Houston Public Works tops municipal firings But the city department says it disciplines, assists workers who fall short

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While working on the taxpayers' dime, Houston's Public Works employees have smoked pot, driven drunk, packed guns, falsified meter readings and stolen scrap metal, not to mention lunching leisurely for hours at Memorial Park.

The infractions are so prevalent that the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department - which keeps the city running with water, streets, lights, traffic controls and myriad other necessities- has fired more municipal workers than any other department in the city, according to a Houston Chronicle investigation.

Disciplined employees overall represent 21 percent of all the people who have worked in the department since 2006, the newspaper's review found. The bill for paying salaries and overtime in 2011: $187 million.

In response to the Chronicle's findings, city officials note that they offer counseling and other corrective methods - which has reduced the number of disciplinary actions in the last few years. Last year, for example, only 162 employees were punished, compared with 349 in 2006.

"The Department of Public Works and Engineering workforce is comprised of very competent and confident public servants with a high standard for serving citizens general public and citizens in this region," said Daniel Krueger, the department director. "As with any large organization, we have a small number of employees who fall short of those expectations and high standards, and we hold them accountable."

Some 560 utility workers, laborers, truck drivers and inspectors have been indefinitely suspended, or essentially fired during the six years. At least 240 have received "decision-making leaves" or temporary suspensions, and 1,170 were given warnings.

Trouble on the job

Utility worker Cedric Wilson, high on PCP, lost his job after he abandoned his work truck, tried to steal a car, charged through a fenced yard and began banging wildly on Carlos Guerra's front door in a southeast Houston neighborhood. The episode ended after five police officers wrestled Wilson, wearing his city uniform, to the ground and dragged him into a patrol car.

"I was trying to treat him with respect because he works for the city, but his eyes were wide open and he was talking all kinds of crazy stuff," said Guerra.

Wilson could not be reached for comment.

Some of the infractions, like that one, constituted criminal behavior, records show. Workers took drugs or guns to work, and others didn't report to work at all because they had been arrested and were sitting in jail. At least 130 city workers failed random or mandatory drug tests taken after an accident, or displayed repeated tardiness, workplace violence or other extreme behavior.

Robert Towery, a chief surveyor and supervisor, lost his job for failing to take action because his crew was using alcohol and drugs on the job.

One employee, Travis Glover, admitted to smoking marijuana and driving a city vehicle intoxicated. He also took a gun to work and wrecked a city car. He took one and half hours for both breakfast and lunch, and then went to Memorial Park, where he stayed for hours.

Of his employee, Towery said, "I never saw him drunk on the job. However, I did see him on several occasions that he was pretty well hung over… He would drive his personal vehicle and didn't wreck, so I figured he was OK to go work and drive a city vehicle," according to documents.

"Hung-over doesn't necessarily mean drunk, it means you've got a headache," he later told the Chronicle.

Union officials with the Houston Organization of Public Employees said they could not comment on specific cases, but the union makes sure workers receive proper training and resources.

"In fact, as part of our contract, we negotiated a new employee evaluation system that will help ensure that workers are fairly and regularly evaluated and that supervisors are accountable too," said president Melvin Hughes.

Abuse of work hours

In addition, employees abused work hours. They used city vehicles for personal trips and later falsified documents pretending they were working. Nearly 750 were disciplined for habitual job absence.

The Chronicle's review shows many suspended employees had related criminal convictions before taking the city job. A water plant operator who tested positive for drugs also had a drug possession offense on his job application; another water service inspector, who damaged a city car while intoxicated, also had a drug history.

Cedric Wilson had been convicted of assault twice, trespassing twice, criminal mischief three times and two drug-related offenses. He was hired in 2004 and fired in 2009.

Last year, Houston police arrested 28 city public works employees, who confessed to stealing scrap metal from municipal work sites. More than a dozen were indicted.

The Chronicle found 60 employees who were caught stealing in the years the newspaper reviewed.

"We have good employees who have mis-stepped and they learned from their mistakes through various means such as counseling and other corrective methods," said Krueger. "They are reminded about the high standards they accepted as terms of their employment when they were hired.

Nearly 400 employees were disciplined for poor job performance or failure to perform job duties: One incorrectly read water meters, resulting in inaccurate customer billings. City GPS trackers frequently found employees' running personal errands, taking long lunch hours or hanging out at Memorial Park. One citizen complained three city vehicles were repeatedly seen idling in the park during business hours.

The workers' boss told city investigators, "I personally feel that if they busted their ass and completed an eight- to 10-hour job in two or three hours, I would understand if they took it easy for the rest of the day and I wouldn't have any problem with it."

Asleep on the job

But they sleep on the job too; a chemical technician was found sleeping at least five times and cited for failing to timely clean up chemical spills.

Last year, the public made about 460 complaints against public works employees, for issues like reckless driving, courtesy, damage to their property and others.

"The actions of a few are not a clear reflection of the outstanding work effort of the collective, nor do they represent the significant work accomplished daily in serving Houston," said department director Krueger.

yang.wang@chron.com