Agency head facing probe

Jefferson County's director of fire and emergency management might face a special prosecutor's investigation for alleged misrepresentations of gasoline purchases to syphon taxpayer money last year.

Glenn W. Morrison acknowledged Monday in a carefully worded statement to the Times "there were some errors during the process of documentation."

Jefferson County Sheriff John P. Burns confirmed that earlier this month he gave District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert information regarding allegations against a county employee, but declined to name Mr. Morrison as the suspect. He said Mrs. Intschert informed his office last week that she will seek a special prosecutor for the investigation.

Mrs. Intschert was not available for comment Monday.

The sheriff also said he gave the same information in February to County Administrator Robert F. Hagemann, but it appeared to him that Mr. Hagemann took no action until the Watertown Daily Times began Freedom of Information Law filings Aug. 6. After that, Mr. Hagemann also contacted Mrs. Intschert, the sheriff said.

"If he (Mr. Hagemann) knew of a wrongdoing for eight months and did nothing about it, apparently he condones this type of behavior," Mr. Burns said.

Mr. Hagemann did not return a reporter's phone call Monday afternoon.

A comparison of three sets of documents obtained by the Times, two through a Freedom of Information request and the third independently, suggest that Mr. Morrison claimed reimbursements for gassing up his personal vehicle for official business trips, when actually he either did not make the trips or else drove his county-issued truck. The truck was fueled with gas that was pumped legally at the county Transportation Department.

The Times began its investigation July 31 after a source in county government disclosed he had heard about possible allegations against Mr. Morrison. A reporter contacted Mr. Hagemann that day.

"I have nothing to say," he said. "I won't confirm or deny. That falls under personnel matters."

Mr. Morrison, who has been county director of fire and emergency management since Oct. 2, 2007, echoed Mr. Hagemann's comment in an e-mail he sent to the Times on Monday.

"These items are of a personnel matter and are being handled as such," he wrote. "Until such time as that process is completed I will be unable to comment on this matter."

He did, however, give partial responses to several questions e-mailed to him from the Times.

In reviewing vouchers that Mr. Morrison submitted to the county, the Times discovered that he twice billed the county for one trip to a meeting at Lake George, occurring June 14, 2007. In his initial claim, he reported a drive of 516 miles, then three weeks later he put in another claim for 480 miles.

"The Lake George trip was submitted twice by error," Mr. Morrison wrote Monday. "The error was not noticed by myself, clerical staff or the auditing department and was processed."

His total reimbursement by claiming the one trip twice was $483.06.

The Times compared data for the period of July 1, 2007, to Jan. 10 from three sets of documents: an accounting of gasoline obtained by Mr. Morrison's office from the county department of transportation, vouchers presented by Mr. Morrison to seek reimbursement for gasoline purchases for his personal auto and records of calls made on Mr. Morrison's county cell phone.

In addition to the Lake George trip, other apparent discrepancies were discovered, including:

■ He claimed in a voucher that he drove his personal auto 88 miles for a meeting in Oswego on Aug. 21, 2007, but he was actually in Albany that day and the next day. Cell call records show him making calls in Watertown during the morning, at noon, and up to 2:02 p.m. He then made calls from Port Leyden at 3:19 p.m. and from Albany at 5:50 p.m. Another call originated in Albany at 10:07 a.m. Aug. 22, and he was back in Watertown at 5:36 p.m. making a call. No calls are shown originating in Oswego, and he filed no voucher claim for the Albany trip, indicating he either drove his county vehicle or rode with someone else. His reimbursement for the Oswego drive: $42.68.

■ He claimed on a voucher that he drove his personal auto 148 miles for a meeting in Syracuse on Nov. 20, 2007, but cell phone records show that between 8:50 a.m. and 3:07 p.m. that day, he made eight calls originating in either Chaumont or Watertown, including two at 1:11 p.m. and 1:12 p.m. He made more afternoon calls in Watertown, Chaumont and Cape Vincent. No calls are listed as originating in Syracuse. Reimbursement for that reported trip: $71.78.

■ He claimed on a voucher that he drove his personal auto on consecutive days, 56 miles Jan. 8 from his home to the county office building for a meeting, and 148 miles on Jan. 9 to Syracuse. But on those same two days, he gassed up his county vehicle at the DOT, with the second fill-up taking 26 gallons at 9:51 p.m. Jan. 9. His two-day reimbursement: $103.02.

■ He claimed on a voucher that he drove his personal auto 72 miles from his home to a fire in the town of Adams on Dec. 26. However, computer records of the dispatch center that he supervises do not have a record of any fire that day in the town of Adams. The only fire anywhere in the general area reported by the Times occurred Dec. 27 in Copenhagen — which would have been controlled by Lewis County fire agencies. His reimbursement: $34.92.

"The time period referenced was a time when I was performing double duty as the interim director," Mr. Morrison's wrote in his e-mail. "During that period there were some errors during the process of documentation for the county. These issues have been brought to my attention, and are being reviewed at this time. This situation is being dealt with as a personnel matter at this time. These issues are from 2007 and we are now quickly approaching 2009. The process of record keeping has been clarified and there are no longer any issues in the process."

Mr. Morrison lived at 32400 Route 12E, east of Cape Vincent, when he was deputy director, and, according to a source, moved to 37626 Ore Bed Road, Philadelphia, about the time of his appointment last October.

He said that during that period, he usually drove his personal vehicle home after work, "but depending on circumstance there were times when I did utilize the county vehicle. There were many times when my vehicle was used for business as the county vehicle had not been budgeted for full time use."

Overall, Mr. Morrison's reimbursements from vouchers between May 22, 2007, and Feb. 6 totaled $4,071.32. At the time of his appointment as director, his salary range was reported at between $44,178 and $49,195.

A source in county government informed the Times in July that the sheriff's office was investigating Mr. Morrison. When Sheriff Burns was asked, he only confirmed, "Our office received information that was forwarded to county administration for action."

One of his senior officers, Lt. Michael J. Peterson, said he brought evidence and a witness to Mr. Hagemann's office on Feb. 21. Deputy County Administrator Michael E. Kaskan sat in on that meeting, Lt. Peterson said.

"We have not received any direction as to how he would like us to go forward," the sheriff said, "so I met with the DA Sept. 19 to address my concerns over an investigation that was to be a personnel issue but is becoming public knowledge. I asked for her assistance as to how to move forward.

"It is my understanding that just shortly before I went to Mrs. Intschert, Mr. Hagemann forwarded information about the investigation to the DA's office."

An initial Freedom of Information Law filing by the Times on Aug. 6 requested the three sets of documents. Mr. Hagemann provided the cell phone records and the DOT pumping records, but regarding Mr. Morrison's vouchers, the county administrator claimed "no such records exist."

The Times filed a second FOIL on Sept. 15 specifying "county Mileage and Expense Claims Vouchers." The letter pointed to a county administrative policy requiring that claims vouchers "shall be retained for a period of six years."

Mr. Hagemann responded in a letter dated Sept. 24 that he was "searching County records for the information requested" and promised to contact the Times by Oct. 8 "with regard to my determination."

While the Times continues to await the official release, a separate set of the same material was provided to the Times anonymously.

Mr. Morrison was hired in January 2006 by his predecessor, Gregory T. Brunelle, to be deputy director. He came from Delaware County, where he had held a similar position. He became interim director after Mr. Brunelle left in May 2007 to take a job in Albany, and was appointed director Oct. 2.