ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – An Albuquerque city was caught sleeping at work and during an investigation, the Inspector General’s office found this was not the only problem in the department.
It was near Coal Avenue SE and Sierra Drive SE in September. Someone noticed a City of Albuquerque employee sleep for hours in his city car. After a 311 complaint, the city inspector general investigated the solid waste employee who was supposed to be spraying and pulling weeds.
The IG office used GPS and tracked the city worker for three days. Instead of driving and destroying weeds, the IG office found that the employee’s vehicle was idle for between four and nearly six hours of his eight-hour shift. This happened for days in a row. While the report said the employee sometimes drove around the herbicide, investigators did not see that the employee actually used it.
According to the report, the employee wasted more than $ 400 in fuel on the idle car from June to September. It is also said that he paid nearly $ 3,000 for hours that he didn’t actually work.
According to the report, the employee admitted to sleeping during working hours but claimed to have an illness and the supervisor agreed to rest in the vehicle. Butr, in the report, said the supervisor was aware of the employee’s health, but the employee never asked to rest in the vehicle. The IG bureau said there was not enough evidence to support or refute any of the claims.
The report went on to say, “Overall, the ministry’s practices severely lack internal controls with policies and procedures, as well as general oversight deficiencies that make the city vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse.”
It made nine recommendations to the division for the solid waste division, including re-training staff on guidelines, spot checks to ensure herbicides were being used where they should have been, and establishing a mailing system to document communications between the employees.
According to the report, the city worker has been relocated and is no longer operating city vehicles or equipment. It is also said that the waste department is working with the workers’ union to obtain documentation of the health status and restrictions that apply to the worker.
“The inspector general’s office provides the city administration with meaningful controls and balances. We received a copy of the IG report and are currently under the city’s disciplinary process, “said Matthew Whelan, director of waste management, in a statement emailed. The Inspector General’s Office does not comment on his reports.
Comments are closed.