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25 April 2006
Will Enron PR lessons help Carol Alvarado?
(Temporarily only a) Councilwoman Carol Alvarado has an Enron tie? Kinda, sorta, according to Isiah Carey:
Mark Palmer was one of the few high profile executives at Enron not indicted in the ongoing probe. He now runs a public relations firm, Public Strategies. The agency is in charge of salvaging former Houston Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Alvarado's image after bonus-gate. So far Palmer's partner, Joe Householder, has always advised Alvarado to address her city scandal issues. I'm sure he knows bonus-gate is not gonna go away...
And playing the victim is not a winning strategy either.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Carol Alvarado?"> 04/25/06 11:53 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
07 May 2008
Carol Alvarado's paperless trail
Back in April Tom Bazan filed a TxPIA request with METRO regarding Carol Alvarado's employment as a consultant:
I received the METRO contract [LA0800024] engaging Consultant Alvarado, and an invoice for services performed on behalf of METRO between January 14 through February 14, 2008. I also asked for a copy of her resume, any METRO RFQ, along with any letters, memos, notes, and/or consultant reports she has generated on behalf of METRO.
Thank you,
Tom Bazan
After a second request for a resume, a METRO RFQ, along with any letters, memos, notes, and/or consultant reports generated by Ms. Alvarado, Tom received a response from METRO:
Dear Mr. Bazan,
Regarding your request for a copy of Ms. Carol Alvarado's resume, METRO RFQ, along with any letters, memos, notes, and/or consultant reports Ms. Alvarado has generated on behalf of METRO, please be advised that while Ms. Alvarado has provided consultant services pursuant to the contract, there are no documents responsive to your specific request.
That's just priceless!
PREVIOUSLY: METRO pays Carol Alvarado $150 per hour!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Carol Alvarado's paperless trail"> 05/07/08 07:46 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (14)
22 March 2006
Alvarado now the subject of criminal inquiry
After several weeks of (misleading) assurances from Mayor White and Carol Alvarado's PR people that Alvarado was not the subject of the investigation by OIG, it turns out that Alvarado is being investigated by the District Attorney's office. KPRC-2 reports:
Houston City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Harris County District Attorney's Office, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.The district attorney's office is investigating an allegation of criminal wrongdoing by the former mayor pro tem.
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal told KPRC Local 2 that there are questions about whether Alvarado asked her employees to perform tasks unrelated to city business. The exact nature of the jobs was not disclosed, but it could be illegal if the tasks were carried out while the employees were on the clock for the city.
Rosenthal's office would be expected to investigate Alvarado to some extent simply as a matter of due diligence, so this wouldn't be particularly newsworthy save for the fact that Mayor White and Alvarado's PR team went out of their way to trumpet the fact Alvarado was not a subject of the earlier OIG investigation.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado now the subject of criminal inquiry"> 03/22/06 10:25 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (9)
11 May 2006
KPRC: Alvarado begs municipal employees to help pay legal bills
Councilmember Carol Alvarado has managed to get herself back in the news. Here's the latest from KPRC-2:
Several Houston City Hall employees are upset after receiving fundraising e-mails for City Council member Carol Alvarado, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.
The employees said they got the fundraiser invitations in their work e-mail asking them to donate money to help Alvarado pay her legal expenses.Alvarado resigned as mayor pro-tem after allegations surfaced that four of her employees received thousands of dollars in improper bonuses. They were later fired and an investigation was launched. Alvarado was not charged in the case.
Alvarado denied any wrongdoing and said she did not mean for the fundraising e-mails to upset anyone.
The e-mails were not illegal because they were not sent out on a city e-mail account or on city time.
The emails may not be illegal, but they do raise questions about how the email addresses were harvested, and email solicitations to municipal employees from a sitting councilmember do raise ethical questions. Surely Councilmember Alvarado could set a better ethical example, especially since she serves as chair of Council's Ethics Committee.
(Thanks to Vernon Guy for sending the KPRC link)
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado begs municipal employees to help pay legal bills"> 05/11/06 10:20 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (7)
22 February 2006
Alvarado: In case you've forgotten, I'm still a victim
KHOU-11's Doug Miller and Reggie Aqui have yet another account of Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's "I'm a victim" act:
“I have been astonished and disappointed to discover how easy it was for someone to forge my initials and steal both taxpayers’ dollars and my personal reputation at the same time,” Alvarado told City Council.In front of Mayor Bill White and the rest of her colleagues, she positioned herself as a victim like someone whose credit is ruined or bank account is wiped out.
“In this age of identity theft, we’re all vulnerable – and as public officials, probably even more so,” Alvarado said. “We’re dependent and trusting on our staff to help us get through our calendar and our full days,” she said.
First the Chronicle editorial board helped Alvarado portray herself as a victim. Now it's KHOU's political reporters.
The victims were Houston taxpayers, not the Mayor Pro Tem (who will have to consider resigning as Mayor Pro Tem if this story has legs for much longer).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado: In case you've forgotten, I'm still a victim"> 02/22/06 06:46 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (28)
27 February 2006
The end of the daily absurdity: Alvarado brings in heavyweights
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that embattled Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado has decided to bring in the heavyweights to help her with the bonusgate scandal:
Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado shifted strategy today, hiring a high-profile new spokesman and a famous defense lawyer to help her deal with her office's payroll scandal.Alvarado announced today that she had hired defense attorney Rusty Hardin and the Austin-based communications firm Public Strategies. A Public Strategies spokesman said Hardin would provide guidance to Alvarado during an expected investigation by Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.
Alvarado hasn't been implicated in the investigation into paycheck padding in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem, and no one has been charged with crimes.
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado seems finally to have realized that her inattention to detail as Mayor Pro Tem may have a political cost, and that her prior communications strategy ("She's a mute outraged victim!") was laughable. Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado aspires to greater things politically, so this move is only prudent for her.
Those guys probably won't come cheap, though. How much less expensive would it have been to exercise a little more oversight as Mayor Pro Tem?
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado brings in heavyweights"> 02/27/06 04:47 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (16)
07 March 2006
KHOU: OIG did not investigate Alvarado
For several weeks, local journalists have stressed that Councilmember Carol Alvarado was not the subject of the investigation by the Office of Inspector General.
As it turns out, KHOU-11's Jeff McShan reports that there was an institutional reason that Alvarado was not investigated by OIG:
The investigation into mayor pro-tem Carol Alvarado's office is far from over.
If you have been following the City Hall probe, you know that the Office Of Inspector General (O.I.G.) was completed and sent to the district attorney's office last Friday.
But what you may not know is the Inspector General's office is limited as what it can investigate.
Sources tell 11 News that elected officials are "off limits", meaning that the mayor pro-tem, who temporarily stepped aside Monday, could not be thoroughly investigated.
For example, the O.I.G., 11 News was told, looked into the bank accounts of the four employees who worked for Alvarado, but not hers.
Sources said that in fact, the district attorney's office will start a whole new investigation into the unauthorized bonuses scam that has been plaguing city hall for weeks.
It will be interesting to see what Chuck Rosenthal's Public Integrity Unit uncovers. But Alvarado shouldn't sweat too much. Having Rusty Hardin in your corner is pretty good insurance.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado"> 03/07/06 10:39 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (13)
03 March 2009
Alvarado: Fiddling while Rome burns
We had to borrow from a recent post by Clear Thinker Tom Kirkendall, because the headline was our immediate reaction to this news about Carol Alvarado's big proposal:
State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who as a City Council member spearheaded Houston's smoking ban, has introduced legislation than would eliminate trans fats from Texas restaurants.
Alvarado, serving her first term in the Texas House, plans to discuss the bill on Thursday at Ibiza in Midtown. The bill would ban trans fats, often used to boost the shelf life of foods, in all Texas restaurants. It also would require that prepared and served foods contain less than a half gram per serving, according to a news release....
Recession? Budget shortfall? Ike rebuilding?
Feh. Rep. Alvarado is focused on trans fats.
At least she's out of municipal government and in a place where she, individually, can't do much harm to Houston.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado: Fiddling while Rome burns"> 03/03/09 09:05 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
28 March 2006
Carol Alvarado to student protesters: Si se puede (updated)
(Temporarily not Mayor Pro Tem) Carol Alvarado greeted student protesters this morning at City Hall:
Upon reaching City Hall, the crowd of students was greeted outside by Councilwoman Carol Alvardo, who chanted with the students "Si Se Puede'' - meaning "Yes we can."
She congratulated the students for walking through the rain and standing up for their rights.
Two of the students met with Mayor Bill White and Alvarado before scores of them boarded buses back to their schools. As many as a thousand students were expected later today, police [sic].
"They feel like they want someone to listen to them,'' Alvarado said. "They feel very hurt because they see that their families come here to work."
Perhaps Councilwoman Alvarado should have encouraged the students to get back to school and focus on their studies.
It's unclear from the story if today's youth solidarity event was part of Joe Householder's efforts to cast the councilwoman in a more favorable light.
UPDATE: And here's what Mayor White apparently told students:
“[Mayor White] told us to keep on going, to not stop, to spread the word with everyone,” student Edgar Martinez said.
The mayor said he appreciates all the work the students are doing to get their message out, but he admitted it is a federal issue.
