A senior National Park Service manager based in New York state was found to have misused park funds, retaliated against an employee who voiced concerns about her official travel, and let visitors stay in a ranger station that was not approved park housing, according to an investigation.
The investigation, by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General, also found that she "paid for a visitor’s lodging with personal funds and then claimed reimbursement from the government."
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York declined to prosecute the matter, and National Park Service officials in Washington, D.C., couldn't immediately say whether she was reprimanded.
According to the investigation, the unidentified manager "used park funds to purchase two high valued items, valued at nearly $600, which could not be located or accounted for. We also confirmed the senior manager lowered the performance rating of an employee after concerns were reported related to the senior manager’s official travel."
The investigators also "confirmed that a subordinate of the NPS senior manager improperly used park funds to purchase antiques from a family member, a violation of conflict of interest regulations."
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Can anyone explain to us why the U.S. Attorney's office declined to prosecute? Where is this individual today? Lots of unanswered questions here.
Likely prosecutorial discretion. Marijuana possession is still a federal crime, but it's considered fairly minor and rarely prosecuted. Not that it isn't worthy of an internal review and reprimand, but whether it's worthy of prosecution is another matter.
Thanks, ypw, but ????? There are still a lot of unanswered questions. Maybe all the other things came about because somebody was toked out ?
Unfortunately, maybe this is just the new normal.
What is even more desconcerting is the senior manager retaliated againist the emploee reporting the misconduct. Agree with YP&C on the US Attorneys Office declining to prosecute, but there should be some consequences here.
Don't just assume that the reports for the Interior Inspector General are fair or accurate. This IG has a long list of unsupported or exaggerated charges.
Assume with this IG that if the Justice Department does not choose to prosecute, it probably is because it is a weak or nonexistent case.
We just saw in the Veterans Affairs IG, the IG in collaboration with right wing zealots drive the Secretary of Veterans Affairs out of the department and the government. Veterans groups felt this guy had the right balance and was doing a necessary job, while the zealots had an agenda. As in several Interior Office of the Inspector General, the VA Secretary was never given the opportunity to mount a defence or explain any alternative, no opportunity to face accusers, no opportunity to cross-examine the IG accusers. Sometimes the IG gets it right, but history shows no one should assume they do.
Bet the IG spent more money investigating this than the actual imfraction.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is probably fed up with the National Park Service's inability to handle its problems in-house and refuse to do the dirty work of stopping the rampant misconduct and corruption found in the NPS today. I don't recall seeing such malfeasance when I was a Park Ranger but maybe management did a better job of hiding it because they didn't have social media back then. Either way it is time to clean house by starting at the top where managers use their positions to intimidate and abuse whistle blowers.
d-2, good point, the departments IGs (correct me if I am wrong) work for the politically appointed Secretaries. It can get pretty ruthless.