Did Council Receive More Bogus Information From City Management Again?
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Dear Manager Harden,
At last Tuesday’s City Council meeting I asked why Masci Corp was being paid $27,000 for work on a project that had been totally cancelled. Mr Andrew Neff responded that “work did start” on that project before it was cancelled and was the reason for the payment. Now the attached memo from Fred Griffith, the City’s project manager, indicates that explanation was bogus.
Work we thought was done in Wilbur-by-the-Sea was actually performed within the city limits of Port Orange. It was categorized incorrectly only to make the items “more easily identified as unit price (as bid) costs.” This of course begs the question as to what other items in the final payment to Masci Corp were falsified, and for what reasons. Were the others costs listed under the Wilbur project categorized correctly? Were the material costs charged to the City under the Wilbur project categorized correctly?
The only thing clear at this point is that after six months of scrutiny, numerous meetings among the principals, and the assurances of staff that all is well, members of City Council voted on an item they could not possibly understand because the information they were given was not accurate. Clearly, contract administration and project management in the City’s Public Utilities Department are hopelessly flawed–we need new people not just new policies.
Mike Gardner
618 Ruth St
Port Orange, FL 32127
386-527-1959
Scroll Window 4 Pages[google-drive-embed url=”https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bznby4cJhHWTb2RoekRqTU9MaHM/preview?usp=drivesdk” title=”Part A Memo from Fred Griffith.pdf” icon=”https://ssl.gstatic.com/docs/doclist/images/icon_12_pdf_list.png” width=”100%” height=”900″ style=”embed”]
Looks Like Elmer Gantry’s re-assemblage of the mayor’s opaque obfuscation upper management dream team is complete and in place. This has been right under the noses of the city council with their apparent blessing. Now comes the destructive storm. I see the outer bands beginning to flow in. Soon the eye wall will arrive.
North Port fires cheating scandal whistleblower
North Port City Hall (Provided by City of North Port)
By Lee Williams
Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 12:26 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 4:28 p.m.
NORTH PORT – The City of North Port has fired the whistleblower who revealed that the Public Works Department was cheating on FEMA exams.
Richard Tirado was ostensibly terminated for not giving his supervisor a doctor’s note, after he called in sick following a three-day suspension for using profanity in the workplace.
Tirado said he believes the firing was retaliation for his whistleblowing.
“They told me I was being venomous, and not playing along with them,” Tirado said. “The truth is, it’s a jumble there. No one knows what they’re doing, and they punish anyone who speaks out. I went through 15 investigations there before I was fired. Fifteen investigations — that’s insane. It’s like all they do now.”
North Port’s former No. 2 human resources official, who participated in at least six of those investigations, said Tirado’s firing is a symptom of a much larger problem, and that it was a “war” that the former aquatics technician was destined to lose.
“The city — it’s the most dysfunctional organization I have ever seen in my life,” said Diana Tate, a 55-year-old with more than 30 years of human resources experience. “Rich gave them a reason and they jumped at it.”
Tate previously worked as the HR director for a Tennessee-based chemical firm, which has four plants and more than 600 employees.
When she accepted the “employee service coordinator” job in 2014, she had no idea she would resign in less than a year.
“Each director does whatever they want to do, especially Branford Adumuah,” Tate said.
