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AIRPORT INVESTIGATION On June 2, 1999, the County Administrator received information about questionable activities at the airport. The complaints were categorized into the following areas: misuse of time, employees used to perform personal work, misuse of public property, conflict of interest, and gifts. Details of the complaints, related findings and recommendations follow. Misuse of Time Complaints Kim Stearns works a flexible schedule, but does not appear to be working 40 hours/week. Kim Stearns was allowed to take two weeks' vacation while she was a probationary employee as well as one week of sick leave when her brother died. She did not have leave time available and was paid for the three weeks off (June, July 1997). Bern Case, Craig Baldwin, & Robert Russell take time off during normal work hours to play golf. Bern Case meets with and/or receives or makes phone calls during normal work hours having to do with his wife, Michelle's business, Turbo Way. Findings Bern Case and Craig Baldwin conveyed that Kim has always worked a flexible schedule. Kim's responsibilities require her to meet with potential advertisers away from the office. Her duties also require some evening meetings and weekend work. The need for Kim's position to have flexible hours was discussed with Human Resources prior to hiring for the position. The Oregon Public Employees Union contract allows for flexible work schedules, but indicates that the schedule should total 80 hours in each pay period. Hours beyond 80 in a pay period or twelve hours in a day are subject to overtime or compensatory time. Compensatory time can not accrue beyond 48 hours and any time accrued must be used or paid by June 30. Both Craig and Bern stated that it is possible that Kim may get behind in hours during a pay period, but there are other times when she is ahead. Neither Bern nor Craig could recall what arrangements had been made with Kim to take two weeks off for a vacation in July 1997 and another week off for her brother's funeral in August 1997. Kim Stearns confirmed that her alternative work schedule was agreed upon prior to her employment. She keeps track of her hours and records them on the department's daily time sheet. She does not keep a log of compensatory time. Page -1- A review of daily time sheets verified that Kim was off two weeks in July and one week in August 1997. All time was recorded in the payroll system as regular time. Analysis of daily time sheets and Kim's calendars for fiscal year 1997-98 show that Kim was paid fro approximately 50 hours (after deducting sick leave that could have been applied to time off for her brother's funeral) that are not recorded on time sheets or calendars. Analysis of daily time sheets and Kim's calendars for fiscal year 1998-99 show that Kim was paid for approximately 80 hours that are not recorded on time sheets or calendars. Review of Kim Stearns 1998 and 1999 calendars do not contain sufficient detail to be able to determine what work activities were performed each day. Bern Case, Craig Baldwin, and Robert Russell all confirmed that they have played golf on weekday afternoons. However, they all stated that they work at least 80 hours in a given pay period or that they have sufficient comp time available to cover these hours. Bern also indicated that one of the golf sessions that included his management staff and the fire chief was an opportunity to get away so they could talk freely about personnel issues. Bern considered this a "walking" staff meeting. Bern, Craig, and Robert all wear pagers and have cell phones so they are generally available 24 hours/day. County policy 5-10 Overtime, Compensatory Time, and Excused Time, states that it is expected that persons holding exempt management positions will remain on duty for whatever time is necessary to carry out the responsibilities of their positions. Nothing in this policy shall prevent a department director from occasionally granting excused time off for extra hours of required work. Bern stated he is involved in numerous products that the airport has purchased including Turbo Way. He has been used as a reference on the tenant sweeper, the Oshkosh fire truck, the mobile lift, the jet way, the commute-a-walk, as well as Turbo Way. He has been willing to talk about and escort people out to see these products. Recommendations Airport management should implement procedures to verify that 80 hours have been worked in each pay period and to track compensatory time. Management should require represented employees who work flexible schedules to document their specific work activities. This will provide a written record in the event of questions about work time. Page -2- Activities that could be perceived as a conflict of interest, such as inquiries about Turbo Way should be avoided. Accordingly, questions regarding Turbo Way should be directed to Michelle Case, or to an airport employee other than Bern Case. Personal Work Complaints Employees have been asked to perform personal work for Bern Case and Craig Baldwin: Bern had Dawn type a church speech Bern had Dawn type letters relating to Bern's wife's business, Turbo Way Bern had David Dushane and Steve Bartley work on his frozen water pipes at his residence during work hours on 12/21/98 Craig sent David and Steve to work on Tony Albert's (retired parking enforcement officer) frozen water pipes on 12/22/98 during work hours Craig had David repair his home air conditioner David and Steve have been asked to load Bern and Robert's golf clubs into their car Craig had Dawn type Bern's son's taxes on 4/14/99 Findings Bern initially did not recall asking Dawn to type a church speech, but after seeing the document he stated it was a speech he has used for many years and that it was possible he had either asked or that