On Sunday January 6, the Albuquerque Journal announced major changes to its Editorial Opinion Page. The paper now features 5 types of opinion columns submitted for publication: those by the paper’s Editorial Board, those by the paper’s Community Council, those by Syndicated Columnists, those by Local Columnists and those by Local Voices. “Local Columnists are tasked with carrying a heavy load of responsibility to help readers scrutinize issues impacting them, their community and their country. It is the Journals goal to publish columnists from all walks of life and varying political viewpoints to give readers exposure to all sides of local issues.”
On January 16, the Albuquerque Journal published the below “Local Columnist” guest column:
HEADLINE: “City Council Should Claw Back Bogus Bonuses Paid To City Employees”
BY PETE DINELLI, LOCAL COLUMNIST
The Office of the Inspector General of the city of Albuquerque is an independent City Hall entity. It is responsible for detecting waste, fraud and abuse in City Hall expenditures and deterring criminal activity through independent investigations.
The OIG issued an investigation report which found that a group of City Hall employees, including top administrators in Mayor Tim Keller’s Family & Community Services Department, received improper bonuses using money intended to sustain “childcare providers” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OIG found “questionable expenditures” of federal grant funds to 27 employees between 2021-23. In total, $287,972.77 was distributed to 27 city employees, a majority who worked outside the Family & Community Services Department.
Bonuses, called premium payments, of up to $22,498 were paid to City Hall employees who earned $32,469 to $123,490 annually. The highest bonus of $22,498 went to the Child and Family Development division manager. The position pays $88,000 annually and before the “premium pay.”
The source of the funding for the bonuses paid came from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for childcare stabilization grants. The grants were intended for funding childcare providers and to defray unexpected business costs associated with the pandemic and to help stabilize their operations “so that they may continue to provide (child) care.”
The premium payment bonuses were $3,878.99 to $22,498.03, with the highest payments given to office assistants, fiscal analysts, a fiscal manager, a facilities operations coordinator, and a child and family development division manager.
In July 2022, 23 of the 27 employees received a bonus of either $3,878 or $8,533. In December of the same year, 14 employees received bonuses ranging from $5,400 to $13,000. All bonus premium payments were reviewed and approved by Mayor Tim Keller’s chief administration officer at the time, either Sarita Nair or Lawrence Rael.
On Jan. 2, the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee, which is comprised of community members appointed by Mayor Tim Keller and the City Council, met. They voted not to approve the OIG report proclaiming the OIG “lacked sufficient jurisdiction under the city’s Inspector General ordinance to investigate one or more of the allegations.”
Their vote was a whitewash of nefarious conduct by the Tim Keller administration. The city ordinance that created OIG provides its goals, including to “prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in city activities.”
Simply put, it was waste, fraud, abuse and government corruption that the Keller administration approved the payment of bonuses to City Hall officials of $5,400 to $22,000 by using funding from childcare stabilization grants intended to give financial relief to childcare providers and defray unexpected business costs associated with the pandemic.
The Keller administration’s excuse that there was no intent to do anything wrong and that it did not have direction from the federal government on where to appropriate the funds rings very hollow and is very disingenuous. The Keller administration made absolutely no effort to seek guidance on what they could do with the funds.
The blunt truth is Mayor Tim Keller, and his executive staff, saw a pool of federal money they could divert and give out as bonuses to reward 27 City Hall employees to the tune of $287,972.77. The federal grant funds were accepted and approved by the council for use and were intended exclusively for early childhood programs as outlined in the grant’s description.
Therefore, the City Council has the authority to enact a resolution requiring the return of the $287,972.77 by those who were paid the bonuses. Anything less would be the City Council condoning the Keller administration’s nefarious conduct.
Pete Dinelli is an Albuquerque resident and former Albuquerque city councilor. You can read his daily news and commentary blog at PeteDinelli.com.
The link to the Albuquerque Journal column with photo is here:
https://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/article_6dd0cd68-ce0d-11ef-94ff-2b3999a15149.html