Talk about IT management gone awry. The Department of Veteran Affairs'
technology department is on the hot seat.
Between 2007 and 2008, pay grades were ignored, nepotism was rampant and
excessive bonuses were given to the tune of $24 million, while the department
struggled with budget deficits, found the Office of the Inspector General in an
investigative report.
From a NY Times article on the matter:
In a statement, the department’s press secretary, Katie Roberts, said: “We
are extremely concerned by the descriptions of alleged improper conduct by V.A.
staff. The department is aggressively pursuing a thorough review of the
situation and will continue to work with the appropriate authorities.” The
department will take appropriate corrective actions against policy violators,
she said.
The reports, heavily redacted, conceal the names of most beneficiaries of
improperly allocated jobs and bonuses. But one includes a long list of abuses
by Ms. Duncan (senior manager, Jennifer S. Duncan), the former executive
assistant to Mr. Howard (former assistant secretary, Robert Howard).
The inspector general found that Ms. Duncan: violated anti-nepotism rules by
advocating the hiring of relatives; authorized federal money to pay for
graduate courses for relatives and friends; and approved bonuses she lacked the
authority to give. From 2007 to 2008, she herself got $60,000 in bonuses; the
average for her pay grade was less than $15,000 for the period.
The reports also detail alleged inappropriate relationships
between federal employees in the department, as well as the misuse of assigning
a duty station to one employee, Katherine Martinez. From the report itself, via the group VA Watchdog:
We substantiated that Ms. Katherine Adair Martinez, Deputy Assistant
Secretary (DAS) for Information Protection and Risk Management (IPRM), Office
of Information and Technology (OI&T), misused her position, abused her
authority, and engaged in prohibited personnel practices when she influenced a
VA contractor and later her VA subordinates to employ Ms. Laura Nash, Executive
Assistant, IPRM. Further, we substantiated that Ms. Martinez misused her
position when she took advantage of an inappropriate personal relationship with
the former Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, Mr. Robert
Howard, to move her duty station to Florida
even though she spent almost 60 percent of her time at VA Central Office on
official travel.
Duncan has
retired, and others weren't available for comment in the Times article.
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