A Disenchanting Forrest

OPINION

By Charles O’Dell, Ph.D.

When Allen Walther, long time Director of Hays County Environmental Health Department, retired in January 2007, there was a palpable sigh of relief throughout the county.

It was an opportunity to bring professional management, competency and integrity to the county’s subdivision platting and on-site septic permitting processes. It was an opportunity to reform and rehabilitate the county’s failed Environmental Health Department. Hays County Commissioner Jeff Barton had other ideas.

Commissioner Barton, having served as county commissioner in the 1990’s before being voted out of office, knew he could rely on the EHD personnel for his needs and had to get the right replacement for Walther. Barton also knew that he had a green County Judge and Precinct 4 Commissioner to work with, and wasted no time in getting his man hired as the Interim Director.

Barton’s first move was to sponsor his replacement for the open position and to have Human Resources advertise in such a way as to appear to meet the legal requirement for open hiring, but not attract the right professional candidates.

Barton had the Interim Director position wired for his guy who was unqualified but who would be grateful to Barton. Barton needed to make sure a qualified candidate didn’t respond to the HR advertisement.

This was accomplished in two ways. First, the position for which ads were published called for a Design Review Consultant. Google that title and see what you get. It won’t be an Interim Director of Environmental Health Department. Then to further limit the possibility of someone qualified applying, HR advertised in the San Marcos newspaper and posted the bogus position announcement on the Texas Chapter of American Planning Association web site for twenty eight days.

Despite an Open Records request for all documents related to advertising for an Interim Director, the APA ad wasn’t provided. Despite efforts to avoid attracting qualified candidates for the Interim Director position, one highly qualified professional did respond. This respondent was not only a Ph.D. and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, but he also had very relevant work experience and taught at a large Central Texas university. He was somehow passed over.

Barton’s man, Thomas L. Forrest, had kicked around Texas and Florida, and while having a pleasant demeanor had no practical experience for the position of Interim Director. Instead, Forrest is what is generally referred to as a bureaucratic hack. That is someone who can talk the talk but has no project leadership experience and instead embeds himself in a group effort for which he takes credit greater than his contribution. To the uninitiated a hack’s resume’ can appear impressive.

Commissioners’ court met in executive session for twenty five minutes and then voted to hire Forrest as Director of Planning and Environmental Health on an interim basis not to exceed the end of the 2007 fiscal year (September 30, 2007) as a temporary employee of the county but not eligible for county benefit package. His salary was set at $7,500 per month effective March 5, 2007. Barton spoke of the need for this position to be involved in planning issues.

Documents obtained in two subsequent Open Records requests reveal three disturbing results:
1. Forrest was paid over $63,000 in wages, and as a consultant.
2. There isn’t any record of work output for which Forrest was allegedly hired.
3. Barton caused Forrest to be paid more than $10,000 beyond what was authorized by commissioners’ court, and directed Forrest without court authority.

Whether Forrest remains on the county dole isn’t clear. Only Barton knows for sure. And to cover up the disenchantment, Barton engineered the merging of Environmental Health Department with Road and Bridges Department and naming county employee Jerry Borcherding, P.E. as the new director. Forrest stayed on as a paid consultant to help Borcherding make the transition.

Open Records documents also show there wasn’t any cost/benefit analysis, needs assessment or justification study for combining the two departments, but that’s the subject of another Roundup report.

As co-founder of Hays Community Action Network (HaysCAN) in 2003, O’Dell strives to carry out the mission of ensuring open, accessible and accountable government. He is a long time and close observer of the workings of the Hays County Commissioners Court. He earned a degree in Agricultural Education and a Masters in Ag Economics at Texas Tech, and, later, a Ph.D. at The University of Maryland while employed as a Research Economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C. Texas born and raised on a family farm, O’Dell is a Hays County Master Naturalist and a board member of the Ethical Society of Austin.