On Wednesday, Houston Public Works unveiled a new city engineer who made a contentious impact in Buffalo, New York.
Oluwole “O.J.” McFoy was the general manager of the Buffalo Sewer Authority from 2015 to 2023 and the chair of the Buffalo Water Board from 2007 to 2023. The nearly ten-year absence of the anti-tooth decay chemical fluoride from the city’s water system, the more than $160,000 spent on 55 trips during that time, which McFoy claimed gave Buffalo “greater visibility” and helped secure more than $250 million in grants, and the alleged violation of the state’s open meetings law at two water board meetings in 2024 were all covered in a series of reports from Buffalo TV station WGRZ.
The Buffalo Sewer Authority gave McFoy a number of accolades and accomplishments in a news statement on his leaving, and the board chair of the authority called him a “transformative leader.”
The controversial history was left out of McFoy’s introduction before the Houston City Council on Wednesday. John Whitmire, the mayor of Houston, called him a “outstanding choice.”
“I just want to know how in the world you persuaded him to leave a very responsible job in Buffalo and come join our team, but Houstonians will be the benefactors,” Whitmire stated.
McFoy’s pay will rise from $120,000 to $280,000 as a result of the transfer.
According to department director Randall Macchi, McFoy will be “second in command” at Houston Public Works. When Whitmire’s proposal to amend city regulations to allow a non-engineer to head the department was accepted by the city council in November, Macchi was appointed.
“As far as the public works organization goes, let there be no question who the engineer is it’s O.J.,” Macchi stated. “He is my right hand man when it comes to the things that we have in front of us to do.”
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In order to achieve Whitmire’s goal, McFoy told the city council he wanted the department to go “back to the basics of infrastructure… making sure that we have walkable sidewalks and drivable streets, and then making sure that our water is where it should be.”
The problematic water system in Houston need major upgrades. It spilled over 32 billion gallons of water in 2023, which was enough to supply Fort Worth’s residents. Thirty percent of the city’s pipes will need to be replaced within the next five years, according to the Houston Water Division of the public works department. Last year, officials informed a city council committee that the acceleration would cost close to $500 million.