Chris Baker is wondering why the protesters are carrying Mexican flags if they want American citizenship. Hey Carol: ¿Dónde están las banderas Americanas?
UPDATE 2: Matt Bramanti: Skip school and you too can become a journalist!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Carol Alvarado to student protesters: Si se puede (updated)"> 03/28/06 12:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (19)
18 April 2008
METRO pays Carol Alvarado $150 per hour!
Right after we learned (permanently no longer a councilwoman) Carol Alvarado had been hired by METRO as a consultant, Tom Bazan filed a TxPIA to find out all the details.
I don't think he's heard back from METRO yet (shocker!!!), but Matt Stiles got a response to his TxPIA request:
Turns out the deal, a copy of which I just obtained under the Texas Public Information Act today, specifically excludes Alvarado from representing METRO before city officials, including Mayor White and City Council members. By the way, the contract is dated five days after Alvarado left the city.
But the agency can ask her for help with various other local agencies, including the Houston-Galveston Area Council and the Gulf Coast Freight Rail District.
The terms? They pay $150 an hour, with a maximum of 600 hours per year. So far she's been paid about $6,000, METRO officials say.
So while Carol was boo-hooing that the city was going to be deprived of her greatness, she was already working on a nice gig with METRO.
As one commenter to Stiles' post noted:
CA has never had a real job her entire adult life. Why should she start now?
She's just serving the public, making sure the Houston area doesn't get shortchanged by losing her talents.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Carol Alvarado $150 per hour!"> 04/18/08 04:53 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (32)
19 February 2006
Editorial LiveJournalists help portray Alvarado as victim
The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists had one of those secretive editorial board meetings a few days ago with embattled Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado (apparently, the Editorial LiveJournalists' calls for disclosure and transparency don't extend to themselves, although Matt Stiles did let us know that Alvarado "sighed and appeared shaken" at one point).
Alvarado is a favorite of the Editorial Board, and gets the kid glove treatment today:
City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado said this is not the first time government has known financial impropriety. Whenever money is involved, she said, a small percentage of employees will give in to temptation.
Alvarado is correct, and that is all the reason she needed to exercise careful and frequent oversight over who was being paid what in the mayor pro tem's office. While Alvarado is not accused of wrongdoing, she nonetheless bears responsibility for the actions of her staff.Shouldering great responsibility in city government, Alvarado told the Chronicle's editorial board Friday that she mistakenly trusted the supervisor in the mayor pro tem's office to watch her back and see that proper procedures were followed. She says she feels betrayed and that it appears that someone forged her initials to requests for employee bonuses.
What responsibility has Alvarado shouldered? She seems to want to portray herself as a victim here (with the help of the Editorial LiveJournalists), and pass the buck. As both Gordon Quan and Mark Goldberg have suggested, however, a diligent Mayor Pro Tem really ought to have paid closer attention to the monthly budget reports.
Alvarado's lack of oversight and inattention to detail seem to have allowed $130,000 of the people's money to be stolen. That's not the same as Alvarado stealing the money herself, and nobody is making that accusation against her. However, it does call into question her personnel-judgment and fiscal-management skills. The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists might have at least criticized Alvarado to that extent.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado as victim"> 02/19/06 10:01 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (1)
31 January 2006
Fireworks at City Council
City Council business under Mayor White has tended to have all the excitement of paint drying, which has been quite a contrast to the last, acrimonious years of the reign of Lee P. Brown.
However, KTRH-740 just reported that we had some fireworks between Councilmember Carol Alvarado and Doctor-Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs last week.
Apparently, Councilmember Alvarado cursed at the doctor-councilwoman last week, according to KTRH.
However, KTRH reports that it was off camera/off microphone, and thus not picked up by the recordings for the public access channel. Because we certainly wouldn't want the public to see one member of Council behaving like an ingrate!
Councilmember Alvarado told KTRH "I'm sorry if she got offended." What a nice non-apology.
So, that was a vague report. What did Councilmember Alvarado call the doctor-councilwoman?
UPDATE: Chris Baker reports that Councilmember Alvarado called the doctor-councilwoman a "bitch."
Oh my!
ANNE ADDS: This doesn't seem world-class. Or ideal.
Will Councilwoman Alvarado show some decency and REALLY apologize, or will she act as if she's the aggrieved one? A certain level of maturity is required for the former.
BLOGVERSATION: Lou Minatti.
UPDATE (02-01-2006): KTRK-13 posts a story with less detail.
UPDATE 2 (02-01-2006): KPRC-2 also posts a story without much detail. There's still no posting on KTRH, so the account and links here are about the most complete roundup so far (not that readers of certain cityblogs that make a policy of never linking to other blogs would know).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/31/06 05:11 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (17)
03 January 2007
Painful shoe pun
Temporarily-Not Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who recently explained forgetting to plan a New Year's celebration by saying the city was "event-ed out," had this to say in response to Jordy Tollett's deal to step aside as head of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (but remain as a well compensated consultant):
"The board is going to have a difficult time finding a replacement for Jordy. Whoever fills the position is going to have colorful shoes to fill," said Councilwoman Carol Alvarado. "Jordy was the biggest promoter of our city, not because it was his job but because it was his home and he loved this city."
That's just a painful shoe pun.
Still, it's entertaining (for bloggers, at least) now that she's talking to reporters again instead of hiding behind her PR and legal teams.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/03/07 10:51 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (13)
13 December 2007
Alvarado: new ordinance will make no difference, but who cares?
Councilwoman Carol Alvarado today led City Council in addressing an issue of critical importance to Houstonians: taxi cab emissions (via KHOU-11):
[...]city leaders want new taxi cabs to be more eco friendly.
“We understand that’s not going to take care of our clean air problems, but we all have to do our part,” said Councilmember Carol Alvarado.
Under a proposed taxi cab ordinance, staring next year cab drivers applying for a new permit must drive either a hybrid or a four cylinder cab.
Cab drivers stood in unison as they voiced their opposition.
Their united opposition was to no avail. Today Council passed the ordinance with a "grandfather" provision for current cab drivers.
The whole thing is reminiscent of this: An unserious City Council tackling unserious issues.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado: new ordinance will make no difference, but who cares?"> 12/13/07 06:10 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (16)
18 September 2006
If Alvarado has her way, cigar bars will be history in Houston
If (temporarily only a) Councilwoman Carol Alvarado gets her way, Houston's cigar bars will have to shut down to comply with her push to get a citywide smoking ban passed (via Greater Houston Weekly):
The Houston City Council is looking at broadening the current antismoking ordinance that currently bans smoking in restaurants. That means bars and even cigar bars could soon be hanging up no-smoking signs.
"We'll look at what other cities have done," Councilmember Carol Alvarado, chair of the Environmental and Public Health Committee, said regarding cigar bars and stores. "But my goal has been to ban smoking in any workplace.
Well, one might think a councilmember would be interested in keeping thriving businesses thriving, not shutting them down. One might also think that cigar bar patrons would expect to be exposed to cigar smoke. But the former mayor pro tem has a goal, and what Carol wants, Carol gets.
"I guess they're trying to put us out of business," said Geoff Neal, general manager at Downing Street. "I'd like to tell City Council what I think about that. They should leave it up to the marketplace. There should be smoking bars and nonsmoking bars and let the public decide where they want to go."
Downing Street, frequented by state senators, city councilmembers (including Alvarado, on occasion), lawyers, pro athletes and even doctors, is the premier cigar spot in town, but it's hardly the only place one can light up a stogie.
Mike Wells, the former general manager at Downing Street, now owns the infamous no-sign-lounge Marfreless, a well-known spot for romantic liaisons, martinis and smokers.
"I don't smoke, I don't like it, but most of my customers do," Wells said. "They need to stay out of it and let us run our business. It's not illegal to smoke so don't tell me they can't do it in my bar. If they want to make it illegal than make it illegal to make them and sell them."
Geez, don't give Councilwoman Alvarado any ideas. Mayor White's liable to let her run with that one, too.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado has her way, cigar bars will be history in Houston"> 09/18/06 08:29 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (27)
24 June 2006
Alvarado hits the road in effort to pay legal bills
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack reported Friday that Councilmember Carol Alvarado is busy trying to raise cash for her legal fund:
HOUSTON City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado is taking her fundraising show on the road.
She's collecting checks for her legal defense fund at an event in Dallas today — headlined by a group of former and present officials from San Antonio, Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif., who are in town for the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
The hosts include former San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza, Los Angeles City Councilmen Alex Padilla and Tony Cardenas, and Mickey Ibarra, who was President Clinton's director of intergovernmental affairs.
Hispanic political figures were less in evidence earlier this month at a Houston fundraiser for Alvarado, whose political upward mobility has stalled because of a payroll scandal that occurred on her watch as mayor pro tem.
"I'm not sure what kind of invitations were extended to (Houston) Hispanic elected officials," said former state Rep. Al Luna, who is administering Alvarado's legal fund. "They may not have felt comfortable being there."
That seems like a reasonable guess.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado hits the road in effort to pay legal bills"> 06/24/06 11:37 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (5)
24 March 2006
Alvarado headlining "financial literacy" seminar
David Benzion at Lone Star Times notes that former Mayor Pro Tem and current Councilmember Carol Alvarado will be holding a "Town Hall Meeting On Financial Literacy" this weekend with State Sen. Rodney Ellis.
