In what has to be the worst editing I’ve seen on a major station’s website, Jeff McShan said:

At least 11 HPD officers have received suspensions without pa and one was fired.

“We are appealing his firing on the basis that there is no just cause and this is a fine officer. One of Houston’s finest,” said his attorney, Robert Fuentes. officers One was fired.

I shouldn’t complain becuase I spot errors in my own stuff all the time. But it’s so hard to pass up a chance to point out how well all those layers of editors and such work.

What he’s talking about is the fact that the city didn’t have the common sense to think ahead and hire only police and 911 operators that had absolutely no reason to take off if the city had to be evacuated, or make arrangements for them. Now we’re working out a three tier system to ensure our office stays manned and people have some time prior to a hurricane to board up. We’re even looking at stockpiling food and water so employees and even their kids/family can shelter with us. (We already have an emergency generator).

But because the city didn’t have the sense to make these arrangements before — or to think to ask applicants for key positions some tough questions, employees that got caught between family and job (and chose family) got hammered. It’s one of those “everybody’s in the wrong” situations. Aside: I just think it’s typical that all those bonuses have to be paid to keep “quality people” but nobody could put some thought and common sense into making it possible for the rank and file to do their job under duress.

It’s a tough call, arguable on both sides. The city has to employ people that are going to show for work when a disaster hits, especially in key jobs. But the total pool of people willing to work for the government isn’t exactly huge; look through this list and see all the positions marked “OTF” (means “open until filled”) and you start to get the idea. I think I’ve mentioned it before. But hey, everyone knows government isn’t competitive in the IT field. Maybe this one. Or this? Not impressive? Try this list.

KTRK had a story tonight about the DA’s office saying Alvarado isn’t under investigation, or rather, no one’s under investigation but everyone’s under investigation. Smells like a fishing expedition to me. There was something about they might not even prosecute the Fab Four because incompetence isn’t a crime. I wish I’d heard more, but someone had a problem with not talking over the broadcast.

I don’t see that on their website but I did see this title over at the Chronicle: Analysis: One in six City of Houston workers got a bonus. My reaction to that title: WHAT THE FUCK?

About one in six city employees received extra money in their paychecks since Mayor Bill White took office in January 2004 under various performance-pay programs. They’ve collected about $4 million, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of electronic payroll records.

Four million among 22k employees; it worked out to a whopping $165 per employee. Pardon me if I think a whole hell of a lot of people must have gotten less than that, to make up for this guy:

The top recipient of authorized bonuses is a 20-year veteran police mechanic who’s received at least $95,000 more than his $33,000 base salary since 2004. He finishes front-end alignments and brake jobs faster than even the most skilled of his colleagues, police superiors say, earning him daily bonuses for beating average job times.

Uh-huh. Next time I get rear-ended by a police car, I think I know who did that job. But wait:

Seven of the 10 city employees who got the most in bonuses were police mechanics. They received about $410,000 since 2004. The program started before White was elected.

Uhhhhhh….. methinks this program might have some teeny-weeny little flaws in the baseline productivity numbers. (Edit: or bonus amounts.) At least now we know the reason for this list having so many OTFs. They’d rather get hired on with HPD.

That half the bonus money went to HPD doesn’t surprise me, but where in the department sure does:

The police department has led the city in bonus pay, spending at least $2.1 million since 2004, much of it to mechanics and their supply staffs. Uniformed employees, such as police officers and firefighters, don’t receive performance bonuses.

The supply staff? The supply staff? What the hell does the supply staff do to earn bonuses? Procure more letters for Chief Hurtt to use in acronyms?

Records obtained by the Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act show that employees in almost every city department have received performance pay under White. The money came in thousands of one-time payments, ranging from 20 cents to $6,800.

Did I read that right? Twenty cents? As for the $6,800, look who got it: Councilmember Shelly Sekula-Gibbs chief of staff.

The pro tem employees are listed in the City Council department. Excluding them, council employees still got the largest average bonuses, about $3,000.

Why am I not surprised?

Vara said such payments can save the city money because incentive pay doesn’t count toward municipal pensions. Pay raises would, he said.

They also can motivate employees such as parking enforcement officers to do extra work. They got extra money for reporting signs that were damaged or missing. One employee received 25 incentive payments, from $10 to $90. They got about $2,600 in all during 2005.

“It motivates the employees to go a little extra,” said officer Lashawn Reddick, who took home 15 such payments. “We also made it part of our daily routine to keep doing it.”

Presumably they weren’t given bonuses for reporting parking signs that were missing, since by definition, that should be part of their job. On second thought, I don’t think it’s wise to presume anything.

Elsewhere, the Fire Department is having problems of its own.

or the first time in more than 20 years, the Houston Fire Department is having to shift manpower throughout the city. The move comes as the department struggles to keep up with the number of calls for help in some of Houston’s most embattled neighborhoods, the KPRC Local 2 Troubleshooters reported Thursday. . . . The fire department’s problem — it does not have enough district chiefs to cover all parts of southwest Houston, which can slow down response times.

So why are district chiefs important? They’re like battlefield commanders. They respond to major catastrophes like multi-alarm fires and chemical spills. They’re responsible for coordinating all the firefighters, rescue crews and paramedics converging on a scene to make sure that catastrophe is not only contained, but handled safely, Arnold reported.

“Anytime we send a district chief, there’s usually five to nine or 10 apparatus rolling with them,” Williams said.

But since the fire department does not have the money to add new district chiefs, it’s being forced to realign its current manpower so more resources can be devoted to southwest Houston.

I confess I don’t get that…. we don’t have the money to hire more chiefs, so we’re going to shuffle the indians around? Something is missing in that equation. Are they moving the people & equipment, or are they transferring them from control of one chief to another? In other words, changing the org chart without physically moving people? I suspect it’s sort of the latter; it might be a simple as redrawing the districts on paper that the chiefs are expected to cover. If so, it sounds like a simple idea, but bear in mind that the people may not move, but some chiefs may now have larger zones of responsibilty, which will delay their arrival at the more distant multi-alarm fires & chemical spills they have to handle. It would be nice if the story made that clear.

And so that’s all I have for tonight folks!

Update: Hold that line, I have one more: Downtown cameras on hold. Only not really.

But for now the project that would be monitored by officers at a soon-to-be-built HPD storefront is on hold.

“I am going to have a public hearing on this. I am hoping to have it within the next 30 days,” said Garcia.

Since Garcia has already stated that he’s all for it, that hearing is probably going to be a sop to the public, just like the public and democratic input that Metro accepts before going its own way.

Update 2: I was going to get some sleep tonight. . . right? Isiah strikes again. Guess who notarizes most of the campaign finance reports that get handed in, including her own bosses? If you said “Rosita Hernandez” you win absolutely nothing! But you’re still right.