COLUMBUS, Ga. — Officials are urging employees of the Columbus Consolidated Government to use the city’s anonymous ‘Whistleblower Hotline’ to report fraud, waste, and abuse.
The CCG Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline is 706-225-4610.
The city’s website provides the following assurances to those who use the whistleblower hotline:
If you have experienced discrimination or retaliation by your employer for reporting wrongdoing in the workplace, you can file a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Be the hero. If you see something, make the call.
THE LAW
Georgia law regulates how local governments must handle public employees’ complaints of fraud, waste, and abuse.
According to GA Code § 45-1-4-a-1 (2021), any employee of the Columbus Consolidated Government can file a complaint — including those who work on CCG’s various boards, subordinate branches, and organizations. That even includes the questionably-contracted staff members of VisitColumbusGa, which is a branch of CCG.
According to the law, public employees include:
“Public employee means any person who is employed by the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of the state or by any other department, board, bureau, commission, authority, or other agency of the state. This term also includes all employees, officials, and administrators of any agency covered by the rules of the State Personnel Board and any local or regional governmental entity that receives any funds from the State of Georgia or any state agency.”
Paragraph (c) of the same law also states that public employers are forbidden from disclosing the identities of those who file complaints:
“Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, such public employer shall not after receipt of a complaint or information from a public employee disclose the identity of the public employee without the written consent of such public employee, unless the public employer determines such disclosure is necessary and unavoidable during the course of the investigation. In such event, the public employee shall be notified in writing at least seven days prior to such disclosure.”
THE SHOW OF SUPPORT
Encouragement to use the hotline was expressed during the council meeting held on January 3, 2023. During the meeting, a briefing was presented by CCG’s Donna McGinnis, CCG’s internal audit/compliance officer.
It was during her briefing that McGinnis first stressed the importance of employees knowing they are safe and protected when using the city’s whistleblower hotline:
“Additionally, I would like to see us promote the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline just a little bit more than we currently do,” McGinnis said. “ I’m monitoring that hotline and we do have some activity. I would like our employees to be fearless about using that number if they have concerns.”
McGinnis provided the council with updates on where the city stands on auditing its governmental departments and agencies. According to McGinnis, several departments of CCG haven’t been audited in as long as five or even ten years.
City officials then began expressing their newfound support for the whistleblower hotline, as well as the use of internal audits to increase the transparency, honesty, and productivity of the city government.
DAVIS
Glenn Davis (District 2) offered genuine support for increasing the use of audits, which he would later back up with action; Davis would go on to debate the mayor and city manager on the need to audit Uptown Columbus, Inc. before the city signed away another ten-year contract with the organization.
In response to her presentation, Davis offered the following words of thanks and support:
“I cannot express the importance of the institution of the Internal Auditor’s Office to the citizens of Columbus,” Davis said to McGinnis. “You’re a valuable asset. You’re a tool for us as a council. We can’t — really, when you think about it, doing our jobs, and our responsibilities — it’s hard to do it without the support of your office. And we’re here to support you too. And I just want you to know, I’m glad you touched on the hotline in encouraging our employees to be involved there. You know, over the years — and actually that’s been on my mind for a little while — you know, there used to be, you could see posters all over where it used to talk about encouraging employees to report waste, fraud, and abuse, and it would be of a confidential nature. Previous mayors have stated that many many times in the council meetings, and I’m glad to see that. We do need to do that, to bring that to the forefront and to make sure that our employees know that they have an avenue too; (that) if they see something — and I’m sure the city manager supports this tremendously — that if they see something, make sure you report it. As I said, it is of a confidential nature, but it gives the opportunity to make sure that when we talk to our citizens, that we can assure them of the highest responsibility and accountability that this government has, and that we’re doing exactly that: we’re using our internal auditors office. So it is of significant importance. Thank you.”
TUCKER
Toyia Tucker (District 4) also offered words of support to McGinnis in response to Davis’ comments:
“I agree with Councilor Davis in reference to the — what I see in other locations — it calls the ‘whistleblower hotline’ — that we do need to really put that out there a lot more and advertise that it is confidential. I appreciate you putting that in there … I appreciate you. I take this position very serious (sic), so I’m a hundred percent behind you. I think that it is probably one of the most overlooked departments and probably would need more people working in the internal audit department.”
