The 10 hour sunset hearing yesterday included State Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, saying he was disappointed that TxDOT's executive director Amadeo Saenz did not fire ANY staff members after the $1.1 Billion error was found earlier this year, as stated here in the Star Telegram:
"Somebody is to blame," Hegar said. "Those are taxpayer dollars."
29 comments:
Let's be for real here. Does anyone think TxDOT will fire anyone for helping Perry and the other TROLLS get their way and double tax toll all of us to death?
What these morons do not realize is they are effectively killing middle class America. In the distant future you will have to have a 6 figure salary to afford to drive and buy groceries. The idiots who are envisioning and implementing tolls and such are screwing people like me.
My only hope is that the people of Texas wake up and vote the DOUBLE TAX TROLL scum bags out.
just when u think it cant get any worse it does. there are meetings going on in every district to discuss regionalization of txdot and the fact that they are creating more high paying region director positions. txdot is top heavy enough! sunset needs to stop this. will the greedy txdot execs ever stop?
get a rope.
I got news for you. Before people give up driving and eating there will be an armed revolution. Yes, it's 2008; but tyranny is tyranny -regardless of the date.
After reading, Yes TXDOT is firing some people. They call it restructuring. TXDOT in order to save upper management for improper handling of funds and materials is now going to throw approximately 1150 support staff under the Sacrificial bus trying to appease Sunset and save their butts. This Regionalization, they are talking about and restructuring is called a quick and dirty fix to cover anyone with a P.E. (Professional Engineer) after their name. Never have I seen such an agency that more self-serving instead of serving the people of Texas. This is how the management of TXDOT works, TXDOT needs to get out of the pockets of consultants and Construction Contractors. Free Golf games and the county club should not be on the menu for them but best value to the public.
Forget about auditing TxDOT's books. What needs to be audited is the bank accounts and lifestyles of every District Engineer, Commissioner and Executive member of the Administration in the Greer Building. That is where the public can best begin to kill this snake of an agency with many heads. Regionalization is Amadeo Saenz attempt to use smoke and mirrors to distract the Legislature and Sunset from addressing the true problem....his "leadership" (I use this term VERY loosely)a...and the yes-men he has under him.
Here's one for you Sal. This retard makes a 1.1 Billion dollar error. He gets a raise before the error is found.
Not get this. TxDOT is going to make up for this AND to meet the pressure fom the public and the senators TxDOT is going to RESTRUCTURE itself.
How you ask.....By reducing its force by 5%...So what you say..Well they figure they will save 35 million going this route.
The best part of this little scheme
what they show the public. More smoke and mirrors....
They snake will keeps its head, both of them. They plan on cutting 1100 support workers. The same people that keep thing rolling. NOT the Directors or District engineers. No thats to easy. They will cut the actual workers. Low paid employees. The fat cats stay....EVEN the bumbling accountant that made the Billion dollar error. Texas will have 1100 displaced employees. And for the people that wHat to stay, they will have to reaply for the jobs they have but will most likely get paid less. way to go Amadeo. He meant what he said in his last four monthly reports that no one will lose his or her job. Hopefully the public and senators will be satisfied at the money saved. OR will they save money. Remember, to contract all the work will guarantee that TxDOT will pay more for the same service that they had in house. But the Smoke part is the instant savings that they will report to everybody. THEY WILL SIMPLY HIDE THE SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET. Thanks TxDOT for sending family's down the road, and keeping all your fat DE's, DOM's and construction heads in place with their bloated pay checks. They sacrificed the workers to keep the FAT.
The Fat always rises to the top. Your top heavy TxDOT commissioners, DE's, DOM's and construction engineers are not going to lose there jobs. TxDOT is going to restructure alright. The plane is to reduce the force by 5%. This would give fast results to report to the senators. BUT are they going to be truthful. No. they will displace around 1100 workers to meet this need. Now these workers are not the fat cat's. Instead they will happily sacrifice the actual people that DO WORK. The people that keep the roads moving. TxDOT will regoinalize and restructure in about a 2 week time frame. Now how can you restructure an entity as big as TxDOT in 2 weeks? Well they screwed up before and it seems that they are headed that way again. But should that surprise you? I mean they gave Bass a raise after he made a Billion dollar error. Did they fire him? Heck no. He did what a top brass person should do. Screw up, lie about it then blow it off.
Here's what will happen. First TxDOT will regoinalize. Then employees will have to reapply for the jobs they already have. Now if that person accepts that new/old job it will PAY less. TxDOT will save 35 million by doing the reduction in force, that's 5% or 1100 out, but this is not any real savings to the tax payer. Those jobs will be supplemented with contracts. Contracts only help reduce a work load but should be used to replace. The cost is twice as much. The real fat is at the top, but the trimming will occur at the bottom.
There's that stupid muscle getting flexed again.