North Port fires cheating scandal whistleblowerBy LEE WILLIAMS
North Port City Hall (Provided by City of North Port)
HeraldTribune.comMay 20, 2015 4:28 PM
NORTH PORT – The City of North Port has fired the whistleblower who revealed that the Public Works Department was cheating on FEMA exams. Richard Tirado was ostensibly terminated for not giving his supervisor a doctor’s note, after he called in sick following a three-day suspension for using profanity in the workplace.Tirado said he believes the firing was retaliation for his whistleblowing.“They told me I was being venomous, and not playing along with them,” Tirado said. “The truth is, it’s a jumble there. No one knows what they’re doing, and they punish anyone who speaks out. I went through 15 investigations there before I was fired. Fifteen investigations — that’s insane. It’s like all they do now.”North Port’s former No. 2 human resources official, who participated in at least six of those investigations, said Tirado’s firing is a symptom of a much larger problem, and that it was a “war” that the former aquatics technician was destined to lose.“The city — it’s the most dysfunctional organization I have ever seen in my life,” said Diana Tate, a 55-year-old with more than 30 years of human resources experience. “Rich gave them a reason and they jumped at it.”Tate previously worked as the HR director for a Tennessee-based chemical firm, which has four plants and more than 600 employees.When she accepted the “employee service coordinator” job in 2014, she had no idea she would resign in less than a year.“Each director does whatever they want to do, especially Branford Adumuah,” Tate said.Adumuah, who had been public works director since 2004, resigned in March — after the cheating scandal broke — to take a similar position in Port Orange, a city near Daytona Beach.“Branford told everyone in public works that they were forbidden to go to HR,” Tate said. “Of course, everyone told us that. So he told them you can’t tell HR you’re not allowed to go there, but you’re still not allowed to go to HR.”In an email response to questions from the Herald-Tribune, Adumuah said it would not be “professionally appropriate” for him to be interviewed for this story.“My commitment and future is with my new employer, City of Port Orange,” Adumuah wrote. “I am very happy here and appreciate the healthier management and work environment.”North Port City Manager Jonathan Lewis did not return calls for this story.Tate said that Lewis asked her to create a termination form, a type of checklist.“I created it. He approved it. No one was supposed to fire anyone without using the form,” Tate said. “But they would fire people and then fill out the form afterward.” Tate clashed most often with Robin Carmichael, the city’s general services director. Carmichael, appointed to the position by Lewis in 2013, oversees human resources, information technology, social services and parks and recreation.“As long as HR handled the investigations, they were credible,” Tate said. “But if Robin and Branford did it, they were not good investigations.”In a three-page email to Lewis sent three days after her resignation, Tate tried to tell the city manager about the problems within the city work force.“I’m certainly not expecting you to do anything about my forthcoming complaints as you’ve already established your lack of care for city employees,” Tate wrote.Carmichael also did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment for this story. More criticismTate and Tirado are not alone in their criticism of the city’s management practices, and those within the Public Works Department. Tirado’s former supervisor, Ryan Biagioli, resigned just eight days before Tirado was fired.In his handwritten exit interview form, Biagioli said the Public Works Department generated too many internal investigations and suffered from a distinct lack of leadership.“A few events have led to my decision — the way the past few city ‘investigations’ were handled, and the way our disciplinary versus reward system is structured,” Biagioli wrote. “There is no standard.”He described morale in Public Works as the “lowest I’ve ever seen,” and said that he saw his opportunity for advancement as, “Zero, after being investigated on three separate occasions for false accusations.”“Public works needs a director and management team who can motivate staff, focus on positive versus negative and respect each other, and one that works well with one another,” wrote Biagioli, who also did not return calls from the Herald-Tribune seeking comment.Cheating scandalTirado had been at the epicenter of a controversy that engulfed the public works department, city officials and later North Port Fire Rescue, where workers resigned over allegations of cheating on an EMS protocol test. In September, an investigation by the Herald-Tribune revealed that North Port’s public works employees had been given answer keys to exams required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.More than a dozen workers told the newspaper that they were given all the answers to the multiple-choice questions for their online training courses.In October, Tirado sent an email to Lewis alleging that public works superintendent Rick St. Louis became interested in the cheating idea and brought it up with the operations manager, Bill Vest, who quickly approved it.Both Vest and St. Louis denied the allegations, and Tate confirmed that a city investigation found no evidence the two were involved in the cheating. Still, Vest was terminated just two weeks ago, she said.