Bonus scandal report due out Monday

Sunday, March 05, 2006

(3/05/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- The scandal at city hall is heating up. The inspector general has wrapped up its investigation into employees in the mayor pro tem's office accused of taking improper bonuses from the city.

On February 15, Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado's office was raided, the locks changed, and four workers in her office were suspended, accused of taking improper bonuses. Alvarado says her signature authorizing the $140,000 in bonus was forged.

The mayor is expected to reveal details of the Officer of Inspector General's investigation on Monday.

Alvarado is keeping to her regular schedule, but the controversy surrounding the bonus money simply won't die down. And the question many are asking the mayor is will Alvarado stay on the job.

"This mayor pro tem has done a good job in trying to build consensus," said Mayor White on Saturday. "The administrative responsibilities are a different matter. Maybe those responsibilities should be somewhere else."

Mayor White spent part of the past few days talking to certain members of city council, looking for input on how to restructure the mayor pro-tem's office. But he says he hasn't asked Alvarado to resign her position, though he does know what he wants to do about the four employees and their bonuses.

"I'm going to have the city attorney sue anybody who got improper bonuses, to get the money back," he said.

Friday, we received a statement from Alvarado. That statement read:

"For the mayor and city council, it is important to determine how we can recover the money that has been stolen from taxpayers and that we implement the reforms necessary to ensure that this never happens again. I have already discussed some reforms ideas with the mayor and intend to continue those discussions in the days to come."

Neither Alvarado nor any of the four suspended employees have been charged in the investigation. Earlier this week, Alvarado hired high-powered defense attorney Rusty Hardin.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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