Sarah-Victoria Lozano interviews Mark Williamson, the President of Westar Construction, uncovering the challenges and controversies faced by contractors bidding for projects in South Padre Island. After moving to the island seven years ago, Williamson saw potential for his company but soon realized that the bidding opportunities were limited to a select few favored businesses. Despite completing a lifeguard tower project ahead of schedule, the City rejected Williamson's subsequent bids due to allegations of incomplete work and preferences for other contractors. This story delves into the intricacies of the bidding process, potential corruption, and the personal and professional impact on Williamson, painting a vivid picture of the struggles and suspicions surrounding public project bids in South Padre Island.
Island Matters: What is your story, or precisely what happened?
Williamson: I moved down here about six or seven years ago, and I noticed some work coming on the island. I noticed that there only seemed to be one guy doing back then. And I thought, you know, I had jumped into this and started building some of this work. I got a project, and it was the lifeguard towers. It was a small job. We're required to do it in 60 days. We did it for 20 days, and the project had no problems. We have email correspondence with (SPI Shoreline Director) Boburka or Hughston asking if we need to do anything else to finish the project. They said, "No, everything is fine," so we closed our projects, got our money immediately, and didn't think anything of it.
Two years later, I bid on a project, and there were two bidders on it. It was Bryant Industrial Services LLC (BIS) and myself. I should have provided my bid bond on it. I guess he had his and generally what happens if you have one bid and you have another bidder and something happens, the City typically goes, "Hey, let's send this out for rebid, because we could get a better number."
Island Matters: Did they rebid it?
Williamson: That didn't happen. They went ahead and gave it to BIS. I didn't think anything of it. Another year later, perhaps another project came up for bid. Westar was the low bidder on it. We asked what would happen with it and have yet to hear back. They ended up giving that to BIS. I watched the tapes from the Shoreline Committee, and a couple of people questioned with a "Umm, we don't know if this is the right thing to do" attitude. So, they tabled the item and returned to the next meeting, saying, "Hey, let's give it to BIS because Westar doesn't have any shore experience."
That had nothing to do with the type of work we were doing. It wasn't on the shoreline. It didn't have anything to the shoreline, and nothing in the specifications says anything about it. I wrote some letters of protest, and they just blew me off.
Island Matters: When you protested, did you protest to the City, or can you take it up with the State?
Williamson: No, just the City, but I informed the State, and they blew me off as well. I asked what the protest procedure was, and they wouldn't answer.
Island Matters: Did the City answer?
Williamson: No, it was a joke. Other people from the City of South Padre Island said never bid here. They told me never to bid here when I came here because it was a very corrupt city. I laughed at them and said, "No, it's not the corrupt; it's on the island." However, we decided to refrain from bidding any more work on South Padre Island because they're very corrupt or appear corrupt.
Island Matters: One thing that sparked my attention about your story is that you did the job, and then they went on the record and said you didn't finish. I recently spoke to previous bidders with similar stories who were afraid to protest due to the possibility of losing SPI as a client.
Williamson: Yes, in an open meeting of the Shoreline Task Force, Erika Houghston said we still needed to finish our contract. The extra work was outside my bid. Then Ms. Bolstad asked what the dollar value Westar still needed to finish, and Ms. Houghston said she didn't know. Ms. Bolstad asked if we finished in time. Ms. Houghston said there was no contract timeline for us to finish the project, which is another lie.
Island Matters: I remember that because they wanted the Lifeguard Towers for the August USLA (United States Lifesaving Association) Competition.
Williamson: Yes, and when you look back at the GLO records, we finished the project before the City had approval to start the project. For them to say we didn't finish a project was disturbing. Yeah, like I said, I'll never bid here again.
Island Matters: You said that there was one guy they gave it to when you first arrived. Is that Bryant Industrial Services?
Williamson: Yes, that's who they gave the project to. He was doing other projects with the City, and it doesn't look like he's bidding for the projects. I'm not sure of him or his background. Kristina Boburka and Erika Hughston have something going on with somebody. I don't know what it is. I don't care anymore, but even our bonding company advised us to refrain from bidding work down here because they're corrupt.
Island Matters: You went to the City, and they said nothing; then you went to the State, they said nothing. Have you gone to anybody else?
Williamson: No. I started noticing as I looked back to see if only Westar was excluded from the project. I looked at another project. They were some Dune projects, and it happened on the same thing on the Dune project: This guy was the fifth bidder, fifth as in the highest bidder, and they gave it to him. And it was for an open-ended contract. There was nothing to bid on. I don't know how anybody could bid on the project.
Island Matters: Was that Coastal Transplants (CT)?
Williamson: Yes, that's who it is. I watched it this year, or last year, 2024 or 2023. There was another bid, and Coastal Transplant was the highest bidder again. Watching the video of the Shoreline Task Force meeting, the guy didn't submit all his paperwork, and they still gave him the award. They awarded him a job, which is unheard of in my industry.
Island Matters: Did people approach you telling you to be careful because you protested?
Williamson: Yes, people told me to be very careful down here because we're close to the border. They said that I should fear for my life.
Island Matters: Do you have any other comments you'd like to add?
Williamson: Yes, you know, this used to be a lovely city. When I first came here, it was very nice. Now, many people have seen what's going on in the City. I know people who have lived here for years. They no longer like coming to the island because they know what's happening. Especially on these boardwalks where they're just taking people's money and spending an excessive amount giving it to one contractor and just one or two handfuls of architects and just taking over the land like it's theirs. Some people getting the bids are from somewhere other than here or Texas. Also, you cannot do this because of how the state and federal governments work. In some instances, they are issuing open-ended contracts for five years where they don't have to get a request for qualifications from a designer again, which keeps everybody else out of here because it's a little hush-hush deal. It's funny they use the same design firms. I looked at some of the work on the boardwalk that the Council took from us, and the contractor did not complete it to the specifications. There were probably $30,000 of plants that needed to be installed.
Lifeguard Towers Background
According to City archives, the first discussion of lifeguard towers occurred on September 8, 2020, at a Shoreline Task Force meeting as part of the Coastal Management Program (CMP)'s Cycle 26 applications. On September 16, 2020, Shoreline Director Kristina Boburka presented the recommendations of the Shoreline Task Force to the City Council.