“He still claims he doesn’t know why he was fired,” Tate said.Vest could not be reached for this story.In November, the city fired five low-level supervisors for allegedly lying during an investigation into the cheating scandal.Tate said Carmichael and Adumuah were in charge of the dismissals.“The way they handled the terminations was unbelievable,” Tate said. “It was so disrespectful. I’ve been in HR for more than 30 years. Whenever you fire someone, you want them to keep their self-respect.”Just days after the mass firings, city officials started an internal investigation of Tirado based upon new allegations by a colleague that he swore in the public works yard — allegations that came to light only after the cheating scandal had reached its zenith.Tirado was accused of making threats, being “verbally abusive” and scrawling an obscenity on a pumpkin, which he brought into the public works shop.Lewis contracted with an outside law firm, Kunkel, Miller and Hament, to investigate whether Tirado had created a “hostile work environment” within the department. Lewis told city commissioners in an email that an outside law firm would “boost credibility.”That investigation cleared Tirado of wrongdoing.Tirado had been disciplined five times by the city before he was fired. Four incidents involved the use of profanity during the workday, which he has said is a common occurrence among the city’s public works staff.One incident involved alleged abuse of the city’s absence call-in policy, for which he received verbal counseling. Adumuah, who had been public works director since 2004, resigned in March — after the cheating scandal broke — to take a similar position in Port Orange, a city near Daytona Beach.
“Branford told everyone in public works that they were forbidden to go to HR,” Tate said. “Of course, everyone told us that. So he told them you can’t tell HR you’re not allowed to go there, but you’re still not allowed to go to HR.”
In an email response to questions from the Herald-Tribune, Adumuah said it would not be “professionally appropriate” for him to be interviewed for this story.
“My commitment and future is with my new employer, City of Port Orange,” Adumuah wrote. “I am very happy here and appreciate the healthier management and work environment.”
North Port City Manager Jonathan Lewis did not return calls for this story.
Tate said that Lewis asked her to create a termination form, a type of checklist.
“I created it. He approved it. No one was supposed to fire anyone without using the form,” Tate said. “But they would fire people and then fill out the form afterward.”
Tate clashed most often with Robin Carmichael, the city’s general services director. Carmichael, appointed to the position by Lewis in 2013, oversees human resources, information technology, social services and parks and recreation.
“As long as HR handled the investigations, they were credible,” Tate said. “But if Robin and Branford did it, they were not good investigations.”
In a three-page email to Lewis sent three days after her resignation, Tate tried to tell the city manager about the problems within the city work force.
“I’m certainly not expecting you to do anything about my forthcoming complaints as you’ve already established your lack of care for city employees,” Tate wrote.
Carmichael also did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment for this story.
More criticism
Tate and Tirado are not alone in their criticism of the city’s management practices, and those within the Public Works Department.
Tirado’s former supervisor, Ryan Biagioli, resigned just eight days before Tirado was fired.
In his handwritten exit interview form, Biagioli said the Public Works Department generated too many internal investigations and suffered from a distinct lack of leadership.
“A few events have led to my decision — the way the past few city ‘investigations’ were handled, and the way our disciplinary versus reward system is structured,” Biagioli wrote. “There is no standard.”
He described morale in Public Works as the “lowest I’ve ever seen,” and said that he saw his opportunity for advancement as, “Zero, after being investigated on three separate occasions for false accusations.”
“Public works needs a director and management team who can motivate staff, focus on positive versus negative and respect each other, and one that works well with one another,” wrote Biagioli, who also did not return calls from the Herald-Tribune seeking comment.
Cheating scandal
Tirado had been at the epicenter of a controversy that engulfed the public works department, city officials and later North Port Fire Rescue, where workers resigned over allegations of cheating on an EMS protocol test.
In September, an investigation by the Herald-Tribune revealed that North Port’s public works employees had been given answer keys to exams required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
More than a dozen workers told the newspaper that they were given all the answers to the multiple-choice questions for their online training courses.
