In order to search the databases, you must be a registered user. Please create an account [0].

The following databases are available:

• DISD Travel Per-Diem Database [0]

This is a database of "free money" at DISD. Whenever a person travels on DISD business, the District picks up his or her airfare, hotel, ground transportation, and many other things for which a receipt is turned in. Travel per-diems are "walking around cash." They are handouts intended to pay for meals and other sundries the employee wishes to purchase while traveling.

DISD requires no receipts, and there is no accountability on how this money is spent. 

• City of Dallas Employee Salary Database [0]

When we started getting into the City of Dallas salaries, our jaws started dropping with respect to the difference between salaries and gross "take home" pay. There are employees who have effectively doubled their salaries, and city management has apparently ignored it.

The amount of excess money paid to a small number of employees could have been used for raises, or new hires. It could have meant the difference between the increase in employee health care contributions versus lowering it.

Go dig through the data yourself. We think you'll be amazed.

• City of Dallas Procurement Credit Cards (Oct 05 thru Sep 06 ) [0]

A searchable database of all City credit card transactions from October, 2005 through September, 2006. Read more about this database here [0] .

• UPDATE COMING: Dallas Independent School District Employee Salary Database [0]

In stark contrast to the City, we were actually amazed at how well the DISD managed its salaries. This isn't to say the District isn't expensive--it is. But there, apparently, is good management with respect to payroll. So in most cases: what you see is what you paid.

That being said, we found a marked lack of pay parity. This means that there are some teachers who make close to $100,000 a year, while others are paid much lower. The average pay for a "regular 'ol" classroom teacher works out to just shy of $51,000 a year. Some of the specialty teachers average about $70,000.

This tells us that there is good opportunity at the DISD with respect to pay.

Now if some of that just translated into "exemplary" schools, I'd be a much happier taxpayer!

• DISD Procurement Card Database [0]

Procurement Cards are credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) which allow DISD employees to charge items back to the district where taxpayers pay the bill. According to a Dallas Morning News Investigative Report [1] there is very little oversight with respect to how these cards are used.

During the years 2005 and 2006, spending on these district-issued Mastercards was almost $38 million dollars. Again, there is very little oversight on how the cards are used.

So Dallas.Org has put together a searchable database linking charges to departments and ultimately individuals in an effort to put the data out for public scrutiny. To begin, you can search for an individual's name, school or department.

Be sure and let us know if you find anything noteworthy!

"GET MY SALARY OFF OF YOUR WEBSITE"

If your salary is on this website, it is because you are a public employee and are paid with money that I worked to earn. I am your employer. I want to know how well my money is being managed and spent. By keeping myself (and the rest of my neighbors) informed, it helps all of us.

That being said, I have a duty to you. I have a duty to make sure your pay is fair for the job you do. To my police and firefighters who have saved our lives (and whose colleagues, in some cases, have given theirs), I can't pay you every penny I have--which is what you're truly worth.

What I can do is to make sure you're treated as fairly as possible. I can point out when one (or some) of your own engage in conduct to your detriment. I can keep the small number of readers who actually read Dallas.Org engaged and informed.

I can, and will continue to, take beatings from crooked politicians and others who disagree with what we put here. You can help by continuing to put yourselves on the line, and try to find ways to turn over the shoddy management at City Hall.

There's plenty of money in this town. There's plenty of opportunity in this town. There are plenty of good people in this town. We've been a world-class town before and we can be there again. We just need to figure out how to make things "go 'round" again!

Somebody go make a bumper sticker that says: "Dallas: World Class (coming soon)" and send me one!

Thanks for putting up with me and my eccentric ways.

Allen Gwinn
Publisher
www.Dallas.Org