HOUSTON – METRO released details Friday about the email activity of its president and chief executive officer, who has been suspended for looking at porn through the company's Internet system.
METRO officials said an investigation revealed that George Greanias accessed more than a dozen adult-oriented sites of a sexual nature on 14 days from Feb. 9 to July 1. Agency officials said Greanias was on his own computer, but was logged onto the agency's Wi-Fi network.
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Officials said the violations were discovered when the agency was making upgrades to allow some employees access to social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook.
After finding the pornography activity, METRO reviewed Greanias' email communication.
"We took it on our own to do an email search," Board Chairman Gilbert Garcia said. "We did sort of challenging-type search terms, and it came up that there was no activity."
Greanias was suspended Thursday for one week without about $4,500 pay, officials said. He was scheduled to return to work on Aug. 8.
METRO officials said the normal disciplinary action for a violation of this nature is a verbal reprimand, but the chairman decided that Greanias should be held to a higher standard.
"George Greanias has done an excellent job in the past year and three months turning the agency around and improving transit services, morale and community relations," Garcia said. "However, George must be held accountable and the community must have confidence that the New METRO will be open and transparent."
Some said the punishment handed down was not enough.
"George needs to resign and he needs to do so immediately," said Bill King, a critic of METRO's light-rail expansion.
King said the revelations stunned him, and he thinks the agency needs to move in a new direction.
"It's not fair for George, frankly, to put the board members at METRO in the situation they're in," King said. "They showed the confidence to give him this job, and he's disappointed them. He's disappointed the community."
Garcia said he stands behind Greanias staying at the helm of METRO.
"Can he survive? My view is yes," Garcia said.
Garcia said he has received messages from city and community leaders expressing their desire to keep Greanias with METRO.