Monday, February 24, 2014
Archives’ Inspector General Enters 18th Month on Paid Leave; Taxpayers Footing the Bill
Inspector General Paul Brachfeld of the National Archives and Records Administration was put on leave in September of 2012 for allegations of professional misconduct. What's interesting is that he has been on PAID leave for the past 18 months now, costing tax payers $377,000. This outrageous sum is due to a very slow investigation conducted by David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States. Many questions have been raised as to why this investigation is taking so long which lead three senior Republicans in Congress to write a letter in disgust to Brachfeld's boss (Ferriero), and the man who place Brachfeld on leave. This enrages me that a man has been just sitting around for almost two years now and absorbing our money. What do you think?
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Obviously I don't think that any government employee should receive paid leave while being investigated for misconduct. While on leave, I assume, they are not doing any work for the government and therefore should not receive a paycheck for not doing any work. While it is at the agencies discretion to provide paid leave or not, to me, it doesn't really make sense why someone investigated for wrongdoing would be paid by the agency. I hope he is either acquitted of charges or found guilty and fired before any more tax money is wasted.
ReplyDeleteI concur with those who say that this investigation needs to be sped up. This not only is an injustice to the taxpayers who must foot the bill for Mr. Brachfeld, but also to Mr. Brachfeld should he be cleared of those charges (which may be unlikely but remains a possibility). Additionally, I agree with Senator Grassley’s assertion that “The failure to resolve this matter in a timely way threatens the independence of IGs and frankly raises questions about your [Ferriero’s] leadership,”
ReplyDeleteIf I was the head of the agency, I would fire him, whether he was innocent or not, assuming I could. This may seem like a harsh measure, but as place of employment, no good comes having employees mixed up in criminal alligations; it only reflects badly the department. Keeping one person versus maintaining the reputation of a government office seems like a pretty easy decision to me. This, of course, relates back to him being paid throughout his leave because I don't personally think he should still be employed by them, let alone receiving paid leave. (Of course, I'm sure there are some sort of legal barriers to firing someone under investigation.)
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous. Paid leave should be reserved for special circumstances that is no fault of the employee. In this case, Mr. Brachfeld is under investigation for misconduct. Yet, he is being rewarded for it by being on a paid vacation! For 1.5 years! This is most definitely a poor appropriation of tax dollars. The investigation has dragged on much too long and the GAO has to realize that this has been an abuse of paid administrative leave. This investigation, and the resulting investigations to determine whether the original investigation has been carried out properly, is a waste of tax dollars and I hope it is resolved quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhat! This is downright disgusting. 18 months is too long, 1 month is too long, especially if he is on leave for professional misconduct. If he did something wrong, he shouldn't be sitting around collecting cash for it. I'm sure that this guy is making a ton of cash too, which is even less fair. What's worse is people complain about people on welfare getting government handouts. Uh hello people look at this.
ReplyDeleteI feel that one month of paid leave is okay. Two months is definitely pushing it. Think about it this way, if you're falsely accused wouldn't it be unfair for your family to be affected by an event such as this? It's pathetic that there wasn't been a deeper investigation or any decision made within a few weeks, 18 months is outrageous. Ferriero placed this man on leave and he should be held responsible for our wasted dollars.
ReplyDeleteI believe that people should be paid in this situation. While being investigated or under suspension, people should be paid because if they are not, you are affecting the family as well. The length and amount of money wasted during this investigation is entirely David Ferrerio's fault. He needs to speed this investigation and immediately issue a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI dont think people should be paid on leave at all. If you are not working you should not be getting paid, (with the exception of elders and their pensions). Simple as that to me. And the fact that this investigation is taking so long, it really grinds my gears.
ReplyDeleteThe investigation needs to be sped up and wrapped up as soon as possible so the government can stop wasting taxpayer money. The most aggravating thing I saw was that the committee that is investigating the situation is only meeting four times a year. How can they expect to get things done quickly when they only convene every three months? Meetings for this type of committee should be based on situation, not a set schedule.
ReplyDeleteBrachfeld shouldn't have his pay cut off, since the investigation might turn out in his favor. But I agree with everyone else that the investigation needs to be sped up. It sounds like a case of bureaucratic mess, or the investigation is being intentionally impeded by certain individuals (possibly Ferriero) because of the expected outcome.
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