Former Tarrant water district general manager will get $161,647 in settlement
A former Tarrant Regional Water District general manager will receive $161,647 to settle a dispute relating to his departure with the district.
Jim Oliver, who left the district on July 1, will receive six months pay plus $90,303.28 in unpaid leave and $5,317 in 401(k) contributions from the district, according to the agreement released Friday morning.
The board voted 4 -1 on Sept. 29 to approve a potential settlement with Oliver.
Oliver agreed to drop a threatened age discrimination lawsuit and any claims to a disputed $300,000 payment unilaterally authorized by outgoing board president Jack Stevens. The board voted to revoke that payment in June.
Oliver also agreed to make himself available to testify in any future litigation against the water board related to his time as general manager.
Oliver praised the agency and his 37-year career with TRWD in a statement released shortly after the settlement was made public. He made no mention of the settlement or the dispute over the revoked payment.
“The notion that he was the victim of age discrimination is ludicrous,” said Lon Burnam, a former state representative who leads the Water District Accountability Project and Tarrant Coalition for Environmental Awareness.
Burnam had threatened to sue the water board to stop any payments to Oliver, but said his group was reviewing the settlement and evaluating its options.
Negotiations over the settlement began in late July. Oliver’s lawyer, Jason Smith of Fort Worth, proposed the former general manager serve one year as a special adviser to the water board and receive a year severance plus unused paid time off.
Lawyers representing TRWD offered six weeks severance equal to $40,421.80 plus the unused paid time off.
A TRWD spokesperson said the agency would not comment on the settlement and referred the Star-Telegram to the agency’s Sept. 29 statement. That statement framed a settlement as the best way for the board to avoid the cost and distractions of a protracted legal fight with Oliver.
Burnam said he didn’t blame the board for wanting to move on from Oliver.
“But it’s really just indicative of the tip of the iceberg of people playing fast and loose with public sector dollars,” Burnam said.
Board member Mary Kelleher expressed her disappointment with the settlement and said Oliver wasn’t owed anything beyond his unused earned paid time off. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if the negotiations over the settlement wound up costing the district more than the revoked $300,000 payment.
The Tarrant Regional Water District provides raw water to a number of customers, including the cities of Arlington and Fort Worth. The district also oversees the Panther Island/Central City project, the flood contral and economic development effort north of downtown.
The board has a special meeting scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The agenda won’t be posted publicly until early next week. Kelleher said the meeting will address what she called “governance issues” following the Oliver settlement.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 8:56 AM.
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