In October, Tirado sent an email to Lewis alleging that public works superintendent Rick St. Louis became interested in the cheating idea and brought it up with the operations manager, Bill Vest, who quickly approved it.
Both Vest and St. Louis denied the allegations, and Tate confirmed that a city investigation found no evidence the two were involved in the cheating. Still, Vest was terminated just two weeks ago, she said.
“He still claims he doesn’t know why he was fired,” Tate said.
Vest could not be reached for this story.
In November, the city fired five low-level supervisors for allegedly lying during an investigation into the cheating scandal.
Tate said Carmichael and Adumuah were in charge of the dismissals.
“The way they handled the terminations was unbelievable,” Tate said. “It was so disrespectful. I’ve been in HR for more than 30 years. Whenever you fire someone, you want them to keep their self-respect.”
Just days after the mass firings, city officials started an internal investigation of Tirado based upon new allegations by a colleague that he swore in the public works yard — allegations that came to light only after the cheating scandal had reached its zenith.
Tirado was accused of making threats, being “verbally abusive” and scrawling an obscenity on a pumpkin, which he brought into the public works shop.
Lewis contracted with an outside law firm, Kunkel, Miller and Hament, to investigate whether Tirado had created a “hostile work environment” within the department. Lewis told city commissioners in an email that an outside law firm would “boost credibility.”
That investigation cleared Tirado of wrongdoing.
Tirado had been disciplined five times by the city before he was fired. Four incidents involved the use of profanity during the workday, which he has said is a common occurrence among the city’s public works staff.
One incident involved alleged abuse of the city’s absence call-in policy, for which he received verbal counseling.
What is going on in this town? Can someone explain to me PLEASE why this guy Fred Griffith always seems to be in the middle of whatever screw-up is going on at the time and he still has a job? Even government employees cant get away with this forever, CAN THEY? Mr Ford, Mr Bastian, and Mr Stiltner you were all government employees–is this all that was expected of you when you worked for the city? God help us if it was. You guys need to take some action if for no other reason than to protect your own reputations as former employees. Mr Griffith is making you all look bad.
Chester, the undeniable problem you point out can only be effected by a change to the City Charter.
Currently the Manager and the Manager alone has the only say in hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting all City employees.
Our Charter needs to be changed to give Council authority in these areas. For senior staff in particular, because currently when Council’s sensibilities and those of the Manager differ regarding the performance of an employee the only option Council has is the almost never used nuclear option to fire the Manager and hope the next one will do their bidding in terms of disciplining or firing a problem employee.
This absurdity needs to be changed as a first step away from the all powerful ICMA strong Manager paradigm where the only solution Council has to the lunacy that is Port Orange government is to hire a better Manager.
Better than Parker and Kisela and now Harden. That will be easier said than done.
Hank to Ted: Much to the derision by some on this blog, I have changed some of my former opinions about Harden. I have not approved of the city manager arranging some meetings attended by city council members, to be held not in the chambers, and the minutes of such meetings not recorded.
In addition, on two occasions, it was alleged that some citizen rights to criticize had been spoken about, and Mr. Harden let me down in not following up on my request to search for a clear affirmation or denial of the allegations.
However, as disappointments evolve in our perspectives of our leaders, because of Mr. Harden’s failures or faults, I learn that a city council member did not tell me the complete truth about one of those meetings, and that it would be arrogant of me to ask the anonymous blogger to tell me more about his/her allegation either by phone or meeting in person.
The extended aiding in city managers’ errors has been a recurring theme in failures of our city managers.
A most recent development which especially worries me is City Manage Harden asking to change the threshold of $25,000 approval for vendors not applying to the bid process and the city council scrutiny. Albeit disappointment in my consistency by some, I also have a now less exuberant opinion of Scott Stiltner, since he was the city councilman who brought up the $25,000 threshold again before the city council members, and after his own defense of taking authority and responsibility away from the city council, Mr. Stiltner tellingly asked Mr. Harden to speak his own thoughts to the city council members. All city council members with the exception of Bob Ford, who spoke to past practices of abuse of this $25,000 threshold, mentioning the “opportunity fund” which monies were held in secret drawers for personnel use, passed a policy to give more leeway on financial affairs to the city manager. I wonder how much more coquina rock will be encountered by construction companies working in Port Orange.
