THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
As employees begin to adjust to the firing of their city manager, Chesapeake's vice mayor seems determined to carry out what he says was one of the manager's biggest failings: scrutinizing the conduct of top staff officials inside City Hall.
At the request of Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr., the city attorney's office last week launched an inquiry into a half-dozen department heads and chief assistants who have done independent consulting work for a firm that has an ongoing contract with the city.
The firm, Municipal Advisors Inc., also employs two former Chesapeake officials who were fired from their posts amid political controversy: former City Manager John T. Maxwell and former Assistant City Manager Wayne Richards.
The consultant work by city employees ranged from reviewing personnel manuals to job audit interviews for municipalities outside South Hampton Roads.
City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman said that there was no conflict of interest among staff members in doing outside work. While exact figures weren't yet available, Hallman said the nominal consulting fees the city employees were paid didn't come close to the $10,000 threshold defined by state laws as conflict of interest. To his knowledge, he said, no city workers did consulting on a project that directly involved the city.
But at least two council members aren't satisfied: Nance and council member W. Joe Newman said the matter warrants further investigation.
They want dates, salaries, work hours, personnel records and checks on consulting licenses for the employees in question.
``I'm going to find out every detail of this thing, even if it's the only thing I do between now and July,'' Nance said. ``If I find proof of doing direct dealings with signing off on contracts and then getting paid at the same time, I'm going to have a serious problem with all of them.''
In the aftermath of the Oct. 17 firing of former City Manager James W. Rein, the inquiry has raised fears that Nance's and Newman's adamant questions are leading to a ``clean sweep'' of some or all of the officials in question.
Municipal Advisors Inc. has had a contract with the city since the 1950s, Hallman said. The company advises the city on many planning needs, from finance to management to personnel.
Its main role has been in helping Chesapeake maintain its bond rating and to negotiate the sale of bonds on the market.
The company received $118,900 from the city in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
So far, city workers from three departments - the city attorney's office, the city manager's office and the finance department - have been pulled into the investigation. In some instances, the kind of inquiry Nance and Newman are pursuing would mean finding records and reconstructing transactions dating back 15 years.
Public Utilities Director Amar Dwarkanath, a longtime employee of the city, was among the six listed as an independent consultant for MAI in Hallman's report.
He said his work with MAI amounted to a review of a 30-page report on a proposed sewage project in Buncombe County, N.C.
``Whenever I do anything outside my work for the city,'' Dwarkanath said, ``I am always conscious of the issue of conflict of interest. But I checked it, and there was no conflict of that sort. And, of course, there is the issue of double-dipping. I would not do any outside work on company time.''
Dwarkanath was paid about $200 for reviewing the 30-page report, which took him about eight hours to finish.
The report also listed work done by Public Works Director John A. O'Connor. Between 1985 and 1994, O'Connor did consulting work for MAI on nine occasions. Those nine involved advising municipalities in Ohio, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire.
Hallman told council members Tuesday night that conflict of interest could be argued if the consulting done by employees was directly tied to a specific project in Chesapeake, but not out of state.
In his questioning Tuesday night, Newman repeatedly said that the absence of legal wrongdoing may not be enough. ``It just doesn't sound right to me,'' Newman said, ``It doesn't sound right.''
At least four council members have said they don't understand the line of questioning being pursued by Nance or Newman.
``Unless someone did something on company time, then I don't think anyone has done anything wrong,'' said council member Peter P. Duda Jr. ``We can't tell these people what to do with their free time, or how much money they should make.''
Duda said the who, what, how, when and why of employees' comings and goings for the past decade was the responsibility of a city manager, not council members.
``Our job is not to watch every department. We need to get off this kick of worrying what department heads are doing and set policy for the city.''
Possible conflict of interest: top staffers' consulting work for firm with city contract
Vice mayor and councilman call for inquiry, stirring fears of a ``clean sweep.''
Possible conflict of interest: top staffers' consulting work for firm with city contract ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr.
Council member W. Joe Newman
by CNB