As we know after weeks of news coverage, Alvarado at the very least was inattentive in overseeing the finances of the Mayor Pro Tem's office (she defends her inattention by calling herself a victim!), one of the few non-ceremonial roles of that office. And more recent coverage suggests that the District Attorney's office is conducting a broader investigation of possible financial wrongdoing in the Mayor Pro Tem's office. The situation is serious for a politician with aspirations of bigger and better things, as evidenced by Alvarado's retention of an expensive defense attorney and PR firm.
So, the notion that she's going to be conducting a seminar on financial literacy this weekend is just kind of hilarious, considering her own plight.
We can't help but wonder if she ran this idea by her expensive PR firm, given how ludicrous it seems. And, as David Benzion points out, it's hard to imagine Joe Householder approved of the clip art used on the flyer.
For anyone who wants to learn how to avoid being victimized by subordinates who might give themselves unauthorized pay raises, the seminar will be held on Saturday, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, at the HCC Central Campus Gymnasium (1300 Holman).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado headlining "financial literacy" seminar"> 03/24/06 08:55 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (16)
25 July 2006
Alvarado defends sanctuary policy
Councilmember and temporarily-former-Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado was able to speak to reporters yesterday, instead of using her spokesperson, on the topic of the city's sanctuary policy:
Nearly a month after a Houston group announced a petition drive to require a citywide vote on whether city police should be able to question people about their immigration status, leaders in the Hispanic community gathered Monday evening to discuss how to thwart those efforts.About 200 elected officials, organization representatives and residents strategized at downtown's Communications Workers of America Union Hall under Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's leadership.
"I do find it very ironic that a group called Protect Our Citizens basically is trying to tie the hands of our police officers and make it less safe for all of us," said Alvarado, who asked the dozens of organizations represented there to pass resolutions opposing the change in policy.
Wouldn't the order of the police chief in 1992 (Sam Nuchia) that forbids officers from inquiring about immigration status technically be tying the hands of police officers? Wouldn't lifting the order of the police chief in 1992 be the equivalent of untying their hands, technically? Maybe temporarily-former-Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado should let her spokesperson handle her speaking duties full-time.
Substantively, if the order of the police chief in 1992 is good policy, then why shouldn't Mayor White bring it before Council to reaffirm it? Aren't those the sorts of decisions that elected leaders should be making?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado defends sanctuary policy"> 07/25/06 10:49 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
07 March 2006
Alvarado: taking responsibility for doing nothing wrong
Here's another Carol Alvarado quote from yesterday's Bonusgate press conference:
"I did nothing improper and I've accepted responsibility."
She did nothing improper and she's accepted responsibility.
But if she really thinks she's done nothing wrong (er, improper), then what is she taking responsibility for?
Even after almost four weeks of this, she refuses to admit what she did wrong, and of course she did something wrong: she didn't exercise oversight of her staff, a basic duty of anyone in a leadership position. The fact that she still refuses to acknowledge this is a huge black mark on her leadership ability.
In a soundbite on KTRH-740 this morning she said that she is sorry this has become a distraction. She didn't apologize for her failure as a manager, or for not being a good steward of the taxpayers' hard-earned money, or for besmirching the character of so many decent, hard-working city employees. No. She apologized for the distraction.
A distraction caused by her failure.
Now she is all about helping Mayor White come up with reforms so this will never happen again -- reforms that are necessary due to her unwillingness or inability to supervise her own staff! Mayor White will use this as an opportunity to look like a reform mayor, while he increases mayoral power and reduces councilmembers' control over their own employees.
Thanks to Carol Alvarado.
But she did nothing wrong...or improper.
PREVIOUSLY: Alvarado: Oh all right, I'll take responsibility...but it's still not my fault
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado: taking responsibility for doing nothing wrong"> 03/07/06 10:02 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (8)
24 February 2006
Newly Mute Mayor Pro Tem's spokesman: Others at fault
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles may get himself in trouble with Newly Mute Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's enablers at his own newspaper if he keeps cranking out writing like this:
"It was all doublespeak," said former Councilman Mark Goldberg, referring to the justifications given last summer for increasing the office's spending. "It was all a lie."
The budget figures, released to the Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act, detail expenditures in the office that handles administrative duties for the 14 City Council members.
For some, the figures also raise questions about why city officials didn't notice the budget overruns, especially while a Finance and Administration Department employee was assigned to compile spending reports for council offices, including the pro tem office, each month.Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who oversees the office in addition to her elected job representing council District I, says she wasn't alerted.
"That's why they call them checks and balances," said Marc Campos, Alvarado's political consultant.
He questioned why city finance officials didn't say, 'Hey, we might have a problem there.' "
But Alvarado didn't notice, either.
It keeps coming back to that, doesn't it?
The Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists can portray Alvarado as a victim. She can portray herself as a victim and apologize to Council (but not taxpayers or citizens). Then she can go mute and let her political consultant blame other people.
But ultimately, Newly Mute Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's inattention to detail and lack of oversight seem to be at issue, as that highlighted snippet from the Stiles reporting makes clear.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/24/06 10:35 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
23 February 2006
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado goes mute
There were several notable items today related to Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado and the bonusgate scandal.
Matt Stiles reported this interesting bit of news:
The four suspended employees have not been charged with any crimes, but Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's office may enter the case soon.
A report from Houston Police investigators is expected to be given to prosecutors as early as Friday, Rosenthal said. He declined to discuss the matter in detail, but said his office's involvement might extend beyond the bonuses in question.
We've been asking for several days now about Chuck Rosenthal. It's good that a member of the local media finally decided to talk to him. This seems like a perfect matter for his Public Integrity office.
Councilmember Shelley Sekula-Gibbs helpfully offered to fund an audit of all spending from the Mayor Pro Tem's office, no doubt tempting Alvarado to break her silence in order to curse the Doctor-Councilwoman again.
KTRH-740's Chris Baker apologized to citizens on behalf of Alvarado (since her own apologies neglected that very important constituency) and ran a fun song parody. UPDATE: Here's the parody, sans apology.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado goes mute"> 02/23/06 11:31 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (19)
20 December 2007
Alvarado: It's a cryin' shame Council is losing my talent
(Temporarily Permanently not mayor pro tem ) Carol Alvarado exited the City Council stage today in a less-than-dignified manner: She whined about term limits:
"I think communities get shortchanged," said Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who bid farewell to her colleagues Wednesday after six years representing District I on the city's east side.
"We lose talented people," said Alvarado, who plans to file today to run for state representative in District 145, the seat vacated by Democrat Rick Noriega in his bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator.
No one can say Ms. Alvarado lacks self-esteem. But she should look on the bright side -- Houston's loss is the state's gain. And she left a lasting mark on Houston, since the mayor pro tem's office will never be the same. That's called a legacy!
As for departing Councilwoman Ada Edwards, she's not going anywhere. Mayor White appointed her as his Deputy Chief of Staff for Neighborhoods:
“The city of Houston has benefited tremendously from the leadership and knowledge of Ada Edwards. We want to continue to use her skills to make Houston better,” said Mayor Bill White. “In this position, Ada will join a team helping to revitalize neighborhoods, increase affordable housing, support neighborhood organizations, schools and nonprofits that all enhance our quality of life.”
Unclear is how Ms. Edwards' stances on HPD (increasing manpower = police state!) and the homeless (they should be allowed to bathe in the libraries!) will enhance Houston's quality of life.
BLOGVERSATION: This Blog is Full of Crap, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado: It's a cryin' shame Council is losing my talent"> 12/20/07 07:37 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (14)
04 March 2006
When will Alvarado resign?
Local media outlets can't seem to agree whether or not the report on the bonus pay scandal in Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's office has been passed on to Mayor White and the Harris County District Attorney's office. The Chronicle and KUHF-88.7 say the report will be out next week. KTRK-13 got two answers from Mayor White on the report (that it should be out next week AND that he expected to see it this weekend). KHOU-11 says the report is already in the hands of the DA's office.
It does seem to be the case that the White Administration is beginning to nudge Carol Alvarado out of the Mayor Pro Tem position.
From the Chronicle:
Mayor Bill White spoke with some City Council members Friday to feel them out about who should be mayor pro tem if Councilwoman Carol Alvarado relinquishes the post amid a payroll-padding scandal.
"I want to get this OIG investigation complete before drawing any conclusions," White said. "I haven't done a formal poll of all the council members. I have asked some people what we do to get this behind us."
The mayor would not go into further detail, but one of the council members with whom he met on Friday was Ada Edwards.
"That's his call," Edwards said about whether Alvarado should step down. "He didn't ask me my opinion when he appointed her. It's not clear to me why he needs my opinion about what he should do now."
White also met with Councilwoman Toni Lawrence.
"He's considering one of the council members who's been in the same party as he has," said Lawrence, a Republican.
The nature of politics suggests that when councilmembers start talking to the press about their conversations with the mayor on potential replacements for the Mayor Pro Tem, the current Mayor Pro Tem isn't going to be holding the job much longer.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog, Isiah Carey's Insite (I, II).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado resign?"> 03/04/06 09:56 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
13 May 2006
DA's office looks into Alvarado's consulting arrangements
KHOU-11's Doug Miller reports that the Harris County District Attorney's office is looking into Councilmember Carol Alvarado's arrangements with various consulting firms for potential conflicts of interest:
The Harris County District Attorney’s office is taking a close look at some of the ways Carol Alvarado has made money outside City Hall.
