The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, perhaps motivated by competition from the new kid in town known as the Fort Worth Reporter, seems to be finally looking in a clear headed, sort of, way at the mess that is the Tarrant Region Water District, and is spawn, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, better known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.
The image you see above is a screen cap from the Star-Telegram's article about this latest revelation, this time directly involving Kay Granger's son, J.D. who you see on the left in the photo.
In addition to the main disgusting revelation in this article, we also learn that J.D. is now being paid $242,000 a year. Maybe it is time an actual investigate journalist finds out what it is which warrants paying Kay Granger's son that much money.
And now, the aforementioned article in its entirety...
Former Tarrant water board president gave Panther Island boss extra $60K in paid time off
Days before leaving office, and two months after he directed a paid leave exception for the outgoing general manager, the Tarrant Regional Water District’s former board president made a similar arrangement for Panther Island executive J.D. Granger.
According to documents obtained through a public information request, former board president Jack Stevens wrote an internal memo on May 13 — more than a week and a half after he lost his reelection bid, and five days before he left office. In the memo, Stevens directed water district staff to make an exception to the paid leave policy for “the current Development Director of TRWD.”
In an email chain, staff members clarify that the title references Granger. The exception allows Granger to bank 1,560 hours of paid time off, 520 beyond the maximum outlined in the district’s policy.
At Granger’s hourly rate, that’s more than $60,000 worth of extra time.
The exception also removed the district’s restrictions on how paid leave can be cashed in or rolled over. Stevens’ memo allowed Granger “to be paid for unused Paid Leave hours in full upon request, in a lump sum, by deposit into the District’s [retirement plan], over time, or otherwise as requested, subject to the requirements of applicable law and the District’s [retirement plan].”
According to water district documents, Granger is paid about $242,000 a year for his role as the executive director of the Panther Island/Central City project. That project, which has a price tag of more than $1 billion, has been ongoing for more than 15 years and has been spearheaded federally by Granger’s mother, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger.
After issuing the exception memo, Stevens followed up with a staff member on May 17, one day before he left office, and asked them to “please implement the exceptions in my Memorandum dated May 13, 2021.”
The exception that Stevens wrote for Granger is strikingly similar to an exception he wrote two months earlier, for now-retired general manger Jim Oliver.
That exception, which the board of directors voted unanimously to revoke on Tuesday, added more than 2,000 extra hours of paid time off into Oliver’s account. At Oliver’s hourly rate as general manager, that exception would allow him to cash in on more than $300,000 in post-retirement compensation.
Board president Leah King on Tuesday described the exception to Oliver as “ill-advised” and potentially “unlawful.” However, Oliver’s lawyer told the Star-Telegram that the exception was made following district policy, which includes a clause that paid leave exceptions can be made.
King and the other board members have not made any public comments on Granger’s exception.
Lawyers for the Tarrant water district are conducting an “inquiry” into the exception made for Oliver. It’s unclear if the exception made for Granger is also included in that inquiry.
Granger and King could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
Former Tarrant water board president gave Panther Island boss extra $60K in paid time off.
No comments:
Post a Comment