‘Contract’ might give $210,000 to Richland Hills

Michael Logan did the only appropriate thing Tuesday when he resigned from the board of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.

Logan has been accused of losing his composure at last week’s public meeting called to address cutbacks in services and road repair funding for Richland Hills, which he has represented on the 11-member board since October.

Witnesses say he let comments from an opponent of those changes, Travis Malone, who is blind, get under his skin. They say Logan tossed a binder of papers that hit Malone in the face.

Richland Hills Police Chief Barbara Childress confirmed that Logan would be cited for simple assault, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500.

That’s no way for a public board member to behave, so Logan had to go.

Still, this incident should not be allowed to mar the service Logan has provided to Richland Hills and the transportation authority.

He’s a longtime resident of Richland Hills and served on the City Council there from 1980 to 1990, including as mayor pro tem from 1986 to 1989.

Logan had been working to resolve conflicts between Richland Hills and transportation authority executives over the proposed changes, particularly the cut in road repair funding.

The authority apparently has been providing that funding to Richland Hills ever since the city joined the transit service more than 20 years ago.

It amounts to a rebate of 15 percent of the sales tax revenue the city provides to the authority, designed to pay for road damage caused by the authority’s heavy buses.

Paul Ballard, the transportation authority’s president, has said the funding will not be provided in the future. That’s a loss of $195,000 to $210,000 for Richland Hills this year alone.

Mayor Pro Tem Edward Lopez says that’s “100 percent of our road budget.”

Ballard says the payments came on a handshake agreement set before he arrived in 2014.

“If someone produces a contract saying we have to pay that money then I will pay it,” Ballard told Star-Telegram reporter Gordon Dickson.

Logan may have found that contract, the original service plan adopted by the board in 1993 and unchanged since then.

He sent a memo to his fellow board members on July 25 describing it and how he found it in the archives of the Fort Worth Library. It includes the 15 percent “revenue sharing” for road repairs, the memo says.

If he’s right, Logan may have provided a great financial service to Richland Hills on his way out.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "‘Contract’ might give $210,000 to Richland Hills."