The lengthy evaluation process of Metrocare Services CEO John Burruss will conclude at the agency’s board meeting on Thursday, and a decision about Burruss’ fate will likely follow.
The closed-door executive session will include discussion on the “conclusion of CEO evaluation process and potential CEO contract renewal.” There’s an opportunity for the board to take action after executive session if need be.
The behavioral health agency—Dallas County’s largest mental health provider, serving more than 57,000 adults and children annually—has for months been grappling with whether to extend the contract of its top executive amid the agency’s financial struggles.
Burruss’ three-year employment contract was set to expire on April 28, but the Metrocare board issued a short-term extension through June 30. Burruss is making a 2018 salary of $382,347, according to his contract, which was obtained through an open records request. He has also received two $50,000 bonuses during the last three years as well as benefits like a car and cell phone allowance.
Previous Metrocare Board President Jill Martinez and Metrocare spokesperson Charlene Stark said in February that the CEO evaluation process was customary and characterized a new contract as a matter of when rather than if. But the committee assembled to evaluate Burruss met nine times between Feb. 22 and May 3, according to its website (an agenda for a CEO evaluation meeting has not appeared on the site since I pointed that out in a story on May 8).
Thursday’s board meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the agency’s administrative offices, 1345 River Bend Drive in Dallas.