Friday, May 2, 2003
CONTACT: Barry E. Piatt
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
SENATORS WANT POSTAL SERVICE INSPECTOR GENERAL FIRED FOR WASTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
IG spent millions on retreats where employees had to wear animal costumes, dress as “Village People"
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are calling on the Postal Service Board of Governors to fire its Inspector General (IG) – whose job is to find and stop wasteful spending – for wasting millions of dollars in her own office.
The two lawmakers said IG Karla Corcoran wasted millions of dollars on a series of bizarre staff retreats at which members of her 725 person staff were required to dress as the Village People, wear animal costumes, build gingerbread houses, cat costumes, do a striptease, and participate in mock trials, among other things. It was all at public expense.
“This is outrageous behavior,” Dorgan said. “When people buy postage stamps, they expect that money to be used to move the mail not to be wasted on exercises that have employees dressed in animal costumes.”
“Gingerbread houses, cat costumes and other team-building exercises that eventually frustrate long-time postal employees into quitting aren’t what I want my 37 cents spent on when I buy a stamp, and I think most Americans would agree,” said Wyden. “I can’t see how these huge expenses of ratepayer money and Postal Service time seemed even marginally acceptable to the Inspector General.” The two lawmakers said they have been contacted by “whistle blowers” within the Inspector General’s office at the Postal Service who can’t believe how money is being wasted in their own “watchdog” office.
“We have been contacted by former and current auditors, investigators, and other staffers of the IG office, who have told us of IG employees being required to dress up in animal costumes, build gingerbread houses, and deliver taped testimonials to the Inspector General,” they wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the Postal Service’s Board of Governors, S. David Fineman.
“While these stories are hard to believe at first, there is abundant evidence to support the whistleblowers’ accounts. Astonishingly, IG Corcoran went to considerable expense, using agency dollars, to have these events videotaped, and the images speak for themselves. On the tapes, you see images of public servants dressed up as the Village People, wearing cat costumes, doing a striptease, and participating in mock trials -- all on official time, all at the public’s expense,” they wrote.
Dorgan and Wyden said the Postal Service IG spent two dollars for every one dollar in waste it identified and lags far behind other Inspector General offices in total amount of wasteful spending identified. For example, in 2001 with a staff of 725 employees the Postal IG spent $117 million, to identify $56 million in wasteful spending.
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