I first covered some details on this Lee Johnson research project around August 18, 2008. I have more information, PLUS Lee Johnson & I will be on Lake County's radio station, WTLB AM790 tomorrow, Wednesday, October 1 at 11m to noon to discuss this issue as well as Lake County School District fiscal management issues.
A local citizen, Lee Johnson , encountered some data to indicate that employee hiring, firing, promotions and demotions at Lake County Government may be more due to who you knew and friends, than professional skills or evaluations. It affected a number of fired or laid off County employees and Johnson spent many days using Public Records Requests to get copies of emails, personnel records and other documents that indicate that cronyism seems to be the method of managing personnel at Lake County.
I became involved when Johnson contacted me as the FiscalRangers.com blogger to see some of the details. As an experienced corporate auditor, the trend of the specific examples uncovered by Johnson seem to indicate numerous violations of standard personnel procedures used by many other large government agencies and corporate employers.
What was amazing (read the details in the attachments at the link below) is that when Lee first approached the County Board members, the County Manager, and the County Attorney, they ignored him, and didn't even start their own investigation. Lee and I even met with the County Auditor who works within the County Clerk's office (run by the elected County Clerk, Neil Kelly, who was also in the meeting) and asked them to investigate. They did nothing, saying the Board had to "request" an audit.
However, recently, the Board did actually request such an audit of the personnel office, so we will monitor what happens. The incident shows, however, that the County may not be run as well as I originally thought, and that the Board members don't have the experience to even understand when they need to immediately investigate issues like this.
Additionally, Johnson provided the same details to both local newspapers and they haven't done anything, which amazes me. I know one newspaper which focuses much more on providing transparency on government and information like this, but they aren't in this County, unfortunately.
In contrast to the lack of County Board & Staff action, I have mostly followed the activities of the Lake County School Board, and they are very good and quickly react to issues like this, and they do take action. Maybe once Jimmy Connor gets on the County Board, he might give them some energy.
vj
See the details at the link below, and also a subsequent overview of Johnson't work from another source, the "Citizens for Better Government".
Here are the three documents I obtained from Lee Johnson regarding his research at the County regarding hiring, firing, promotion and demotion issues.
This is the script read by Lee Johnson when he appeared before the Lake County Board of Commissioners (I was there also) to present them with separate, complete copies of all his documentation and findings. It is a good overview of what he did and why.
Download bocc_presentation.doc
This is a longer "Executive Summary" of Johnson's research with some recommendations. The "People Issues" document further down has more details and is the most eye opening.
Download exec_summary_to_bocc_aug_18_2008.doc
This is the long list of specific problems identified by Johnson. I modified the specific cases to remove the actual names of people involved. The reader should focus on the fact that there are so many similar activities that indicate cronyism, improper and undocumented personnel changes.
Download people_issues_revised.doc
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This later overview of Johnson's research was produced by the "Citizens for Better Government" group who won't publish their names, but is assumed to be Romac VP Don Magruder.
The Little Man Stands Up
September 25, 2008
Citizens for Better Government,
L.L.C. was notified by a private citizen, Lee Johnson, about his
concerns of how Lake County government was being operated and how
experienced long-time employees were being forced out under the
leadership of County Manager, Cindy Hall. Mr. Johnson contends that
he did not seek to investigate Lake County; however, questions and
apparent improprieties were being brought to him by former and
current County employees. As a private citizen, he began
researching Lake County to see if these issues had any validity. He
scanned over 10,000 documents, which included 50-plus personnel
files.
After considerable time and effort, Lee Johnson compiled a three-ring binder of “Issues and Allegations” with supporting documentation. He then contacted the Lake County Board of County Commissioners as well as both local newspapers to bring light to troubling issues. He identified 69 different issues that either seemed to circumvent current County policy or did not pass the smell test in regards to personnel management.
Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. contacted County Manager, Cindy Hall, via email to ask about what we considered to be the eight most troubling issues:
- The allegation that during a budget workshop with the Environmental Services Director in 2007, a financial summary presentation was ordered to be done so as not to show all of the expenditures and then present a revenue forecast, which included revenues already received by a contractor. It was done to make the program look viable and was a deliberate deception of the Lake County Commission. It was alleged a County employee was released for not cooking the information.
- The contention that under the County Manager’s direction and without the approval of the County Attorney that $4,000,000 in non-legitimate expenses (EMS) be included into the Fire Assessment.
- The allegation that Sharon Wall was forced out of Hillsborough County government and was hired by Lake County without a background check. Further alleged is that she did not meet the education requirements for the job. She has taken 142 sick days since her hiring in 2004 and has been rewarded with a 23% wage increase. He contends that her personal relationship has created a buddy system which has resulted in the unfair termination of employees and an advancement of other friends.
- The allegation that Nadine Ohlinger had 15 traffic violations resulting in 19 points against her driver’s license. In June of 2007, she committed another traffic violation which resulted in 3 more points against her driver’s license. Since 2006, she has received a 19.6% wage increase and she still drives a County vehicle. Our concern is the huge liability this puts Lake County in if she has an accident.
- The allegation that at time of hire, Jim Brannon was provided with a $450 per month vehicle allowance and was also provided with a company truck. Further alleged is that when a Budget Director questioned the double pay, she was told to “mind her own damn business”.
- The contention that Jim Brannon requested permission to work 3 hours per week as an Architectural Consultant during nights and weekends. County employees now indicate he is never at work on Wednesday and he is one of the highest paid Department Directors.
- The allegation that Gary Kaiser hired an immediate family member of one of the County Commissioners, which is a possible violation of Florida Statutes. He says that Thomas Carpenter, an operations manager in public safety, is the nephew of Commissioner Cadwell. If this is correct, does this violate a State Statute?
- The contention that Brian Schwartzman failed to implement 5 of 7 recommendations in an internal audit in 2005, but has received high performance evaluations.
Mrs. Hall’s response to our group was that Lake County would have internal and external audits, and at some point there would be a report. When pressed to be more specific about her response, she wrote the following, “The internal and external audits are quite thorough. I believe that our internal auditor told Mr. Johnson it would be a few months. There was nothing in the package that rose to a level of concern.” Hold on, nothing “rose to a level of concern”? All eight of these issues are very troubling, not to mention the other 61 issues not mentioned.
The report completed by this private citizen is thorough and has direct documentation to back up most concerns. Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. calls for an immediate investigation of all issues. It appears an atmosphere of intimidation, cronyism, and unethical behavior exists at the Lake County Courthouse, and it pains our group that good County employees have been subjected to such treatment.
It is also very disappointing that between May 19th and June 2nd of this year, Mr. Johnson met with each Lake County Commissioner as well as the County Attorney to address these issues, and he believes they put on deaf ears. Where has the Commissioner been who has the guts to come forward and champion the cause for the hard working men and women of Lake County? Some Commissioner needs to step forward and show some real concern about the troubling issues Mr. Johnson has brought forward.
Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. encourages all former and current County employees to come forward and expose the corruption occurring at the Lake County Courthouse. If you have information and wish to remain anonymous, you may email it to us and we will carry the cause for you. It is time for us to go directly to the people and expose what is really going on in our government. It has been reported that if you are a friend, buddy, or lover of the boss you get special treatment or a job. This must end.
Citizens who bring legitimate, well researched concerns to our Commissioners deserve better than what Mr. Johnson received. So, if Lake County is unwilling to address his concerns, we will bring them straight to the people. Will you help us today by coming forward with information and spreading this email to everyone on your contact list? If you seek change and a better Lake County government, it must start now!