Yesterday someone on Twitter raised the notion that certain folks associated with D Magazine — by which I mean the Coalition for a New Dallas — were profiteering from Dallas County’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Let’s get it all straight.
Miguel Solis (soon to be ex-DISD trustee; former mayoral candidate; executive director of the Coalition, the nonprofit that spun out of the super-PAC co-founded by D Magazine owner Wick Allison) has, indeed, taken a position on County Judge Clay Jenkins’ COVID response team. Miguel makes no money as a DISD trustee. Heck if I know what he makes as executive director of the Coalition; I bet it ain’t much. Now he’s giving up income from the Coalition to do stuff for the county. He says he has worked 300 hours without pay from the county since March 20. I’m biased, but there’s a number for you.
There is an intimation in some quarters (Twitter babble I won’t link to) that he’s cashing in on $76,000 by working for the county. Not so much. Miguel is getting paid by the county, yes. That’s true. Or he will eventually be paid. Maybe. By the hour, he’ll be able to earn $36. That’s if the commissioners vote today to approve his contract, which cannot exceed the $76,000 number on an annual basis. He tells me he’s working 10-hour days to negotiate prices for PPEs and other equipment the county needs. That sort of thing. So far, though, he has not been paid any money by the county.
Here’s the crucial bit of information: whatever Miguel makes from the county, his salary from the Coalition will be accordingly adjusted. If he makes $100 from Dallas County, his Coalition salary will be reduced by $100. He himself came up with that arrangement, to ensure that he couldn’t be accused of profiteering from this mess.
We all cool? Good.
