Michael Caldwell, the Northeast Region director of the National Park Service, has been reassigned while Park Service Director Jon Jarvis reviews allegations that he committed fraud in filing travel vouchers/NPS
A regional director for the National Park Service, desiring "nicer" experiences on his travels, ran up nearly $11,500 in personal travel that he billed the Park Service for, and also collected nearly $6,000 in pay and per diem on some of these travels while not working, according to the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General.
Between 2011 and 2015, Michael A. Caldwell, the agency's Northeast Regional director, rented bigger vehicles than he should have to bring friends on some of his travels, covered lodging costs of personal guests, was reimbursed for mileage "that he never drove," rented an SUV for "an official trip two days before his official business was scheduled to start," and also "spent a day driving the SUV 450 miles out of the way for unofficial purposes," the OIG's report said.
"Caldwell admitted during his interviews that he had taken these trips and that he had knowingly violated federal travel regulations. He said that in doing so he had taken advantage of his official positions, first as a GS-15 deputy regional director and then as a member of the Senior Executive Service. He said he deserved, at minimum, a suspension," the OIG's report released Thursday said, adding that the case had been submitted to Park Service Director Jon Jarvis for disposition.
The case report didn't indicate whether Mr. Caldwell made restitution. But in the seven-page report (attached below) he was very forthcoming in admitting to the allegations made against him, stating that his travel vouchers had been "tainted and fraudulent.”
More so, he told the investigators that "he had arranged his official travel to suit his personal travel plans. He admitted that he was not trying to save the government money on his trips and was instead trying to have 'nicer' experiences. He said that if everyone in the government worked the way he did, 'we wouldn’t get anything done.'"
Park Service officials in Washington said Thursday evening that the matter was under review.
"The leadership of the National Park Service appreciates the Office of Inspector General for investigating this case and recognizes the importance of independent investigations in situations like this. The National Park Service is committed to creating a more accountable and responsible culture at all levels of the organization, particularly among its leaders," Tom Crosson, the agency's chief spokesman, wrote in an email.
"The OIG’s findings related to Mr. Caldwell’s actions are very serious and the National Park Service is in the process of considering disciplinary action against Mr. Caldwell that is consistent with due process," he added. "In the interim, the National Park Service determined that it would be in the best interest of the organization to temporarily reassign him to duties outside of the regional office, while disciplinary action is considered.
"It is unfortunate that these actions have called into question the judgment of a leader with an otherwise strong record of public service," Mr. Crosson said.
During his reassignment, Mr. Caldwell will work under the Park Service's deputy director, Mike Reynolds, said Mr. Crosson, although he didn't know specifically what the regional director would be doing. Pending his reassigment, the regional office will be run by its deputy directors, he said.
The Northeast Region encompasses more than 80 units of the National Park System, including Acadia National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Shenandoah National Park, and Valley Forge National Historical Park, as well as 21 National Heritage Areas,
The investigation was launched in March after allegations were made that Mr. Caldwell had traveled to Cape Cod National Seashore "under the guise of official business when in fact he went there on vacation." The investigators also determined, and the regional director acknowledged, that he accepted free housing in a rental cottage owned by a Park Service employee, a violation of federal regulations that both prohibit supervisors from accepting gifts from subordinates and subordinates from giving their supervisors gifts.
Along with confirming the allegations against Mr. Caldwell, the OIG investigators concluded that the Park Service poorly monitors its employees' travel expenses. Peggy O'Dell, who was deputy director for operations before retiring from the agency this past summer, was supposed to approve travel vouchers of regional directors, the report said. However, she had an assistant handle that task on her behalf, the report said.
"O’Dell said she had taken it on faith that the travelers who submitted their authorizations and vouchers to her were being honest, and she acknowledged that the NPS process for reviewing these documents could be improved," the investigators wrote. "She said that one way to improve the process would be for the regional directors to post their leave information in a clearly visible location. She also said that NPS needed to address the practicality of making high-level managers such as herself responsible for reviewing every travel voucher for multiple direct reports."
The bottom line, Ms. O'Dell told the investigators, was that "that the entire process depended on travelers telling the truth when submitting their travel documents."
Comments
Holding the Tweeter Elect accountable for anything is going to be a nifty trick. We've elected a pathological liar with an ego bigger than Yellowstone. The real question is how long will it take before people who voted for this wreck will begin to realize that they made a horrible mistake.
As for Mr. Caldwell, he should be fired. Period. Like our choice for the White House, an honest, decent person will remain that way through thick or thin. So will those who are not. Caldwell was finally caught, and I'll bet a hamburger or two that there have been countless other times he has gotten away with shenaigans of similar nature.
