Cronyism just never stops at the Tarrant water district that runs Panther Island project

The Tarrant Regional Water District never seems to escape controversy. After nepotism charges, unorthodox payments to employees and transparency and ethics concerns, the agency should be doing better after a leadership change and long-awaited federal funding for Panther Island.

But it’s not. Or at least it’s got a ways to go on accountability and management practices.

The district has thumbed its nose at its critics again, announcing that J.D. Granger, the former head of the Panther Island project, signed a six-month contract at a price tag of $12,000 per month to work for the district as a project consultant.

According to his contract, Granger will meet monthly with water district General Manager Dan Buhman, coordinate meetings with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, give his advice on funding and local improvement plans, and “provide strategic guidance and institutional knowledge regarding creation of a Public Improvement District on Panther Island,” among other tasks.

Where do we start?

The timing is suspect. Granger announced mere days ago that he was stepping down as the executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority under the water district, a position he held the last 16 years, to start a consulting firm. Granger, of course, has been the focus of cronyism accusations given that he’s the son of powerful U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, and an arrangement like this will intensify such criticism.

Everyone’s got the right to hang out a shingle, but this deal clearly came together while Granger was still an employee.It looks a little too much like the kind of sweetheart deals that have gotten the water district in trouble in the past — especially, it seems, when it’s time for a top employee to go and he needs a soft landing.

Just last year when general manager Jim Oliver retired, district board president Jack Stevens arranged for Oliver and others to receive more than 2,000 hours of unused vacation time as cash, essentially a retirement bonus. Granger secured $60,000 just from that.

Second, what’s left for Granger to do? Buhman said that Granger “brings a knowledge of all the project elements, all the project history, and how we can use this information to get the project completed.”

But that doesn’t mean the district necessarily needs him now that the project is finally ready to move. The water district has experts all over the place, including a $7,500-per-month contract with Mark Mazzanti, a 35-year veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, and an $833,000 contract with project scheduling company Innovative Management Solutions Inc.

What an astonishing coincidence, too, that the total value of Granger’s new contract comes in just under the threshold at which the district’s board must approve a deal, the Star-Telegram reported.

And yet, only in the topsy-turvy world of Panther Island, the Granger deal could be a bargain.

Doreen Geiger, a member of the Water District Accountability Project, which pushes for more transparency at the district, noted that at least the consultation fee is less than Granger’s salary.

“If we don’t do that, he’ll be there for years,” she told the Star-Telegram. “It’s cheaper to give him some money for a short term and then he’s gone.”

Is anyone else alarmed at the cynicism this kind of operation entails?

Remember, concerns about poor management, nepotism and a muddled mission prompted an expensive outside review and an overhaul of the project. Granger was moved aside, and Mazzanti was hired. Many believed the appearance of trouble was giving Washington a ready excuse not to fund the project.

With $403 million in federal funding finally secured, we hoped for a fresh start for a project that’s been dragging for over two decades. Meaningful work on the Trinity River bypass channel can begin, and the vision of a “second downtown” with vibrant business and entertainment options is in reach.

Granger’s consultant contract with the very organization that he was leaving embodies the kind of side-dealing and cronyism that people fear throughout government and this project in particular.

His services better be worth a lot more than the $72,000 he’ll earn because, once again, it comes at the cost of credibility for the Panther Island project and its leadership.

This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 12:11 PM.