The failures of city managers have help from the city council, city administrative leaders, and I suspect there are some city employees who close their eyes to such matters, and dare not rock the boat.
Certainly a key coordinating administrator among many of these issues is Mr.Griffith. He should know the true story behind all these attempted cover ups. If he is ever prompted to turn on the old grand boy network, I hope he does not do so anonymously.
Ted, at first glance your idea to give city council the authority to hire and fire employees seems dangerous to me. Is there any precedent for such a city charter?
hank
Henry, are you ready to applaud Mr. Neff and his scripted report compliments senior staff or would you like to hold off until the truth comes out. I think us anonymous bloggers will keep quiet about our research because until you discover things for yourself the anonymous ones have no credibility until they reveal themselves and show you proof. Well the proof will be in the pudding and when it becomes clearly manifest we can count on you to act as if you are responsible for the revelation and as always you will change your position about one of our newest imports from the ICMA dark side. Please, at least give credit to who said it first, and it is invariably one of the anonymous sources that now have about a 100% batting average for accuracy. Trouble on the horizon with Gravel Gerty, Neff, and Adumah!
The Neff report was researched and outlined by senior staff. He simply put his spin and name to it. He is not capable of producing a document like this since he has no experience and firsthand knowledge of this project or in utilities or drainage for that matter. He was hired to gut the utilities department of it’s most experienced and valuable employees since they are considered trouble makers and independent thinkers. They do not fit the FCCMA/ICMA mold and they actually have ethics, which is not a desirable thing with administration. He benefits utilities about as much as a Winn Dixie bag boy with a college degree. Neff is currently in the process of dismantling the maintenance division. these are the people responsible for keeping all of the equipment and facilities working properly so you have safe drinking water and no sewage running down our streets. This amounts to a major screw job to a substantial portion of the utilities department. His plan is to split up the division and put them under other divisions such as operations. This is the way it used to be done and it didn’t work. Operations are not maintenance oriented and don’t understand the technical aspects of maintenance. Therefore lack of technical knowledge of equipment, integration of systems, priorities and decision making in day to day and especially crisis situation can cause major problems. This also sets operations up for failure, which could be part of the plan by putting them in way above their heads. Our plants may not win too many awards going forward. I look at it this way. With all the technical advancements in automobiles just about everyone takes their car to the shop to have a mechanic with the knowledge and skill required to repair and maintain it, work on it. They work in a shop that is well equipped and stocked and managed by a professional in the automobile repair and maintenance industry.
This is like the driver diagnosing the problem with their car and telling the mechanic what is wrong and how to fix it and running the shop. I don’t think things would work out too well that way. Needless to say there a lot of very unhappy employees in the utilities department. I have been contacted by about a dozen employees and asked to post something about this fiasco. I am also reminded that unhappy employees can all of a sudden become stupid employees and turn things back around on management that is ultimately responsible. The problems come from above. Good luck utilities.
Harden is granting all the this and more now before a new manager is hired.What does he care he’s laughing all the way to the bank.
Nice to hear from you Woody. I hope this finds you doing well. That piece of sh## has tried to divide and conquer. He thinks he is slick. He is ethically challenged. His performance in Seminole county, appearance before the ethics committee in Tallahassee just prior to coming to Port Orange are prerequisites to get a management job here. Times are a changing and I think the lions smell blood.
