CTRMA Circle of Pals: One hand washes the other (with our tax dollars).

Official bankruptcy affidavit records show that Mike Heiligenstein, now CTRMA executive director, owed CTRMA board members, James Mills & Mike Robinson in the Heiligenstein bankruptcy. As Williamson County Commissioner, Heiligenstein appointed four of the board members to the CTRMA. Then, those board members thanked him by hiring Heiligenstein as Executive Director - a position that pays $120k plus car expenses and other perks.

Comptroller Report: CTRMA: A Need for a Higher Standard, March 2005:

"Mike Heiligenstein was a member of the Williamson County Commissioners Court until December 2003, and in that capacity voted for the formation of CTRMA and for the appointments of four of its board members. According to CTRMA’s Web site, he also “initiated the drive for transportation improvements that led to the passage of a $350 million dollar bond package” in Williamson County.

In 2004, however, the Texas Ethics Commission cited Heiligenstein and three other Williamson County commissioners for an ethics violation related to the promotion of that same bond package. The Ethics Commission found that the commissioners used public funds for political advertising in connection with the Williamson County Road Bonds Program. Each commissioner received and paid a $400 civil penalty for the violation. Several future CTRMA contractors also worked on this bond program.

CTRMA’s board offered Heiligenstein the executive director job on November 5, 2003. He continued to serve on the Williamson County Commissioners Court, voting at its December 2, 2003 hearing, and was formally selected for the CTRMA job on December 9. Thus one of the persons responsible for creating CTRMA found himself in the authority’s top position."