CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE BRIEFING MEMO TO: Jeffrey Hebert FROM: Eric Melancon, Innovation Manager CC- David Lessinger SUBJECT: Need for New Leadership at OPCD DATE: jannary 6, 2017 Brief: Under the leadership of the Executive Director Capt. Stephen Gordon, the following issues related to nusmanagement of the Orleans Parish Communication District have been observed over the past 18 months: Allowing, over a period of 8 years, improper use of taxpayer funds for gifts and cash awards in probable violation of the Louisiana Ethics Code for public entities and employees Little to no documentation of agency credit card use by the Executive Director Little to no documentation of the use of the Take Home Vehicle assigned to the Executive Director The Executive Director self-authorizing leave time during the critical months of the transition to a consolidated center The Executive Director allowing self-authorization of payroll changes made by the. Finance Manager for her own payroll without oversight The Executive Director?s inability to address consistent administrative problems with the issuance of payroll for 9'11 operational employees over a a month period (since the consolidation transition), including incorrect hourly rates, incorrect deductions, incorrect holiday pay and OT pay rates The liixecutive Director?s inability to address known attendance problems with the administrative staff The Executive Director?s inability to coordinate with Operations Director on the development ofa consolidated 9?1 '1 budget for the OPCD The Executive Director?s failure to address his staff's continued resistance to consolidating GIS functions with the City, including GIS functions that are outdated or duplicative with the City (313 team efforts The Executive Director?s overall poor communication and coordination with the Operations Director on management of the 9H Center?s consolidated functions The Executive Director?s failure to implement a consolidated center for 4 years after the OPCD directed him to lead the efforts, and only participated in efforts once the City Liaison (Lt. Col: Snead) was assigned to the center on a full time basis . No corrective action being taken by the Executive Director to resolve the above issues even after tthe issues were actively pointed out to him by the liaison or the Operations Director it): oi Recommendation; Based on my and Lt. Col. jerry Sneed?s observations over the past 18 months, we are joindy recommending that the Administration take action in the following manner: 1.) Have the Mayor?s Chief of Staff, the City Attorney, and the CAD meet with Chairman Terry Ebbert and explain the gravity of the administrative problems to the Chairman. a. Explain that if these issues were to become public in an audit, the City and Board will be held responsible to the public for not taking action to resolve them b. Explain that Capt. Gordon should resign from his position as Executive Director, and that if he is unwilling to resign, the City will have no choice but to force a board vote to remove him from his position. A rationale will have to be given for his removal, which would result?in the LA Legislative Auditor having to come in make these issues described in the brief above known to the public. 2.) The Board Chairman can temporarily assign of all Capt. Gordon?s responsibilities to the Operations Director Shinar Haynes, given she has an equal level of authority granted to her under the CEA between the OPCD and the City 3.) Conduct a 60 day national search for an Executive Director and have three members of the Board assigned to the search committee to select a new Director who would have suf?cient operational experience to manage both administrative and operational functions of the agency. Appoint Shinar Haynes as the Deputy Director for Operations under this Executive Director. The Innovation Team should also work with the OPCD to recommend amendments to the CEA with the City to have a single person as the head of the agency instead of the dual structure that is currently employed. 4.) Have the OPCD board approve the selection of the New Executive Director at its Board meeting in March. Page 1 or] Gmali FW. Yesterday's Meeting; Tyre Moms Gmail - PW: After action review and recommendations Page 1 of2 Gmail FW: After action review and recommendations Tyrell Morris Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 8:54 AM From: Jerry W. Snead Sent: Friday, August 11, 201? 4:4? PM To: Shiner Haynes; Tyrell Morris Subject: RE: After action review and recommendations i-ie MIGHT set the meeting up!! My input below! From: Shiner Haynes [mailto:shaynes@91incisorg] Sent: Friday, August 11, 201? 4:33 PM To: Tyrell Morris; Jerry W. Snead Subject: Fw: After action review and recommendations And Steve will contribute what again? From: Terry Ebberl Sent: Friday. August 11. 201'? 4:24:05 PM To: Stephen Gordon; Shinar Haynes Cc: Jerry Snead Subject: After action review and recommendations SteveiShinar i would like you to co-host a meeting .when Shiner returns. to review all essential internal actions taken during the flooding event last weekend. Please include in this review required OPCD staff membersirepresentatives and liaisons from Fire Please cover as a minimum: Timeline of events Actions required and actions taken Doe. 3 httos?mai i sver=n Searl?iklnn? en Rm?nlzum Rf? Di] Gmnil - FW: Afier action review and recommendations Page 2 of 2 Complainis -- STEVE AS THE EXECUTIVE Siafl'mg ixues -- STEVE AS THE EXECUTIVE Equlpmenl issues- CAUSED BY STEVE AS THE EXECUTIVE OpelaIional areas a! concern -- STEVE AS THE EXECUTIVE Inlemal and exlemal oommunicaiians Any issue Ihal lmuacIs OPCD capability In pericrm "5 mission -- STEVE AS THE EXECUTIVE Once llils review is completed pron/Ida any recommendations as to how cpco can Improve capability updated ptocedures. improved training or additional resources Please prepare a written alter acflan report. Prepare to oriet your report at tne upcoming Board meeting . it is very important tnatwe continue to work together with the city. agencies and citizens to improve OPCD 911 service. ColE Coll Terry Ebben Ebbefl a. Assoclales 3350 Ridgelake Drive, sis 110 Melairie, LA 70002 mmjjebbenandassociales com teobert@tjeppenandassociates com (504) 708--2686 s. pan 8/3/2018 Gmail - FW: Grievance Page 1 of 1 (Email FW: Grievance Tyretl Morris Fri, Aug 3. 2018 at 8:23 AM From: Shinar Haynes Sent: Friday, September 15, 201? 9:5? PM To: jphebert@nola.gov Subject: Grievance I?v'lr. Hebert. Good eveningrnight Col. Sneed and have attempted to advise the Mayor and his team of inef?ciencies, inadequacies. and de?ciencies of on several occasions. To date nothing of substance has occurred. Because of this I am forced to began a grievance (gender. race. ethical) process against Cot. Ebbert. CAPT Gordon, and the OPCD board. 1 am sorry to take this route because frankly I respect and admire Mayor Landrieu and all of his Deputy Mayors..the idea of Consolidation was much needed. As the 2013 Kimball report showed - all of the agencies had significant deficiencies in regards to handling emergency calls, training, and accountability. Consolidating them as one agency who "cares" was the ideal ?x fora floundering and frankly inept system. But we are simply a subdivision of the middle "lost class" and perspective my 143 people are everything to me and have given this City 2473 hours of unpaid time to fulfill the Mayors consolidation mission. BUT his team and the OPCD board has afforded me little to no respect or response for my efforts and concerns. This is unacceptable. As such I am forced to take action to preserve the integrity of the Mayors mission, the livelihood of the people who love their job, have mouths to feed. and deserve better. I hate being caught "of guard" so I am giving you a heads up. But the most important part of public safety can no longer be trampled on by selfish endeavors and anti-mayoral con?icts. Shinar Haynes Director of Operations Orleans Parish Communications Dec. 8132013 Gmail - PW: Take a look at these Page FW: Take a look at these Tyrell Morris Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 8:26 AM From: Tyrell Morris Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2017 12:53 PM To: Shinar Haynes Subject: Take a look at these Refusal to Provided Resources Most 9-1-1 centers across the nation have 24!? IT coverage on site as a malfunction could be catastrophic. We have asked Capt. Gordon several times to order that the IT team provide around the clock coverage. which he refused. During the largest yearly event the city hosts, Mardi Gras, there was a major technology glitch where the radio system crashed and that required personnel to respond to the center from their home or reserve police post. This could have been avoided if they were on site. Just a few weeks ago during shift change. our night shift police dispatchers were unable to log into the computer aided dispatcher system causing a major delay in processing of emergency calls. Again, this could have been avoid or corrected much quicker it an IT presence was on site 24W. Lack of Transparency in close review of the budget. several critical documents were requested from the finance team. In particular we asked for the general ledger of the organization to include those of all fund accounts managed by OPCD. At ?rst the request was simply denied, but after some communication with the Board chairman, the balances of two accounts were provided. This information is grossly insufficient and leads one to believe some information is being intentionally withheld. Please note that all of the requested information is covered under the Louisiana Public Records Act and failure to respond to the request for information within three day is a direct violation of law. Finance Director Clayville indicated in a budget meeting that she moved $300,000 at the end of FY16 to cover expenses. This transaction was not reported nor approved to the Executive Director of Board. This is a clear neglect of duty. It has yet to be determined where this money came from. We have asked on several occasions for ?nancial reports that reflect the current position of the agency so management decisions can be made to remain within budget for the fiscal year. To date, we have yet to receive a comprehensive OPCD financial statement. Doc. 8312038 Grrlail - FW: Take a look at these Page 2 of3 Lack 0' Internal Centre's As an agency oi public trust. we have a legel duty to protect the iunds end resources oi the agency winl the installation ot "internal controls" Currently. there are no standard operating procedures or policies to govern how money is requested. approved. spent, or hudgeled. The Board oi Commissioners holds tiduclary responsibility tor the organization and i have been unable to find any resolution or legal authority alimotizing new money is to he spent other than oudget resolutions In the last Board meeting. the she" was directed to issue an RFP to have an outside ounsullanl review our internal processes and recommend changes, This task has yet to he completed Back-Up Center Capt. Gordon has been dependent on the a" iloor to tunctlon as a back-up center In the event the primary PSAP oeoomes unavailable. We lost teamed that this iaciliry has no back up power and simply is inadequle to meet the needs oi our city. He has heen neglecliut In his duty to identity another alternative and when we ask tor an update. he simply does not reply. Tyrell T. Morris, MBA Deputy Director oi Operations Orleans Parish Communication District (New Orleans 9-1-1) 113 City Park Ave New Orleans. LA 70119 olrlce: 504-671-3515 -- Falc 504-671-39l9 lmorfls(R)911nolaorg 911mla org This electronic message and all contents and attachments contain information truth the Orleans Parish Communication District which is confidential. or alhemtise protected irorn disclosure. The inionnaiion is intended to he tor the addressee only and should not its shared with parties not spacrficallynamld. it you are not the addressee. then my disctosure. copy, distribution or use at this messugu. or its contents or any at its attachments rs prohrtnied i! you have mutt/5111i": eic-cironrc message to error. plmse mitt/u us immediately and destroy the original .tnrt nit copies. 8/3/2018 Gmail FW: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Page 1 of 5 iVl FW: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Tyreli Morris Fri. Aug 3, 2018 at 8:35 AM From: Jerry w. Speed [maiito:jwsneed@nelagov] Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 2:51 PM To: Gilbert A. Monta?o Cc: Tyreli Morris; Joycelyn E. Christopher Subject: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Gilbert, After our talk yesterday, i re-Iooitetl at the issue and i need to correct what i toltl you - sorry. i have not seen the document From Steve Gordon you referred to but ifhe is asking for the Mayor to reappoint Col. Ebhert and Dr. Lute as the Mayor?s at large appointees. I think he is 1Wrong. i believe that the current Mayor appointees are Col. 'I'erry Ebben and Jeff I-iehert as the CAO. i would assume that you would want to continue in that role since the City oi" New Orleans provides approximately pith-e approximate total budget To assist you in understanding OPCD operations 1 submit to youth: following information and have also attached some documents For your reading, pleasure. The Orleans Parish District (OPCD) is the administrative and operational of?ce of 9-I?l for the City of New Orleans. Primary responsibilities include providing and maintaining, the 9! Center, its equipment and technology, call processing and dispatch of etnergency calls for service to Police1 Fire anti EMS in the ?eld. - OPCD handles approximately 1.2 million calls annually - OPCD processes approximately 533,472 CAD incidents annually Suppotts Premier One CAD for incident creation and entry i Suppotts Call Control for call reception and automated call distribution - Support Motorola [?25 radio system OPCD is a political subdivision of the State formed to provide 94 -1 services for the City of New Orleans through the collection at fees from the telephone carriers and the citizens ofNew Orleans. the Slate anti Federal regulations that snide then] are Doc. 8812018 Gmail - FW: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Page 2 of 5 0 The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of I999 (91] Act) 0 Act NO 155 of the 1982 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature 0 Louisiana Revised Statues 33:9l0]. et al 0 House Bill 856 of the 1982 Regular Session - Act N0 897 of the 1990 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature . A NO 550 of the I983 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature . OPCD By-Laws House Bill 856 of the 1982 Regular Session is the ?rst attachment. Per House Bill 856 of the 1982 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, establishes 9-l-l as the primary emergency number for Orleans Parish and established ?its governing authority shall be a seven- member board of commission shall be composed of the Troop Commander of the Louisiana State Police, the Commandant of the Louisiana Army National Guard (Jackson Banacks Unit), the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, the Superintendent of the New Orleans Fire Department, the Director of the New Orleans Health Department, the Director of the Office of Civil Defense for the City of New Orleans, the Assistant Secretary of the Of?ce of Charity Hospital in New Orleans and two at large members to be appointed by the Mayor if needed to assure minority representation. commission may by a majority vote increase the membership of the commission by adding additional agencres.". .. The OPCD Board of Commissioners currently consists of members (so the assumption is that at some point the board voted to add the additional 2 members - Dr. Lutz Dr. Elder). Each Board member may designate a proxy to serve in his/her place and ?presently" board members and proxies are as follows with those names highlighted in yellow as needing to be changed: 9 Col. Terry Ebbert - Chairman (selected by Board members), at large Mayor Appointee; Proxy - none 0 Dr. Brobson Lutz Vice-Chairman (selected by Board members), Orleans Medical Society; Proxy - none 0 Captain Donovan Archote Louisiana State Police; Proxy Lt. John Stelly - Judy Reese Morse - Chief Administrative Of?cer, at large Mayor Appointee; Proxy David Lessinger . Major General Glenn ll. Curtis Louisiana National Guard; Proxy Col. Danny Bordelon 8/3/71" 8 Gmail - FW: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Page 3 of 5 Supt. Tim McConnell N.O. Fire Department; Proxy - Deputy Chief Roman Nelson 0 Supt. Michael Harrison NO. Police Department; Proxy Deputy Chief Paul Noel 0 Dr. Jeffrey M. Elder N.O. Emergency Medical Service; Proxy Deputy Chief Carl Flores Dr. Nichols will need to determine if she wants to keep Carl as her proxy 0 Aaron Miller Of?ce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness; Proxy - Ross Bourgeois - Collin Aniold will need to determine if he wants to keep Ross as his proxy . Mr. William J. Masterton Medical Center of New Orleans; Proxy - Dr. James Aiken - Dr. Joseph Kanter New Orleans Health Department; Proxy - None There are no designated term limits for OPCD Board members. it is my belief that there are challenges with the governing Act: 0 The governing document is a seriously ?outdated" document as is evident by the titles of some required Board members. 