I was at the May 20, 2024 Somervell County Commissioners Court where, at the end of executive session, Commissioner Richard Talavera made a motion to move Payroll under the Treasurer Department, effective June 1, 2024. (You can see video and the signed motion at this link. There was no discussion about the particulars at all. I wondered what this actually meant. Was Cindy Gray, who was indicted and on probation for felony theft, going to continue to be in payroll but Valerie Williams would be her boss? Would she continue to work part time at the Expo Center as well, where she had been told to work on a temporary basis and later was said to be doing temporary management day to day operations? (Motion was made by Jeff Harris on May 15)
I had asked via an Open Records Request of Danny Chambers previously about any paperwork showing how it was that Gray was given some job at the Expo WHILE working full time in her payroll job
At the meeting from May 13, right after Starnes says he isn’t going to be at the Expo 100 percent of the time, Jeff Harris made a motion to leave Cyndi Gray as temp management on Day to Day Operations, but there has not been, that I can find, any discussion otherwise to explain how it is that she already had a payroll job and yet was put in temporarily also at the Expo, ie, who put her there? See video below, which is clipped to start at the place about the motion and the job description.
I asked Trey Brown yesterday about what the payroll under treasury motion meant
My understanding is that Valerie is taking payroll back over on June 1st and that Cyndi will stay at the Expo until further notice. I do not know what they are doing about her office situation or what her job title is/will be. You might check with one of the commissioners.
This morning I went to talk to two of the commissioners regarding this. My questions were:
- Is it true that Cindy Gray will no longer be in the payroll department as of June 1st, 2024
- Does Cindy Gray have a job description? One commissioner told me she was on contract for the Expo; I asked if that was a signed contract and he said no.
- Is Cindy Gray to be paid from the regular budget (since she’s no longer payroll, that budget item would ostensibly be in Valerie Williams area or will she be paid from the Enterprise fund? Answer is enterprise, according to Jeff Harris.
- How is it that they had already come to a decision, apparently, in executive session, before coming out? I mean, nobody knew what was said but certainly the specific decision NOT to have Gray in payroll was NOT spoken of or part of the resolution to be voted upon in open session, but it was clearly made IN the executive session. The purpose of the executive session is to provide public access to and increase public knowledge of the governmental decision-making process. If the discussion about the decision takes place behind closed doors, how can the public know HOW the commissioners reached this decision? and “
ยง 551.102. Requirement to Vote or Take Final Action in Open Meeting
A final action, decision, or vote on a matter deliberated in a closed meeting under this chapter may
only be made in an open meeting that is held in compliance with the notice provisions of this
chapter.”
I then asked Hannah of HR about the job description. The only job description that comes anywhere close to a manager job is Office Manager but that does not seem to be the job Gray is working under. There is no job description for a manager of day to day operations if Office Manager does not apply (and note that Office Manager position deals with money) Hannah said that she is working on a job description with all related info, and included with the commissioners, to be brought up in the June 10th meeting. She also said that there will be a transfer form put in her file to make it clear that she is no longer in payroll on X date and then working (whatever it is) on Y date, presumably also listed with salaries.
So, to sum up. I believe that the commissioners court did not make it clear that Gray would no longer be in payroll as of June 1st, but good that Gray, with her criminal record, is not going to be in payroll anymore. However, since she has been moved to the expo without a contract, without a defined job that may well include dealing with money, temporarily according to one of the commissioners and without any paperwork as to when she was put over there, and nothing in her file at this point to indicate by June 1 that she no longer has the payroll job, this seems also to be the wrong action.
