Pro tem employees fired

The four employees of the mayor pro tem's office have been fired, the Chronicle reports:

Mayor Bill White's chief administrative officer, Anthony Hall, said the employees who received more than $143,000 in bonuses had been fired and would be notified by letter of the decision.

"The letters were signed this morning advising them that they had beren indefinitely suspended from employment with the city of Houston,'' Hall said. That suspension is the equivalent of a termination.

Hall, a former city attorney and councilman, presided over termination hearing Tuesday in which the four employees tried to save their jobs.

KPRC reports that Hall told reporters all four employees "made various comments that they thought would be in their best interest, I assume, but none of them were persuasive enough to change the recommendation." The four have 10 days to appeal their firings; office manager Rosita Hernandez's attorney has already said she will appeal.

Officials are still looking into other city employees' bonuses received between late 2004 and this year to make sure they were properly approved.