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COFFMANHOUSEGOV
December 20, 2017

The Honorable David J- Shulkin
Secretary of Veterans Affairs

US. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary Shulkin,

[was astounded to learn that Ms. Stella Fiotes was selected to serve as the Acting Chief Acquisition
Of?cer (CAO) and Acting Principal Executive Director of the Of?ce of Acquisition, Logistics, and
Construction top Department of Veterans Affaris (VA) contracting of?cial. Ms.
Fiotes was elevated from her earlier position as Executive Director of the Of?ce of Construction and
Facilities Management?the top VA construction of?cial?which she apparently continues to occupy
simultaneously.

As you know, since 2013 Ms. Fiotes was responsible for overseeing the egregiously mismanaged
construction project of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado,
which is ?nally nearing completion after ballooning in cost by over a billion dollars and being
delayed by over four years. Worse, Ms. Fiotes testi?ed to the Committee on Veterans? Affairs in
March 2014 that the medical center?s design could be built within its appropriated amount, then $800
million, which all available evidence indicates was untrue. In response, nearly every Member of the
Committee, on both sides of the aisle, called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate
whether Ms. Fiotes or Mr. Glenn the Acting Principal Executive Director of OALC at
the time, committed perjury, misled, or withheld information from Congress. Though the DOJ
eventually declined prosecution, Ms. Fiotes was by no means absolved of responsibility. An
exhaustive report by the Inspector General, issued before the decision was conveyed to the
Committee, detailed senior VA of?cials?, including Ms. iotes?, repeated missteps, reckless
behavior, and poor decisionmaking. Whereas Mr. retired a day after the VA interviewed
him under oath, apparently to head off imminent ?ring, and lower level of?cials retired or quit, Ms.
Fiotes has in fact been promoted.

Allowing Ms. iotes to occupy the Principal Executive Director position is troubling both for the
corrosive message it sendsathat poor performance is rewarded?and because she seems unquali?ed
to perform the job. OALC directs all procurement, logistics, and construction activities for the VA.
It has a challenging and diverse portfolio of functions for any executive. A background in
architecture, construction, and facilities management covers only a small portion of the
responsibilities. While that point may be subjective, it is clearly improper that Ms. Fiotes is
designated as the Chief Acquisition Of?cer. The Government Accountability Of?ce (GAO) recently
observed that statute requires a non-career employee to serve as CAO (as opposed to a career senior
executive like Ms. iotes) and recommended that the VA comply with the law.

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Perhaps for the reasons I have detailed, Ms. Fiotes? promotion seems to have happened, very quietly,
several months ago when the former incumbent Mr. Gregory Giddens was reassigned. Indeed, Mr.
Giddens has just retired, and the Department still seems to be avoiding public acknowledgements that
Ms. Fiotes occupies the Acting Principal Executive Director and Acting CAO positions. For
example, she has never to date been listed as serving in those roles on the Executive Biographies
section of the website. Mr. Giddens? name and photograph remained even after his
reassignment. Now, no name or photograph appears, and the VA seal has been placed there. Ms.
Fiotes? current role is only acknowledged in the leadership section of website, a more
obscure location. Furthermore, Ms. Fiotes has never testi?ed to the Committee since occupying her
present position, including at a legislative hearing exeusively on contracting legislation and an
oversight hearing concerning the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) contracting program,
about which Mr. Giddens testi?ed last year. This hearing was one of many oversight hearings on the
same troubles plaguing the MSPV program, which GAO has reported on numerous occasions. The
failures of the MSPV program have yet to be ?xed and Ms. iotes clearly does not have the
background or capabilities to ?x these problems.

I urge you to appoint a permanent Principal Executive Director of the Of?ce of Acquisition,
Logistics, and Construction who is well quali?ed and untainted by scandal as quickly as possible. I
also urge you to designate someone else to be Chief Acquistion Of?cer, in compliance with the law,
immediately. I know you are well aware of the continued challenges in the realm of contract
management. Rather than contributing to improvements and reform, allowing Ms. Fiotes to occupy

these positions undermines progress and sends precisely the wrong message.

Sincerely,

 
    

Mike Co an
Member of Congress