Dawn had volunteered to retype the speech. He assumed Dawn had typed the document on her break.. Bern may have had Dawn type letters to the Turbo Way product prior to Turbo Way being incorporated. The letters in question are dated 3/27/97 and 4/7/97. According to Bern, Turbo Way was incorporated in June 1997. Bern confirmed that Steve and David have done personal work for him on a few occasions. He said that the work was not on county time and that he either paid them or donated money in their name to a charitable organization. Bern brought in copies of the checks and related bank statements confirming his statement. Steve and David substantiated Bern's statements. They said that while some of the work was done between 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on weekdays, they had either put in for vacation, taken a lunch hour, or had used comp time to cover this work. Generally, neither they, nor their supervisor Robert Russell, keep time logs showing daily hours or comp time accrued. Craig asked maintenance workers (Steve Bartley and David Dushane) to go to Tony Albert's house to work on frozen pipes. Steve confirmed that this occurred, but that he and David willing did this and that they did so on their own time. They are allowed to work flexible schedules. David also confirmed this statement. Page -3- Robert Russell confirmed that maintenance workers have performed personal work for Bern and others, and that they have done so on their own time and that they have been paid or that a charitable donation has been made. While Bern Case and Craig Baldwin stated that the maintenance workers did not mind performing the work for them because they are "one big family" at the airport, the maintenance workers indicated that they sometimes felt pressured to continue doing personal work for Bern and Craig. Craig stated that Dawn asked him to look at her daughter's taxes in exchange for typing Bern's son's taxes. He also said that Bern was not aware of the exchange. Craig stated that he had done the tax work on his lunch hour and assumed that Dawn was also on a lunch hour because she was working on the return at her desk. Dawn stated that she never agreed to the exchange and that she had only asked Craig one question regarding her daughter's taxes. Recommendation To avoid any appearance of impropriety, staff should not work on personal business in the office or have airport staff perform personal home projects during normal work hours. Misuse of Public Property Complaints Robert Russell was allowed to use a hangar at the airport to store his household items for several months. (Approximately from November 1998 to June 1999) There is a waiting list for hangars for which people have made $100 deposits. It is not known if Robert paid rent on the hangar he used. The hangar is D-6. It is now rented by Jerome Cordeiro. Robert Russell used a mailbox at the Airport after he sold his house prior to his moving to another house. It is not known if he paid rent. Craig Baldwin has a mailbox at the airport that he uses to receive Down Associates (his former employer) mail. It is not known if Craig pays for the mailbox. Findings Robert Russell confirmed that he stored certain personal belongings in a hangar(D-6) for a period of approximately four weeks during November and December 1998. He obtained approval from Bern Case to do this provided that there was still room in the hangar to store county maintenance items. Robert did not pay rent for the use of the hangar. Page -4- Robert Russell asked for a maintenance hangar because the new maintenance building does not have adequate storage for some items. Such items include large runway signs and lumber. The new building was ready for occupancy April 27, 1999. Both Robert Russell and Craig Baldwin stated there was a need for hangar storage prior to April because ORCAL needed space in the old maintenance building. Hangar D-6 became available on October 1, 1998. It previously had been rented for $217.82/month. An ORCAL representative stated that there had always been an agreement that ORCAL would use the maintenance building after the county moved to its new building. The representative said it was originally thought that the move would occur Fall 1998, but that it actually occurred Spring 1999. He expressed that ORCAL did not "push" the county to vacant the building before the new building was completed. Tax records show the sale date of Robert's previous home as 11/4/98 and the sale date of his current home as 12/7/98. Robert stated that he moved out of his previous house the weekend following the sale date. This would be a period of 4 weeks between moving out of the old house and into the new house. In three interview sessions, Robert failed to disclose that he had stored his boat in an airport hangar. At the third interview session Robert was asked to individually name, to the best of his recollection, all personal items that had been stored in a hangar. He did not list the boat. However, after being asked a direct question as to whether or not hd had stored his boat in a hangar, he replied that he did. Conflicting information was received as to how long Robert stored his boat in an airport hangar. It was reported that the boat had been stored from November 1998 until April or May 1999. Robert stated that the boat had been stored for about the same amount of time has his other household items, approximately a four week period. Robert said there may have been some confusion because he parked the boat near the hangars in April or May 1999 because he had taken it in for "dewinterizing." The percentage of airport hangar space used by Robert for personal storage could not be determined. According to Craig Baldwin, while there was a waiting list for hangars, the people on the list either were not ready for a hangar or had specific