"Perry Appointee to UT Regents Linked to Scandals"

Paul Burka for the Texas Monthy published a blog on a scandal down by the Rio Grande invloving Gov. Perrry's appointee, James Dannenbaum, chairman of Houston-based Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation. The argument was made because James Dannenbaum was linked to politcal scandals with Brownsville and El Paso. This summary of the scandal was based on an invesitigation done by reporter Emma Perez-Trevino for the Brownsville Herald.
In the Brownsville case, the Port of Brownsville wanted to work with Mexico to build a bi-national bridge to Matamoros, Mexico. Brown & Root won the contract to work on the bridge and billed the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) $424,505 up through July 1997.
Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation was hired on as one of the companies to work on the project. DEC's original contract was for $2,053,515, but a series of supplemental contracts brought DEC's take to $15.5 million. Of this money, $10,529,058 went to subcontractors in Mexico, $9.2 million of which was paid to just three companies, all of which had ties to a DEC employee.
This was used to help startup businesses, another provided security services, and the last was with a real estate company. BND was required to approve all subcontracts before any work was done, but DEC entered into 16 of 17 subcontracts without requesting that approval.
The agrument cleary states with strong evidence that Dannunbaum Engineering Company was involved in scandalous operations with Mexico and its project with the Brownsville Navigation District.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/2007/10/perry-appointee-to-ut-regents-linked-to.php