Compensation and timecards dominate Houston City Council meeting

According to Houston Municipal Code (HMC), Chapter 2.04.090 (C) (2), the council member serving as Mayor receives monthly compensation provided they are actively working for the City at least 100 hours per month, which is not to exceed $1,500 per month.

However, in the rare months where hours worked are less than the required 100 hours, HMC requires that the Mayor be reimbursed for hours worked at a rate equal to 1% of the monthly compensation, multiplied by the number of hours worked. Compensation for less than 80 hours worked per month requires council approval.

It was this discussion that dominated much of the Houston City Council meeting on November 13, when new mayor Jason Kahn submitted his timesheet for council approval.

Kahn had only served as Mayor for only 12 days at the time of his timecard submission to the city treasurer, listing his timecard of 49.5 hours, with his compensation gross total of $742.50.

“It’s just curious to me,” said resident Callie Weber during the public comment period. “What I struggle with as a community member is this is less than 50% of the hours required to be the mayor…So I’m curious what was accomplished?” Weber asked, citing the “laundry list” of items left to be addressed by the former administration.

Former mayor Virgie Thompson defended the current mayor’s hours, reminding the audience that Kahn has been in office less than three weeks.

The discussion soon turned to documentation of hours the mayor works, something not routinely asked of previous administrations, reflecting lingering divisiveness in the community.

Laurie Faubert inquired about documentation, saying that the previous mayor, council member Carter Cole, worked “thousands and thousands of hours” and there was no such inquiry into his hours worked when she served on the city council.

“Is there a sign-in sheet where there’s documented when the Mayor comes and goes, and what his actual hours are? That would be something that, if we’re not doing that, we should be. There should be some transparency there so the public know exactly how much time the mayor is serving.”

Mayor Kahn faced scrutiny from the council, with councilmember Cole reminding everyone that it takes quite a bit of time to do the job of mayor, and suggesting that there is an option to change the time in the city’s code.

“I understand there’s a lot to learn, getting to know the systems, and getting to know your position, so there’s obviously going to be a grace period for that,” said council member Kent Mitchell. “With council member Cole, when he was mayor, I never had to question whether or not he was in the office getting things done…I don’t understand why you would ever work less than 100 hours if you’re running the city and getting stuff moving forward.”

“In this day and age, where everybody hates the government and everybody thinks the government’s doing something to take advantage of it…I do think the questions (are) out there. You do owe them an explanation.”

Council member Lisa Johansen asked what previous mayors were required to present and worried if Kahn would be questioned every time him, as well as mayors in the future. “Are we doing something different because some people don’t like Mayor Kahn? Are we going to hold him (differently)?”

Cole said that during his first year as mayor, he too was similarly scrutinized about his hours, especially while working his full-time job. ”I had to bring every time card I did.” He said he also kept a diary during those times and was questioned the same as Kahn was facing during the meeting.

During the meeting, Kahn tried to give clarification of his hours submitted, saying that within the time frame, he met with the previous mayor for a transfer of power, met with Council member Jeff Brasel to answer questions, met with community members and attend the city’s annual Trunk or Treat where he made himself available to meet with residents.

Kahn also told the council that he and newly-elected Deputy Mayor Dan Lewis were both in the office multiple times learning all of their new responsibilities as they met with and got to know the staff, including the city clerk and treasurer. “Figuring out what the ropes are so we can grab a hold of things and take of stuff,” Kahn said, adding that he will work on improving the reports and time sheets he submits to the city and council.

Deputy Mayor Lewis asked Kahn if he would be opposed to doing something more to outline more information on his timesheet in an effort to maintain transparency and allay any concerns the public may have, though he was unsure or what that would look like. Kahn reminded the audience that being the mayor is not a 9-to-5 job and that there are times where he will be out of the office, meeting with other city and Borough personnel, checking road conditions, checking on businesses, answering phone calls from constituents. “There’s office work, and there’s out of office work…I’d be open to figuring something else out. I can do stuff in my report better, I’m sure.”

Council member Brasel said that in the past as a private citizen, he was asked to keep a time card in 6-minute increments, and that now as an IT consultant, he must submit timecards with 15-minute increments, and even during his tenure as a councilman, serving under two mayors, he had not seen anything like this.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable going forward to figure out a way to have at least a reasonable amount of detail in the time sheet. Six-minute increments is a little outlandish…let’s have some rudimentary (entries),” he suggested. “I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.”

“I’m not trying to let this take anything that is not deserved or anything,” Kahn said.

Ultimately, the council approved his compensation 5-1, with Councilmember Cole voting no, and Mayor Kahn recusing himself from the vote.