CRABB
Charmaine Crabb (District 5) then responded to McGinnis:
“I’d like to see the Internal Auditor's Office be proactive instead of reactive. If we start having auditors on a more regular basis, then we might be able to nip something in the bud when it’s small instead of, you know, when it’s about to explode.”
McGinnis strongly agreed with Crabb, referencing a recent case of criminal fraud that resulted in the theft of an estimated $8 million (of your tax dollars) from the Columbus Consolidated Government:
“Absolutely,” McGinnis said to Crabb, “ because — as we have learned in recent history — if we have a department that perhaps has not had an audit for quite a while — and I hold out the clerk of superior and state court as an example — where they had not received an audit for quite a while. And maybe the opportunities were there, but until Ms. (Danielle F.) Forté made a request, they didn’t receive an audit. Had there been earlier intervention, we might have had much better outcomes.”
THE RECENT THEFT OF MILLIONS
The crime McGinnis was referencing was committed by former CCG employee Willie Demps and several others. Demps was convicted after admitting to the theft and was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. The fraud was discovered through an audit at the initial request of local hometown hero Danielle F. Forté, the Muscogee County Clerk of Superior and State Courts and serves as a case study example of the importance of financial transparency in government.
HENDERSON
Mayor Henderson then provided commentary, praising Forté and explaining how the offices of constitutional officers aren’t required to be audited by local governments. Georgia’s Constitution names four such officers: Clerk of the Superior Court, Judge of the Probate Court, Sheriff, and Tax Commissioner.
“I think that raises a great point, because the constitutional officers are not under the control of the auditor or even the city manager or the mayor. And so we had to wait until we were invited in. And frankly, I credit the superior court clerk (Forté) for bringing that audit in. And that was a, quote, ‘transitional audit’ — but you see that the audit department is going to move towards wherever there’s smoke to try to figure out what’s going on. So, we’ll likely be asking all of the constitutional officers to make just a checklist, a statement, or whatever — we’ll let our auditor and our finance director come up with that — just so they’re making a public statement that either we can go do an audit or, if they don’t want the audit, then at least acknowledge that they’re doing some basic reconciliation and things of that nature, to make sure that council feels a little bit more comfortable about the transaction business stuff.”
CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
Although constitutional officers are not required to cooperate with internal audits by their local government, guidance can be found in a guidebook offered by ACCG, a nonprofit instrumentality of Georgia’s county governments.
ACCG advises that “while the board of commissioners (in this case, Columbus city council) must allow constitutional officers to manage their departments, they should offer assistance in developing sound policies and practices with the intent of protecting both constitutional officers and taxpayers”
HUGLEY
On that subject, city manager Isaiah Hugley then responded to Henderson:
“You’ve just touched on at least an observation, or a point, or a question, that I want to make relating to … audits, and I’m looking at plans (of how) you’re going to bring a list of audits, and you can only do what the members of council approve (McGinnis: “That’s correct.) in allowing you to go forward. And the mayor pointed out — and I was going to go there with the constitutional officers; elected officials — who handle a lot of money in this government. A lot of money. And they get to say whether you can or you can’t come into their offices and conduct audits. I think there has to be some, at least, policy statement or position from the mayor and council, and then elected officials, constitutional officers, and other elected officials, can accept the mayor/council’s policy. This government is all-inclusive — of general government, public safety — but (is of) elected officials, who are constitutional officers, some of them. And I don’t know the position of this mayor and council related to audits in those offices. And so, I hear your passion today for audits and hotlines and all of these other things — but don’t forget that hundreds of millions of dollars are handled by those who do not report to the mayor or city manager — and they get to decide (if they can be audited or not). What are you going to do, is my question … and know that I support everything that’s been said: the hotline, I support everything you’ve outlined that you plan to do that I’ve heard around this table. This government needs to be transparent, and, you know, the old song: ‘everything out in the open.’ And that’s where I stand.”
THE RETRACTION THROUGH ACTION
However, Hugley would then go on to degrade the value of his own words by arguing against Glenn Davis’ motion to audit Uptown Columbus, Inc.’s past performance before the city renewed their ten-year contract with the organization. Henderson joined Hugley in arguing against the motion, also going back on his words of lauding support for audits just an hour earlier.
Despite Hugley and Henderson’s opposition, city council voted in favor of Davis’ motion. Uptown’s contract renewal is now pending an audit by the city’s internal audit office.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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