A few people have been asking for just the contents of William Perry’s letter to Jere Morehead so here it is.
P.O. Box 89045, Atlanta, GA 31112 ● 678-358-6966 ● watchdogwilliam@gmail.com ● http://www.GAEthicsWatchdogs.org
April 15, 2016
President Jere W. Morehead ● The University of Georgia ● president@uga.edu
cc: Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens ● Chancellor Hank M. Huckaby
Dear President Morehead:
As the President of the institution that so many Georgians, as well as others beyond our state borders hold in the highest regard and care about so deeply, I am writing to ask you to strongly consider the following recommendations in regard to the scandal that has resulted from actions that the State of Georgia now identifies as “likely criminal in nature” by former Executive Director of Alumni Relations Deborah Dietzler.
It is extremely important for you, as the President of the University of Georgia, to restore the public trust in our institution before the stench of this scandal grows stronger. The recommendations of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs are:
- Issue a public statement on the University’s plan to improve the UGA Fraud Committee;
- Conduct an independent audit of the UGA Alumni Association’s staff travel and employee leave records for at least the past five years;
- Terminate the employment of UGA Chief of Police Jimmy Williamson, and;
- Settle the whistleblower lawsuit with Sallyanne Barrow.
As a University graduate, I am deeply shocked and embarrassed by the way the University has handled this situation. I have great hope you will take steps to try and make up for the damage this scandal has caused and I hope you will not continue to remain silent on all issues surrounding it. I realize some issues cannot be discussed publicly because of pending litigation. However, this situation has gone so far beyond the alleged criminal actions of Ms. Dietzler and the accusations against the University by Mrs. Barrow’s lawsuit that I am certain steps that fall well outside the cloak of pending litigation can be taken to immediately improve the University’s reputation.
I have listed below the reasons for each specific recommendation.
Issue a public statement on the University’s plan to improve the Fraud Committee. As you likely know, University System of Georgia Interim Chief Audit Officer Michael J. Foxman and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs Christopher A. McGraw wrote in their “Investigative Findings” report that there should be improvements to the UGA Fraud Committee. The recommendations included training committee members, establishing clear policies and procedures and documenting reports and findings. The current process that includes verbal reports of investigative findings and committee members serving without a clear understanding of procedures provides a serious lack of credibility. A group charged with the important task of determining if fraud has been committed at the University of Georgia should not draw as much doubt as the current process creates. You should inform the University community and the public as a whole how you plan to create a credible Fraud Committee.
Conduct an independent audit of the UGA Alumni Association’s staff travel and employee leave records for at least the past five years. Documents obtained by Mrs. Barrow through open records requests that have been widely distributed, as well as reports by WSBTV’s Jodie Fleischer indicate 1) that Ms. Dietzler depended on assistance from Alumni Association staff to take actions that were “likely criminal in nature” and 2) show similar actions possibly criminal in nature were taken by other staff members still employed by the University. A more expansive audit beyond the two years investigated by the University’s Department of Internal Audit of Ms. Dietzler’s actions should be conducted to determine if fraud was committed by other employees under Ms. Dietzler’s direction, or if similar actions have continued since her departure.
Terminate the employment of UGA Chief of Police Jimmy Williamson. As the letter from Senior Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin states “the police department concluded that the allegations were personnel-related rather than criminal”. This error in judgement was cited by Mr. McLaughlin as a hindrance to the prosecution of Ms. Dietzler on criminal charges. How can the Chief of Police not only fail to recognize the possibility of her criminal actions, but inaccurately portray those actions as personnel issues? Chief Williamson had already embarrassed his department and our University by not only inappropriately firing former UGA Police Officer Jay Parks, but posted his threatening and hostile termination of Officer Parks on YouTube! Because Officer Parks was better informed about state law than his police chief, he received a hefty settlement. Clearly there is a pattern of poor judgement and a lack of understanding of Georgia law by Chief Williamson, therefore, his employment with the University should not continue.
Settle the whistleblower lawsuit with Sallyanne Barrow. Mr. McLaughlin’s confirmation that Ms. Dietzler’s actions were likely criminal in nature justifies the accusations raised by Mrs. Barrow. As with the case of Officer Parks, it appears the University is more concerned about covering up potential embarrassment rather than righting an obvious wrong. The University should spare Georgia taxpayers the expensive cost of litigation, and the further embarrassment of this scandal by settling the lawsuit so you and your administration can focus on repairing the damage of a situation that at best can be described as handled with gross incompetence, or at worst, an intentional cover-up.
I would like to meet with you to discuss these matters further, and again, I hope you will give strong consideration to taking action on these recommendations.
Sincerely,
William Perry
Georgia Ethics Watchdogs
What's A Poor Whistleblower to Do? 