Fees of Office and Expense Reimbursements

At the last meeting we were presented with the annual audit of the District's finances. Thought I would share one page with you, that reflects the amount of money the Board members were given for both Fees of Office and expense reimbursements. Fees of Office are the amounts actually paid to a Director during the District's fiscal year (April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012) for attending to District business. Example: Attending a regular Board meeting = $150.

According to the Texas Water Code, section 49.060, the limit on Fees of Office that a Director may receive during a fiscal year is $7200. The Board could choose to cap it at less than that amount by resolution, but the maximum allowed by law is $7200. On July 19, 2005 the WCID#89 Board passed a resolution to allow the maximum permitted by law.

So, what was the amount given to each Director for the past fiscal year? The first figure is for Fees of Office, the second for expense reimbursements, and the final number is the total amount.

Sharyn Smalls           $6450       $3439      $9889
Arthur Washington   $5550       $3018      $8568
Byron Watson           $5100       $2623      $7723
AK Babers                $4650       $2554      $7204
Jeraine Root              $3000       $  209      $3209

WCID#89 holds two regular Board meetings each month, so 24 times $150 = $3600. Directors also receive Fees of Office for the days that they spend attending conferences or other educational seminars, and for tending to the business of the District.

As you recall from a previous post, I had major surgery in the summer of 2011 and had to miss a few regular Board meetings. My expense reimbursement was much less than the others because I did not attend the 2011 AWBD Summer Conference in Ft. Worth nor the Mid-Winter Conference in Dallas. We do receive mileage reimbursements for travel to/from regular meetings.

District Building Update

Only the District residents can make sure that integrity, accountability, and transparency be reflected in all the Board’s dealings.  This can be accomplished by going to the polls on November 6, 2012 and voting for candidates who put the community’s interests above their own. Will you go vote?

As you may recall, the special meeting that was held on the bids for the District Building brought many things to light for the first time. Secrets of the Administration Building Revealed. At the end of that meeting, I joined the Building Committee and promised to keep an eye on how the money was being spent and make everything about the District Building Project more transparent. A few days after that meeting, I called the engineer to find out what the $145,476 had been spent on and asked why they had used an unlicensed architect.

He told me that most of the money had been for the permitting, plans, necessary soil studies to get the permits (which were used in the bids put out by our current architect, Mr. Moseley) basically everything that was needed to bid out the job, and they were ready to roll in 2009. His story about the unlicensed architect was quite a bit different than the one that Sharyn Smalls relayed at that meeting. Since I wasn’t on the Board when all this happened, I figured it was a “he said/she said” situation and decided to just let it be water under the bridge. I then asked him for Mr. Moseley’s contact information. All he had was the phone number, which I called and left a voice mail informing Mr. Moseley that I was on the Committee. He never returned my call.

Chris, our attorney, then provided me with the original contract between the District and Moseley's firm, along with the plans from the 2009 project. Not much has changed from those original plans. Chris gave me Mr. Moseley’s e-mail, so I sent him the same message I’d left on his voice mail with a cc: to Sharyn Smalls. I informed him that I was now on the Committee, and asked that any information regarding the District Building be shared with me. No reply.

The next week we had our regular monthly meeting and the engineer asked if anyone had questions about what went on at the special meeting. I didn’t ask any, and neither did anyone else on the Board. At the very end of this meeting, Sharyn Smalls announced that I was no longer on the Building Committee because Arthur Washington had changed his mind about stepping down. This caught me totally off guard, and I protested that I did not want to be kicked off the Committee. Argument ensued, but I prevailed. Sharyn made it clear that as Chair of the Committee, she would be the sole contact with Mr. Moseley. I asked her if that was why he had not responded to my voice mail and e-mail. She said that there was no reason for him to contact me.

I sent another e-mail a week later asking Moseley to send me an update on his progress since the special meeting. No reply. The following week there was an agenda item about the District Building, and Sharyn announced that Moseley was working with consultants on how to reduce the cost to fit into our budget before the next bid process. I asked why that information hadn’t been shared with me as a member of the Committee. Sharyn stated that I had no need to know as she was the sole contact for anything related to the Building, and she would bring any information to the Board.

I appealed to Chris, as our attorney, to intercede and tell Mr. Moseley that he would have to answer questions from ANY Board member. After all, the contract was between the District and the Moseley Architectural firm, NOT just between Mr. Moseley and Sharyn Smalls. Chris suggested that we move into Executive Session to discuss this problem.

