2 of Birmingham Water Works highest-paid employees have 2nd jobs with rural Alabama county

Two of the highest paid officials at the Birmingham Water Works also have second jobs in the same rural west Alabama county nearly 90 miles away.

In February, Mac Underwood returned to the water works as its general manager, a position that pays him $446,118 a year. And since then, he has continued working as the chief financial officer for Greene County.

“When I started this position, Greene County approved remote computer access to perform job functions,” Underwood told AL.com. “I visit county offices weekly to gather financial information and work from home. I also attend monthly commission meetings at 5 p.m.”

Underwood said he does his job for the water works during the day and also completes 30-35 hours of work each week for Greene County in the evenings and on weekends.

Underwood’s earlier contract with Greene County in fiscal 2020-2021 paid him $7,000 a month, according to the Greene County Democrat newspaper.

Since then, his salary has increased with regular employee raises. Underwood Wednesday said Greene County pays him nearly $53 an hour. That amount annualizes to $110,240 a year.

Underwood’s tenure in Greene County finally ends this week with his resignation – three months after he returned to his old position as general manager of the water works.

Underwood gave his resignation to the commission in March, according to the Greene County Democrat. But his departure takes effect on May 31 – Saturday.

Underwood told AL.com that the former water works board was aware of his dual employment.

“The previous board understood I had an ongoing position to close out,” he said.

The former water works board was kicked out this month under a new state law that changed the utility’s leadership.

In one of their final acts, the old board approved a massive contract and a new position for their longtime lawyer Mark Parnell.

And it turns out Parnell also works in Greene County – with Underwood.

In addition to representing the Birmingham Water Works Board, Parnell and his firm Parnell and Thompson, represent the rural county that’s home to more than 7,000 people in west Alabama.

Under his new contract with the water works, Parnell is now the deputy general manager and general counsel.

Parnell’s water works contract pays him a base of $660,000 a year for five years. It also gives him a $1,000 vehicle allowance and immediate participation in the utility’s pension plan.

Parnell’s contract and its generous provisions have garnered the attention of observers and new members of the water works board.

Parnell’s contract includes a provision that allows him to “engage in other employment or contractual activities outside those of the board.” However, that outside work must be approved by Underwood, who is currently both his supervisor at the water works and his co-worker in Greene County.

Nevertheless, Parnell has told AL.com that he would not maintain his private practice or his role in Greene County.

“I’m actively reducing my caseload and other responsibilities during this period of transition and that includes this and other clients,” Parnell told AL.com.

Parnell did not say whether he had submitted a resignation to Greene County or when he would end his association with them.

Parnell said his affiliation with Greene County has no bearing on his work at the water works.

“Greene County is in the western part of the state of Alabama. They have no interaction with the Birmingham Water Works Board so there is no conflict of interest,” he said. “Representing numerous clients, both public and private, does not diminish the effectiveness of my legal representation.”

Likewise, Underwood said his work with Greene County does not conflict with his role as manager of the water works.

“The BWWB doesn’t provide any service in Greene County,” he said. “Greene County only serves county residents. Therefore, there’s no conflict of interest.”

Parnell and Underwood have a long professional association going back to when Underwood first served as the water works general manager and Parnell represented the utility.

The two reconnected professionally in April 2021 when the Greene County Commission dismissed its longtime lawyer, former state Sen. Hank Sanders, and hired Parnell.

Underwood was also invited to participate as the commission interviewed his former water works colleague for the job, according to a story in the Greene County Democrat.

Public moonlighting by Underwood and Parnell might not violate ethics laws, but at the very least represents bad policy, said Jim Sumner, the retired longtime director of the Alabama Ethics Commission.

“I don’t know that I see anything that’s going to be violative of the statue,” Sumner told AL.com. “They seem to just be inside the lines, but it certainly gets right up to it.”

Sumner said a direct violation of state ethics laws would be evident if both men were publicly elected officials receiving dual salaries, but neither is in an elected seat and serve as staff members in different communities.

“But it has all the appearance of impropriety, and it is questionable if the public’s interest is being served,” he said.