Communication within txdot is as bad as the public information. It appears that departments that stay at the district level, may still loose employees and there is doubt that many employees will not have the skills for regional positions. Of course, as always with txdot, favorites, friends and family will get the best jobs. Some will be applied for and some may turn into a lateral transfer. No continuity in the system. Another round of meetings next week with temporary interim regional directors. It is an opportunity to clean house, however the bad will will get the new jobs and higher salaries and the good will get nothing. They keep telling us no one will be displaced and we will have a job until September 09. Who can believe anything that is said, including the info they relay to employees. Glad to know they are going to save so much money so they can make more money.
Well put. You are correct. TxDOT is just as elusive with it's employees as it is with the public. They stated that wanted to run this like a business now but never once listened to the people that could have helped them do that. The business model they have adopted is that of ENRON. You only see what they want you to see, the rest is"lost" or mis-placed.
The employees that operated as the stuards of the state to ensure that the money and TxDOT property was handled properly will soon be out the door. Your Bumblers like Bass stay. Believe it or not there are employees who do what they can everyday even though they will most likely not have a job to prevent upper management from wasting Tax payers dollars.
TxDOT will continue to waste tax dollars if the regime does not change.
SO TRUE! I am a TXDOT employee who will be affected by the "regionalization" crap. Come on folks. Join in and give Sunset your feedback. They need to hear from us, the one's who really understand what is going on! Leave them a comment @
http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/question.htm
maybe for once, the little guys can do something!
You as many of the people on here posting now will most likely be one of the 1100 casted out. Sadly Sunset wont be the ones to stop. The law makers are the only ones to stop. Remember all the surveys you had to take once a year. The independent online survey of how TxDOT was doing.
Well that did not do too much good now did it? Time and time again people reported how bad the upper management was but somehow that information was not used to make the right changes. If you read your monthly TN news for July, you will notice that Amadao stated how Youkum and Corpus voluntarily consolidated fleet management. Those districts did not voluntarily do it. They were told they were going to do it.
So my question is how does Amadao figure he has the right to outright lie to his own employees? Well thats what they have and always will do. It's part of the process as you rise to the top.
When he makes a statement "That's how we interpreted it" as in the video on the front page then that 's how you justify making big mistakes without accountability. You simply come back and say "Oh we misunderstood this or that". DOA's and DE's do it all the time. Take your TxDOT manual. Almost every top admin personal will tell you that the TxDOT manual is a guideline, or something you interpret your own way, instead of following it as it's written.
This is for you Amadeo. Step down. Your lies are too much to accept. with this type of leadership you will only drag TxDOT further down the hole. Behrens bailed out because he could read the writing on the wall. He failed and the ship is sinking. Let the people who do the real work save TxDOT. Cut back in the leaders involved and keep the workers. You dont need to hire 5 more DE's. At a base salary of 8,000 to 13,000 a month you can save the tax payers a bundle. If your not smart enough then here's a fact. The statement has been made that the state will save millions by reducing the staff by 5%. And that is based on that employees pay and benefits. Well guess what. If you cut 5% of the top brass positions and the secretary's they have and don't need than you will save more your 35 million plus with the 1100 let go. Everybody knows that benefits for a top monkey are excessive. Give the lawmakers what they really want. The snakes head on a poll.
Sunset Commission is made up of lawmakers. They are legislators. They recommend changes of the agencys they review to the rest of the legislative body. We have to start somewhere. No one at TXDOT is gonna say sure we will listen to what you have to say. I have left comments and sent letters. If more of us tell it like it is it may open someones eyes. We just have to say enough is enough and stop fearing the dictators like amadeo.
I myself do not fear Amadao-Hussain-Seanze. Only those that chose to be corrupt and inept hide behind fear. What TxDOT has proposed to do to it's own employees is pathetic.
Amadeo Hussein Seanz is just as corrupt and full of crap as his buddy Chano Falcon. By the way he will be sentenced August 25th at 2:00. TxDot has lost alot of credibility and has been damaged extensively with just these 2 idiots. Can you imagen how far their tentacles reach.
Their plan for regionalization will not work. To many employees will be lost where it matters the most. When they start contracting out vehicles and machinery when they need fixing they will spend far more than the 35 million they are trying to save. Remember people this is yours and my tax dollars.
If they really wanted to save money they need to get rid of more district engineers, directors of maintenance and directors of administration.This would save bookoos of money.
Sal, Reading about the regionalisation with in TxDOT is a joke. the only reason for this is to blow smoke up the lawmakers ass whom they have to report to for their 1.1 billion dollar error that was made. every one involved in this error should be fired along with the idiot that promoted Bass. this has hurt the image of the department and the working people are paying the price. this administration only tells you what they want you to hear. they need to produce the real plan that was sent to District Engineers they were given strict directions not to give copies or e-mail the information to employees due to they did not want this to get out to public. If this administration really wants to show lawmakers they take their concerns seriously they would weed out the redundancies which starts at the top with Amadeo and his yes men. the people in El Paso need to be given the real story not the smoke that Mark Cross says in the news article. If our elected law makers cant do their jobs to get the real facts, then they may need restructuring when election time comes. the people that are productive and saving their own tax dollars for this organization are the ones that are affected.
