CEO Sends Internal Email Making Light Of His Salary And Scrutiny Of MHMR

On Monday, Commissioners Court voted for a makeover of the El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation board.

And on Tuesday, the CEO fired off an e-mail to his employees that some describe as flippant and even arrogant, providing a glimpse into the perspective of an embattled CEO.

The e-mail was forwarded to ABC-7 by an employee of MHMR, the leading mental health care provider in the Borderland. It is addressed to the “Best Team of all Times.”

Among other things, Larcenaire points out to his employees “you will see more headlines regarding cuts, board appointments, speculations of my termination, etc., and they will predict doom and vast layoffs, etc.”

Larcenaire goes on in the e-mail to re-assure his employees that the safest place for them right now is the job they’re in, stating “we are going to be fine.” Read the full email here.

At the end of the e-mail, he turns the topic to his controversial contract: $170,000 dollars a year base salary and a $255,000 in severance if he is terminated for any reason prior to the end of his contract in 2014.

He asks in the e-mail: “Do you think we should have a pool party this summer? Obviously with all the coverage about my salary … “

Then in parenthesis he writes: “(which I was excited about until I saw everyone else’s), you may expect me to pick up the first round … and I will! Dr. Pepper anyone?”

County Judge Veronica Escobar said, although she wouldn’t have used the same tone, she had no problem with the contents of Larcenaire’s e-mail.

“I’m glad he’s telling his staff to not be concerned about losing their job,” Escobar said. “That’s not what any of this is about. Now at the end he mentions his salary and you know kind of makes light of the salary and that’s fine how he engages his employees on that is fine.”

Larcenaire did confirm that he wrote the e-mail and he was not happy that it had fallen into ABC-7’s hands. He said he had no comment on it, except to say, “it was an internal e-mail and internal e-mails are just that.”