WASHINGTON, DC-The General Services Administration is still reeling from the release of an Inspector General report that criticized spending at a department event in Las Vegas in 2010. That report, which led to the resignation of Commissioner of Public Buildings Service Bob Peck, the agency’s chief; administrator Martha N. Johnson; and her top adviser, Stephen Leeds, detailed a series of outrageous expenditures made for the conference, including a mentalist as a speaker, lavish spending on refreshments and a dry run at the venue, the M Resort. Johnson was replaced by Dan Tangherlini, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for management.
One of the apparent steps GSA is taking to repair its image is the cancellation of a conference in Las Vegas schedule for later this month: “GreenUP 2012 Training Conference and Vendor Showcase.”
In a video posted to the agency’s blog site on Tuesday, Tangherlini outlined the steps the agency is taking to make sure such abuse doesn’t happen again. GSA has initiated a complete agency-wide review of all conference and events, he said, and is re-evaluating related procurement and sourcing practices. It has also suspended an employee-reward program, singled out by Congress, called “Hats Off,” which provides iPods, gift cards and similar items to employees.
GSA is also taking steps to bring its operations to some level of normalcy by filling in the voids left by the high-level departures. It has named regional commissioner Linda Chero as acting head of its Public Buildings Service.
We Also Recommend:
In addition, Desa Sealy has been named acting deputy Public Buildings Service commissioner under Chero. Sealy was an associate commissioner. Chero has been with the agency for 20 years. She served as regional administrator of the Mid-Atlantic Region, overseeing federal real estate, property and technology for southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia, with the exception of those counties surrounding Washington, DC.
She has also served as assistant regional administrator of the Federal Acquisition Service in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In this position, she managed more than $3.3 billion of government business with civilian and military federal agencies around the world.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
