Audit: City engineer may have violated state law

News Star, December 12, 2011

City engineer Sinyale Morrison may have violated state laws when she hired Ricardo Nance and paid him for services he may not have actually rendered, according to the findings released by the Legislative Auditor's office this morning.

The audit was prepared in response to issues originally raised by former city human resources director Mike Rhymes last year.

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera, in the executive summary of the report, said Nance, too, may have violated state law if he didn't work the overtime hours for which he was paid. Morrison didn't require Nance submit any documentation to justify the overtime pay.

Rhymes raised issues with Morrison regarding overtime payment practices and policies last year when he conducted an investigation into whether Nance was eligible for disability leave.

The mayor completed an investigation into the matter and found no wrongdoing on any employee's part, but Rhymes approached the Legislative Auditor's Office to conduct an investigation.

The auditor's report was released to the public today.

The report states Morrison promoted Nance to the position of Survey Party Chief even though she knew this was a position for which he was not qualified. She hired him "based on the recommendation of city surveyor Clovis Hailey" and that Hailey agreed to train him, the report states.

Furthermore, Purpera notes Nance received $5,743 for 310 hours of overtime while working in the Traffic Division and Civil Division, but there is no documentation to show he actually worked these hours.

The report states detailed timesheets aren't completed by all of the Engineering Department's staff and some records don't even have the approval.