The city of Jackson’s employee union called on council members to “tone down allegations” against city workers following reports of possible widespread misuse of the city’s gas cards.
Brenda Scott, president of the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees, asked City Council members on Monday to stop making public comments accusing workers of misusing Fuelman discount gas cards.
“The workers resent these observations being made by some members and feel that their reputations are being disparaged without an appropriate, ‘in-depth’ investigative effort being concluded,” she said in a statement.
According to a Fuelman report obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, problems with the Fuelman cards are widespread.
The report showed that from July to October, 945 of the 1,088 employees authorized to use a card made questionable purchases, resulting in about 24,260 flagged transactions.
Scott said in her statement that many of the flags came from administrative errors as well as time-saving procedures at the pump, such as fueling multiple vehicles with one card.
But city officials have said the large number of flagged purchases has made it difficult to monitor employees’ gas use.
They said the thousands of honest mistakes can mask evidence of stealing.
Memos from city leaders show they have known about the problem for at least three years.
Councilman Jeff Weill called a Budget Committee meeting earlier this month to discuss the problem.
He said it is reasonable to assume that among the thousands of flagged purchases, there are cases of abuse and theft.
“I hardly think that asking questions about this after what appears to be a long time, maybe years of neglect, is a rush to judgment,” Weill said. “It would be irresponsible not to ask questions about this.”
Clarion Ledger
12/9/8
