s troubled water system is in want of intensive repairs. In 2023, it leaked about 32 billion gallons of water — sufficient to provide the inhabitants of Fort Price. The Houston Water Division of the general public works division mentioned it is aiming to speed up the speed of repairs, changing 30% of town’s pipes over the subsequent 5 years, and officers advised a metropolis council committee final 12 months that the acceleration will price almost $500 million.