DA investigators have spent the past couple of days in San Antonio and the Austin area subpoenaing documents from a couple of political consulting firms for which she’s done contract work.
Alvarado’s personal financial statement on file at City Hall shows that she’s worked for something called the Horizon Consulting Group and a Rudy Rodriguez in San Antonio, as well as a Capital Development firm and Harold Oliver, whose address is listed in McQueeny, Texas.
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal confirmed that subpoenas were served to those firms, and he said his office is investigating potential conflicts of interest. He declined to elaborate.
[snip]
The DA’s office has been investigating Alvarado’s mayor pro tem office for three months after revelations that four of her employees gave themselves big bonuses and pay raises.
Investigators are probing not only those now-fired city employees, but also the council member herself.
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that Rosenthal says his office hasn't determined whether a criminal investigation is warranted, and is just "trying to be thorough."
Stiles further reports that the city is trying to recover the improper bonuses received by employees of the Mayor Pro Tem's office under Carol Alvarado's watch.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado's consulting arrangements"> 05/13/06 05:28 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (3)
03 March 2006
Mayor White to ask Alvarado to step down as Mayor Pro Tem?
Embattled Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado is still a hot topic among local journalists, despite the best efforts of her high-powered PR firm to change the subject.
The Chronicle's Kristen Mack devoted her entire politics column to Alvarado's difficulties:
Alvarado's natural instinct was to talk, but she didn't help herself with the things she said.She said she felt betrayed. And to subsequent questions about a $66,000 increase in this year's mayor pro tem office budget, she said. "I don't know why this $50,000, or $60,000, is such a hot issue."
Having Marc Campos, her political consultant, serve as her mouthpiece — once she decided to stop talking about the investigation a week after the fact — only made it look like she was looking for a political solution. This week the role of speaking for Alvarado passed to Householder.
Hiring Householder and Hardin underscored Alvarado's realization that the payroll matter is serious and not going away anytime soon.
Metro/state/New Orleans editorialist and gossip columnist Rick Casey also took up the topic, although he devotes most of his column space to past clients of Alvarado's PR and legal firms. His research assistant must have been busy with that one.
And finally, KRIV-26 reporter Isiah Carey posts some buzz about the future of Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado:
The Insite has learned from credible sources that Mayor Bill White 'may' have quietly consulted with some Houston City Council members to gain their support in 'possibly' asking embattled council member Carol Alvarado to step down from the Mayor Pro Tem's office...
KTRH-740 has also been reporting on speculation that Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado will be asked to resign from the post, so it's obviously a hot topic at City Hall today, at least among journalists.
And that's Alvarado's biggest problem right now. Mayor White has given Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado a reasonable amount of time to get this issue under control, and she hasn't been able to do so. It's beginning to crowd out press coverage of the mayor's agenda and priorities, which can't please the administration. And the fact that Houston now has a Mayor Pro Tem who will only speak through a PR firm is an embarrassment for the city and for the mayor who selected her for the position.
It's difficult to imagine that Alvarado can retain the office much longer.
UPDATE: KPRC-2 reports that Mayor White has been soliciting opinions from other councilmembers on Alvarado's status.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado to step down as Mayor Pro Tem?"> 03/03/06 05:59 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
26 February 2006
Daily Campos absurdity: Alvarado is outraged!
The Chronicle ran a choppy op-ed from Gabriel Vazquez today on the bonusgate scandal. The former councilmember seems to channel local blogs with this snippet:
Clearly, the public trust has been violated, but there is more at stake than proper payroll procedures.
Someone has to take responsibility. It is unsettling to hear an elected official play the victim by claiming, "I trusted staff and was taken advantage of." It is completely unacceptable to say $50,000 or $60,000 is "no big deal" as Council Member Alvarado has reportedly stated. The public expects elected officials to take responsibility for what goes on during their time in office. The benchmark of a good politician is to take responsibility for irregularities as a means to demonstrate fitness for office.Someone has to be held accountable. Someone in Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's office had to authorize the bonuses, and someone in Finance had to approve them for a check to be issued. Documents clearly indicate Alvarado did authorize subordinates to use her signature. The real question is, did Alvarado know of the bonuses?
The investigation must be thorough, independent and completely legitimate. High-level officials such as the controller, the mayor and the director of Finance should be transparent about payroll and bonus procedures. The lack of information raises questions about the credibility of the investigation.
Yes, it does raise questions about the investigation.
On that topic, Matt Stiles reported on Saturday that Rosenthal's office still hasn't been presented with results of the city's investigation:
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal had said that a report from the investigators could be sent to his office by the end of this week. He said Friday he hasn't yet received anything.
This certainly seems like a plodding investigation.
For her part, Alvarado still is afflicted with Sudden Mute Syndrome, thus relegating Marc Campos to relay daily absurdities:
Alvarado has stopped commenting about the situation. Her political consultant, Marc Campos, said the councilwoman was "outraged" when she saw more documents about the bonuses on Friday.
"You would hope that somebody would've caught that," Campos said.
If only Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado had bothered to scrutinize the monthly budget reports for her Mayor Pro Tem's office, perhaps she would be less outraged now.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado is outraged!"> 02/26/06 10:23 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
16 February 2006
A birdie tells us that...
Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado will be making an appearance on the Chris Baker program today, on KTRH-740.
It should be interesting to hear what she has to say about yesterday's news about the raid and suspensions.
BACKGROUND: KTRH: Mayor Pro Tem's staff suspended.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/16/06 02:43 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (13)
24 May 2006
City staffers helped facilitate Alvarado's personal business meetings
Matt Stiles has obtained some emails that indicate Councilwoman Carol Alvarado used city personnel to arrange meetings with a San Antonio businessman:
City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado used at least four city employees to arrange meetings with a business associate who paid her tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees in recent years, according to e-mails obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
At least once, she asked her chief of staff to give the associate a ride, the e-mails show.
The messages from Alvarado's city e-mail account show that the employees scheduled meetings with San Antonio businessman Rudy Rodriguez, recently subpoenaed by local prosecutors who have opened a preliminary investigation into Rodriguez's relationship with Alvarado.
Rodriguez, former chair of the San Antonio River Walk Commission, has said he hired the councilwoman in 2002 to help expand his water-related development business in other cities.
Alvarado's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, says nothing unethical occurred, but others say that is not standard operating procedure:
"We wouldn't allow that," said Councilwoman Addie Wiseman, who owns a small business. "I keep my private life and council life so separate."
Other council employees, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the approach that Wiseman described: Council members block off time on their schedules for non-city events, but don't ask employees to schedule personal business appointments.
Alvarado's activities are of interest to prosecutors because she was mayor pro tem during a period when four employees in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem received bonuses that Alvarado and other city officials say were unauthorized. The employees have been fired.
At least one of them, office manager Rosita Hernandez, has said Alvarado authorized her bonuses because of extra work she did for the councilwoman. Alvarado has denied authorizing bonuses or requiring any staffers to perform non-city work.
Hernandez, who also served as the councilwoman's scheduler, was one of at least four Alvarado employees who helped arrange meetings with Rodriguez, according to e-mails. The e-mails examined by the Chronicle don't show other pro tem employees had contact with Rodriguez.
The messages, among thousands released to the Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act, contain dozens of instances of Alvarado's employees arranging meetings with or fielding calls from Rodriguez.
There is much more in Stiles' story.
Even if Alvarado didn't do anything unethical, she has shown an amazing lack of good judgment for an elected official.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado's personal business meetings"> 05/24/06 08:46 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
07 March 2006
Budget warnings were sent to Mayor Pro Tem's office
KHOU-11 and KPRC-2 are reporting that warnings were given to the Mayor Pro Tem's office about budget overruns. This is from KPRC:
Judy Gray Johnson, the director of the city's Finance and Administration Department, said during a fiscal affairs committee meeting Tuesday morning that the Mayor Pro Tem's Office was sent at least three warnings that they were going over budget.
KPRC Local 2 left messages for Johnson but she did not return the calls.
"I didn't get them," Alvarado said.
She said not only did she not see any warning letters, no one from the Finance and Administration Department contacted her directly.
"When something would potentially become a problem in my district office, I would get an e-mail. There were times I would get an e-mail from Regina Dixon in F&A. That never happened with the pro tem office," Alvarado said.
And from KHOU:
Also Tuesday, finance officials with Mayor White's office said they had warned Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado months ago that her office was spending too much money.
But Alvarado said she never got the warnings.
When asked if this was more evidence that she should have kept a closer eye on her budget, she got testy.
"We've been through all this, I'm not answering any more questions about that. I answered these questions when this first happened, so I'm not going there," she said.
"I want justice to be served," said Alvarado. "We have people that stole taxpayer money and there need to be -- uh, it needs to go through the proper procedure, through a grand jury, and people need to pay for what they did."
Maybe Rosie Hernandez intercepted the warnings. She seems to have done everything else in that office.