0 Director of the Of?ce of Civil Defense for the City of New Orleans 0 Assistant Secretary of the Of?ce of Charity Hospital in New Orleans 0 The selection of board members may be out of compliance. 0 Two at large members to be appointed by the Mayor if needed to assure minority representation -- currently only I at large member is a minority but for many years neither was a minority Commandant of the Louisiana Army National Guard (Jackson Barracks Unit) Major General Curtis is the LANG Adjutant General, not the Commandant of Jackson Barracks (potentially, the person designated as the proxy should actually be the board member) Other documents attched for your review are: . OPCD SWOT Analysis . OPCD By laws 8/3/20] 8 Gmal FW: A follow up from yesterday's convolution Page 4 of 5 - Update to coco Board/Mayor (I purposely had delayed sending this to you but I guess now is a good time) . My suggestion tor a Legislation proposal (1 presented this to the Landrieu administration tor the 2013 Legislative session but they decided Italic move lorwaid) SUGGESTION: The Consolidation at 9-1-1 has been a tinge success but has also been a big change in how Public Saler does business In relationship to communicalions. Communications peresonnel are no longer members 0' NOPD. NOFD, or but instead. are their own separa1e agencys Thetelore. when Illa Public Salety agencies have meetings, conduct planning, preparing tor a mayor event. eta, 9-14 Operations needs to be "late with NOPDI NOFD, NOEMSI A NOHSEP. was slanlng bu work towards the and 0! the administration. bul ilyou and the Mayor will emphasise this I mink ll will pay huge dividends in making Publlc Safety operate ellect'tvely. I hope that you find this inlorination hetplul and it can be ot any help to you in regards to OPCD. I am here. Also. I have 12 Va years or experience Puollo Salaty in New Orleans and City govemmentyou and/or the Canlrall Administration. please dun'l hesllala l0 task mes Idol'l'l pretend lo know everything about City government but I've made enough mistakes over the last 12 years as I transitioned Into civilian live to have learned some valuable lessons and I have walked closely with many individuals conducting a wide variaty or events to know how in get the mission eeomplistied I want to help in anyway can Respeclfully. Jerry JW Snead LtCol USMC (rat) 9-1-1 Consolidation Manager Work I (504) 671 3679 5 -. 1932 Legislature Aetpdt 2235K SWOT Analysis.decx 22K LE7 8/3/2018 Gmail - FW: A follow up from yesterday's conversation Page 5 of 5 OPCD By laws Final 3-11-14.docx 26K Update to OPCD Board - Cantrell.docx 101K Elli Legislative Proposal Request Form - OPCD input (2).docx I?inc?lfma? onnole 8/3/2018 thail - FW: Board meeting Page 1 of3 Gmaii FW: Board meeting Tyrell Morris Fri, Aug 3. 2018 at 8:35 AM From: Jerry W. Sneed Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 11:16 AM To: bl@eombsandlutz.com Cc: 'Col. Terry Ebbert' Subject: RE: Board meeting Cut it is. Sneed From: bl@oombsandlutz.com Sent: Monday, June 18, 2013 11:09 AM To: Jerry W. Sneed Cc: 'Col. Terry Ebbert' Subject: RE: Board meeting Col. Snead: Enough of all the email jabberwocky. Either Russians have hacked into your email system or you have more time than sense. As far as I am concerned this thread is cut. However, I will be glad to meet with you and Col. Ebbert if you have anything meaningful to share. We don't need any ?structural deficits" in the OPCD budge-l. Bronson Lutz salaried line'- family Doc-7 8130.018 Gmail - FW: Board meeting . Page 2 of 3 From: Jerry W. Sneed Sent: Friday, June 15, 2018 1:59 PM To: bl@combsandlutz.com Subject: Board meeting Dr. Lutz. Over the years you and have at times had differing opinions regarding what should or should not be done at OPCD and these differences have been when I was an OPCD Board member and while I have been the consolidation manager. I actually believe that individuals having different views are. in fact. good and in our case I just lived by the belief that we could agree to disagree. It is my belief that at the last board meeting you made a statement that was totally inappropriate. When discussing the issue in regards to moving forward quickly to get the product you made the statement something to the effect of: We haven't had it for 35 years now - which I interpreted to mean so waiting a few months longer is no big deal. In my view. this statement was inappropriate for the following reasons: - This statement seems especially inappropriate from a long standing OPCD Board member and the Vice chairperson. . Why instead. if Captain Gordon and Denise felt that a resolution was needed, why were they not asked why wasn't one prepared . Why weren't they held accountable for not doing their job? Instead: - The finance committee had to hold a meeting to resolve an issue that could have been resolved Tuesday. - The OPCD Board will have to have a special meeting over an issue that could have been resolved Tuesday. . By the way, the Finance committee?s recommendation on priorities for Capital Budget expenditures that came into question yesterday was presented to Captain Gordon via email on December 27. 2017, but it seems that it was never shared with the Board members! - All Board members seem to agree that this product is and needed so why wouldn't we do everything imaginable to move fowvard on this product? I think we have been talking about this since November 2017. - This delay or inaction seems to go against a portion of the OPCD Mission Statement which as a board member you should be supporting - embrace community change to remain proactive and progressive in all aspects of service. technology, and response to the community's - Probably, most important is that two of our Operations Supervisors were observers at this meeting and from your words and overall Board discussion on this issue they both now have the view of a dysfunctional board and one of them even stated that she felt the board was more worried about saving money than providing the tale-communicators the tools that they need to properly perform their duties - this perception will be hard to change. In no way am I trying to get the Board to do anything illegally but allowing worries over possible Financial Audit discrepancies to have precedence over obtaining technology to assist our tale-communicators to do their duties more effectively in an effort to better serve our citizens is hard for me to understand. As I told you in response to your statement, negative ?ndings in Financial Audit Reports are not new. To further clarify that I give you the following: Negative findings were in the last Financial Audit which prompted the Board to have an outside agency to be hired in order to develop policies and procedures to correct these problems. But in fact there seems to be a long history of some of the same negative findings. An OPCD Financial Audit Report dated .. RITDOI Gmail - FW: Board meeting Page 3 of] December 1003, (lilal aclualiy found In some 0' Colonel Ebbe'l's old files) nailed the lone/wing discrepancies: A District has inadequate provisions tor their assets. District has no tonnal capitalization policy tor fixed assets - Lack at segmgalion oi duties within payroll cycle. - One person is handling the cash receipt transactions from beginning to end, The above discrepancies are basicalty what were In the last audit which caused the Board to hire the outside agency that will current problems that south to have been going on tor about 14 years at so iroin the looks ot this document. 