When Contractors Become Decorators

The TSA is once again under intense scrutiny after a DHS Inspector General's report pointed to yet more incidents of waste, possible fraud and mismanagement. This time, the report indicates a rash of "unusual" payments to vendors and a remarkably cozy relationship between an unnamed employee and an unnamed tool company. The TSA, in concurring with the IG's findings, said the abuses came at the hands of "lower level employees."

With hardly anyone looking over their shoulders, TSA employees spent wildly on their new Transportation Security Operations Center in Herndon, VA. Among the items they procured as part of the $19 million project, according to the Washington Post:

• $350,000 A 4,200 square-foot gymnasium built for just 79 employees
• $21,000 for seven refrigerators (Sub-Zeros)
• $63,099 a year for cable television installed in the large offices afforded even "low-level" employees
• $500,000 for artwork and silk plants throughout the new Herndon facility

That's in addition to expenditures already harshly criticised by government auditors and inspectors:

• $410,000 spent on the administrator's suite of offices
• $461,000 on an agency birthday party deemed "excessive" by the IG

The artwork and silk plants were reportedly purchased from a tool-making company (not named) by a TSA manager (also not named in the report), which had little if any experience in such matters. The manager left the TSA after the center was completed in 2003 to take a job with -- yup, the unnamed tool company. That issue has now been referred to the Justice Department.

That, said the inspector general, "may have violated the requirements to be impartial and not use his public position for private gain."

"It's all interrelated," said Clark Kent Ervin, the first DHS Inspector General who now heads up the Homeland Security Initiative at the Aspen Institute. "Part of the problem of why the kind of technology and equipment we need hasn't been deployed is expense. That's why they can't afford to waste any money on $500,000 artwork and silk plants." Ervin was quoted by the Post.

But TSA management appears unwilling to admit fault in the construction of its operations center. The agency's director, Adm. David Stone (USN, Ret.), said the questioned amenities are vital.

"For example, the all-purpose room converts to a dorm and then kitchens, fitness center, and washrooms are sized to accommodate a surge of [people] from across the Federal Government," Stone said in a letter dated March 25 and obtained by the Post.

"TSA has already put in place a new management structure to strengthen its acquisition program to ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars," spokesman Mark Hatfield told the Post.

FMI: www.tsa.gov