BLOGVERSATION: You Were Warned! Sort of… (Houblog)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/07/06 08:03 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
17 March 2006
Computers, Blackberry devices seized from Alvarado council office
KHOU-11 reports that computers and Blackberry communicators have been seized from Carol Alvarado's district council office:
With subpoenas in hand, officials with the Harris County District Attorney's office removed at least six computers and six Blackberrys from Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's district council office Friday afternoon.This marks a change in the investigation because prior to Friday, the focus had been Alvarado's mayor pro tem office, not her council office. The D.A.'s general investigation into the pro tem's office is broader than the previous Office of Inspector General review and includes current and even previous mayor pro tem office procedures.
Assistant Chief Mike Dirden who is also the inspector general said the search was initiated because the grand jury wanted more information. "We're not looking for anything specific, we're responding to a request from the grand jury."
Carol Alvarado's spokesman Joe Householder said the councilwoman expected the computer seizure.
With regard to the second bolded excerpt -- maybe Alvarado's hiring of one of the best defense attorneys in the city was an indicator? Just a thought.
KHOU also reports that all four employees fired from the Mayor Pro Tem's office have appealed their firings, which will provide a nice test case for our ongoing quest to find any fireable offense at the City of Houston.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: KPRC-2, Chronicle.
BLOGVERSATION: Off the Kuff,
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado council office"> 03/17/06 06:19 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (11)
28 March 2008
Carol Alvarado, METRO consultant
The Chron's Carolyn Feibel put up a great blog post on the Houston Politics blog today. It's not a long post -- six paragraphs -- but since the subject of the post is Carol Alvarado, it's just chock full of good stuff:
Carol Alvarado really did look kind of relieved today, after two of her former employees at City Hall reached a plea deal today in an embezzlement case.
"The plea agreements validate what I said two years ago, that I neither authorized or condoned this illegal activity," Alvarado said. "I'm glad to see there will be a repayment of sorts to the taxpayers. This has been going on for two years, and I'm glad we're able to finally move on."
The judge ordered the two employees to pay back the city and to apologize to Alvarado.
"I will gladly accept that apology," she said. "I feel like individuals broke my trust and took advantage of the system we had in place for the pro tem office and betrayed me and the taxpayers of Houston."
Alvarado, who is working as METRO consultant now, also took some questions on the just announced news that the planned East Side light rail line will stop six blocks short of the Magnolia Transit Center. Now the city and the agency are scrambling for federal money to try to build a bridge for the light rail over the train tracks that block it.
"I think everybody's going to have to pitch in, the city certainly, but talking to Congressman Gene Green, he's going to be working on securing some federal funding and we also have support from the Greater Rail Task Force," Alvardo said.
Egads.
Regarding the illegal activity of her staffers, the complaint was that her managerial ineptitude contributed to an atmosphere that allowed the illegal activity to occur. As Kevin Whited noted at the height of the scandal:
Alvarado's lack of oversight and inattention to detail seem to have allowed $130,000 of the people's money to be stolen. That's not the same as Alvarado stealing the money herself, and nobody is making that accusation against her. However, it does call into question her personnel-judgment and fiscal-management skills.
If she feels vindicated, then she doesn't grasp what the real problem was. That's not encouraging, but it is predictable.
As for the revelation that she's working for METRO, what kind of a consultant is she? Is it anything like this? Will she stay on as a consultant after she's elected to Rick Noriega's old seat?
And she really was serious when she said term limits have deprived Houston of her greatness. She's still telling Mayor White what to do, as evidenced by her matter-of-fact statement that the city will "certainly" have to pitch in to get that bridge built.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Carol Alvarado, METRO consultant"> 03/28/08 07:18 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (9)
22 February 2006
Stiles: Facts fuzzy in budget hike
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles fills in the latest details in the bonusgate scandal. Here are a few highlights from his reporting:
The city office where four employees received unauthorized bonuses saw a 25 percent increase in its budget this fiscal year — an appropriation that city officials haven't fully detailed.
The glare of publicity about the $130,000 incentive payments to workers in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem has drawn attention to the budget, which was included in a larger pool set aside for the 14 City Council members.
The City Council approved an increase from $260,000 to $326,000 for the pro tem office. And that was only half of the $122,000 increase the office requested.
Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who as mayor pro tem oversees the office, and top members of Mayor Bill White's administration, which produced the council budgets, didn't respond in detail to repeated inquiries about the proposed and actual increases.
"The justification cited was increased costs of services and supplies," said Frank Michel, White's spokesman. "We don't have any written documentation."
It sounds as if someone was planning on spending beyond mere bonuses for a handful of rogue staffers. That certainly merits further investigation!
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado returns to the "I'm a victim" defense of her lack of oversight:
Alvarado, who has said she can't recall specific details about the increase, said Tuesday she was "frustrated" by the lack of information.
She also was concerned about whether media coverage of such questions might unfairly taint her.
"It's my office. It's my name," she said. "I don't know why this $50,000, or $60,000, is such a big issue."
One can understand why Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado didn't respond to detailed queries from Stiles. Every time she comments, she tends to make herself look worse.
UPDATE: Stiles posts coverage of today's Council meeting.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Houblog, Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/22/06 09:21 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (5)
17 February 2006
Alvarado to Chron editorial board: "that's not my handwriting"
Matt Stiles has more on (what Houblog has coined) Bonusgate and it includes an appearance by City Controller Annise Parker:
A series of memos awarding disputed monthly performance bonus payments to four city employees contain scrawled initials purporting to be those of Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who said today that someone forged her signature.
"I can tell you right now that's not my handwriting," said Alvarado, who sighed and appeared shaken when shown one memo Thursday during a meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board.
"These are clearly not my initials."
Moments later she signed the cursive letters "CA" on a personal letterhead pad, and they appeared different than those on the memo, obtained through the Texas Public Information Act .
[snip]
The memo was released by City Controller Annise Parker, who also provided Thursday the first account of how the bonuses were approved since Mayor Bill White announced the investigation Wednesday. Dated Jan. 10, and labeled from Alvarado to a payroll employee, it is like numerous others being examined by investigators.
Parker said the memos, which ask payroll to provide the four employees "one-time performance incentive pay" as "a bonus for work well done," appear legitimate.
"Everything was documented as though it was completely legitimate and supported," she said. "There was a complete trail. There was no effort at all to hide this. It just came through normal procedures."
UPDATE: Chris Baker is interviewing former Councilman Mark Goldberg. Among other things Goldberg said that the Mayor Pro Tem's office manager making a base salary of $75,000 is eye-popping. He said that is deputy director pay. And then to add an almost $50,000 bonus on top of it, he said, sounds criminal.
He said he used to review his budget every one or two months and numbers like that would have jumped out at him.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: KPRC-2 reports the following:
Mayor Bill White said he was preparing an executive order that would put tighter controls over the entire payroll of City Council offices.
Four employees in the office of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado were removed from their jobs Wednesday in the payroll investigation.
Meanwhile, KPRC reported that one of the four suspended workers tried to change the current checks and balances by herself and the mayor pro tem almost helped her do it. Alvarado tried to change the system in order to give one of the accused employees, Rosie Hernandez, more power over payroll. Hernandez ran the office.
"It sounded like, OK, it will simplify the process," Alvarado said.
But other council members shut down the idea and kept payroll oversight with the city's finance and administration department.
That department was the one that was supposed to catch the $130,000 worth of bonuses now under question.
The mayor said workers in the finance and administration department may have jobs on the line.
That's all well and good, but more immediately, we have nearly reached the point politically that Carol Alvarado needs to resign as Mayor Pro Tem, or Mayor White will have to consider replacing her.
BLOGVERSATION: Rhymes with Right.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado to Chron editorial board: "that's not my handwriting""> 02/17/06 06:15 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (14)
09 January 2008
Rearranging councilmember offices in the City Hall Annex
Via Matt Stiles at Chron.com's City Hall blog:
One of the perks of being Mayor Pro Tem, at least during recent administrations, is the spacious and private office suite on the second floor of the City Hall Annex, where council members and their staffs work.
Councilman Adrian Garcia, the new pro tem, is moving there this weekend. His new digs will have relatively spiffy furniture, and his staff will be separated from the open-cubicle maze that other council workers endure.
Garcia's move, however, means new Councilman James Rodriguez, who's been on the job less than a week, has to abandon the space once held by his predecessor, former District I Councilwoman (and pro tem) Carol Alvarado.
She kept the office, by the way, even after former Councilman Michael Berry served as pro tem for nearly two years after the bonus scandal.
How completely unsurprising that Carol Alvarado didn't move out of the spacious and private mayor pro tem office suite even when she was forced to give up the title. As her recent complaints about terms limits make clear, she STILL thinks she should be in that office, blessing Houstonians with her numerous talents, which include (but are not limited to) road work, garbage pick-up, park beautification, and airport construction.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/09/08 10:50 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (5)
27 August 2006
Alvarado: I'm as powerful as ever!
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that temporarily-former Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Alvarado may have lost her title following her ineptitude in overseeing the office's finances, but she still enjoys considerable political clout with Mayor White:
A payroll-padding scandal six months ago cost Carol Alvarado her job as mayor pro tem, but she kept a coveted piece of real estate along the horseshoe-shaped City Council dais.
It's a green, high-back chair just off center — the spot right next to Mayor Bill White.
The seating arrangement is just one example of how Alvarado has retained her City Hall clout six months after a scandal seemed destined to imperil it."Nothing's changed," the third-term councilwoman said in a recent interview. "I just don't have that title. Everything else remains the same."
