Carroon to DA: catch tuition cheats

Today's SL Trib reports that the SL Co mayor's office ordered the investigation, which requires the DA to individually screen roughly 2,800 applications submitted over the past four years. Older case files are exempt because of the statute of limitations. There are 4,000 county employees.

"Our fear is that the audit was just the tip of the iceberg," said Doug Willmore, the county's chief administrative officer. Here are some audit highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective):

• On six separate occasions, the tuition coordinator - the employee controlling the tuition account who was not named in the audit - approved her own applications for more than $2,800. Grades for the classes were never submitted.


• Some employees were paid twice for the same class.


• Handwritten "IOU's" were discovered in tuition files. 3 Workman appointed officials had more than $3,500 in tuition debt verbally forgiven by the former Co. Mayor (which she naturally denies)

Since this ammounts to falsifying timecards, it is not only a "fireable" offense, it is criminal, according to Willmore. I say let the heads roll.