To:

 

CITY OF HOUSTON Interoffice

Mayor?s Office Correspondence
Darian Ward From: Alan Bernstein
Employee No. 136405 Assistant Director
Sr. Staff Analyst (Executive Level)
C.D. Date: 10/06/2008
Date: 7
Subject: Temporary Suspension

Ms. Ward, you have been employed with the City of Houston (COH) since October 6, 2008.
You are currently serving as a Senior Staff Analyst, Executive Level, in the Mayor?s
Communications Office.

On October 20, 2017, a Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) request was received from a
Journalist asking for copies of all emails sent from your COH email address on the topics
dealing with Joy in Motion, Joy in Motion Productions, and/or other non-city work-related topics
and reply to those emails. The journalist included an example in the request and gave the time
frame from February 1, 2014 to October 20, 2017.

In our discussion, you said you would produce all emails responsive to the request and you
also acknowledged that Joy in Motion Productions is your own private company. You did reply
to the requester on November 15, 2017 and stated that you had located 30 documents. You
copied me on your response. In addition, you apprised the Mayor?s Chief of Staff Marvalette
Hunter that the request produced 30 pages.

I discussed the request again with you and you showed me copies of the 30 pages you had
produced. The only email that appeared to be responsive to the request was the same one the
journalist had cited as an example. The others appeared to be emails related to city business.
Your explanation was that providing more documents than were needed merely to demonstrate
to the requester that the request produced only one relevant email.

To ensure the accuracy of your reply to the requester and we are in compliance with an
email system search was requested by me and conducted by the Office of Inspector General
(OIG). Ms. Ward, your email account produced approximately 5,000 emails related to Joy in
Production entity or other personal, non-city business matters over the three (3) year period
from February 2014 to October 2017.

The emails included proposals to, and signed agreements with, film and TV production
companies for their consideration of your personal business ideas for ?reality shows." Some of
the brochures attached to these emails contained the photograph and bio of your co-worker,
listing the individual as a ?consulting producer? for the proposed series. The emails also
included an intense and sustained promotional and developmental campaign over the four
years on behalf of a charitable foundation. Ms. Ward, you identified yourself as a board

member of the charity. The charity has no known affiliation with government functions. One of
the responses to these emails was from a writer who apparently considered your message to
be a charitable donation solicitation. The respondent said he could not honor such a request
from a government employee and/or a government e?mail address.

Ms. Ward, you misrepresented to the requester the volume of documents regarding the 
request under state law, and you misinformed the Chief of Staff and me; you spent a significant
amount of city time conducting your personal business rather than focusing on your work task.
Your actions are in violations of the foliowing COH policies:

Administrative Procedure 8-1, Use of City Information and City Information Technology
Resources,

9.2.23 Using City IT resources for commercial purposes, private gain, in support of ?for-profit?
activities, or in support of other outside employment or business activity (such as consulting for
pay, sales or administration of business transactions, or sale of goods or services);

9.2.24 Creating, soliciting, or transmitting campaign materials in connection with political,
religious, charitable, fund-raising, or other non-City business activities that are not authorized
by appropriate City personnel;

Administrative Procedure 3 10, Outside Employment,

5.1 Employees may not accept or undertake outside employment activities, unless authorized
by their department director; 

Code of Ordinances, Sec.14?183 (7) Violation of certain standards,

An employee shall not: use one?s official position or the city?s facilities, equipment or supplies,
nor use or attempt to use one?s official position to secure special advantage, privilege or
exemption for the employee or others.

Ms. Ward, you not only understood, but also agree that your outside employment should in no
way conflict or compete for your energy, mentally, or physically, with your City job nor shall it
create a conflict between the public trust held by you in your capacity as an employee with
COH. However, your actions proved otherwise.

Based on the above facts, yo will be given a te day te porary suspension, without pay,
for 80-hours, starting (3142,2222 through 'i

    

 

Approved:

    

Signature: .. --
Westerufumer, Mayor

 

ployee Signature/

Acknowledgement
l, Darien Ward, hereby acknowledge the 10?day temporary suspension On this day, 11th
December 2017.

 

  

Witness