Who’s in Love with PBK …

Commentary by Gloria Way

  There are many love stories … and there are some love stories that are one-sided. The apparent love story between PBK Architects and Chambers County has endured for several years with PBK being the recipient of several lucrative contracts with the county. PBK has made out like bandits in designing projects worth millions of dollars in Chambers County. For reasons unknown to the common man who pays for the projects on which PBK gets paid millions, Chambers County awards PBK with project after project after project. 

  PBK first garnered my attention when they designed and developed multiple projects for the Barbers Hill Independent School District. They designed the new schools, technology centers, childhood education centers, football stadiums, etc. … tens of millions of dollars of ad valorem taxes in BHISD paid for projects and PBK made a fortune (I don’t think they left out any parking lots).

  It is well known that many of the administrators of BHISD and some members of the Chambers County administration are close and personal friends. We do live in a small rural county where everyone knows everyone (could be a problem). So it makes sense that PBK could have been recommended to the county for its capital projects. Or, PBK could have appropriately bid on the county projects. I do not know. But, somehow the county became enamored with PBK. It has become a love affair where there is no accountability or transparency. PBK built the Goss Library in Mont Belvieu, the Juanita Hargraves Memorial Library in Winnie, the county animal shelter in Anahuac, and infamously, the new ballparks in the county where they forgot the parking lot in Anahuac and inadequately the parking lots at Cook Park in Winnie. And, now, the county wants PBK to design the new county library in Anahuac.

  PBK has cost the county a lot of money due to its mistakes.  One being forgetting to design and build a parking lot for the baseball complex in Anahuac. But Chambers County forgave them and allocated an additional million dollars to pay for an additional parking lot. Now, Commissioners Court is asking to condemn a landowners property adjacent to the Cook Park sports complex in Winnie because the current property puts people in danger because they have to park on Cook Road to read the ballparks. They are condemning, taking over a private citizen’s land, because PBK once again, underestimated the parking lot capacity.

  How many chances do you give a partner who has cheated on you? You forgive them, pay for their mistakes, and continue to give them opportunities to do it again?

  This is scandalous…condemning a private citizen’s property because an architect hired by the county screwed up again.

  Have we no shame?