requirements for a hangar that the available hangar did not meet. The county moved its storage items to hangar C-12 when it became available and also uses hangar C-1A, a partial "T" hangar. Hanger D-6 is a revenue bond hangar. Robert Russell confirmed that he put in a change of address to an airport post office box, but he only had it for three or four days, because he decided to have his mail directed to his mother's house. He put in a second change of address, but some items were sent to the airport for a few days. He did not pay rent for the use of the mail box. Page -5- Craig Baldwin's former employer, Downs Associates, pays for a mail box at the airport. Down's Associates is now defunct, but Craig still processes "straggler" payments. Recommendation Employees should not use county property for personal uses. Misuse of Public Position/Conflict of Interest Complaints Turbo Way is actually Bern's business, not Michelle's. (Michelle is Bern's wife.) Bern designed the ramp and is active in the management and promotion of the product The attorney for Turbo Way is also the attorney for ACE (Friends of then Airport Association) Bern Case asked the Redding Horizon Airlines manager, Tom Garn, to purchase golf clubs at the Redding Costco and had them sent to Medford on Horizon. It is not known if Bern paid for the clubs to be flown to Medford. Findings Bern Case stated that Turbo Way is Michelle's business. He is not a partner and his only connection is that he is the husband. Bern did state that he is involved in numerous products that the airport has purchased and has been used as a reference on the following products: the tenant sweeper, the Oshkosh fire truck, the mobile lift, the jetway, the commute-a-walk, and Turbo Way. Bern said he had some early involvement in the development of the Turbo Way ramp prior to it actually being incorporated. He provided the incorporation documents. Bern Case's name does not appear on the incorporation papers. Bern stated that Dennis Richardson provides pro bono legal assistance to ACE and that he is recognized in the ACE newsletter for this donation. Bern volunteered that Dennis' wife is a partner with Michelle in Turbo Way. He also stated that he had advised Dennis to turn down a case with Bob Shirley (an individual who was negotiating with the county to operate on airport property) because of the ACE work and his desire to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Bern Case acknowledged that Tom Garn purchased golf clubs for him at his request at the redding Costco. Tom shipped them to the airport via Horizon at the employee rate of five dollars. They were signed for by Dee Nelson, the Medford Horizon manager. According to Bern, he has known Tom since high school and considers him a personal friend. Page -6- Recommendation Every effort should be made to avoid activities that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Gifts Complaint Season tickets to the Timberjacks' games have been provided to the Airport. Findings Many of those interviewed were aware that the airport was given Timberjacks' general admission tickets, four for each home game in the season. Each ticket has a value of $6.50. According to Bern Case, the trade agreement with the Timberjacks included the tickets. A review of the agreement did not list the tickets as part of the agreement. Kim Stearns said that the Timberjacks general manager told her the tickets were included in another line of the agreement rather than being listed separately under the ticket category. Each staff member is allowed to pick a night to attend the ball game. Remaining tickets are kept by Craig and provided to such people as airport contractors (David Evans, Pro-Tek, APCOA), and used as promotional items. Recommendation Use tickets only for promotional activities, but avoid providing tickets to contractors as it could be interpreted as bribery. Other Items During the course of the investigation, the following items came to the attention of the investigators. They were considered relevant to the initial complaints or otherwise deemed to require disclosure. Dawn Neff, an airport office assistant, and Loretta Sias, the airport accountant, have done work for Turbo Way. The work was done on personal time, either the weekend or in the evening. Both Dawn and Loretta received payment for their services. Bern Case is on the American Association of Airport Executives' Conference Committee for the Northwest Chapter's September 1999 meeting to be held in Eugene, Oregon. Bern is listed as being on the Exhibitors/Sponsors subcommittee. Turbo Way is listed as an exhibitor. Page -7- Dawn Neff ordered personal items for ABC Distributing. The Jackson County Airport is included in the account name. As of June 21, 1999 the account was 262 days in arrears. The amount due was $472.85 and the account was being assigned to company's general counsel for immediate handling. The airport administration building may be "bugged". This statement was made by more than one person that was interviewed. Electrical problems may exist in the airport terminal building because the wiring has not been done according to code. There is a belief that code requirements may be ignored in the KC 97 project. Conclusion Any one complaint or item, taken by itself, might be construed as poor judgement. However, taken as a whole, the findings show a pattern of poor judgements that present serious concerns about airport activities. These concerns need to be promptly addressed and corrected. Page -8- RESPONSES FROM ADMINISTRATORS To: Burke M. Raymond, County Administrator From: Bern E. Case, Airport Director From: Robert J. Russell, Operations Supervisor From: Craig L. Baldwin To: Bern Case, Craig Baldwin, Robert Russell From: Burke M. Raymond, County Administrator Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA