Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Manager says officials have been "open" about DSS Investigation
County Manager Harry Jones on Tuesday defended the county's investigation into spending across the Department of Social Services and said he's trying to shift attention to other issues.
Speaking at a county commissioners' meeting, Jones took aim at claims the county has not been open enough in sharing information about the DSS probes. He repeated statements made by officials in recent months that they can account for about $162,000 spent by a Christmas charity last year.
He said the county has documents or money to show how the money was spent by the Giving Tree, but that they cannot offer assurance the money was spent as intended or that no misappropriation occurred. He said the county anticipates that ongoing law enforcement efforts can "provide us those assurances."
The comments came in response to questions about a story in Sunday's Observer in which former county internal audit director Cornita Spears said she believes the county cannot account for how all of the Giving Tree money was spent because there was not enough reliable documentation.
Republican commissioners asked this week for a meeting to further discuss the DSS probes to get responses to unanswered questions and satisfy angry constituents.
Spears, whose resignation was announced Tuesday, told the Observer she stands by her statement.
Spears has previously said the county can account for Giving Tree expenses based on receipts and other documents, but she has maintained the poor condition of records means no one can be certain how all of the money was spent.
The county has faced criticism for much of this year after audits of spending across DSS found lax accounting practices within the department. Leaders have announced steps to remedy the problems, including retraining department staff in financial practices, putting DSS finances under control of the main finance department, and checking financial procedures in other county departments.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police were asked to help further investigate spending at the Giving Tree, and two commissioners said this week a grand jury also is looking at DSS.
At Tuesday's meeting, Jones read a list of what he called key facts of the DSS audit, and described efforts to share the information with commissioners, the media and general public.
"Given all the actions we have taken in the full public view, it is confusing to me and disappointing to read allegations or implications in our local newspaper, including comments by members of this board, that management has not done enough or that we have not been open in providing information in this matter," Jones said.
Commissioner Bill James said county administrators have not been fully transparent and failed to answer questions from commissioners.
James said he has requested an inventory list of items purchased with money from the Giving Tree, but administrators have not provided it.
"This woman spent (thousands) of dollars," he said, referring to a former county employee who volunteered with the charity. "What exactly did she spend it on?"
James said he has repeatedly asked how many years accounting lapses may have occurred in the program, but that officials have decided not to study that issue.
James and fellow Republican commissioners Neil Cooksey and Karen Bentley have proposed a Dec. 17 meeting to get more information about the audits. Cooksey has said his constituents want more answers.
Commissioners are set to vote Tuesday on whether to have that meeting. The board Republicans want to invite current and former DSS employees to speak, including those who worked with the Giving Tree.
On Sunday, the Observer detailed an internal memo written by a former county employee who headed the Giving Tree, who said she was advanced up to $198,000 since 2005 to buy gifts for the program with her supervisor's permission. Cindy Brady, who retired from the county in August, wrote she was never given a chance to talk at length about how the charity worked, despite requests to do so.
Spears said she wasn't allowed to interview Brady because of her employment status. Brady said she had been suspended, then went on medical leave before her retirement.
Spears said she first saw Brady's memo in November, and that it had information that led her to revise her June audit report of the Giving Tree. Jones suspended Spears last month after she admitted the earlier report did not account for about $33,000 that had been returned by a county employee.
Spears remained on suspension until she resigned. She said county officials offered her a position as a contract coordinator in Area Mental Health, the government agency that offers services to residents with mental illness, developmental disability and substance abuse issues. The job involves monitoring private contractors who perform duties for the county.
Spears, who worked in county government for 25 years, said she turned down the offer because it would have meant a 42 percent pay cut She made about $110,000 a year.
She worked as internal audit director for 19 years.
Asked whether she is upset at how her government career ended, she said, "The county manager made a business decision and I'll leave it at that."
Spears also said poor inventory records would prevent anyone from knowing whether needy children and families actually received donated gifts.
"I don't know that they will ever be able to say it's accounted for," she said.
As Jones addressed commissioners Tuesday, he also told them he is working to address ongoing needs in the community. He said he has been meeting with staff from Crisis Assistance Ministry, the Foundation for the Carolinas and county social service employee learn how extensive needs are.
"What we live to do on a daily basis is to help people in this community who are most in need," Jones said. "My focus ... is going to be on helping to meet those critical needs that confront this community."
Federal Grand jury investigating Charlotte-Mecklenburg County DSS
A grand jury is investigating the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, which has faced scrutiny over accounting practices and spending since early this year, two county commissioners said Monday.
