Welcome to the first edition of Bureaucrats Behaving Badly!
Come to think of it, BBB has been around, in one form or another, for years. I’ve done versions on the air, as well as via Twitter. But I’ve never had a tool like No Dowd About It. So I’ll be issuing a once-weekly look at the worst of the worst government employees. Embezzlers. Child abusers. Timecard fabulists. Union thugs. Incompetent managers. Loafers. Rageaholics. Moonlighters. “Disability” hoaxers. Nepotists, cronyists, and double-dippers. The malfeasance never ends, because the people “in charge” don’t care, and taxpayers — well, the vast majority of them — are checked out.
Let’s change that, okay?
Know about a bureaucrat behaving badly? Got a link to a maddening, disturbing, or hilarious account of an out-of-control “public servant”? Contact me at dowd@dowdmuska.com or @dowdmuska.
Pinellas Park Fire Lieutenant fired after Human Trafficking arrest in Hillsborough County (Eye On Tampa Bay)
“On September 15, 2022, Streeter was arrested after he arranged to meet with who [sic] he believed was a 14-year-old female to have sexual intercourse for $60.”
Police: Providence DPW employee distributed drugs on the job (WPRI)
“It’s just awful … that he’d be doing that, and during work hours no less.”
Ex-WA state employee gets 5 years for pandemic fraud of jobless claims (The Seattle Times)
“In a five-page handwritten letter to the court prior to sentencing, he apologized while blaming his actions in part on longstanding addictions and abuse suffered as a child.”
Clay County employee indicted for embezzlement (KAUZ)
“An investigative report obtained by News Channel 6 states Longoria failed to accurately report and remit tax money that she held on behalf of the state, specifically when authorizing the sale of stocks, assets and other funds.”
Inspector General of Child Welfare outlines need for improvements, foster care problems (KOLN)
“More kids in Nebraska involved in the Child Welfare System are ending up with serious injuries.”
Baltimore inspector general finds long-dead rat, insects and other persistent problems at city-run sexual health clinic (The Baltimore Sun)
“A dead rat carcass that languished untouched for two years, an electrical panel room full of cardboard and visible rodent droppings were just a few of the problems the Baltimore City inspector general found at a city-run sexual health clinic.”
Lawmakers grill DHS chief about shoddy financial controls (Star Tribune)
“The sprawling agency has more than 7,000 employees, spent $23 billion in the last fiscal year, and oversees programs that serve 1.2 million Minnesotans, including Medical Assistance, mental health care and child-care assistance. In recent years, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for splitting up the agency; and those calls have intensified with each new revelation of financial mistakes and deficient processes.”
Oakland Audit Blasts Inability to Account for What Happened With $70 Million In Homeless Funding (SFist)
“Oakland spent $69 million over four years housing unsheltered people, but has no idea if any of those nearly 9,000 people ever found permanent housing, according to a new report from the City Auditor.”
Audit knocks Utah Inland Port Authority for its no-bid contracts (The Salt Lake Tribune)
“When the Legislature created the port authority in 2018, they made it exempt from many of the rules other state agencies must follow. That includes the contract procurement process. The port authority overly relied on this exception, according to the audit.”
State auditor: Mason County Fire District 12 misuses nearly $200k in public funds (KIRO)
“The state auditor recommended to the District to file a police report about the loss of public funds from January 1, 2017 through July 31, 2022, but as of Aug. 17, no police report had been filed.”
Inspector General finds bad practices in City of Albuquerque department (KRQE)
“In the investigation, the Office of the Inspector General found invoices for cars and parts not used by the department, like a Dodge Charger and Chevy Impala. The OIG said employees might have been using city accounts to get better pricing and avoid paying gross receipt taxes on items for personal use. It recommended … all department employees be trained on purchasing procedures.”
HUD Inspector General: No “reasonable assurance” that ReBuild NC properly spent $2.5 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief (NC Policy Watch)
“If the state can’t provide documentation for those expenditures, it must repay those funds to HUD.”
This is a good post. Wow, but I am not surprised. Looking forward to more of these BBB reports. Thank you