The mark of a true leader (updated)
From today's Chronicle:
Houston City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado deflected responsibility Thursday for the $130,000 in improper bonuses some of her employees received, saying she trusted subordinates to oversee payroll administration.
"There is no way that an elected official can police every single iota, every single detail, that goes on in their office," Alvarado said. "My job is to delegate, to hire people, to trust people that will bring forward any types of irregularities."
With that approach to management, she wouldn't last long in the private sector.
While Councilwoman Alvarado is busy deflecting responsibility, former Councilman Gordon Quan points out that as an elected official he did try to keep track of all those pesky iotas and details:
Quan presided over the office during leaner fiscal years, he said, when some questioned whether it ought to exist. He regularly monitored the budget with a city finance official.
"A bonus of that magnitude would have stuck out like a sore thumb," he said.
And:
Former mayor pro tem Gordon Quan worked with three of the four staffers. When he ran the office it was often under budget, and he gave several thousand dollars back to the city's general fund.
He said, "Justifying our budget was very important. So there was no fat in the budget. So when you allocate additional funds, somebody had to see that that had a direct impact on it."
"Stuck out like a sore thumb" and "somebody had to see." Well, not according to Houston's Mayor Pro Tem.
UPDATE: Chris Baker is attempting to get Controller Annise Parker on air. So far, he says, no luck. He says Councilman Mark Goldberg will be on in the 6 p.m. hour.
Ken Charles dropped by to chat about it and KC is incredulous that someone higher up in the food chain didn't have to approve this bonus money. KC also thinks it's time for Alvarado to consider another line of work, preferably something not involving taxpayer money.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/17/06 09:42 AM | Print |
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