There is nothing worse than a liar and a thief and when some forced to resign retread is imported by the city manager and within two weeks of starting here lies to all the employees and then methodically tries to disenfranchise virtually all the older long term employees it results in the following:
Coastal Florida
Police Benevolent Association
810 Fentress Ct., Suite 150 Daytona Beach, FL 32117 (386) 304-2393 » 1-800-625-5451
Tuesday, May 26,2015
To: Mr. David Harden
Port Orange City Manager
Reference: Demand for Impact Collective Bargaining
As General Counsel of Coastal Florida PBA/PEA, it has come to my attention that the Public Utilities Director, Andrew Neff, intends to institute a massive reorganization that would include an elimination of the maintenance department. It is also my understanding that as proposed, the reorganization would have a disproportionately large impact on the older employees of the city.
While the city may have a right to reorganize the structure of the city’s departments, the city does have an obligation under Florida Statutes chapter 447 to engage Coastal Florida Public Employees Association in collective bargaining over the impact of those changes on the wages or other working conditions of the bargaining unit members. This must happen before enacting any such reorganization.
If the city does intend to enact a reorganization that would impact the members’ working conditions, please provide the details of the proposals and some dates the city would be available to begin collective bargaining over the impact of the proposed changes.
Protecting The Protectors
Hank I would be the first to agree that making such a change even with careful consideration would involve some degree of risk, BUT SO DOES making no such changes and continuing to hope that a better Manager will be hired the next time and the time after that.
Affording Council with some authority in the area of hiring, evaluating and disciplining or firing would seem to be the only way to forestall hiring decisions such as Kisela’s disastrous decisions last year to hire totally UN-qualified ‘ managers in transit ‘ ( MIT’s ) and install them as department directors in Finance and Public Utilities. OR to evaluate sloppy work and call it for what it is, AND finally discipline or fire certain employees widely regarded as total screw-ups being protected by accommodating Managers currying favor with our long serving and soon to be former Mayor.
The promise we made to ourselves when this country was founded was that we would elect our leaders, hold them accountable for their performance, and vote the bums out, any time we felt like it.
The UN-elected ICMA strong Manager paradigm bastardizes that promise and leaves Port Orange government exactly where it is which is rudderless with hens teeth easier to find than anyone who is held responsible or accountable for anything. .
Wasn’t there a blog about the Mayor wanting his nephew given a job and the mayor was upset with the supervisor who did not hire the nephew because he did not have the qualifications for the job. The mayor was mad at the supervsior who did not hire the nephew.
Would you not be neverous with a Mayor
Green and Vice Mayor Burnette hiring, firing and promotting. I would
Hank, I would prefer to not fan the flames of the timid and fearful with descriptors like nervous, scared and dangerous. That is not our heritage and refusing to govern ourselves is not any path forward that can remain true to our timeless values.
As for Green and Burnette, experience has taught me that the fastest way to get rid of their kind is to actually put them in charge of something and then hold them accountable for their results — something we cannot do currently with this nebulous system of an electing a weak Council who are responsible and accountable for absolutely nothing. .
To have the Manager tell us that with all that has gone wrong in multiple Public Utility boondoggles there is no one who needs to be held accountable is a twisted perversion of what I know to be right.
Do you really believe the interests of Port Orange’s residents will be best served by joining the wish-n and hope-n for a better Manager crowd. I don’t.
If Gravel Gerty has anything to do with the process to procure a new city manager it will have about as much integrity as the Cody and Associates study she was put in charge of and orchestrated the bogus results.
You make good points Ted. — hank
I would be nervous with ANY elected official hiring and firing employees. They are not qualified. Most of these people aren’t elected for their knowledge or expertise, but for their popularity. Again they are not qualified.
If this Council wants full control of all aspects of the city, then apply for the cm position or department head position. That is IF they are qualified and I’m willing to bet none are. It’s easy to make judgements from the outside.
” I would be nervous with ANY elected official hiring and firing employees ”
Well then Anon I guess you have a problem with the President, the 50 Governors and the thousands of Strong Mayors across our nation because they are all elected CEO’s and they all hire and fire employees.
Anonymous meaning too or not summed up the managers and staffs opinions of our elected officials!!!