50 question why now the Board is so worried about audits and instead use this as a reason to delay obtaining much needed Iachiinmgy'? Again. you will probably disagree with my views above but this time i ieit that I needed to voice my views. Respectiuiiy. JW Snead USMC (ret) 9-1-1 Consnlid alien Manager 8/3/2018 Gmail - FW: Memo on OPCT) Budget 201612017 Page I of? Lam-ail FW: Memo on OPCD Budget 20169017 Tyrell Morris stmorris@911nola.ori> Fri. Aug 3, 2018 at 8:48 AM From: Jerry W. Snead Sent: Friday, May 05, 201? 5:22 PM To: Subject: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016f201? Colonel Ebbert. I know you don't want to hear this and have struggled mightily regarding whether I should even send you this email. i realize that much of what have pointed out previously to the Board is perceived as me just being against Steve; and although that is not true, because of that perception I almost didn't send this especially realizing that managing department budgets are not "truly" my expertise. After the last couple of weeks discussing the OPCD budget. I realize that Steve is probably even less knowledgeable about managing a department's budget than I am and he does not have a strong ?nance of?cer to assist him. Also, I have been tasked by the Mayor as the Consolidation Manager to ensure that the 9-14 consolidation that the OPCD Board mandated take place is successful. A key factor for the success of ANY VENUTRE is the budget and I am convinced that we have serious problems regarding the OPCD finance system as it stands today. i also feet that Steve and Denise are incapable or unwilling to take the necessary corrective actions with the budget to ensure the success of this new organization. I have no con?dence that OPCD could successfully survive the scrutiny of 3 Lee Zurich or an inquiry regarding the ?nances of this organization. These financial problems could severely jeopardize the successes we have achieved to date. For these reasons I feel I have to send you, as the Board chair, this email laying out the issues as we see them for you to do as you see fit. Jonathan's memo although factually correct does not come close to explaining the frustrations associated with trying to get to the bottom of the 2015 deficit issue and trying to determine where we stand in the 2017 budget. After doing some research regarding administrative procedure requirements for Boards 3. Commissions and some troubling observations during the 3 meetings referenced in Jonathan?s memo, we submit for your review some observations that further elaborate on Jonathan's memo. It is our belief that the issues stated below are the result of the combination of extremely poor ?nancial management practices. no checks and balances within current ?nancial system, lack of acceptance of responsibility by certain employees, lack of holding employees accountable, lack of supervision, incompetence, and failure to embrace the concept of a consolidated budget. I am also confident that had you participated in these meetings with us, you would have some of the same concerns we have. . After the Operations Director pointed out a $500k discrepancy in some of the budget documents. n'rr'u .. gnu. arr; ..- - -t .1 Doc. 63 3829013 Gmail - FW: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016/2017 Page 2 of 7 correctly) was one of the reasons you directed that we all meet to resolve the 2016 2017 budget issues at that ?rst meeting the same $500k discrepancy was still there! 0 When asked about this discrepancy. ?rst we were told that it was not an error and then that is was an error caused by inverting numbers 0 Steve. Claude. Denise were all made aware of this issue and nobody corrected this error; and in fact. in was obvious that they had not even looked into the issue raised by Shinar prior to the meeting. They came to the meeting totally unprepared to present an explanation regarding the issue. - Throughout the meetings Denise would give answers to questions and then change her answer at that meeting or at the next meeting. 0 Several times she said something about needing to think about how it should be done. 0 When asked ?nance procedural questions it seemed that Denise was making them up as she was explaining the process. Denise did say that someone probably needed to make some procurement policies/procedures now that we are a larger organization and before OPCD didn't need them. 0 I personally got the Impression that there were N0 FINANCIAL PROCEDURE POLICIES or if they have them that they are not adhered to. I should have asked for a copy of the policies they use but didn't so do not know if they exists or not. 0 At one point she did say that they followed the State Bid Law guidance which all agreed was very generic guidance and not sufficient for effective financial procedures. 0 We were given differing answers to when Board approval regarding expenditures of funds is required. Steve agreed to provide the document explaining those rules. We are still waiting for that document. 0 Throughout the whole process. much of what we requested from ADMIN was not given . to us. - it is unknown if this is because they didn't have the answer or they were intentionally keeping those facts from us. . During 2017 expenditure discussions Denise said she spent operations designated funds on IT needs. When Shiner pointed out that we had spent many hours developing the 2017 budget to ensure adequate funds were put in speci?c budget codes in order for the Operations section to accomplish the mission. Denise seemed unconcerned - stating at one point that was the code of money she used to take it out of before consolidation. 0 Funds seem to be taken out of whatever budget code Denise decides to take it from at the time. 0 Currently, OPS has no con?dence that the 2017 budget allocations that were agreed to are being followed. 0 To resolve this issue. Operations has asked that before any funding is taken from funds dedicated to Operations, that this has to be approved by the DirectorlDeputy Director of Operations. 0 Further, we have requested - and agreed to by the Executive Director -that a "check book ledger" system (format was also developed and given to ADMIN) be presented showing all operational expenditures. this will also comply with a CPA requirement that has been neglected and assist operations to better track expenditures in 8/3/2018 Gmail - FW: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016/2017 Page 3 of 7 order to remain within budget. We are awaiting the first ledger and then expect them onlor before the 15lh of each month. 0 It seems that much of these discrepancies are a result of the ?nance section doing things as they were done before consolidation. . A total lack of attention to detail regarding the budget was obvious throughout these meetings. 0 The discrepancy above. 0 A billing error to NOPD for salaries. 0 of City off set funds that was never used in 2016 that should have been used to reduce the total 2016 Operational de?cit identified to the Board. Or was this intentionally done to "save" OPCD funds? 0 Paying for Priority Dispatch in 2016 although OPS was told it had to be paid in 2017 and thus having it as an expenditure in 2017. 0 Still reconciling 2016 payments. 0 City has never been billed for 2016 retirement/death payouts (1 retirement was July 2016) nor the ones for 2017. This presently amounts to approximately It appears that expenses are being booked in the incorrect year which is against government accounting standard which states that expenses and revenue must be booked in the period that services were rendered. - Denise's explanation was something to the effect of that she used cash based accounting and that she had a good enough working relationship with the auditors so that they would correct the books it needed. 0 From my calculations. these "errors" could possible total over of a budget. . A total lack of concern was shown throughout the process. 0 Denise repeatedly made the statement that she is too busy to do (whatever the topic was) and therefore would not do it. Basically, although it was her job to do it, she wouldn't. Steve never once responded. 