City worker: Others took illegal bonuses, too

One of the city employees involved in the bonus scandal in the mayor pro tem's office gave an interview to KPRC this afternoon, very vaguely pointing the finger at Mayor Pro Tem and City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado.

Florence Watkins, who has worked for the city for nearly 12 years, said she knew she was wrong for taking a share of $130,000 in unauthorized pay bonuses, but she thought she had earned the money. Her salary in 2005 was $50,705, and she received more than $46,500 in bonuses — far more than the norm for city employees. Watkins suggested her supervisor (who made $72,741 in 2005 and took a $47,500 bonus) authorized the bonuses, but said Alvarado was the one who enabled her to do so:

"I know that we got incentives. I understand that. But also, the mayor pro tem gave our supervisor total authorization over us. She's the one who signed the document, giving her power to sign her name," Watkins said.

Alvarado, meanwhile, told the Chronicle today that she trusted the folks in the mayor pro tem's office to make good decisions:

"There is no way that an elected official can police every single iota, every single detail, that goes on in their office," she said this morning. "My job is to delegate, to hire people, to trust people that will bring forward any types of irregularities."

Mayor Bill White said there's no sign Alvarado had anything to do with the unauthorized bonuses, and Alvarado said she doesn't remember signing any forms to authorize the bonuses. "There's no way in hell I would ever authorize an increase of that magnitude," she told the Chronicle. Officials have said the investigation could involve other city departments, and Watkins agreed, telling KPRC, "By the time this bird has finished singing, there's going to be a lot of people (in trouble). ... We weren't the only ones that got incentives."