After a 16-hour hearing and deliberation process, the city's Civil Service Commission upheld the firings of four former mayor pro tem employees accused of taking nearly $200,000 in unauthorized payraises and bonuses, but it cleared two lower-level employees of conspiring to get the bonuses.
During the hearing, the ex-employees said former Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado had either personally OK'd, or given them the authority to OK, bonuses and raises far beyond the norm for city employees. Alvarado maintained that she didn't know anything about the bonuses. Though the employees' lawyers showed Alvarado had been sent an e-mail notifying her about hefty bonuses in the pro tem office in fiscal year 2005, she said she never read the message. Alvarado temporarily stepped down from the pro tem position while a Harris County DA investigation is carried out.
According to KPRC, more than one of the fired employees' lawyers said they might take the matter to district court.
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