City Hall Elevator Rumblings #45
Rider #1: Well, I guess the Texas Attorney General can chalk up another win in his column against Irving’s city manager. The city manager had to cough up Open Records Act documents that had been requested by the DMN as they related to the very strange and highly unusual employment/suspension/ resignation/re-hiring of the ex-fire chief. Other than the media coming out on top and receiving what they requested, the ex-fire chief ended up with a $161,000/year “grants writing” job with the city.* Hello, gravy train!
Rider #2: Yeah, the ‘transparency’ model the city manager has been employing lately -- regarding city records -- took another hit. I believe the score is: AG 13, City Manager 0. By now, you would think the manager would dispense with his ‘transparency’ model of handling public records and forego his routine of: “Now you see them, now you don’t.”
Rider #1: It seems that the city manager can make records appear or disappear better than a Vegas magician. Maybe that is his fallback position should his golden parachute ever fail to open. And considering the records concerning the handling of the ex-fire chief’s employment/suspension/ resignation/re-hiring, Vegas could use a good magician to entertain audiences.
Rider #2: Actually, all of the records magically disappearing and then reappearing when requested by the DMN could be the rationale as to why the city manager is pushing for a new library. His plan may be to use the old central library to house all the city’s CYA files as they relate to the city manager, Brenda McDonald, ex-mayor Gears, ex-fire chief Molina and other former employees who were driven from their employment under cloudy circumstances. What a historical collection this would be.
Rider #1: If that’s the case, tax payers can add this new library proposal (with funding questions still unanswered) to a long list of issues that are not being handled properly in the city. Tax payers are often referred to as being the city’s ‘customers‘ for city services. The growing sentiment is that the city manager may have forgotten that he works for the council and the tax payers are the owners...not a customer. The problem seems to be that the council doesn’t fully comprehend this concept that the city manager should be accountable for all city operations and problems.
Rider #2: Regardless, I’m going to see if I have anything in my personal CYA file that I can use to threaten to sue the city with. I really could use a $161,000/year job working at home and writing comedy routines on how to make big bucks and succeed without even trying. I may even start a consulting service with seminars to downtrodden workers and inefficient managers. I’ll call my new get rich, money making method...Hocus-Pocus.
- The document the AG required the city to turn over was from the city of Irving (city manager) to the ex-fire chief (Molina). The document is located at the following DMN link:
A note from counsel: These “candid” elevator conversations have been injected with fabricated nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, adverbs, modifiers and maybe a few dangling participles….Mark Holbrook
