It certainly appears that the raises in question are above board. They went to 167 support staff in the district attorney's office. and the office worked for roughly a year to get the commissioners' approval. But in light of everything that's happened at the DA's office in recent weeks, there is one paycheck that's raising some eyebrows.
A lot of work and study apparently went into getting the raises for the staff. In August, Rosenthal sent an email to former DA Johnny Holmes in which he mentioned trying to raise the salaries of his staff and refers to surveys he'd sent around the state, learning "the idiot Dallas County elected to be district attorney is paid $200,000/year".
On December 18, commissioners' court approved the increases for several county departments, including the DA's office.
"No, they're not unusual," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "And we always have to remember that we have countywide elected officials and they're responsible for their operation."
Of the 167 DA employees who got more money, 47 got the maximum raise, including Kerry Stevens, Rosenthal's executive assistant, with whom he acknowledged an affair years ago and with whom the married DA recently exchanged romantic emails.
Her salary went from $78,000 per year to $89,500. There are 54 people countywide with the job title 'executive assistant'. Her pay is ranked twelfth. The DA's staff raises are based on merit as determined by a department committee.
Was she really worthy of the maximum raise? It's hard to know.
"I think it's a little unfair to the employee. I don't know anything about her, her job performance," said Emmett.
Regardless, here's an email from assistant Stevens to Rosenthal in August at 1:19 in the afternoon on a Tuesday: "Sorry. I didn't hear the phone ring. I was napping on your couch."
That was in the midst of the DA's efforts to increase those salaries.
In speaking to a handful of people at the county Thursday, the raises themselves raise no flags. Cost of living increases and across the board "merit" raises are not uncommon. But that's likely hard to say unequivocally, given what we've learned about the DA's office in recent weeks.