Commissioner George Dunlap said the Federal Grand Jury has been looking into whether crimes were committed by employees.
Commissioner Bill James said board members were told last month that a federal grand jury is investigating. He refused further comment on the topic, saying commissioners were instructed by a county attorney not to discuss specifics.
The county ordered an audit of the Giving Tree after a DSS employee raised questions about spending at the Christmas charity for needy children. The county discovered checks written out to a county employee who volunteered with the program, as well as money issued to the sister of another employee.
County spokesman Danny Diehl said officials cannot confirm whether a federal grand jury is involved, but said the county "is cooperating with law enforcement to complete the investigation."
The county has asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to investigate. A police spokesperson on Monday said their work is ongoing.
Other commissioners reached Monday would not comment on work by authorities. "I want the investigation to have the best possible outcome, said board Chair Jennifer Roberts. "So I am unable to discuss it in the interest of not impeding the work of law enforcement."
In the meantime, James and fellow Republican commissioners Karen Bentley and Neil Cooksey want the county board to meet next week to learn more about ongoing probes.
"There are facts we don't have," James said. "I am just concerned there is stuff even senior management doesn't know."
Diehl said the county will respond to any questions the board has about the DSS audits. "The board has received reports and been briefed on all aspects of the DSS audits that are available to the county manager and staff."
The developments follow Observer stories on Sunday detailing a 74-page memo from a former county employee who headed the Giving Tree. Cindy Brady, who retired from the county in August, wrote she was never given a chance to talk at length about how the charity worked, despite requests to do so.
Brady said the county advanced her as much as $198,000 since 2005 with the approval of her supervisors. Brady said she spent the money on gifts for needy children, but says she did not collect all of her receipts, and some were handwritten or lost.
County leaders say they can account for how about $162,000 was spent by the Giving Tree last year.
But audit reports acknowledge numerous problems with receipts and other documents to track expenses and cited inadequate oversight and controls of the program by management.
The county has announced a number of changes in response to the charity audit and reviews of other DSS spending, including putting department finances under control of the county finance office and re-training DSS employees in financial practices and procedures.
The agency employs about 1,200, with a current annual budget of $176 million.
Brady's memo, dated July 29 and sent to a human resources manager, criticized county investigators for not interviewing her during the audit investigation. The county's former Internal Audit Director Cornita Spears said she first read the memo last month, and it led her to revise her earlier report to include about $33,000 Brady said she returned to the county earlier this year.
County Manager Harry Jones suspended Spears last month over the error.
Why James wants meeting
James cited the Observer story in explaining his reasons for calling the new discussions on DSS. He said he wants to give disgruntled employees a venue to air grievances. For months, James said, commissioners have been deluged with anonymous complaint letters from people who only identify themselves as current and former agency workers.
Some apparently won't divulge their names because they fear retaliation from superiors, James said.
The proposal requests that the board discuss the DSS issues on Dec. 17, with portions of the meeting to be held behind closed doors. It asks that DSS Director Mary Wilson appear to the meeting, and that other department employees be made available.
It also requests that former Giving Tree employees be invited to talk, including former county general manager Janice Allen Jackson, who briefly led DSS on an interim basis until Wilson was hired last year.
Neither Jackson nor Brady could be reached for comment Monday.
The proposal also wants Jones to provide in open session a detailed list of gifts bought with Giving Tree money and information on all items from the charity now in county inventory.
It also asks for copies of all internal memos produced by internal audit and county management involving the Giving Tree.
The county publicly released a three-page report in June and a follow-up report last month. The Observer has requested a longer report by Spears multiple times since July, but the county has said personnel laws bar them from releasing the document.
In order to hold the Dec. 17 meeting, at least five commissioners would have to agree. At least two of the six Democrats would have to sign on.
Roberts, Dunlap and Vilma Leake said they want to hear more about what the commissioners are trying to accomplish in holding the meeting before they can decide whether to support it. However, Roberts questioned whether meeting in closed session was the best approach, and said she is "distressed" that the board Republicans did not talk to her before putting the item on next week's agenda.
Dumont Clarke said he's inclined "to be as transparent and public as possible about this issue and do as little as possible behind closed doors."
Commissioners Harold Cogdell and Dan Murrey did not respond to requests for comments.
Cooksey said his constituents are demanding the board take a "more active role in getting to the bottom of this."
Cooksey disagreed with commissioners who have said they county is spending too much time on the issue and should not look into anonymous complaints.
"When you have issues swirling around, you can't ignore it," Cooksey said. "We have an obligation to see if these allegations have any truth to them or not."
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: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, Google Maps
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