SRBA panel to discuss consultant’s contract

‘The Sulphur River Basin Authority will hold a called meeting of its board of directors at 1 p.m. today to discuss the contract of consultant John Jarvis, which ends Friday.

SRBA’s regular meeting, scheduled for March 21, was canceled a week prior, with this meeting announced the day of the regular meeting.

Under Jarvis’ current contract, which began Oct. 1, 2014, he receives a salary of $144,000 per year. His original contract began March 1, 2011, and his salary was $10,000 monthly. That contract ended in February of 2014, when it was extended on a month-to-month basis until the October 2014 contract was signed. The decision on Jarvis’ contract comes just a day before a legislative public hearing scheduled tomorrow in Austin on House Bill 2180, which contains recommendations for significant changes to SRBA. It was filed in February by Rep. Dan Flynn, who served on the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. The commission held a public hearing in June to address SRBA’s lack of governance outlined in a scathing Sunset Staff Report. That report, released in April, found many deficiencies within the organization, including a lack of openness and transparency with the public, media and stakeholders.. Additional issues included a lack of public fund-

ing, as SRBA is solely funded by the Join Commission for Program Development, comprised of five entities in the Dallas Metroplex seeking water for their growing populations.

The report also criticized SRBA’s having a consultant instead of an executive director.

The committee met again in August, voting to approve all the changes recommended in the Staff Report, in addition to requiring SRBA to seek the advice of local judges before making a decision on a project for which it would seek permits. Other also included hitting the reset button on SRBA, requiring the terms of the board of directors to expire Sept. 1. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Bret McCoy, Mike Sandefur and Katie Stedman to the board in March. Sandefur, who was quickly elected SRBA after his appointment, led the group to make many changes per Sunset’s recommendations, including increasing transparency, board training and creating a mission statement. Sandefur resigned in January, stating the Sunset’s evaluation of local stakeholders to be divisive and antagonistic was “absolutely true.”

The Senate Committee on Nominations will meet Thursday at 8 a.m.

SRBA will meet at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center, 1800 N. Jefferson, Mount Pleasant, Texas. Thursday’s public hearing begins at 10 a.m. It, and Friday’s meeting can be viewed at house.state.tx.us/video-audio/committee-broadcasts/. Videos will also be archived following the end of the hearing.