0 Although the OPCD budget is one of the most important duties of the OPCD Executive Director, in accordance with Act 155 of the 1982 Legislature of the State of Louisiana and the ?Louisiana Local Government Budget Act (LRS 39:1301), there was very little participation in the meeting from Steve. Instead, the meetings were under the control of Jonathan with heavy input form the Operations Director 8. Deputy Director. Answers to questions presented during these meetings were answered. almost entirely by Denise. 0 Per LA, A. 3921311: The Executive Director should ensure that the ?nancial integrity of the organization is maintained at all times; that preper care is executed in the receiving, processing. and disbursing of funds; and that ?nancial and non?nancial asses are appropriately protected. 0 In my view. it is obvious that there is little to no oversite by the Executive Director over the Finance Director. She is free to do whatever she feels is needed with the ?nances of OPCD. . There was a constant references to OPCD funds separate from City funds and what seemed to be a lack of transparency shown toward city and operations personnel. 0 Obvious that the budget is not viewed as a "consolidated budget". 8/3/2018 Gmail - W: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016/2017 Page 4 of 7 . At the last meeting the upcoming 2018 budget was brought up and Denise asked what was to be presented. the OPCD budget or the City budget? 0 Refusal to tell the group what was the ?total" OPCD funds and even stated they had orders from the Board chair not to give us that information. Yet we received an email from you to the contrary. 0 Still only gave numbers and would not present the group with the general ledger as requested. Members of the group felt that without access to the general ledger. it is impossible to get the full understanding of the OPCD ?nancial picture. 0 One meeting Denise said when she realized that there was going to be shortfalls in City funds she ?transferred" funds from one account to anther (without board approval) and then the next meeting said there was no transfer made. 0 During these meetings it was determined that there seems to be 4 different of money that are used. - There doesn?t seem to be very strict guidelines for which account is used to pay what. 0 At the ?nal meeting it was agreed that to solve the 2016 funding issue money would come out of Capital Project funds (per the earlier authorization of the Board) and not LAMP funds and then on spreadsheet transfers were shown from both accounts. - Failure to follow Board Direction 0 At the conclusion of these meetings it was concluded that in the 2016 approved budget, the Board authorized the movement of roughly from the Capital Projects funds to cover an expected deficit. 0 Instead. the decision was made (prosumabiy by Denise andfor Steve) to disregard that guidance and instead to present to the Board a major de?cit. It is unknown why this decision was made. . Failure to notify OPCD Boars of potential de?cit shortfalls. 0 Per LA. R. A. 39:1311: If the organization does not expect to meet its budget within the year. the Executive Director should advise the board and the CA0 in writing. It is my belief and the belief of the Director Deputy Director of Operations that the Board should consider doing the following: 1. Review the current ?nancial procedure policies to determine if they are adequate for a Consolidated OPCD. 2. Conduct a thorough review of OPCD ?nancial operations and transactions. 3. Conduct a thorough review of ALL OPCD managed bank accounts, daily transaction ledgers. etc. 4. if this is to be done by an outside source, it is suggested that it not be conducted by the current audit ?rm due to accusations that they make corrections to the OPCD books. 5. At a minimum, during these needed reviews. Denise should be suspended with pay pending the results of this review. 8/3/201 8 Gmail - FW: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016/2017 Page 5 of 7 On another issue related to the budget that is of much less concern but still a signi?cant point of frustration: Repeatedly. you have emphasized the need for us to work together to resolve issues between CPS and ADMIN yet an issue as simple as what budget the salary of the HR Manager should reside in has proven to be very frustrating. Our desire to have the HR Managers salary coming under the budget of was based off what we thought was "common sense" since this person clearly provides administration duties and Steve is her direct supervisor. It was also based on an agreement that 4 of 5 individuals remember was made; with Steve being the only person in the group that doesn't remember the agreement. This ?agreement" was also the reason that we told the Board we had adequate funding to hire a Deputy Director but now that we also have to keep the HR Manager?s salary in operations it will now contribute to a de?cit for operations. Why would we purposely cause a de?cit in the operations section when I have shown Steve where ADMIN has the excess funds for this? For Steve to refuse to agree and then use the CEA as the rational for his refusal to assume this payroll obligation (when we all know we are purposely not following the CEA word-for-word where it makes sense to "modify" the document to make things easier for us) is ridiculous. If i. or the city, wanted to play the "follow the CEA to the letter game" like Steve is doing we could: . Pursuit to ARTICLE l. Section 1, paragraph of the CEA. require OPCD to pay the salary of the Deputy Director of Operations because: 0 That position is not listed as a position that the City is required to provide an annual appropriation to OPCD 0 Yet. this position was authorized by the OPCD Board . Pursuit to ARTICLE Ill. Section 2. "In accordance with the other provisions of this Agreement, each ?scal year, the OPCD will provide an offset to the City's General Fund an amount equal to Five Hundred Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($500.000.00) which shall be dedicated to support consolidated 9-1-1 operations. The OPCD will issue a check payable to the City. and deliver it to the CAD or his designee." 0 Of course, keeping this money at OPCD and OPS just using as needed is a better idea then cutting a check to the City but that's what?s in the CEA. . There are also other examples that could also be used but you should get my point. Bottom line. for us to have to be spending anytime at all ?ghting over this issue is ridiculous. Steve clearly should have OPCON ADCON (which includes payroll) of the HR Manager. I hope you have found this useful and understand our concerns. Respectfully, JW Sneed LtCol USMC (ref) 9171 Consolidation Manager 8/3/20 1 8 Gmail FW: Memo on OPCD Budgel 2016/2017 Page 6 of7 Work (504) S71 3675 From: Terry Ebbert Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 5:00 PM To: Janathan Ta Wlsbey; Jefirey Pa Hebert Ce: Davld A. Stephen Shlnar Hayrves; Jerry wt Snead; Tyrell Morris (lmonis@9l Inolatorg); Denise Subject: RE: Meme on OPCD Budget 2015/2017 Jonalhan Thank you and all ine team [or [he challenge oi gelling the numbeis worked eul. We will be arranging a Board Meeting to take necessary actions to balance our budgets. oei. 'reny Ehben Ehberl 8. Manuals: 33511 Ridgelake Drive. Sle 1m Melalne. LA 70002 liebbenandassociales coin Iebhert@ljebbellandassociales com (504) 703-2556 From: Janatnan TV Vlfisbe'y Se Wednesday. May 3. 