They are elected not for knowledge or experience! They are not qualified!
Summary, they won a popularity contest now days by spending money given by wink wink special interests and should not be depended on to make unguided decisions or judgements from the outside. So trust you local staff and do as we say it will be ok
From: Ted Noftall [mailto:Ted@tednoftall.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2015 1:42 PM
To: ‘Harden, David’
Cc: Bob Ford (rford37@cfl.rr.com); don@amlsfl.com; Drew Bastian (db2070@cfl.rr.com); Scott Stiltner (sjstiltner@cfl.rr.com)
Subject: Bigfoot Sightings Are More Credible Than P.E. Reports
Manager Harden, the attached memo is outrageous. If you had any shame what so ever you would have fired QLH, Neff, Griffith and others 10 minutes after this memo came out, AND you would have handed in your own resignation 5 minutes after that.
How many more lies and halt truths do you intend foisting on Council and the people they represent before you leave in August ? You are careening Port Orange from one ugly cover-up to another on a seemingly weekly basis. The latest mis-information given to Council on May 19th 2015 has now been proven to be a deliberate falsification in the attached memo. By my standards you and Neff know OR SHOULD KNOW that the people you have employed are a pack of accommodating liars.
Two months ago the half truths surrounding the design purpose and capabilities of the reclaimed lakes were exposed ….. you must remember the old ” What does the filter do Freddie ? Gee now you are getting technical on me … Come on up here Brad and help me with the mis-direction needed to keep 10 years of half truths going ” and no sanctions were imposed on anyone.
Last month the lies surrounding the berm deletion communication was exposed in the I KNOW NOTHING REPORT you must remember the old ” The last time I answered a question like that it cost me $ 27,000 ” and again no sanctions were handed out.
Earlier this month the lies surrounding the berm project payments were exposed in the Neff report ” that detailed tens of thousands of undocumented expense payments ” no sanctions for sure
And now we are learning that work we are assured was performed on Ridgewood Ave was charged to a project that was never started in Wilber By The Sea SUCH THAT THE DOCUMENTATION PRESENTED FOR BOTH WAS FALSIFIED. Buy a vowel and try and guess the outcome — “” N_ SANCTI_NS “”
AND the granddaddy forensic accounting review pudding, that has been in the oven 6 months and counting ( under the watchful eye of the spouse of a Board member who serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and Council and who is a boy scout friend of at least one person being investigated ) is still not quite ready for release. Why am I not surprised.
So Mr. Manager considering reported sightings of Bigfoot riding a Unicorn are more credible than the work product of your senior staff what level of confidence and trust would you suggest we place in everything else we were assured regarding the supposed review examination this project received by your staff who just admitted to falsifying data in the attached memo, and will you present corrected data that more closely explains the exact charges taxpayers are absorbing on a project that was cancelled before it was ever authorized to start ?
At the May 19th 2015 meeting g you answered that you were not referring any of this to the States Attorney for a proper investigation because you have not found any criminal activity. Well Mr. Manager to that I would have to ask have you been looking for any ? …. because if you are not looking you are sure as heck are never going to find any.
Port Orange has not had adequate internal controls for the past 3 decades …. Not under Parker, Not under Kisela, AND certainly not under you Manager Harden. None of the Finance Directors employed over the past 30 years have possessed the requite training and demonstrated experience to design, or implement, or monitor the internal controls required to safeguard the taxpayers interests. Taxpayers have suffered major misappropriations in the hundreds of thousand dollar range by “trusted ” employees in the past, AND if misappropriations are not occurring now in the free booting, do as you please, consequence free environment that currently exists it will be nothing short of a miracle.
The time is long past for the ICMA double standards excuse making and ass covering paradigm you represent so well to be relegated to the trash bin of history, to make way for one that will at least have as its objective to be as good as the people it is in place to serve.
You have no such objective as near as I can see, AND you should all be run out of town on your overpaid derrieres.
Ted Noftall
for responsible government – 2016