Department of Parks Vehicles and Contract Employees Cited For Lack of Oversight and Abuse
FRANKFORT, KY: Governor Ernie Fletcher today announced efforts to further eliminate waste and abuse in Kentucky's Department of Parks. A thorough examination of the Department's vehicles found that at least dozens of state owned automobiles, which the state had been paying insurance premiums on for years, were in non-working condition. Additionally, this examination found that renovations and improvements being made at State Parks were being carried out with a great deal of inefficiency and at a price tag far above that of the private sector. The Department of Parks has since moved to restore management controls of this fleet of leased and owned vehicles and has replaced an expensive, inefficient construction and maintenance program. More careful management of these resources is approaching savings of more than $1.6 million per year.
The lack of oversight and control of state owned automobiles concerned newly appointed Parks Commissioner George Ward, as he stated, "Looking further, I discovered that there was little to no management control of the 535 vehicles that we own and 68 vehicles that we lease.”
"Parks had been insuring one truck at Kenlake State Resort that doesn't have a hood, doesn't have doors, and most important, doesn't have an engine," Ward added. "We then found more than 60 vehicles that are in poor or non-working condition.”
Another 120 vehicles are unneeded, he said. The department plans to dispose of all 180 vehicles, yielding an annual savings in insurance premiums and operating expenses of $407,000.
"We're going to institute controls so that we know exactly what our vehicles are being used for," stated Commissioner Ward.
Additionally, Commissioner Ward said nobody has had a handle on what the vehicles are being used and what condition they're in. As a result, there have been few opportunities to share resources. For instance, the Kentucky Horse Park recently requested authority to buy a new $80,000 garbage truck. In the past, because of no coordination between agencies and because the truck was in the budget, this purchase would have been approved because of its need. By chance, the Parks Department was examining its cost of waste disposal and identified a garbage truck at Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort which had not been in running condition. Consequently, the truck, which was fixed for $5,000, will find a new home at the Horse Park for a considerable savings of $75,000 from more effective management oversight.
Cabinet Secretary Jim Host is now initiating a vehicle policy for the entire Commerce Cabinet that will better utilize state owned automobiles.
"I see some state marked vehicles in the Capital Plaza Tower parking structure that never seem to get used,” said Host. "The Commerce Cabinet will be turning in those vehicles and then check them out of the state motor pool as needed.”
In regards to the examinations findings of waste and abuse in the remodeling and renovation of Kentucky's State Parks, Commissioner George Ward said that a close examination of the P-9 program (A P-9 employee is a contract employee who works for less than 12 months out of the year and who carries out construction and maintenance projects specifically in the Department of Parks. The position is not a Merit System employee, and is exclusive to the Department of Parks.) revealed that routine remodeling of lodge rooms took far longer and cost much more than in the private sector. The department was spending about $6,000 excluding materials to renovate one room.
"I knew this labor cost was too high from my own experience in the hotel industry,” Ward said. "But I decided to contact an expert in hotel renovation to see how much this work should cost.”
Ward contacted Fred Riebe of Fred Riebe and Son Construction of Burlington. Riebe has 40 years of experience in renovating rooms for hotel chains and hotel management companies.
"He told me that we would be able to save up to $4,000 per room by bidding with private contractors,” Ward said.
Aside from costing too much, P-9 projects were taking too long, Ward said. It has taken the department an average of five months to remodel 12 park rooms. Riebe and Son recently renovated 26 rooms and 48 baths in four weeks in a private enterprise contract.
In a recent visit to General Butler State Resort, Ward asked the park manager, Stephen Jones, about the pace of renovation work.
"When I went into a room being renovated, there were four workers casually standing there, smoking. I asked what everyone was doing, they said, ‘We’re waiting for the paint to dry,’” Ward related.
To remedy these inefficiencies in the P-9 program, contract workers employed less than year-round who carry out a variety of small construction and renovation projects will be replaced with an approach that relies on private labor supervised by Parks permanent employees.
"We will be able to get more bang for the buck by relying on efficiently managed local labor, besides the added benefit of supporting our local economies," stated Secretary Jim Host.
The contract positions – originally totaling 60, but now reduced to 23 -- will not be retained once the workers finish projects that are currently in process. (The workers are not employed under the state law that established the Merit System; instead, they were hired under a different state law established specifically for carrying out Department of Parks temporary construction projects). It is anticipated that the majority of the work will be completed in the next several weeks, Ward said.
The 10 supervisors, who are permanent employees, will be assigned to parks throughout the state in the Facilities Management Division and will oversee specialized projects, such as tree trimming, heavy equipment operation, and heating, air conditioning and ventilation. Facilities Management will also carry out emergency maintenance and oversee small construction jobs, such as painting and roof work.
"The entire approach to repair and renovation work has been misguided,” Ward said. "We should be carrying out preventative maintenance, rather than waiting until our facilities deteriorate before we undertake expensive repairs. That is going to change. We will have a planned maintenance program that ensures that our facilities stay in good shape.”
The new director of facilities management, John Drake, began work on April 12 and will implement the preventative maintenance program, Ward said.
The reorganization will save the state an estimated $1,115,000, after private contractors’ labor costs are taken into account.
"I gave Secretary Jim Host the challenge of eliminating the operating deficit of our State Parks while also substantially improving the environment, maintenance and appearance of these beautiful natural resources,” stated Governor Fletcher. "Finding an additional $1.5 million dollars in waste and inefficiency in the Parks Department clearly shows this administration's commitment to cleaning up the mess in Frankfort.”
Today, Governor Ernie Fletcher requested that each Cabinet Secretary review and evaluate the status of state owned vehicles assigned to each department and agency within the Cabinet.
Governor Fletcher continued, "In order that we deliver the most efficient and effective services to the people of this great state, we will continue to weed out the waste and abuse that has plagued Frankfort for far too long. We will make every effort to deliver the most amount of value for each tax payer dollar, and I again encourage each of our state employees to alert their Cabinet Secretaries or myself if they know ways that we can make government more efficient.”
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Editor's Note: A picture of Kenlake State Resort truck is enclosed in this press release. This truck is among the 60 undriveable vehicles throughout the state park system for which insurance premiums were being paid annually.