2D17 10:50 AM 1 any Hebsn' Terry Ebbcd Cc: David A Lessinger, Slephen stnnar Haynes. Jerry Sneeu. Tyvell Moms 8/3/20l8 Gmaii - PW: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016/20]? Page 7 of 7 Denise Clayville Subject: Memo on OPCD Budget 2016l2017 Jeff, Col. Ebbert, Attached is a memo that summarizes the determinations of the working group that has been examining the OPCD budget de?cit for 2016 and budget projections for 2017. Thank you, Jon Jon Wisbey Service and Innovation Manager City of New Orleans (0) 504-658-8481 itwisbeanolagov 8/3/20] 8 Gmail - FW: views about Board meeting Page 1 of 2 5p is 3 Crime FW: views about Board meeting Tyrell Morris stmorris@911nola,orge Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 8:52 AM From: Jerry W. Sneed Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 3:34 PM To: Stephen Gordon Cc: Shinar Haynes; Tyrell Morris; Jonathan T. Wisbey; Subject: views about Board meeting Steve, There are a few issues regarding today's Board meeting that I felt {for several reasons) it would be better not to bring up during the Board meeting but instead am sending this email. - At the Board meeting on several occasions I heard the OPCD ADMIN personnel referred to as OPCD. WHAT WE SAY MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Consolidation has made us ALL OPCD and continuing to refer to 14 ADMIN personnel {the old OPCD) as OPCD is, in my view, a subtle although probably unintentional -- message that we are still not consolidated. We have got to break these barriers down. For the 2018 budget process we have correctly identi?ed OPCD into the following Branches: OPERATIONS approximately 148 employees ADMIN approximately 7" employees INFRASTRUCTURE approximately employees FACILITIES approximately 3 employees The above is how we need to refer to the DPCD employees or we could lump ADMIN, INFRASTRUTURE, 8t FACILITIES into the term AFT as indicated in the CEA, but to refer to them as OPCD is wrong. You may think that this is a trivial matter but to me words matter. . was also disappointed that the new vehicle was not listed in the 2018 Capital Project budget also as we had agreed to do. Then we were supposed to get guidance from the Board as to where the Board felt these:- ?1irici she-ac :?ornr': tron? I?vinyhe If the leadership team would have getter: t. mor r: its Board meeting -- as we werer supposed to then we would have known this. Doc. ?1 .. 8/3201 8 Gmail - FW: views about Boaid meeting Page 2 of 2 Inslead, ballave Illa! an OPCD vehlcle scquisllioll is clearly an OPCD Capital Pmlecl expendilure and you don't yet the Board was not asked to weigh in. Are we now golng In request Boavd invul Via email? . Roman Capital Building -- You presented the 2 concepts and I know me meeting was tuning late. ttut nothing was diswssed/decided. This is why I said we needed to present to the Board a recammendalion. What is the 'way ahead' on this building? Did anyune tour the building? Again, it is my recommenation that we first axploree the at us using it belore opening it up tor commerce. - wish I would have known you wele going [0 ask ii the backup 9-14 Center could be located at me new video Denier. muld have told you we need to cleava aniculale Ihe quuiremenls lor Such a lacilily. we need in submit a larmal request (0 the GAO, via Director OTHER ISSUES: - Have you viewed my input on the calm . Have you viewed my input on the Vehicle Policy? When I llDId you a! a pas! OPCD Board membel I had no idea what LAMP was I was laughed at. From lDday's meeting It was obvlous that Olhev Hoard membels were unawave Hi It . Who has been tasked to work with Elly to develop RFP, RFQ, Scope oi Woik, etc lot development cl Finacial procedures -- we've got to keep movan on this. In the meantime. we caulo probably adapt the policies the 0in uses. - June 15", the FIRST Operations 'check back" IS due to me. Shiner. a Tyrell. without the implementation ol this system it is Impossible for Operations to properly monitor their expendltures to ensure they remain wilhin pudgot - especially with no Flancial policies In place. I Can we please gel Ihe budgel presenled laday Senl In Us via emall'] Please also include AFT salary benefits sweadsheet. Thanks JW sheeo LlCol usmc (rel) 9.14 Consolidation Manager Walk 3 (504) 371 3679 8/3/2018 ORLEANS PARISH COMMUNICATION DISTRICT Administrators of New Orleans' 9-1-1 System September 21, 2017 ORLEANS MEMORANDUM To: Jeff Hebert Deputy Mayor, Chief Administrative Of?cer From: Shinar Haynes MBA RPL Director of Operations, OPCD Date: September 22, 2017 "This memorandum contains con?dential and deliberative information and requires executive level approval for distribution to any party other than those listed above." am writing this letter as a formal advisement of significant concerns with the OPCD Board Chair Mr. Terry Ebbert and the OPCD Executive Director Stephen Gordon. The following is a summary of activities that demonstrate a lack of ability, accountability, and disparate treatment. Some of the activities I consider to be critical and have the potential to expose the agency to negative public reaction and risk. #1 Lack of Internal Controls [See Audit Rebuttal 2017) As an agency of public trust, we have a legal duty to protect the funds and resources of the agency with the installation of "internal controls". Currently, there are no standard operating procedures or policies to govern how money is requested, approved, spent. or budgeted. The Board of Commissioners holds ?duciary responsibility for the organization and have been unable to ?nd any resolution or legal authority authorizing how money is to be spent other than budget resolutions or at the discretion of the Executive Director. However, in our budget review of 2016 more than 2 million dollars' worth of funds was moved around or unaccounted for by the Finance Manager. When questioned who gave the authority for these budgetary moves the answer from the Finance Manager was just did it." included in this mindset was the fact that the Finance Manager was manipulating her own HR data and continued to do so even after all were advised this was not appropriate. l8 City Park Av, New Orleans, LA 701 I9 Telephone: 504-67169? Fax: 504-671-3913 Web Page: NOLAORG Doc. to Notes from 2016 Audit - DHHM Ms. Cunningham stated that while looking at internal controls; the auditors did identify some signi?cant de?ciencies and material weaknesses regarding cash transactions. There were bank statements that were not reconciled on a timely basis, and outstanding checks were listed on reconciliations that had previously been voided. There was no review of cash reconciliations. The checks that had been voided in the accounting system cleared the bank under a different check number. Additional testing was done by the auditors to ensure that the cash and the transactions were materially stated. Significant deficiencies were also noted regarding controls for payroll. There were duplicate postings of payroll expenses, and documentation supporting promotions didn ?t specify the pay ra te and effective date of promotions. This resulted in some overpayment and underpayment of wages. Payroll reports were not reviewed and approved by an additional level of management. in addition access to the payroll system was not limited only to the payroll manager. The supporting materials for approval of sick and annual leave and leave without pay were not properly maintained. There was a lack of segregation of duties related to the funding of payroll and the reconciliation of cash. As a result of the signi?cant deficiencies, additional testing procedures were performed by the auditors to confirm that the payroll ?nancials were materially stated. Ms. Cunningham stated that the audit found no violations of laws or regulations that had a direct material effect on the payroll financial statements. OPCD was issued a management letter comment which contained additional comments that will bring more ef?cacies and better controls to OPCD. This action applies to those items that need to be communicated to management of things discovered during the audit that were not egregious enough to warrant a significant deficiency in OPCD's internal controls or material noncompliance. These items included an employee reimbursement policy (OPCD does not have one), and a credit card purchasing policy (lack of significant documentation, receipts not maintained, and no approval for travel submitted]. 