CITY WANTS WORKERS' HELP TO STOP WASTE ROANOKE INVITES WHISTLE-BLOWING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 8, 1993                   TAG: 9303080038
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
CITY WANTS WORKERS' HELP TO STOP WASTE ROANOKE INVITES WHISTLE-BLOWING
Roanoke's municipal workers will have the opportunity to become whistle-blowers.
They'll be invited to disclose fraud, waste or other misuse of public funds. And they can do it anonymously.
City Auditor Bob Bird plans to send a letter next month to all 1,850 city employees, asking them to call or write him if they have concerns about the misuse of money or other improprieties.
The letter was prompted by disclosure last year that then-Finance Director Joel Schlanger had charged $1,788 in personal long-distance calls to the city.
Initially, Bird and City Council's Audit Committee considered having a fraud-and-abuse hot line. But that would have cost $600 a year and would have required someone to answer the phone.
Some committee members also feared that employees might have been reluctant to use the hot line. "Some employees might feel threatened by it and not use it," said Councilman Delvis "Mac" McCadden.
Bird has instead developed a procedure that allows city employees to either write or call him at his office.
Councilman William White, chairman of the Audit Committee, said he likes Bird's approach better. City workers can mail tips without fear of being identified, White said.
In the draft of his letter, Bird asks for help in identifying situations where there might be improprieties.
He said he is especially interested in cases where employees:
Do not collect, keep and report data accurately and on time for making decisions.
Violate an ordinance, law or regulation of the city, state or federal government.
Commit or allow fraud and waste or abuse resources.
Bird will enclose a blank sheet with each letter for the employees to provide tips and explain their concerns. The employees can respond via interoffice or U.S. mail.
Bird also will warn the workers that the only way to guarantee confidentiality is not to disclose their names. Bird said he tries to keep his sources confidential, but he he does not have the same rights as lawyers and doctors in keeping names secret.
"If asked by a law enforcement officer or court, [I] cannot keep sources confidential," Bird said.
Bird has received several tips about possible improprieties since the investigation and resignation of Schlanger. Not all tips are valid, he said, but often they are helpful.
Someone called recently to say that $30,000 had been spent on new furniture for a school, less than two years after a similar amount had been spent on furniture for the same school.
Bird checked the financial records, but the report was not true.
"Sometimes the [tips] don't check out, but I still like to receive them," he said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB