Wash. State Auditor Issues Whistleblower Investigation Report on Pollution Liability Insurance Agency

OLYMPIA, Washington, March 29 -- The office of the Washington State Auditor issued the following whistleblower investigation report (No. 1034502) on March 28, 2024, involving the Pollution Liability Insurance Agency:

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To: Joby Shimomura, Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor

Report on Whistleblower Investigation

Attached is the official report on Whistleblower Case No. 24-002 at the Washington Pollution Liability Insurance Agency.

The State Auditor's Office received an assertion of improper governmental activity at the Agency.

This assertion was submitted to us under the provisions of Chapter 42.40 of the Revised Code of Washington, the Whistleblower Act. We have investigated the assertion independently and objectively through interviews and by reviewing relevant documents. This report contains the results of our investigation.

If you are a member of the media and have questions about this report, please contact Director of Communications Kathleen Cooper at (564) 999-0800. Otherwise, please contact Assistant Director for State Audit and Special Investigations Jim Brownell at (564) 999-0782.

Sincerely,

Pat McCarthy, State Auditor

Olympia, WA

cc: Governor Jay Inslee

Cassandra Garcia, Deputy Director

Kate Reynolds, Executive Director, Executive Ethics Board

Aaliyah Gillett, Investigator

Americans with Disabilities

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, we will make this document available in alternative formats. For more information, please contact our Office at (564) 999-0950, TDD Relay at (800) 833-6388, or email our webmaster at webmaster@sao.wa.gov.

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WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION REPORT

Assertion(s) and Results

Our Office received a whistleblower complaint asserting the Executive Director (Subject) of the Pollution Liability Insurance Agency was working at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), the City of Tumwater (the Valley Golf Course), the Tumwater School District and serving as a Commissioner for the Thurston County Public Utility District during his scheduled work hours for the agency.

We were unable to determine whether an improper governmental action occurred.

Background

The Pollution Liability Insurance Agency (PLIA) helps owners and operators of underground storage tanks meet financial responsibility and environmental cleanup requirements. PLIA and its programs are funded by the Pollution Liability Insurance Program Trust Account and the Heating Oil Pollution Liability Trust Account. The agency employs 34 people and has an annual budget of about $7.7 million.

The subject of this investigation is the Executive Director of PLIA.

About the Investigation

We received a whistleblower complaint asserting the subject worked multiple jobs during his scheduled work hours at PLIA. To determine whether the subject was working at the other positions during his scheduled work hours at PLIA, we reviewed the following for the period of July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023:

* Position description

* Outlook calendars & appointments

* Meeting schedules and meeting minutes

* Time sheets

* Proof of payment

* Golf tournament schedule

* Travel reports

Subject's schedule

As the Executive Director of a state agency, the subject does not complete a timesheet. We established his typical work schedule at PLIA by speaking with him, interviewing others at the agency and reviewing his email. Generally, the subject works 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and uses Friday as a "flex" day. At times, the subject travels for work to events such as national conferences and meetings with legislators.

We learned about the subject's work at the other public entities in the complaint, also using a variety of methods including information from the subject, interviewing others at each entity and reviewing documents:

Tumwater Valley Golf Course: Since 2013, the subject has worked at the golf course and has a variety of duties, including supporting the operations manager, working on the budget, conducting purchasing, developing players and handling special projects. He said he generally teleworks from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, works in person all day Friday and Saturday, and works in person on Sunday mornings. His timesheet is submitted to and approved by the City's Director of Parks and Recreation every two weeks.

Tumwater School District: Starting in August 2022, the subject was a golf coach for Black Hills High School. The subject said he attended practices and matches when his schedule allowed, as they were often held at the Valley Golf Course. He also said he was able to attend about half of the team's matches when they took place at the Valley Golf Course, but he did not travel to see any of the away matches. The subject was not required to fill out a time sheet for this position and received a stipend for his duties.

Thurston County Public Utilities District: The subject was elected to the Commission in 2013. He attends commission meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, starting at 5:00 p.m. The subject attends regular meetings in person and remotely depending on his travel schedule. Because the subject's responsibilities to the District occur after the subject's PLIA work day, nothing about this position raises a concern related to this investigation.

South Puget Sound Community College: The subject began working at the college as the head golf coach on July 1, 2023. Because our investigative period ended June 30, 2023, we did not analyze the work the subject did for the College.

Investigative analysis

For reasons stated above, only the subject's work at the City of Tumwater's Valley Golf Course and the Tumwater School District required further investigation to determine whether an improper governmental action occurred. Here is what we determined:

Tumwater Valley Golf Course We identified six times when the subject's PLIA calendar indicated he was out of town on PLIA business, but recorded time worked on his golf course timesheet. We also identified 36 days when the subject's golf course timesheet indicated he worked some hours that overlapped with his regular PLIA workday.

The subject said this overlap happened because he was following a long-held practice of recording hours in such a way that accurately represented total hours worked, but avoided specific entries in day and time that might trigger overtime payments. He also said that as of September 2023, this overlap would no longer occur, because the City's Director of Parks and Recreation sent an email directing staff to stop this practice and instead accurately record hours and days worked on their timesheets.

We shared this email with the City's Assistant Finance Director and the Payroll Officer. Both said they could not recall a time that it was an accepted practice for employees to not accurately record hours and days worked on timesheets. The Director of Parks and Recreation countered that recollection, telling us he had been recording time to avoid triggering overtime since the early 1990s.

Additionally, the Director of Parks and Recreation said that despite the subject's assertions, golf course jobs are not telework positions and that employees need to be present as they work with the public. To underline this point, the Director referenced an email he sent on this topic to the City's Finance Director in November 2023, which stated that generally, golf course work is done in person. He said if an employee has a special project or other work that can be done at home after hours, he will direct staff to finish it at home if it cannot be finished while at the golf course. We were unable to independently verify whether the subject actually teleworked or not, as no records exist to independently track that information.

Tumwater School District: We were unable to substantiate the time the subject coached for the District, because he was not required to fill out a timesheet and no documentation existed to show when he worked. The subject said he was not able to attend away matches due to his PLIA work. We did note some practices and matches were held at the Valley Golf Course, but we could not confirm if the subject was present for those events.

Because the time keeping records for the golf course were inaccurate and unreliable, we could not verify whether the subject worked at the golf course during his scheduled work hours for PLIA. Therefore, we were unable to determine whether an improper governmental action occurred.

Recommendation

Although we were not able to conclude whether an improper governmental action occurred, internal controls over time reporting within the Parks and Recreation Department at the City of Tumwater need to be strengthened. Our Office audits the City on a regular basis and we will consider reviewing these practices in future audits. We communicated this recommendation to the City's Assistant Finance Director and Payroll Officer during this investigation.

State Auditor's Office Concluding Remarks

We thank Agency officials and personnel for their assistance and cooperation during the investigation.

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WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION CRITERIA

We came to our determination in this investigation by evaluating the facts against the criteria below:

RCW 42.52.160 Use of persons, money, or property for private gain - (1) No state officer or state employee may employ or use any person, money, or property under the officer's or employee's official control or direction, or in his or her official custody, for the private benefit or gain of the officer, employee, or another.

WAC 292-110-010(1) and (3) - Use of state resources - (1) Statement of principles. All state employees and officers are responsible for the proper use of state resources, including funds, facilities, tools, property, and their time. This section does not restrict the use of state resources as described in subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

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Original text here: https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1034502&isFinding=false&sp=false