Senator Duncan questions Texas Residential Construction Commissioner’s, Only 6 voted out of committee, 3 left pending“The people who are being regulated by the act are the consumers, to a certain degree, as opposed to the builders,” Senator Duncan
Austin – The Nominations Committee chaired by Jon Lindsay, heard testimony Monday on commissioner appointments to the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC). See Video May 16 TRCC Commissioner Committee Hearing
This afternoon in a surprising move only 6 nominations were voted out of committee, leaving John Krugh, Senior Vice President, Corporate Counsel of Perry Homes, Homebuilder Scott Porter of Kerrville and Lewis Brown, the inspector appointment, pending in committee.
We supported only one commission appointment, Mickey Randall Redwine, a Duell appointment, who regularly demonstrated his concerns for higher standards to protect new homebuyer interests, said Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building.
The Governor’s first appointment to the commission in 2003, John Krugh, VP of Perry Homes was controversial and received extensive criticism from the nationwide news media, as well as consumer groups.
In a stunned display of concern, Senator Robert Duncan on Monday hurled what he term “hard questions” and remarks at commissioners. Excerpts of Senator Duncan’s stunning comments are as follows:
I just am interested in …I know when we enacted this bill last session there was a lot of concern among a lot of the members that this was going to be a commission that was for the builder, by the builder, and in my observation… I’m kind of wondering the same thing. Do you all realize that whenever somebody registers to be a builder and they get a registration…they have some sort of elevated credibility with the public that they’re registered by the commission… When in fact, all it is you send in your money, basically.
So taking off that builder hat and putting on your public policy hat…So, are you able to take off your hat …as a homebuilder...
I think the concern I had about his act in the beginning was the fact that it appeared to be to the public, a regulatory body. When in fact, it really – the people who are being regulated by the act are the consumers, to a certain degree, as opposed to the builders. And folks get a registration and they’re able to represent that they have this; it may be an artificial heightened credibility, because they’re registered with the state of Texas…You know, my concern is that, is there enough independence on the majority of this board to be able to make sure that this is a balanced commission and that the decisions that are being made by the commission are those that are in the best interest of all of Texans and not just in the best interest of home builders – and the Texas Association of Builders.
So, I’m going to sit up here and take the heat. But, I will tell you that this agency will be subject to a lot of criticism if it’s not balanced and the way it’s stacked, just by the statute that passed last session, gives the appears that it is weighted in favor of the industry, as opposed to the consumer.
But my concern is that what I’ve heard, and when I saw there was such resistance to giving the agency more ability to deal with problem builders who cheat people, who build poor homes and give the industry a bad name… that kind of bothered me.
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