Charlotte-Mecklenburg County officials Won't Release Full DSS Fraud Report
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County on Monday released more documents from its probe into a Department of Social Services charity, but officials won't produce a related report they say is protected under NC State personnel laws.
The newly-released papers include copies of receipts for gifts bought for the now-defunct Giving Tree program, summaries of problems found by a county auditor and a list of items in storage.
But officials have repeatedly refused to provide the full Giving Tree audit since the Observer first asked for it last July.
The county has released a three-page executive summary, but former Internal Audit Director Cornita Spears said the full document includes a longer, more sensitive report.
The Giving Tree came under scrutiny early last year after an employee raised concern about possible misspending. County leaders have said they believe they know how more than $160,000 was spent by the charity in 2008, but said the poor records means they cannot be completely sure all money was spent as intended.
Since last summer, the county has released documents, including a revision of Spears' initial report to account for money that had been returned by a charity worker.
A review of the new records found no substantively new information, and none of the files appeared to contain any information that should have been kept private under the law. Deputy County Attorney Tyrone Wade said officials considered the files released Monday to be privileged, and thus protected, because they were attached to the longer personnel document.
Wade said officials decided to release the attachments, with some information redacted, because most of the information in them was out already.
North Carolina's personnel law is restrictive, keeping secret all but the most basic information about public employees. It states a personnel file includes any information gathered by the county with respect to an employee.
Mike Tadych, an attorney with the N.C. Press Association said personnel records "do have a broad definition, but it's not as all-encompassing as they would lead you to believe." He pointed to a 2007 N.C. Court of Appeals ruling that allowed the release of a redacted form of a document written by a Columbus County employee.
In that case, the worker recommended a hire for county medical director. The court ruled that part of the document was private but another portion was a public record and could be released under the law.
The personnel law does have some exceptions, however, including allowing the release of personnel files if officials decide it is necessary to maintain public trust in an institution. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County commissioners previously have said they believe Charlotte-Mecklenburg County officials have been transparent in releasing the information they can under the law.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Officials Hid FBI Probe Of DSS
The FBI and a Federal Grand Jury has been investigating Charlotte-Mecklenburg County DSS since August and county officials have attempted to hide that probe from the public.
How else to explain playing 20 Questions with April Betha’s document request — not mention flat out refusing to answer our own direct questions on the matter back in December? The bombshell over the weekend:
A Federal Grand jury last fall requested more than three years of financial documents from a now-defunct charity program run by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Department of Social Services, according to a newly released copy of the subpoena.
The August request came as authorities were conducting a criminal investigation into a “suspected felony,” the subpoena states. It asked for, among other things, copies of all receipts, vouchers and paperwork on purchases made through the Giving Tree charity since 2006 and any communication from the county’s finance department on donations received by the charity.
Once again County Manage Harry Jones has some serious explaining to do. Jones has claimed total transparency in this matter. But this revelation — not to mention the cold, smug way Deputy County Attorney Tyrone Wade defends his calculated dissembling — indicates it was official county policy to hide the existence of the FBI’s involvement for as long as possible.
That is not transparency, that is not accountability. But it is Charlotte-Mecklenburg County government.
Bonus Observation: If Jennifer Roberts cannot raise herself to condemn this obvious breach of open and responsive, government she slides from ineffectual to co-conspirator. Then I wonder if the Uptown paper has the guts to condemn her….
Jennifer Roberts, Part of the Problem
I think I’m done cutting Roberts any slack on this DSS mess. For her to obstruct and slam the attempts of other commissioners to find out what is going on with county’s massive, $200m. DSS operation is too much. And for Roberts to suggest that a closed session airing of DSS’s dirty laundry is not her preferred way to go is an insult to the intelligence of all Mecklenburg County taxpayers.
The only reason Commissioner Bill James and the other GOPers are suggesting the closed session route is in response the “disclosure” stonewall County Manager Harry Jones has erected around the investigation — a construction effort aided and abetted by Jennifer Roberts. Fine. Let’s hear DSS chief Mary Wilson answer questions in open session. Super. Next.
It will also be interesting to see if Commissioner George Dunlap’s confirmation that a federal grand jury probe is underway of DSS shakes anything new loose. Why it took a full month for the probe’s existence to be reported remains a mystery, but at least everyone in town has caught up to the story.
However, it would be wrong to assume that the probe will result in any indictments, both as a matter of fairness and institutional inertia. Prosecutors are political animals and will require some slam-dunk, smoking gun type evidence of wrongdoing for them to move on a DSS devoid, until very recently, of adult supervision of its funds.
On the third hand, not all gross mismanagement rises to the level of criminality. This is why the county commission must itself reestablish public trust in one of its largest ongoing budget expenses. Jennifer Roberts needs to help that process or get out of the way.
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Sources: Meckgov, McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, Charmeck.org, Youtube, Google Maps
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