Ex-DCF official's records under review

Ex-DCF official's records under review

By Melissa Harris
Orlando Sentinel
Posted July 30 2004

After resigning last fall to spend more time with his family,
Orlando's top child welfare official agreed to stay on the job and
ease the transition to a new leader. But records show that during the
11 weeks David Dennis continued working as the District 7
administrator, he was out 29 percent of the time, maintained an
erratic schedule and recorded that he worked up to 12 hours on days
when he had few or no appointments on his calendar.

The Department of Children & Families' inspector general said this
week that her office plans to review Dennis' time sheets and calendars
during his extended employment.











DCF spokesman Bill Spann said that the agency has no reason to suspect
inaccuracies and that the Orlando chief had taken leave he'd earned in
his year on the job.

"We trust that all of our employees fill out their time sheets
accurately or be held accountable," Spann said.

Dennis' secretary, Carol Santiago, said that Dennis' calendar included
only formal appointments and that he also spent his days meeting
informally with staff.

Dennis, who earned $118,000 annually, wrote in an e-mail to the
Orlando Sentinel that during his last three months, he used most of
his "remaining, legitimately earned, annual leave days," some after
his father had a severe stroke and his son broke his arm.

"Originally, I had planned on leaving sooner than I ultimately did,
but ... my supervisor, [Director of Operations Ben] Harris said it
would be better for the district if I could stay longer to help with a
smoother transition in leadership," wrote Dennis. "I did what I was
asked to do by my supervisor."

Harris resigned earlier this month after an investigation found he
skirted state bidding laws in awarding contracts.

Dennis left Dec. 8 to take a private-sector child services job in
California four months before his replacement, Mike Watkins, arrived.

Dennis submitted his resignation to agency Secretary Jerry Regier on
Sept. 24, saying his last day "likely" would be Oct. 10. Had Dennis
resigned when planned, the state would have paid him more than $4,700
for unused leave and sick time, thousands less than he made staying
on.

Dennis had long ties to Regier, serving as his chief lieutenant in the
late 1990s at Oklahoma's Office of Juvenile Affairs. Regier approved
the time sheets for the 11 weeks Dennis worked after submitting his
resignation.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...a-news-florida

Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.