By moving into Executive Session, which is just the Board Members and the attorney, nothing we say is subject to the Open Records Act. In other words, all discussions in Executive Session are off the record. It’s like going to Vegas. What happens there, stays there. So, I can’t tell you what happened. Suffice it to say, I was so upset that I walked out of the Executive Session and left the building.

I was told that when the Board Members returned to the meeting, a motion was made by Byron Watson to allow all Members access to all District contracted vendors, and that it passed. But why, I ask you, would such a motion even be necessary???????????????????????????????????????

Sharyn Smalls has often stated that I am “too new” on the Board to really understand the business of the District. That she has been there for many years and knows how to deal with the issues. My response? Sharyn Smalls has been in power too long. Please read the first paragraph of this posting again.

Karri Garza - Candidate for Board of Directors

I sent Candidate Questionnaires to all 7 candidates for WCID#89 Board of Directors. Karri Garza is the first to return hers. Click here to read about Karri Garza.

Feel free to post comments/ask questions for this candidate. When the other candidates return their forms I will post them as well.

3 Directors Take $900 Each of District Funds

At today's meeting, Directors Byron Watson and Arthur Washington were issued $900 checks as advances for reimbursable expenses to attend the 2012 Public Drinking Water Conference which will be held in Austin on August 7-8. President Sharyn Smalls requested a $900 check also be issued to her for the same conference. I was issued a $500 check as an advance.  Why the $400 difference between my advance and the ones given to these Directors? (FYI - AK Babers has opted not to attend this Conference.)


First, let me refer to an earlier post on this blog dated December 7, 2010 which explains what I consider to be unreasonable reimbursements for conference-related expenses that members of the Board have made in the past, and my attempt to get a more responsible Travel Expenditure Policy adopted for the District. That attempt was rejected by the Board and in its place this policy was adopted.


Shortly after this policy was adopted, all the Directors attended the Association of Water Board Directors'  Mid Winter Conference in Galveston the weekend of February 4, 2011. I was unable to get a room at the Moody Gardens hotel at the conference rate. I arranged to get other accommodations at about the same conference rate, which was approved for reimbursement by the Board. You can request a copy of the reimbursement records for this conference on each Director by asking for an "Open Records Request" from the District's Attorney, Chris Richardson, via e-mail Chris@srlegal.com

None of us was able to get a room at the Double Tree Hotel, where the upcoming Public Drinking Water Conference is being held, at the conference rate of $85/night. Once again, I arranged to get a hotel room nearby, which if one night's deposit was made in advance, could be had for a rate of $89/night. I sent this information to the other Board members via e-mail on 6/26/12.

Director Washington opted to reserve a room at the Double Tree for nearly twice the conference rate at $161/night and stated that figured into his request for the $900 advance. Director Watson reserved a room at the Marriott Courtyard for what he claimed was "about $100/night". When I questioned why he required a $900 advance since his room rate was much lower, he stated "Because I want it." President Sharyn Smalls gave no reason as to why she wanted $900 as an advance.

My request for $500 was based on the hotel cost for a 2-night stay  (I have already paid $102.35 as the deposit as you can see from my online bank account record below:

6/27/12	CHECK CRD PURCHASE 06/25 HABITAT SUITES HOTEL AUSTIN TX		$102.35)

$200 for a rental car (if you read the post I referenced above you'll know why I'm renting a car rather than taking my own) and about $100 for food since the Conference was not providing anything but refreshments. Note: We will also be paid $150/day as "fees of office" for attending the Conference. No one mentioned their request for $900 including these additional fees.

I encourage you to write a letter addressed to each of these members of the Board demanding an accounting for their appropriation of District funds in the amount of $900 as an advance for this Conference. You can mail these letters to:  
Board of Directors c/o Strawn & Richardson, P.C.
6750 West Loop South, Suite 250
Bellaire, TX 77401-4111
OR e-mail your demand that these Board Members be accountable for their $900 advances to directors@wcid89.org.

If YOU don't hold them accountable, no one will! 

Secrets of the Administration Building Revealed!

Mr. Moseley, the architect, revealed that 4 construction companies had placed bids in response to his advertisement for the WCID #89 Administration Building. All four bids were over the amount budgeted, so the decision was made to revise the specifications for the building and request new bids. If you want to know what all was requested in the original posting, please click here. It also includes documents referring to the soil and groundwater conditions of the building site, which was also discussed at the special meeting on 6/26/12 -- apparently there are some additional costs anticipated due to these conditions.

