Pants down again
Once again the County has been caught with their pants down. The only piece of background information you need to know is that FEMA pays overtime for public employees after a disaster.
It is not surprising that some people had to work overtime post disaster. What is surprising is the scale. For the first two weeks after the storm the County Executive told everyone to log 20 hours a day. He explained that they were all working hard and had to sleep at the County Administration building because their homes were flooded and deserved to be paid for that time. In case 20 hours a day for two weeks is not ridiculous enough, some employees were paid for 25 hours a day for 2 weeks, to make up for hours they worked right before the storm but did not get paid for.
Here are some of the salaries of public employees. The parish employeed three doctors for the public health clinic. Salaries averaged $212,000 for six months of work. A couple of nurses made over $50,000 for the six month period. My favorite are the four "oyster mappers" that the parish hired, each of them has made roughly $10,000-$15,000 in six months for part time work. I know there are lots of oyster fields off the coast, but why they needed 4 oyster mappers, I am not sure. (I am not sure if FEMA paid the salaries of the oyster mappers)
Although it is bad, I don't smell corruption. I think the parish president really thought it was fair to pay people for all the hours. Perhaps he was less concerned because it was other people's money, who knows.
The only part that is a little sketchy is the fact that the Head of Disaster response hired his wife, his sister and his son to work for the County. Junior (his name really is Junior) earned $3000 for running errands.
Not surprisingly, FEMA and the state are balking at paying the huge overtime bills. The Parish Council (a seperate branch of government from the Administration who authorized the overtime) is also furious and is doing an investigation.
(To be fair, I should report that most of the overtime was in the first two week period. The County president then capped people at 50 hours a week.)
It is not surprising that some people had to work overtime post disaster. What is surprising is the scale. For the first two weeks after the storm the County Executive told everyone to log 20 hours a day. He explained that they were all working hard and had to sleep at the County Administration building because their homes were flooded and deserved to be paid for that time. In case 20 hours a day for two weeks is not ridiculous enough, some employees were paid for 25 hours a day for 2 weeks, to make up for hours they worked right before the storm but did not get paid for.
Here are some of the salaries of public employees. The parish employeed three doctors for the public health clinic. Salaries averaged $212,000 for six months of work. A couple of nurses made over $50,000 for the six month period. My favorite are the four "oyster mappers" that the parish hired, each of them has made roughly $10,000-$15,000 in six months for part time work. I know there are lots of oyster fields off the coast, but why they needed 4 oyster mappers, I am not sure. (I am not sure if FEMA paid the salaries of the oyster mappers)
Although it is bad, I don't smell corruption. I think the parish president really thought it was fair to pay people for all the hours. Perhaps he was less concerned because it was other people's money, who knows.
The only part that is a little sketchy is the fact that the Head of Disaster response hired his wife, his sister and his son to work for the County. Junior (his name really is Junior) earned $3000 for running errands.
Not surprisingly, FEMA and the state are balking at paying the huge overtime bills. The Parish Council (a seperate branch of government from the Administration who authorized the overtime) is also furious and is doing an investigation.
(To be fair, I should report that most of the overtime was in the first two week period. The County president then capped people at 50 hours a week.)
posted by JNA | 10:44 AM
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