Link to article here.
Ever wonder why the tolling authority, TxDOT, and politicos are so tone-deaf to the public opposition to toll roads? They’re PAID not to listen. So the tolling authority salaries have exceeded $1 million a year, yet they have NOTHING to show for it but a trail of deception and conflicts of interest.
Performance bonus for Terry Brechtel? For what? Failure to get a single toll road off the ground? Even their lowest paid employee gets a higher salary with benefits than the average San Antonian. When Brechtel gets a $25,000 cost of living increase and “performance bonus” for underperformance (in the midst of a down economy with driving and toll road usage going down due to high fuel prices), it’s no wonder why she ignores the testimony of the masses who can scarcely afford to fill their gas tanks as they plead with the RMA to stop tolling our freeways.
Toll-road salaries top $1 million
By Pat Driscoll
Express-News
August 25, 2008
A local agency’s salaries and benefits to plan and eventually operate toll roads will come to $1.2 million in the upcoming fiscal year, including two people yet to be hired.
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| (Alamo Regional Mobility Authority) |
Alamo Regional Mobility Authority leader Terry Brechtel will pull the highest pay — with a $177,407 base and up to $23,527 to cover a cost of living increase and a performance bonus.
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The $200,934 total isn’t too far from the $206,000 she made in 2004 as San Antonio’s city manager, when she oversaw a $1.5 billion budget and 12,000 employees. She quit that job after a run-in with then-mayor Ed Garza.
Brechtel’s predecessor at the toll authority, Tom Griebel, only made $160,000 when he left at the end of 2005.
The lowest paid employee at the agency is the administrative assistant, who gets $38,183.
Two jobs — a director of toll operations ($104,771) and an attorney ($99,297) — haven’t been filled yet.
• Salary breakdowns
• Fiscal ’08 and ’09 budget summaries
Recent toll authority news:
• U.S. 281 lawsuit delayed two months
• High gas prices raise questions about toll plans
• Construction contract ready for U.S. 281 tollway
If they have no projects, where do they get their income? The funding must come from somewhere. Someone must have approved these salaries, so they must answer to whoever provides the funds. We need to trace this to the funding source and if it is our elected county and city officials, we need to complain.