GRA Note; From Oregon, a misuse of city time and money. What do you think about the comment "They had so much leave saved that at the end of the year, they lost enough to cover the amount of leave they should have taken for coaching"??

Transportation manager commuted in city car, coached volleyball during work hours, audit finds

The Oregonian
By Nick Gibson | The Oregonian/OregonLive.com
June 15, 2023

A Portland Bureau of Transportation employee used a city car for personal errands and worked as a high school volleyball coach during work hours, according to the city auditor’s office.

Kurt Krueger, executive manager of the transportation bureau’s public infrastructure team, commuted in a city-owned white Ford Focus between March 2021 and April 2023, while also giving rides to his child, racking up 8,500 miles. Krueger, whose duties include meeting with developers to resolve permitting issues, has worked for the city since 2002 and earns $194,604 annually. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Personal use of city resources, including vehicles, and transporting passengers unrelated to city business are prohibited under city rules. Only in limited situations may an employee take a city car home.

Auditor Simone Rede launched the probe after receiving two tips about Krueger through a fraud hotline. One tip included photos of the sedan parked at the grocery store and school events. Someone from the auditor’s office spotted the car in front of Krueger’s house at night.

Krueger told investigators his supervisor and the bureau director gave him permission to use the Ford Focus, but both denied knowing about it when contacted by the auditor’s office. He said his use was justified because he was one of few employees who did not work remotely during the pandemic; he paid for upkeep and gasoline; and he used the car to perform duties for other employees such as “delivering mail and equipment, watering plants, and even clearing storm drains on the street” outside his office, according to the audit.

Auditors said Krueger did not understand the vehicle use rules, even though other bureau employees interviewed in the investigation did. Krueger signed a form confirming he reviewed the policy prohibiting personal use of city resources but thought the form meant he needed to take home the car to perform his duties and that his personal use “was a benefit to the people of Portland as a whole,” the investigation found.

The audit also found Krueger worked over 71 hours as a volleyball coach at Ida B. Wells High School in Southwest Portland during his scheduled work hours, roughly 15% of his city-paid time during that period. He didn’t disclose this outside work to the city either.

Nonetheless, the investigation found that this violation of policy did not cost the city money because Krueger had accumulated enough paid time off to cover the coaching time and the city limits how much leave an employee can roll over annually.

“They had so much leave saved that at the end of the year, they lost enough to cover the amount of leave they should have taken for coaching,” the audit states.

Krueger’s second job and use of the sedan went unnoticed due to a lack of supervision from bureau officials, according to the audit. The city auditor’s office recommended that the city’s human resources division consider disciplinary actions for Krueger and strengthen oversight of vehicle use and outside employment.

A spokesperson for the transportation bureau, Hannah Schafer, declined to comment on the incident, citing an open HR investigation.

— Nick Gibson; ngibson@oregonian.com; 971-393-8259; @newsynicholas