Pasadena, Texas City Attorney Cashed $913,277 During Final Year Before Retirement

Does paying $913,277 to the city attorney for the City of Pasadena, Texas — where the median household income is $55,039 — sound like a joke?

It’s not a joke.

That is what Foy Lee Clark took home 2020 as city attorney for the municipality’s approximately 150,000 population, according to city payroll records.

The long-time employee retired, so the total includes pay for unused vacation and sick time, which had no cap when he was hired and has since been capped, a city spokesperson said.

Clark made far and above what the rest of the city’s 1,244 employees did last year, with the second highest paid employee pulling in $223,016. That person, James G. Rodriguez, was then-chief of staff to Mayor Jeff Wagner, who made $163,796.

For context, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott earned $153,750 last year.

In Pasadena, Texas, the average pay for a city employee was almost $65,000, and the total payroll was $81 million. More than half — 634 of 1,244 employees – were paid above the median household income for Pasadena. Twenty-two percent — 273 people — earned $100,000 or more.

In this Texas town, $100,000 goes a lot further than in coastal and other expensive cities. The median value of owner-occupied homes was $124,200 and median rent was $963 — hardly considered part of the high-rent district.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.