The idea that people should be held accountable doesn't come with exceptions. And remember when holding people accountable that there is a huge (Yuge?) difference between a mistake and a crime. In the case of a crime, the person knows it is wrong but does it anyway. Mr. Caldwell has admitted he knew what he was doing was a crime.
Lee, what do you mean by "Tweeter Elect?" Here in Seattle, I am surrounded by people who tweet, and who think me a fossil because I don't. For that matter, I did not have a computer until 1996, nor do I have a smart phone now. I have a flip top from 2005, and it is virtually falling apart.
Fine, call Mr. Trump a "pathological liar," but don't forget to include Hillary Clinton. And don't forget her talk about breaking the "glass ceiling," which in her estimation was higher than Mount Everest.
We have a job to do these next four years, and it will not be done by casting disparagement on the President-Elect, or anyone else. It's over, Lee, and good riddance. At least now I will able to write critically about the national parks without being called a so and so in return.
As for tweeting, I might pick it up myself. Yes, I am always a late adopter, but hey, the President-Elect is on to something. In my day, the press could be counted on to get it right at least the majority of the time. We historians were still skeptical of the press, of course, in full recognition of the fact that it was still a business bent on "selling" the news.
So, Mr. Trump has joined the club. Why wait for a "reporter" to get it wrong? Misquotes in history abound, starting with "If you've seen one redwood tree, you've seen them all." No, the proper quote is: "A tree is a tree. How many more do you need to look at?" The Sierra Club, bent on embarassing Mr. Reagan, treated him just like they're now treating Trump.
Only Mr. Reagan was not the problem. The US senator who prolonged the redwood hearings (and thus the cutting in Redwood Creek) was Scoop Jackson (D-Washington State). The Interior Secretary who wanted to dam Grand Canyon was Stewart L. Udall (D-Arizona). The US representative who recently privatized more than a square mile of Olympic National Park was Norman Dicks (D-Washington State). The US President who just awarded 286,000 acres of the public lands to wind and solar development was Barack Obama (D-Illinois).
Are we having fun yet? I'll tell you what isn't fun--noting how many commentators on this site have absolutely no knowledge of American History.
Trump won (and I predicted it) because he touched a nerve. People in this country were sick and tired of The Establishment telling them how to vote. And what to think. No thinking allowed. Just find a euphemism, and play it for all it's worth. When challenged, create a safe zone, and disallow all dissent.
As for the national parks, if you want chapter and verse, history will be glad to oblige. It will take historians a few years to examine the records, but so far nothing in Mr. Obama's administration stands out. Eight years ago, he freely blamed Mr. Bush. Well, what did he do with his eight?
History will ask, and ask it of Mr. Trump. It's just that he hasn't even started yet, and already been deemed a failure--"a wreck," as you put it here. I dunno. Anyone who gets elected president of the United States has to have something on the ball, if now to know how the country communicates past the prejudice of the press. Fossil that I am, I still believe in the press, if only the 15 percent that still believes in telling readers what really happened--and why.
IMHO, history will treat President Obama much better than his contemporary critics do. IMHO, history will treat Donald Trump harshly, along with Nixon, Harding, and similar past icons of corruption.
None of which has anything to do with the thread topic of Caldwell other than the general label of corruption.
Lee, Just to keep things fair and balanced could you now tell us what should be done with HILLARY?
Corruption has become so ingrained in American government at virtually all levels -- except perhaps in the smallest of towns where it would be easily detected and removed -- that someone like Caldwell is just a minor player swimming around in a large and ugly swamp.
The late and unlamented election was a choice between two liars. Trouble is that one was simply a normally dishonest career politician and the other is an outright pathological liar who apparently has no concept whatsoever of truth or fiction. One was immoral, the other amoral. There is a very large difference.
The only thing anyone can say for certain right now is that, for better or worse, we're all gonna find out what happens next. I just hope we're all here in four years to look back and decide which it was. Hang on because it's probably going to be a really wild ride.
In the meantime, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Cool Kwanza and the New Year will be good to all of us no matter what happens in that place called D.C.
T.A. - after the millions and millions of dollars your side has spent "investigating" her nothing has risen to the level of indictment. Why don't you "do" something like forget her, let her settle into retirement, and find a new fetish to distract the masses with?
Of course, it is an unwritten law in politics that we don't indict our own, which I believe this story is all about, yes? Indict Secretary Clinton? Fire Mr. Caldwell? Sure, and just what fantasy should we believe in next?
Well put, Al. Add promotion by politics, rather than by exam and qualification - the curse of the NPS for the last 30 years - and miserably low budgets, and this is what the result will be.