Play golf with your friends, international jet-set with your friends, accept free alcohol at a Christmas party from your friends.
These things are fine, unless you are a City of Hamilton employee and your friends are vendors competing for contracts with the city. Oh, and their decisions end up costing the taxpayer $ 233,000.
In fact, the above misconduct took place. It was revealed last week in a City of Hamilton Annual Fraud and Waste Report, issued by the city auditor’s office. the report included several examples of city employees misuse taxpayer dollars and city resources, with eight people laid off as a result.
Golfers, who were among those laid off, were by far the most expensive example. All but $ 2,000 of the $ 235,000 in costs incurred by the city due to fraud and waste between July 2020 and September 2021 were linked to golfers, according to the report. The cost included theft of time and unapproved payments to vendors, among other things.
The city would not identify the employees involved or the vendors who distributed the benefits.
The report says the scandal came to light after a city councilman received a tip from a citizen about two city employees playing golf during business hours. The insider alleged that the duo’s golf partner was a “city vendor who was in the process of submitting a proposal for a live, competitive acquisition of the City of Hamilton (Request for Proposal, RFP) that was worth about $ 2 million in services over three years. ”
The city auditor’s office investigated and discovered more irregularities. Among his findings:
- In fact, the duo played golf at work, stealing time, and accepting gifts from vendors;
- A third employee was also participating in “a high level of golf with noted salespeople”;
- One of the three employees, who was a member of the RFP evaluation committee tasked with selecting the successful supplier, wrote a reference letter to the company they were playing golf with, supporting their RFP submission, and then evaluated the supplier as part of the evaluation;
- Another of the three made five international trips with suppliers in recent years, including one in which they claimed to represent the city without receiving authorization. The employee did not tell his bosses and used the vacation time for the trip;
- The same employee “unilaterally increased the rates paid” to a vendor, costing the city “substantial” additional fees and charges;
- The same employee hired and paid a supplier executive “to advise him on the terms and specifications of the contract for the same RFP for which the supplier would be bidding”;
- Some vendors were “sponsoring” a Christmas party for the employee team by paying for their alcohol.
Upon learning of the auditor’s findings, management brought in a new evaluation team to re-evaluate the RFP submissions and committed to implementing better processes and procedures to manage suppliers.
All three employees were fired.
The city will not provide further details, citing “personnel matters.”
Another notable example of fraud / waste from the report: A city employee arranged for city employees to complete “unnecessary” work on the sidewalk and sidewalk in front of his home. The matter was referred to employee managers for disciplinary action.
Presenting the report to councilors Thursday, City Auditor Charles Brown asked the city to clarify its conflict of interest policies. Generally speaking, he said that sometimes people don’t realize they have a conflict of interest and that conflicts are “just not reported.”
City spokesman Matthew Grant confirmed the senior leadership plan to review city conflicts of interest at an upcoming meeting.
Katrina Clarke is a reporter for The Spectator who lives in Hamilton. Contact her by email: [email protected]
Reference-www.thestar.com