06:49 PM CST on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

By Doug Miller & Reggie Aqui / 11 News

Alvarado explains budget needs | Goldberg questions pro tem budget increase | Rosie Hernandez introduced

The City Hall scandal concerning questionable bonuses led to a lengthy apology at Houston City Council on Wednesday morning.

In a voice choked with emotion, Council Member Carol Alvarado apologized to her colleagues.

KHOU-TV

Rosie Hernandez in what was heretofore tape of an obscure meeting last summer.

“I want to apologize for any disruptions that this investigation may have caused in how we conduct the business of the council,” she said.

Last week it was discovered that four of Alvarado’s staff members allegedly gave themselves unauthorized bonuses worth $132,000.

It is unknown who forged Alvarado’s initials on the documents.

“I have been astonished and disappointed to discover how easy it was for someone to forge my initials and steal both taxpayers’ dollars and my personal reputation at the same time,” Alvarado told City Council.

In front of Mayor Bill White and the rest of her colleagues, she positioned herself as a victim like someone whose credit is ruined or bank account is wiped out.

KHOU-TV

Four city employees from Alvarado's office are being investigated.

“In this age of identity theft, we’re all vulnerable – and as public officials, probably even more so,” Alvarado said. “We’re dependent and trusting on our staff to help us get through our calendar and our full days,” she said.

The four people who were in Alvarado’s office are being investigated, and Alvarado herself may be the subject of an investigation as well.

Meanwhile, new questions arose about the mayor pro tem's budget. It grew 25-percent this fiscal year from $260,000 last year to $326,000 this year.

"The mayor pro tem's budget is about 90,000 more than a council budget...," said one of the employees who allegedly received a bonus, Rosie Hernandez

And all of sudden, this municipal channel videotape is a hot item.

"Sometimes council members need 10, 20 proclamation folders," Rosie Hernandez said on the tape. She's one of the staffers who somehow got whopping bonuses.

On the tape of an obscure meeting last summer, Hernandez defends the mayor pro tem's request for a bigger budget.

A couple of council members questioned the budget hike, but it still passed.

"No, I didn't spot it. But, I mean, it's, uh, I go through the budget in great detail. We have about a $2.5 billion budget. I spend most of my time with the big ticket items," said Mayor Bill White.

The mayor pro tem's office is under investigation by the city's office of inspector general.

But at least one council member thinks that's not enough.

"Every office that was touched by this scandal, I think, needs to be audited independently," said Council Member Shelly Sekula-Gibbs