The audit that led last week to changes at New Mexico State University’s Office of Facilities and Services identified cost overruns totaling more than $628,000 on nine projects, and a university document indicates that all senior managers have been temporarily reassigned or placed on leave while the situation is addressed.
I reported last week that one employee is facing misdemeanor charges of larceny and embezzlement and four were placed on leave as a result of the university’s investigation. In addition, authority over OFS has been moved from Senior Vice President Ben Woods to a team led by an administrator who works directly for the president as the university begins to address the problems.
University President Michael Martin sent an e-mail to the university community Monday evening announcing the release of the audit, stating that, “in keeping with a philosophy of transparency in operations, we have decided to release their report even though our internal review is not yet completed.”
You can read the audit, conducted by R.L. Townsend & Associates of
The nine projects examined by the auditors included work on three parking lots and two roads, in addition to utility and roof projects. The actual costs for the nine projects overran the estimates by a combined $628,148, auditors found. In all, the projects cost almost $3.9 million.
That total cost included more than $410,000 in overtime for employees, auditors found. The overtime is due in part to the fact that “some major projects are assigned at the last minute with hard completion dates,” the report states, adding that none of the projects examined “were completed on a timely basis,” and some “linger for months after they have been started.”
Supervisors in OFS told the auditors that overtime had been “padded” by some employees, the report states.
The auditors also noted that there are no checks in OFS to ensure that employees are purchasing materials “for legitimate purposes,” adding that “employees were trusted to do the right thing.” They noted one invoice for almost $120,000 for roofing material included more than $21,000 that “appeared to be purchased in excess of the amount required” for the project.
The report identifies a number of problems that have resulted in a lack of internal controls and makes suggestions for improvement.
Action plan released
The university also released on Monday evening its preliminary action plan, which is being implemented by the team led by Christina Chavez Kelley, senior assistant to the president.
The action plan reveals further information about the four university employees who were placed on leave last week, whose identities have not been released because of personnel laws. It states that “senior managers within OFS have been temporarily reassigned or placed on leave while the internal review is completed.”
Sources tell me two assistant vice presidents and two directors were placed on leave.
The current review of “all university labor and materials transactions” is scheduled to be completed by Friday. Its purpose “is to determine whether there are any similar patterns of control weaknesses within the university,” the action plan states.
The team led by Kelley, which is currently overseeing the review, will give oversight of OFS on Saturday to James McDonough, a former business and finance president who will be paid as a consultant, the action plan states. All business and systems functions in OFS are under the authority of the business office.
The review is scheduled to result in recommendations about a new organizational structure at OFS within six months. Kelley will remain the public spokesperson on the situation throughout.
Charged roofer no longer works for NMSU
Meanwhile, the roofer who was charged last week with larceny and embezzlement, Rene Quezada, “is no longer an employee of NMSU,” Kelley told me. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported this morning that Quezada, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in
Quezada was arrested on Aug. 16 but has been released on a $2,000 bond, the Sun-News reported. He has pleaded not guilty, court records state.
The district attorney’s office is reviewing the NMSU police investigation to determine whether any other charges are warranted.