Despite a cloud of uncertainty about an ongoing investigation by local prosecutors and the negative news about her employees taking unauthorized bonuses, Alvarado still has more access to White than her council colleagues.
She's the only member with an open invitation to attend his thrice-weekly senior staff meetings, and Alvarado remains a regular on the mayor's weekend bicycle rides through city neighborhoods.
He also lets her spearhead complicated issues, such as studying a tougher ban on workplace smoking, responding to a grass-roots effort to change a police immigration policy or modernizing the city's campaign-finance disclosure system.
And she's still performing many of the historical duties assigned to the mayor pro tem. She advises the mayor, helping advance his agenda. She also works with his staff to gauge the moods of council members on emerging issues.
It's not unusual for Houston mayors to designate one member of Council as their "go-to" member, and certainly Alvarado continues to serve in that role for Mayor White, who nevertheless does seem more inclusive of all councilmembers than his predecessor.
Ultimately, though, one has to wonder about Mayor White's political judgment with regard to his close allies. Alvarado's lack of oversight in the Pro-Tem's office combined with her occasional lack of decorum really seem to contrast with Mayor White's efforts to portray himself as a financially-oriented mayor who likes to lead by building consensus, and Mayor White's handpicked police chief (who reportedly spends lots of his weekends in Phoenix) isn't exactly establishing White as a mayor who's serious about crime. The mayor's judgment in these matters will surely interest opposition researchers if, as expected, Mayor White eventually does run for higher elected office.
UPDATE: Of course, this and another recent story do illustrate that it's very helpful to have Rusty Hardin on your side!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado: I'm as powerful as ever!"> 08/27/06 05:57 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
13 April 2006
KHOU: Alvarado received warnings from F&A on spending
As Anne Linehan noted in an update to this post, KHOU-11 obtained a copy of the documents compiled by the Houston Office of Inspector General on the City Hall payroll scandal. Here's an excerpt of Doug Miller's reporting from earlier:
For the first time, it was revealed that a warning from the Finance and Administration Department had been sent to the mayor pro tem's office, with a copy sent directly to Councilmember Carol Alvarado via e-mail.
It said the office was going over budget and specifically mentioned the bonuses Alvarado said she knew nothing about
There was also a handwritten note from a finance and administration official saying that one of the employees who was getting big bonuses was warned the office was going way over budget.
KHOU has helpfully posted the OIG documents to its website (warning: the pdf appears to be large). I haven't had a chance to download and read it yet, but readers are more than welcome to leave comments about it.
It will be interesting to see how Councilmember Alvarado's PR team spins this latest information.
RELATED: Houblog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Alvarado received warnings from F&A on spending"> 04/13/06 10:28 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
24 February 2005
Councilwoman has a question; blogHOUSTON has an answer
On a KTRH-740 newsbreak this morning, I heard Councilwoman Carol Alvarado complaining about the state Legislature stepping in to close the loophole that would allow Houston to install red light cameras. She wanted to know what the state would suggest Houston do to prevent red light runners.
Well, we can help with that. If Houston wants to reduce the number of red light running motorists, it should lengthen yellow light times.
blogHOUSTON is happy to provide this PSA (public service answer) at no charge to Councilwoman Alvarado.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/24/05 10:21 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
22 April 2007
Mayor White clears way for Alvarado to regain Mayor Pro Tem title
Last week on the Chron's City Hall blog, Matt Stiles noted a change that's coming to the Mayor Pro Tem office; specifically, administrative duties will now be handled by the city's finance department, as opposed to Mayor Pro Tem staffers. This change comes about as a result of (still temporarily not Mayor Pro Tem) Carol Alvarado's lax oversight of the office while she was in charge:
The idea is to improve oversight by having career finance officials, rather than political appointees, handle the paperwork, payroll and other duties handled by the office. Here's White's take from an interview today:
There is a strong argument and sentiment by council members that there ought to be both responsibility and accountability in a regular city department for the administrative functions in the office.... I don't think any council member welcomes or wants that responsibility.
The plan has the backing of "temporary" Mayor Pro Tem and At-Large 5 Councilman Michael Berry, who outlined the proposed changes in a memo to White [PDF]. He has been running the operation, with the help of an experienced aide from his office, since March.
That's when former Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who supervised the four accused employees, stepped down "temporarily" amid an investigation. Prosecutors have cleared her of wrongdoing on the bonuses, but a broader probe into other city officials and procedures continues.
The council sets annual budget totals for each of the 14 offices, and the Office of Mayor Pro Tem has allowed council members some freedom in spending that money under Houston's strong-mayor system.
Not everyone thinks the change is a good idea, however:
Former at-large Councilwoman Gracie Saenz, a lawyer who served as pro tem during the Bob Lanier administration, said:
It is a very strong mayoral form of government. Heaven forbid that anybody gets crossways with the mayor, and that this could be used against a council member. I'm sure that would never happen, but it needs to be discussed.
And former Councilman Gordon Quan, who served as pro tem during the Lee Brown administration, said the change might not be disruptive. But he said it would strip the council members' autonomy in monitoring their offices:
I don't know whether one bad episode means we have to change the whole system.
Well, yes, one bad episode DOES mean drastic changes must occur. That's how Mayor White operates, and managerially-challenged Councilwoman Carol Alvarado agrees:
Alvarado, who knows firsthand the difficulties of maintaining a council office while also overseeing her colleagues' operations, said the mayor's change is "the right thing to do."
Which means she could soon be Mayor Pro Tem again, without having any of that pesky management oversight nonsense to bog her down.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado to regain Mayor Pro Tem title"> 04/22/07 09:47 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (17)
12 April 2006
New Bonusgate revelations emerge from Civil Service hearing
The Mayor Pro Tem employees who were fired by the city have had their firings upheld by the Civil Service Commission, but they didn't go down without a fight, and there are some new revelations about Bonusgate:
The Civil Service Commission for Municipal Employees rejected their appeals early this morning after a marathon hearing in which Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and a former employee gave conflicting, sworn testimony about whether she gave permission for four employees to get large bonuses.
[snip]
But attorneys for the employees elicited revelations that Alvarado had been notified that pro tem employees were getting large bonuses, and that her council office employees received significant pay increases.
Alvarado denied ever reading the notification, saying she was copied an e-mail that she apparently never read. In it, finance officials said the pro tem employees received $18,000 in bonuses in fiscal 2005.
She also said the fact that her employees received higher salaries for a few months in early 2005 was a mistake by Hernandez. She said the extra money was a misunderstanding that was corrected after a few months, and that she stayed within her annual budget by reducing the same employees' pay.
KHOU-11 has more on the pay raises at Alvarado's district office:
During the meeting on the bonuses Tuesday night, Alvarado said that Rosie Hernandez was ordered to give yearly pay raises to the staff in her District I office.
Instead, Hernandez reportedly gave the total yearly raises on every bi-weekly pay check.
That was discovered in the spring of 2005.
We asked Alvarado the obvious question, why didn't she fire Hernandez back then?
"Now that I look back upon it, I'm not sure if that was an honest mistake. She may have been doing it intentionally to make it look like this was happening in both offices. But immediately, when we discovered what was happening, it was corrected, and my district staff took a cut in pay," Alvarado said.
Well, well. Alvarado admits Hernandez was authorized to give pay raises to her district office staff. Allegedly Hernandez didn't handle the raise the way Alvarado intended, but still. Up until now I believe (glancing through bH's archives) Alvarado has claimed ignorance about any sort of pay raise. Now she admits she did tell Hernandez to take care of the paperwork for bonuses for her district office. And let's not forget that "Alvarado tried to change the system in order to give one of the accused employees, Rosie Hernandez, more power over payroll." Other council members put the brakes on that plan.
This is not to say that Councilwoman Alvarado has done anything wrong, but it would seem that some of her actions (and a tremendous lack of oversight) allowed the improper bonus problem to snowball out of control.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Does this mean that there IS a fireable offense at the City of Houston?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/12/06 06:32 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
28 May 2006
Alvarado emails suggest consultant had interest in COH business
Last week Matt Stiles reported on emails that pointed to city staffers helping arrange meetings between Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and a San Antonio businessman. Here is what Alvarado's spokesman Joe Householder said of the councilwoman's outside work:
Householder said the councilwoman made about $73,000 since 2002 as a consultant for a few businesses on non-city work. Much of that money came from Rodriguez, but she did little consulting work in 2005, he said.
Householder said he did not know the circumstances of Alvarado's request to her chief of staff to give Rodriguez a ride.
Householder said Alvarado never got paid to help Rodriguez or his clients with city-related business.
Now KTRK-13 has obtained more emails and they paint a less certain picture:
Besides her work at city hall, Alvarado is a consultant for a San Antonio businessman named Rudy Rodriguez. Her staff confirmed that in the past three years, Rodriguez paid Alvarado approximately $72,000 for what it calls 'outside consulting.' But from the emails we found, it's clear that Rodriguez had an interest in Houston's city hall and potential contracts. One appears to be a duty-free airport concessions agreement.
And KTRK's Miya Shay has the emails to back up those assertions:
In an email to Alvarado in 2004, Rodriguez writes about Simon Falic, the CEO of a company called Duty Free Americas.