0n the public bid law there were a few instances of no documentation for the selection of a vendor who was not the lowest bidder. There was also a computer purchase that was not put out to bid but should have been because of the high dollar amount. Chair Ebbert is quick to say that the issues mentioned above are due to the PSAP consolidation. However prior to consolidation OPCD ran payroll, wrote checks, made purchases, travelled. used vehicles, had petty cash, used credit cards, and etc. The policies and controls that are missing would have applied to all the aforementioned. In essence consolidation did not cause the issue but rather exposed the issue. #2 Lack of transparency In close review of the budget, several critical documents were requested from the finance team. In particular we asked for the general ledger of the organization to include those of all fund accounts managed by OPCD. At ?rst the request was simply denied, then we were advised per Director Gordon that the Board Chair did not wish this information shared. After some communication with the Board chairman, the balances of two accounts were provided. This information is grossly insuf?cient and leads one to believe some information is being intentionally withheld. Please note that all of the requested information is covered under the ?8 City Park At, New Orleans. LA 70119 Telephone: I Fax: 504.67l~39i3 Web Page: NOLAORG Louisiana Public Records Act and failure to respond to the request for information within three day is a direct violation of law. [See attached email) The Board minutes that are often quickly approved are often incorrect and do not accurately reflect what was said during the meetings. #3 Inappropriate Recording of Expenses/Budget After a careful review of the FY16 and FY17 expenses, it was revealed that several expenses were being booked in the incorrect fiscal year or double booked. Government accounting standards state that expenses and revenue must be booked in period that services were provided or rendered. When the Finance Director was asked about this, her response was ?i use cash based accounting and I depend on the auditors to correct my books?. This places the agency at high risk for overspending and allows for financial bombshells to bring the organization to its knees. There is no formal requisition to approval process, or separating of duties as required by the City of New Orleans Office of the Inspector General. in the 2018 budget there is a $469k expenditure for the CAD upgrade. This upgrade is being paid for by NOHSEP and arrangement agreed upon prior to the submission of the original budget in. Director Gordon and the Chair Ebbert did not remove this line item although they were reminded that the expense was no longer needed. This type of deceptive budgeting has occurred several times in the last two years another example was a line item for 2017 $100k to ?x the roof. I asked why with only 3 years of installation the roof required such extensive repair and why is it not covered in the warranty. The response was that they forgot about the warranty. Once the warranty was applied the cost was reduced to $10k. For a few years has been set aside for the back-up center. But no work at all has been done to acquire one. #4 Failure to Follow Board Action In the FY16 approved budget, the Board of Commissioners authorized the movement of roughly 1.3 million dollars from the Capital Projects Fund to cover an expected deficit. Capt. Gordon and Denise Clayville made the decision to disregard that decision and illustrate a major deficit to the OPCD staff and Board members. I believe this decision was intentional and when asked, there is no clear definition. Failing to follow the directions of the governing body is a direct neglect of duty. Additionally, we have discovered there is another bank account called ?General Operating" that has a balance of roughly $500,000 and has been omitted on all financial statement presented to the OPCD staffand the Board. Further actions of the Board that were ignored Performance Evaluations To date AFT employee evaluations have not been done. Only recently were they even created by HR Manager Hobson for Admin because Operations already had them. I I8 City Park Av._ New Orleans. LA 70l ?Telephone: SO4-67l-39li Fax: 504-671-3913 Web Page: NOLAORG Regular Board meeting 9-16 ?We are recommending that these salaries be put in place and retroactive to June when we ?rst was going to present this information. We are also recommending that starting in 2016 all employees is annually re-evaluated and if budgeted for raises are given. We also want to amend the current by-laws to include that the Executive Director is annually evaluated by the Board to determine if a raise should be given at that time. That information is being reviewed by Ben Chapman from the City's law department to make sure the by-law amendment is correct and will be presented at the next Board meeting for adoption." Special Board Meeting 9-16 V. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE REPORT Board Chair Col. Ebbert recognized Ms. Parent, Chair of the Personnel Committee. Ms-Prent recommending that the Executive Director - with creating an evaluation system to be implemented by the end of March 2016. evaluations of OPCD employees will create a pathway for merit increases if budgeted for. Finally, the Committee will be submitting recommended amendment to the by-laws that will provide for an annual evaluation of the Executive Director by the OPCD Board. Outside request to handle a ?nancial audit June - 2017 Regular Board Session - A discussion continued regarding creating a Request for Proposal. Financial Officer Clayville advised that an RFP is not necessary because the costs are under $30,000. She suggested that developing a document with the request and the scope of work [including the findings of the auditor] would be sufficient. A motion was made by Ms. Broussard to direct the staff to go out and solicit proposals and seconded by CAO David Lessinger; Resolution 17-03 was unanimously adopted. OPCD is to bring the responses to the request for service to the next Board meeting for review. This was not done. Consolidation - Despite the Board approving a consolidated PSAP and paying Kimball to consult over the most effective way to transition in 2012. For three years and as late as September of 2015 Chair Ebbert and Director Gordon made no concerted effort to get the Consolidation done. In fact after the Mayor send over Mr. Sneed as the Consolidation Manager Mr. Ebbert and Mr. Gordon paid OPCD attorney?s to challenge the legality of the Mayor forcing their hand. They were reminded by Board members that the OPCD Board approved the consolidation and as such Mr. Gordon should have made it happen already. (See attached 9/29/ 15 notes). Per the IT Director Mr. Fasold the CAD upgrade [2013, 2015) was done without any regard for consolidation as "We did not think it would happen." How can you not think consolidation would happen when you are the agency entrusted to make it happen? When you don't want it to happen and you spend years ?ghting it. I lit City Park AIL, New Orleans, LA 70 Fax: 504~67l-3913 Web Page: NOLADRG #4 Disparate Treatment 1- The previous Deputy Director of Admin was fired because she sent an un?attering email out about Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin. Emails of this nature are not uncommon among OPCD administrative staff. This was her first offense and the only documented behavioral problem and she was fired. This action violated the EFCP for OPCD by bypassing at least 2 steps that lead to termination. More egregious to me was the email chain that occurred on August 17 of 2016 when urine was found on the floor of the men's room. In jest Director Gordon accused a "woman?I of having gone into the men?s room and urinated on the floor. Jokes of this nature are extremely inappropriate and an alarming re?ection oflaclt of respect for 92 percent of the staff that work for UPCD. Chair h?bbert was advised of the email however no action was taken and no apology given. 