This regionalization is a nice way of weeding out people. They are being told they will have a job when in fact if they do not possess the skills needed, either they will not qualify or have to take a job at a lower pay scale or group. People and their livelihood are being tampered with at the worst time possible with the economy being what it is.I wonder what the local lawmakers would think when they know that property owners being affected by land acquisition can no longer talk face to face with someone locally and only with someone in san antonio who knows nothing about south texas because they may be from Dallas? I think their new administration has stopped thinking about people. What happened to the TXDOT family?
this all sounds so devastating for these employees. I am assuming that the people being affected are not engineers in high paying positions. Someone must intervene and help. I wonder what the justification is behind saving 35 million dollars and messing up lives when 1.1 billion has not been found.
Sal, check this out.
http://texomashomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=10451
Sal,
Open record the organization chart at the four regions...you will see 8 top level positions and the positions underneath are also high paid. The people at the districts will lose their jobs. They are being lied to and told they won't. They will be forced to apply for any position and these will be low paid. Many people are close to retirement and have given their life to the state of texas. The people at the top need to be stopped. Please have someone do something about stopping all of this so-called 35 mill savings which will cost more. Ask them to show you the business model they are using and where specifically/exactly the cost savings is at. They will tell you the 1000 employees that left. Those 1000 are already gone. The regional concept will not save 35 million. Those 1000 were gone before this ever began. The headquarter division personnel are next. Why won't justice be done and look into all of the wrongdoing?
I'm a TxDOT Employee too, and yep, they are def. adding fat to the top! The real workers, group 14 and below are the ones getting the shaft, and let me tell you, they are getting it big time! IMHO, this is the fault of RICK PERRY, and his stupid Trans-Texas Corridor! Yes, that's right, there are a lot of TxDOT employees who know that the corridior is ridiculous!
TxDOT has been corrupted by the politicians. The TTC is huge money to any Texas politician and TxDOT is the place to be if you want a piece of the TTC pie.
The henchman is telling the comittee what needs to be done. The committee proposes its findings, but, are rejected by the henchman, I want cuts, don't tell me otherwise. He, says, I expect a response to my needs and not state emmployee's needs. So the committee is just a front to show that the committee is the one resposable for the change and not the top. So the casualties of this change will be blamed on that committee who were just following order just like hitler's henchmen. Its seems that 2008 will be remembered as TXDOT holocaust but, in this case the fuher will get away with it.
hmm, henchman, that's a new aka for David Casteel, but it fits ! It is said that he has a little plaque in his office that says something to the effect of "If it aint broke then break it". The quote in the previous post smells just like a Casteel statement...
What ever happen to "The Three Amigos"; the TXDOT supervisors who were charged with bribery by the F.B.I.?
There is no information on the local television stations or newspaper "the monitor". Talk about a big cover up from the very top. The story is like it has been swallowed up by the Bermuda triangle forever.
The official FBI web page does not show that they have been convicted. So they may be stalling for time to eventually drop the charges. What a team. A TXDOT team. By the way, these are not consider bad apples by TXDOT. More like the cream of the crop.
The three amigos will be sentenced on Nov. 24,2008 at the federal court in McAllen Tx.One of them will get probation and the other two will get a jail sentence.
What does the Texas Public Employee Association do for the public employee? This organization was designed by management for management. You see, this organization lobbies in Austin for more money and for some time there has been no cost of living increase and only a 2% increase once in a blue moon. Well, who benefits from that? Now check this out; if you make $100,000 annually then you receive a $2,000 annual increase. But if you make $ 10,000 annually then you receive a $200 annual increase. So, who benefits from this type of deal? Management does. Some time back $100 annual increase was given to all employees and guess who squealed the loudest? Management did. The ironic thing is that TPEA needs membership money to operate and the majority of that money comes from low wage employees, yet, TPEA ignores the low wage employees and sides with the high wage employees and the romance begins. TPEA uses management to recruit low wage employees by intimidation, during state time, and retention by ignoring requests to drop out from its membership. It is a little game they play. If that is the case just call the main office of TPEA in Austin and request to be dropped from their membership. They are going to ask you why you want to drop out, so, just tell them, it is not cost effective for me to stay in. They will send you an application to drop out; make sure you make copies for your friends because they will ask you for one. By dropping out you automatically get a $150 dollar race annually. Management claims that TEPA helps student in college. Well for what I seen the only kids who get the money are their own kids and their friends. So, do not buy into that mentality. It’s a lie.
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