"We need to be prepared to discuss the current status of duty free vender at Bush."
Later, a follow-up email from Alvarado's scheduler asks...
"Do you want to meet with Rodriguez and Falic in your office?"
Here is the email referenced above (there are more emails in the story) :
-----Original Message-----
From: rudy( ***)
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 9:04 AM
Cc: Carol Alvarado
Subject:Simon falic - duty free - tomorrow 3.30 - we need to be prepared to discuss current status of df vendor at bush
i need your direction as to making contact with m moore - ellis told him he was not in favor of extending the current df contract for any reason but would like to discuss how falic might propose something that got the cit new vendor as well as its past due money from current vendor
ellis also suggested meeting with nini foxhall at continental - please advise.
i will spend night wed night
M Moore refers to Mayor White's chief of staff, Michael Moore.
Mayor White's response:
We showed Mayor Bill White what we found.
"I think the red flag is if Councilmember Alvarado was paid to specifically arrange a meeting with somebody at city hall. That would not be proper," he said. "But I have no evidence that that was done."
[snip]
Mayor White maintains he doesn't know if Alvarado did anything improper, but admits...
"It doesn't look good," he told us. "I'll say that."
And Alvarado says:
"...that work was not related to the city of Houston and I am confident that I have always upheld the highest ethical standards."
The councilwoman's actions don't look good and the emails KTRK obtained certainly cloud the issue even further. And the Chronicle editorial board's hopes for this whole untidy mess to go away are dashed again.
(Thanks to bH reader Joe for the heads up on the story.)
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado emails suggest consultant had interest in COH business"> 05/28/06 12:10 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (4)
06 July 2006
City Council to vote on grease-trap revenue stream
Back in April, Kevin Whited wrote about (temporarily only a) Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's grease trap revenue stream. Today, KTRH's Brent Fuller has more on what is obviously a pressing issue:
City Council has approved about $55,000 for what are known as fat-trapper bags and bag holders, which will be distributed at some local apartment complexes later this year. The Public Works Department says its an effort to get people to think about where they're discarding greases and oils.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill White's administration is proposing a new law which puts tighter controls on restaurants and other businesses who use grease traps. The specifics haven't been nailed down yet. But Council Member Carol Alvarado, who's been working on the plan, says it will require those businesses to clean out the traps four times a year, and pay a $50 permit fee. "We would raise about $700,000 from those permit fees, and that would go to hire 12 inspectors to enforce the program", said Alvarado.
Alvarado said the proposal could also include requirements that new apartments would also have to install grease traps. However, officials say they can't find another city in the U.S. that regulates disposal of greases and oils at apartments.
The plan is expected to come before city council for a vote in a couple of weeks.
Punishing Houston restaurants for drain-clogging grease from apartment complexes seems unfair. In a KHOU-11 story from April, Councilwoman Sue Lovell admitted that this problem stems mostly from entities other than restaurants. Yet with Alvarado's plan, restaurants will have to foot the bill!
Nice work, Councilwoman. What next? How about charging all Houston kennels a fee to fix the city's dog poop problem? How can Houston deal with its air pollution problem? Fine businesses that sell cigarettes and gasoline? Tax ranchers with gassy cows?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/06/06 06:52 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (7)
30 March 2006
FBI enters City Hall probe
The FBI has requested Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's bank records:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation asked for the bank records of Houston City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado as it entered the investigation into improper bonuses at City Hall, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday.
It's the first indication that the federal government is involved in the probe.
The FBI request is for all of Alvarado's bank accounts, open or closed. It went out Wednesday to major banks across the country through what's known as the loss avoidance alert system, which is an electronic network connecting banks with law enforcement.
The FBI would not comment on the investigation. But Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal confirmed for KPRC that the federal request was made.
As usual, Alvarado's attorney, Rusty Hardin, says this was completely expected, which means the councilwoman must've said, "Sí, yo puedo."
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/30/06 06:13 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
28 February 2006
Bonusgate scandal stays in the news
The new communications team advising embattled Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado can't be happy with today's publicity.
Then again, they helped generate some of it by insisting on the following correction in today's Chronicle:
In an interview for a story that appeared on Page B1 Wednesday about the $66,000 increase in the mayor pro tem budget for fiscal 2006, Houston City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado said, "I don't know why this $50,000, or $60,000, is such a hot issue." A word in her statement was misquoted.
That was just the morning dose of bonusgate. Later in the day, Councilmember Addie Wiseman revealed a letter to Mayor White that asks some very pointed questions as to why Council (not to mention the Harris County District Attorney and the general public) has largely been kept in the dark on the matter to date. Jim Thompson helpfully posts the letter on KHOU-11's news blog.
KTRK-13's Miya Shay proved nimble enough today to track down one of the four suspended staffers, but he didn't have a comment:
Christopher Mays is one of the four workers in the mayor pro tem's office accused of accepting improper bonuses. He's been suspended since the scandal broke, but he broke his silence with Eyewitness News.
It's been a difficult week and a half for Mays and the other employees who've been on suspension. There are lots of unknowns and rumors swirling around. Mays is reluctant to say much.
"It's pretty hectic," he said. "There are some pretty serious accusations, but I would just like to withhold any comment until the matter is fully investigated."
Not to get overly philosophical, but is it really breaking silence when one announces he will have no comment?
RELATED COVERAGE: Chronicle, KHOU-11.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog (I, II), Isiah Carey's Insite.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/06 09:11 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (8)
12 July 2007
Mayor and Council excel at regulating, fail at implementing
Remember last fall when Mayor White, (temporarily not mayor pro tem) Carol Alvarado, and the rest of City Council beat their collective chest and passed an expanded (but with exemptions) smoking ban?
Yeah, well, it's almost time for the law to go into effect, and you'll be so surprised to learn that the city isn't ready to handle the exemptions:
At his family-run bar in downtown Houston, Mike Shapiro relies on a strong base of cigar smoking customers. So ever since the city passed the no-smoking ordinance, he's been trying to apply for the cigar bar exemption.
"I tried going down there to find out when I can apply, and all you get is a run-around," he said "They're not ready. Well, we're in the middle of July and they're still not ready."
Even though the ordinance passed last fall, the health department still hasn't come up with a permitting process.
"Is this a little late?" we asked Kathy Barton with the Houston Health Department.
"I'm a little disappointed this didn't happen quicker, but it is a small staff over there that works on such an operation," she said.
But no worries because the small staff has things under control:
Barton says staffers are working on a preliminary list of eight possible cigar bars they found from an article on the Internet, including Bossa, Downing Street and Crofts. But we found the list not very reliable. One of these so called cigar bars even isn't in operation. Paesanos shut down more than a year ago. It's now called Shadow Bar.
Or maybe not so under control. Meanwhile, Councilwoman Alvarado, who had this big idea in the first place, is on top of the situation:
"They need to get busy on that," said Houston Councilmember Carol Alvarado. "I had hoped they would have had that worked out."
Outstanding! Her management skills are still in top form, as we can see.
So let's recap: Mayor and Council enact a new ordinance, leaving all the pesky details to some overworked, understaffed city department. And no one bothers to check periodically on the process of ensuring a smooth implementation.
The problem is, Houston has a history of not being ready when new regulations go into effect.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: City Council suffers from Pass-a-Law Syndrome
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/12/07 09:41 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
23 October 2005
Campaign season a good time to correct technical oversights
Campaign season is a good time for politicians to correct little "technical oversight[s]" that they've been (knowingly or unknowingly) fibbing about for years.
And so, the Chronicle's Lori Rodriquez reports on a little "technical oversight" that Councilmember Carol Alvarado's opponent brought to light this week:
In voter's guide information submitted to the Chronicle when she first ran for City Council in 2001, 2003 and this year, Alvarado says she attended UH from 1987 to 1992 and received her degree. Her City Council Web site and campaign literature also list the degree.
Alvarado's District I opponent, lawyer John Parras, said Friday he began looking into Alvarado's educational credentials after an anonymous tipster left a message on his campaign office phone that she had not graduated.
"As a lawyer, I decided to investigate and share the information with my campaign supporters. I personally went to UH to get written verification," said Parras. "I was shocked when I learned that it was true."
The UH verification documents, dated Thursday, say that Alvarado attended the college of social sciences from 1987 through 1992. "The student intends to pursue a degree, however has not yet formally declared a major and degree objective," the document states, adding it reflected Alvarado's academic record as of Thursday.
[snip]
After Parras obtained and publicized the verification documents, Alvarado said, she called the university and learned that she had completed her course work, but hadn't fulfilled a "written proficiency exam."
"I was never notified by university officials that I needed this," she said.
The requirement has since been dropped, Alvarado said.
She moved to Washington, D.C., soon after completing her course work, and did not request a diploma, she said. "I'd like to clear this up," she said. "This has no bearing on the job I've done over the years."
Didn't Councilmember Alvarado think it odd that she never received a diploma? And aren't most college students concerned about getting that piece of paper?
Even if Councilmember Alvarado did not deliberately mislead, her inattention to the details of actually graduating is a little surprising.
But is it really this troubling?
Parras called for Alvarado to resign the seat she has held since 2002.
"She's betrayed the public trust, and I believe she should do the only honorable thing, which is withdraw from the race and resign her seat," he said.