2- When I make a suggestion or have an opposing view my thoughts are dismissed only to have the OPCD Board make a decision that says exactly what 1 stated. For example: a. Compensatory leave is supposed to have no monetary value per OPCD policy. However, in 2015 OPCD paid an employee $7lt for hours over the leave threshold which was due to that employee compiling hours of COMP time and using this for vacation rather than leave. OPCD was schedule to pay $15k in 2016 for this type ofleave to 3 employees to include the Executive Director. advised this was illegal but it was only went brought to the Board did was the point accepted. b. When the HR Manager Hobson was tasked in to review the concern about Ms. and give an opinion I advised that because Ms. was the one who accused Mrs._ of "sexual harassment" it was unwise to also have her review her case for a determination ofdiscipline. Although it was a clear case of conflict of interest my view was dismissed by saying "the Board said it was olt? when actually "The Board? was never advised of the situation. When members of the Board found out that what was allowed to occur several expressed concern ofover the matter and advised they would have never allowed that to happen. c. After reviewing the more thanlO years ofAudit reports from Dl-li?llvl I suggested we not allow them to handle the financial audit needed for DPCIJ financial policies and practices. One reason was because they expressed concern over items that often were not fixed. The next year(s) audit never mentioned that the previous items weren?t addressed the equipment replacement plan mentioned in both 2003 and 2015 that STILL has not been addressed but was not mentioned in the 2016 audit as non-compliant]. On top of this i felt there would be a conflict of interest as well as it would invalidate their ability to audit their ?own work" the next fiscal year. My vieWpoint was rejected only to be brought up at the next Board meeting and the Board agreed with the representative ofthe City who basically said the same thing. d. Reference the Vehicle Policy discussed at the last Board meeting {9/17} two of the three items of concern [24/7? vehicle use and the surcharge] were 13 Ctl)? Park Int. New Orleans, Lt?t Fax' Web Page NOLADRG 3- items that I advised both Chair Ebbert and Director Gordon that these items were a form of protection and that following state and City government practices was in the best interest of an agency receiving public funds to operate. When presented to the Board they said the same thing and it was passed. In the Regular Board meeting of September 2017 an employee advised that she felt OPCD violated her right to confidentiality when the Deputy Director asked for clari?cation reference her ADA accommodations. Col. Ebbert requested an emergency meeting with the OPCD lawyers and OPCD leadership to "everyone knows and understands the appropriate actions, required documentation and specific staff responsibilities for all future situations of this type. The discussion revealed no wrongdoing of any kind by the OPCD staff. HOWEVER. on four different occasions I advised Director Gordon, Chair Ebbert, and Counselor Chapman that OPCD Administration was providing confidential employee information inappropriately and that we were violating all 163 employees' right to con?dence. My words were not headed. In the financial Audit presented at the June quarterly Board meeting the auditors advised the following: "In addition access to the payroll system was not limited only to the payroll manager. The supporting materials for approval of sick and annual leave and leave without pay were not properly maintained. There was a lack of segregation of duties related to the funding of payroll and the reconciliation of cash The payroll system is where the majority of the employee confidential data is held to include performance evaluations, garnishments, lnsurance enrollment, and etc. This unprotected. unaudited, and unnecessary access to data is unacceptable and to date this has not changed. Yet an employee makes unfounded accusations and there is immediate attention given as ifwrongdoing has occurred. Additionally in a recent employee meeting Director Gordon advised the staff that the new HR/Payroll employee had been chosen and they we were looking into her ?legal status" before moving forward. Not only is that a breach of confidentiality but also information like this is highly prejudicial and can contribute to a hostile work environment. Several employees felt uncomfortable when that happened. Operations personnel are held to a standard that requires compliance to and adherence to the EPCP. This requirement is not the same for AFT personnel. Although and HR Manager Hobson have advised Director Gordon of various violation of policy by AFT employees he refused to advise, counsel, or discipline behaviors. it was not until there was a threat to go to Board members did Director Gordon do anything reference the behaviors. When Director Gordon did finally speak to some of the employees involved he advised was only speaking to them because Mrs. Hobson went to the Board. This was a lie. As he did not want to be the "bad guy? he blamed the counseling on the HR Manager. This [8 City Park At, New Orleans. LA 70l l9 Telephone: 504-671-39l I Fax: 504-67I-39l3 Web Page: NOLAORG caused a disturbance in the admin office with people slamming door and cursing because they were upset at Mrs. Hobson. The employees demanded to go before the Board to file a complaint. it was at that point the Chair Ebbert intervened and Director Gordon was confronted for what he said forcing him to admit that he was not honest with those involved. The Administration personnel are often disrespectful in meetings and via email and Director Gordon does nothing to correct their behaviors. He will even quietly apologize for the behaviors but says and does nothing to correct them. This is not leadership and this kind of complacency is why there is discontent, lack of control, lack of accountability for the AFT personnel. Director Gordon on numerous occasions [outside of the bathroom joke) has demonstrated bias against women in general and women of color. When we needed to create the Payroll Administrator position it was asked if anyone currently on the staff could ?ll that role. Two of us suggested Cheronne to which Director Gordon immediately said no. When asked why he said he didn't think she could handle the duties. When advised that she was already doing the job his response what that he did not know that! . During the Supervisor process Director Gordon regularly scored female candidates low even when they interviewed very well and scored the interview with white male employees high when both performed poorly. At one point he asked on interviewee questions outside of the designed questions in what appeared to be an attempt to goad her into saying something he could use against her. At the end of the day while the other members ofthe panel scored her high he scored her very low. After the newly selected Payroll/HR assistant was unable to assume the position instead of moving to the second candidate [African American Female), candidate #3 was chosen [Caucasian female] despite there being considerable reservations of previous quality ofwork and lack of knowledge of fundamental HR law. In December after not having an oven to warm Turkeys for those working Thanksgiving I asked if an oven could be installed. The response very quickly was no the Fire Marshall didn't approve it. The Fire Marshall was contacted gave approval and advised he was never previously asked. Next, was advised that the matter had to go to the Board for approval due to the expense. The stove top that was in the DPS breakroOm was installed in the Admin breakroom. This required an equal expense if not more expense as the oven but did not go before the OPCD Board. Recently an expense of at least $5,000 was Spent to unnecessarily create a large office for the Special Assistant to the Executive Director and this did not go to the Board for approval either. I don't expect any agency to be perfect with almost 30 years ofwork experience much of it in a leadership role I recognize that there are challenges. However for a fledging entity to be hindered by inadequate, deceptive, and incongruent activities it adds further strain to a difficult situation. As a person who has a strong ethical compass and a proponent of equitable and consistent behaviors it is very difficult to continue to see where OPCD is not heading for a ?8 City Park Av._ New Orleans. LA I9 Telephone: 504-67l-39ll Fax; 504-67l-39I3 Web Page: NOLAORG disaster. With so many positive strides taken in the last 15 months our employees deserve our utmost respect and efforts. i appreciate your time in reading this information and look forward to any input you provide in helping to create this new legacy within New Orleans public safety that excels in service both to the public and with-in the organization. Submitted Respectfully, Shinar Haynes MBA RPL Director of Operations Orleans Parish Communication District 913 Web Page .91} NOLADRG I