Months Before Retiring, County Head Start Director Paid For $1,846 Waikiki Sheraton Charge With County Credit Card
ON MARCH 11 The Ann Arbor Independent published its results of an analysis of almost 14,000 credit card charges made by Washtenaw County employees between 2011 and 2014. That analysis revealed multiple charges for luxury lodging, meals out and charges for food and lodging at Las Vegas hotels and casinos.
County Administrator Verna McDaniel prepared a detailed response (McDaniel_Report) to the newspaper’s findings in order to explain the charges to Washtenaw County Commissioners. County Commissioner Andy LaBarre shared McDaniel’s four-page report with the members of a small local email listserv group owned by former County Commish Vivienne Armentrout. In his email to the group LaBarre writes, “Hi Folks, FYI, here is the follow up from County Admin. Thanks much to Yousef for his great help on this. I’m not saying the overall issue is settled, but I do think these are helpful answers to the specifics raised. Andy.” Yousef is Ann Arbor County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi. It remains unclear whether the two elected officals shared the County Administrator’s report with all of their constituents or just with the few dozen members of Armentrout’s invitation-only, tightly controlled email group, of which LaBarre is a member.
While County Administrator Verna McDaniel moved quickly to respond to the information included in the March 11 article, she did not respond to the time-line posted at the bottom of the article (see below). The time-line records eight trips made over an eight month period by former Head Start Director Patricia McGee. In her final year of county employment, McGee’s salary was $95,000.
The trips, beginning in April 2011 and ending 16 days before McGee retired on December 30, 2011, crisscross the United States, from Hawaii to Washington, DC. In June and October 2011, credit card records indicate that McGee used her county-issued credit card to pay hotel charges for stays at two different hotels in two different cities. For instance, in June 2011, Ms. McGee’s card was used to pay for an $867 charge at the Hilton in Dedham, MA and for a $606 charge for a stay at the Westin in Providence, RI.
McGee is by no means the only Washtenaw County employee for whom taxpayers bought rooms at the Hilton. County staffers have stayed at Hilton hotels across the country including the Hilton in New Orleans, Washington, DC, Cinncinati, Columbus, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina. Between 2011 and 2013, Washtenaw County employees charged over $10,200 to their credit cards for charges at Hilton hotels.
McGee’s trips included hotels, airfare, parking, meals and taxis. Her trip to Providence, Rhode Island in June 2011 also included the use of her county credit card at Nordstrom, as well as a $70 charge at Cheesecake Providence
When County Administrator Verna McDaniel was asked about McGee’s trip to Hawaii, her response was surprise. However, it’s unlikely McDaniel was unaware of McGee’s Hawaii trip.
The county’s Human Resources Department had launched an investigation of McGee and her senior management assistant Lovida Roach in early October 2011, in response to unspecified “allegations” which a county official subsequently told a reporter were “founded.”
On December 13, 2011 Roach was put on leave in the morning, and McGee was put on leave around 5:30 p.m. the same day.
On December 14, 2011 credit card records show McGee’s county-issued card was used to pay a 798.48 and a 947.93 charge at the Hilton in New Orleans.
In her recent report to county commissioners, Verna McDaniel offered no explanation in response to the The Indy’s compilation of McGee’s county credit card charges for multiple hotel stays between April and December 2011.
County officials, when asked about the omission, said they “had not seen” the time-line published at the bottom of the article which outlined McGee’s credit card usage.
On December 30, 2011 Patricia McGee retired. The Ann Arbor Independent has filed Freedom of Information Act requests to find out when McGee turned in her retirement request. McDaniel said that the county requires a minimum 30-day notice.
“But we could do 28 days,” McDaniel added.
This would mean that McGee turned in her request sometime on or before November 30, 2011. In October 2011, McGee charged hotel stays of $1,477 at the Marriott in Washington, DC, $242 for hotel charges at the Hilton in Columbus, OH and airline tickets which cost $335 and $338, respectively. In December, the month she retired, McGee used her county credit card to pay a $798 charge at the Hilton in New Orleans.
As McDaniel pointed out, the county’s travel policy requires approval of an employee’s direct supervisor. FOIA requests have been filed for the documents which will show who signed off on each of the eight trips Patricia McGee took in 2011. In addition, FOIA requests were submitted for copies of credit card receipts.
When speaking about McGee’s credit card charges, McDaniel did not mention the county’s 2011 investigation of McGee and her assistant or the investigation findings, which were expected in January 2012.