Generally, that is the sort of rhetoric one hears from a desperate candidate with no other issues and no good chance of winning.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/23/05 10:02 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
22 February 2007
Did Mayor White really rule out Gus Wortham redevelopment?
The Chronicle's Mike Snyder reports that Mayor White seemingly has backed away from plans to redevelop the Gus Wortham golf complex into a playpen for the Houston Dynamo:
Mayor Bill White on Tuesday all but ruled out use of the Gus Wortham Golf Course on Houston's East End as the site for a new soccer complex.
"I'm not going to support something over the strong objection of the council member from that district, period," White said after Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who represents the East End, said the golf course is not the right place for the soccer facility.
[snip]
Asked by Alvarado whether the Wortham golf course was "off the table" as a site for the soccer fields, White repeated his earlier statement that he would not support it over strong opposition from the community and the district council member.
Mayor White is usually more determined than this to have his way. Don't be surprised if he finds some way to bring Councilmember Alvarado on board with his plans.
RELATED COVERAGE: KTRK-13.
BLOGVERSATION: Newswatch: City Hall.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/22/07 10:19 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
15 February 2006
KTRH: Mayor Pro Tem's staff suspended (updated)
KTRH-740 reports that several members of Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's office have been suspended:
KTRH News has learned that four members of Houston City Council member Carol Alvarado's office have been suspended.
The suspensions come as a result of an internal city investigation into payroll irregularities which may have involved bonuses paid to those workers.
A spokesman for Mayor Bill White's office says all four workers were employees of Alvarado's mayor pro-tem office and not her council office.
Mayor White is expected to talk about the investigation at a press conference later this afternoon.
I wonder if this provoked a profane outburst from the occasionally fiery, potty-mouthed Mayor Pro Tem?
UPDATE: The Chronicle's Matt Stiles posts a short blurb.
UPDATE 2: Kudos to KPRC-2, which sent an email alert pointing to their more complete account:
Agents raided the office of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado Wednesday, confiscating equipment and placing employees on administrative leave, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Officials said the city's finance director received reports of payroll irregularities, possibly including some improper pay raises awarded to employees in Alvarado's office, and reported it to the Office of Inspector General.
OIG agents and Houston police raided the offices shortly after lunchtime.
Four employees were removed and immediately placed on leave. Officials would not comment on Alvarado's status.
Computers were confiscated from the office and the door locks were changed.
Mayor Bill White plans to hold a news conference shortly. A statement is also expected from Alvarado.
UPDATE 3: Mayor White (via KHOU-11's live webcast) indicates that the city is investigating improper bonuses of $130,000 for the four staffers who were suspended.
UPDATE (02-16-2006): Updated coverage, from the Chronicle, KHOU, KPRC.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog (I) and Houblog (II), Isolated Desolation, Off the Kuff, Baboon Pirates, Lou Minatti.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/15/06 02:52 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (11)
19 March 2006
Second annual Tour de Houston
Saturday was Tour de Houston bike ride day:
Among the roughly 2,500 participants was one cyclist diligently leading the crusade of inspiring Houstonians to ramp up their level of activity via marathons or bicycle rides.
"I just want to let people know that keeping fit can be fun. It's not like any big sacrifice," said Major Bill White, an avid cyclist. "Leadership is about setting a good example."
White has doggedly tried to encourage Houstonians to seek fitness. He was joined Saturday morning by Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and another cycling enthusiast.
"I fought obesity most of my life, and I suspect that I'll continue that battle," said District 13 State Senator Rodney Ellis. "From liquid solutions to diet pills, finally I matured enough to get an exercise program and a nutritionist to help me learn how to eat.
Proceeds from the Tour will benefit the Houston Parks and Recreation Department.
I'm disappointed. The story doesn't mention Houston bicyclist Bob Stein.
As for the proceeds, let's hope Councilwoman Alvarado won't be overseeing those funds as they make their way to Parks and Rec.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/19/06 09:42 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (5)
13 April 2006
Who read the F&A email warning of bonuses? (updated)
In today's Chronicle, Alexis Grant and Matt Stiles expound on Tuesday's Civil Service Commission hearing for the four fired Bonusgate employees:
Alvarado, who has stepped down temporarily as mayor pro tem while Harris County prosecutors investigate the payments, said she did not approve extra pay. But Hernandez said she and the other employees earned the bonuses for doing extra tasks, including projects for Alvarado's re-election campaign.
Alvarado denied requiring them work on her campaign, or that they did so on city time.
Hernandez's attorney, Walter A. Boyd III, said Alvarado's latest comments were just shifting the blame away from her own lax oversight of the pro tem office.
He noted that city finance officials had copied the councilwoman an April 2005 e-mail, revealed at Tuesday's hearing, that mentioned $18,000 in bonuses for pro tem employees.
"This is inconsistent with her continued and repeated denials of her knowledge and involvement," Boyd said.
Alvarado said she didn't remember reading the e-mail.
What's interesting about the city finance department email is this from Controller Annise Parker:
When consecutive bonus requests were received, Controllers Office staff requested confirmation from F&A that the bonuses were authorized. When the bonuses continued, they contacted the Mayor Pro Tem office and were informed that the authorizing staffers had full signature authority, which was confirmed.
Who gave confirmation is not stated. If confirmation was given by Rosie Hernandez, then that's more proof that Councilwoman Alvarado took a remarkably hands-off approach to managing her staff and day-to-day office happenings.
Also included in today's Chron story is the news of a new legal defense fund for Alvarado set up by former state representative Al Luna. Attorney Rusty Hardin doesn't come cheap, you know.
UPDATE: Whoa! KHOU-11 got a look at a 264 page OIG compilation report:
For the first time, it was revealed that a warning from the Finance and Administration Department had been sent to the mayor pro tem's office, with a copy sent directly to Councilmember Carol Alvarado via e-mail.
It said the office was going over budget and specifically mentioned the bonuses Alvarado said she knew nothing about
There was also a handwritten note from a finance and administration official saying that one of the employees who was getting big bonuses was warned the office was going way over budget.
Alvarado still maintained in Tuesday's Civil Service hearing that she knew nothing about the bonuses and it was all the fault of renegade employees. Hmmmm.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/13/06 09:35 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
06 March 2006
Beginning week four of Bonusgate (updated: Alvarado steps aside)
***Keep scrolling for updates***
Here's what's going on so far today:
KHOU-11 is reporting that the four employees in the Mayor Pro Tem's office will be suspended indefinitely (government-speak for fired?).
The Chronicle's Matt Stiles reports that the DA's office has received a "partial report" from the Houston Police Office of Inspector General, and prosecutors are reviewing the material.
Also, Mayor White is expected to discuss the report later today with the media, but may not release the full report, according to spokesman Frank Michel.
And on KTRH-740 this morning a councilmember (maybe Councilwoman Sekula-Gibbs?) was complaining that Mayor White is leaving Council in the dark about details of the investigation.
UPDATE: KHOU-11 is now reporting that Carol Alvarado will temporarily step down as Mayor Pro Tem:
Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado will temporarily step aside as a result of the payroll scandal in her office. Mayor Bill White issued a statement that "the Office of Inspector General's report reveals a pattern of misconduct of the mayor pro tem's office."
The mayor went on to reveal there was some evidence of attempts to conceal the activities that granted four employees of that office more than $140,000 in improper bonuses.
Well. That's intriguing.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: As noted previously, Alvarado's move was entirely expected.
In my view, the move is likely to be permanent, not temporary. Mayor White's agenda and priorities trump Carol Alvarado's political needs.
ANNE ADDS MORE: KPRC-950 news is reporting that Michael Berry will take over Mayor Pro Tem duties, and the office's responsibilities will be curtailed.
Check out this Alvarado quote from Matt Stiles' updated story:
"I intend to temporarily - make sure you wrote that down right - temporarily, step down, pending the outcome of the investigation," she said.
We got it. Temporarily. Wanna bet? (Not that we do that here at bH, of course.)
MORE: From KTRK-13:
"Clearly, this is not what I prefer, but I think it's the right thing to do for the Houston city council and for the city as a whole," said Alvarado.
But it IS what Mayor White preferred. Refer to Kevin Adds above.
EVEN MORE: Mayor White's statement.
That's a pretty fast turnaround for a mayoral press release. Often we hear or read something in the local media relating to Mayor White, and it takes days and days before the press release shows up on the city's website. Obviously, this situation is such that the mayor wants to make sure there is NO delay in getting his side of things on the public record.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS MORE: KSEV-700 substitute talker Chris Begala is claiming on air that he "broke" the rumor that Alvarado would resign on Friday. At 5:20 pm. Except by that time, the scuttlebutt had been circulating among the city's journalists for hours. And KRIV-26's Isiah Carey had posted about it on his blog at 1:32 pm.
So no, Chris Begala didn't "break" the story at 5:20 pm, and his claim that he did shows a clownish lack of awareness of local media that we've seen before over at KSEV.
BY THE WAY: Rosie Hernandez is still listed as the contact person on Carol Alvarado's website:
All invites or scheduling requests can be emailed to Rosie.Hernandez@cityofhouston.net.
Or, they can be faxed directly to Rosie Hernandez, Scheduler, at 713.247.3413.
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Alvarado steps aside)"> 03/06/06 12:21 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (12)
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