City Tire Manager Fired
City's scrap tire investigation unearths surprising details
By Jordan Smith, Fri., April 23, 2010
According to an internal report of the personnel investigation, Janousek told city investigators that he'd given Almaguer a "loan" of more than $30,000 to help Almaguer with medical bills that accumulated over the course of an illness that lasted several months. Almaguer, on the other hand, told the city that the money was not a loan but rather payment for work he'd been doing for the city but had not been paid for – presumably, in part, several years of transporting and storing the city's scrap tires. City investigators said they could not determine whether the money Janousek gave to Almaguer was, in fact, a loan; nonetheless, Janousek's actions violated city of Austin personnel policies. "Mr. Janousek did not fulfill his responsibility to act in a professional and ethical manner as stated in policy," reads the report.
According to an e-mail from city spokesman Reyne Telles, although Janousek has been terminated (he'd been on paid administrative leave since December), an internal investigation into the tire mess is ongoing. Telles had no further comment on the substance of the pending inquiry.
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