Target Design and Management had the lowest bid which they have posted on their website, and you can view Teal Construction's bid info online here. The other two construction companies offering bids were Bass Construction and Comex Construction. Teal Construction's online documents include information about the left turn lane, which is being required by Harris County to get construction permits. Apparently the County doesn't want to impede traffic on Fellows Road to their Tom Bass Park, so they are requiring a left turn lane be created to enter the Administration Building. Mr. Moseley indicated the cost of that would be approximately $75,000 in addition to the cost of the building itself.

I asked if there would be a need for the left turn lane if the site of the building were inside a neighborhood rather than on Fellows Road. He did not know. I also asked what types of accommodations would have to be made for the soil conditions. He said that it would require some additional expense, but he wasn't sure exactly how much or how it would be addressed.

Before this meeting I had requested the bookkeeper give a full accounting of expenses related to the Administration Building. Bottom line, $207,054 has been spent from February 2008 to the present date. $59,094 has been paid to Mr. Moseley.

Sharyn Smalls suggested that I list all the tasks/duties that go into designing, planning, and conducting the bid process when I posted this information. I attempted to do so, but I can't really say based on Google searches. I was, however, able to find the links that I have put into this posting on the bid information, Target Design, Teal Construction, and Bass Construction from my research attempts.

I invite Sharyn to comment on this posting to detail what we have received for the $59,094 spent. There was also a $2484 payment made to Frank Clements for professional design services. I'm not sure who he is, but I have in my notes that his work was primarily for the kitchen design.

In addition to the architects, A&S Engineers (which is the District's engineering firm and recipient of most of the money) Rekha Engineering, and Centertex Constructors have been paid $145,476. When I requested what those payments were for, no one had an explanation.

I have asked repeatedly for information about the Administration Building ever since I was elected to the Board in May 2010. Most of my requests have been answered with vague comments about it still being "in progress". In November 2010, Mr. Moseley did come to one of our Board meetings and showed us the building plans. Sharyn then took those plans to a Brunswick Lakes HOA meeting and answered questions.

As I continued to question why so much money had been spent on the Administration Building, with only a sign that says "Future Site of WCID #89 Administration Building" to show for it, Sharyn revealed the history of how Joe Fogarty, original developer of Brunswick Meadows, requested that the land on which Brunswick Meadows now stands be annexed to the District. As part of the original annexation agreement, he was responsible for constructing the Administration Building, which would be funded by a $500 per lot fee. To date, that $500 per lot fee has accounted for $664,480 - so roughly 31% of the money that Brunswick Meadows has contributed to the Administration Building has been spent.

When the Administration Building plans were presented to the Board in 2009, they noted that the seal was different than the architect that had been hired. Questions were asked, and  Sharyn stated that it appeared an unlicensed architect had been hired to design the building. She indicated that the Board decided at that time to take over the responsibility for the construction of the Administration Building.

So it would appear that since February 2008,  a whole lot of money was spent on something that was not being carefully supervised by the Board of Directors. Since May 2010, when AK Babers and I were elected to the Board, no details on any expenses have been brought to the Board. Sharyn has been a committee of one overseeing the Administration Building, and she stated that Arthur Washington was appointed to it just two weeks ago. I requested that I be put on the committee overseeing the Administration Building, and Arthur agreed to step down to allow me to serve in his place.

I will do my utmost to keep an eye on how the money is being spent, and make the whole Administration Building construction project more transparent to the residents of WCID #89.

Special Meeting about the Administration Building on 6/26/12

The Board is holding a special meeting at 11:30AM on Tuesday 6/26/12 to discuss the construction bids for the Administration Building. This is the time to come and hear what this building is all about. Again, the meeting place is the office of Strawn & Richardson in the Frost Bank Building at the corner of Bellaire and the 610 Loop. The physical address is
6750 West Loop South, Suite 250
Bellaire TX 77401

Become Part of the Neighborhood Watch Team

CG Johnson is looking for block captains and other residents to help patrol the neighborhoods of WCID#89.

If you'd like to parcipate in making our homes and lives more secure, please come to the meeting.

Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 7pm

Harris County Constable Pct.7

5290 Griggs Rd.at the corner of MLK Blvd

Houston Texas 77021

Conference Room

Contact Rev C G Johnson at cgjohnson4@sbcglobal.net for more information.