Thursday, January 13, 2011

Fuelman update: Slightly more employees have access than a year ago

JJ reported a year ago 1232 Jackson employees had access to Fuelman cards according to a public records request submitted to the city. This public records request came on the heels of then-councilman Jeff Weill's much-publicized efforts to determine how much abuse took place in the fuelman program. WLBT reported on December 1, 2008 1008 city employees had access to Fuelman cards. Earlier post.

Since WLBT's report was published during the Melton administration, it is not fair to compare the number of employees with access to Fuelman cards in two different administrations. JJ submitted a public records request last week, a year after submitting the last one, asking how many employees had access to Fuelman cards. The city's response stated:

"The City currently has 1,254 employees that have a PIN number to access Fuelman. This number is assigned to them only and all purchases will show under their name and department."

Thus the number of employees with access to Fuelman cards has increased by 22 employees in a year and 246 employees in two years (including seven months of the Melton administration). JJ did not request the number of cards as cards are assigned to vehicles. The city assigns PIN numbers to employees. Phone calls seeking comment from the city yesterday were not returned. This correspondent will update this post with any new information provided by the city. It is also important to note while the number of employees given access to Fuelman cards may have increased, the gasoline expense itself may have decreased.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is comment moderation at Jackson Jambalaya now permanent?

Anonymous said...

i recall in '08 various employees filling up 4-6 times in one day. i call 'monkey business'.

Anonymous said...

Any employee that has the authority to drive a city vehicle needs to have a fuelman number. When you purchase gas, you have to enter the employee number and the mileage on the odometer. The fuelman program can then identify cars that have too much gas purchased for the miles driven and identify who is stealing fuel. And sometimes, you have to purchase gas several times a day on long trips.

Anonymous said...

11:08, maybe he was just chasing down water leaks.........

Anonymous said...

What changes did any of Weill's grandstanding produce?

Kingfish said...

Grandstanding? So pointing out there were problems in the Fuelman program is grandstanding? Funny how you always seem to criticize Weill but never address the issue he is discussing.

Anonymous said...

Relative to the Johnson administration it was a non-issue from the outset and thus Weill's grandstanding. (Plus other now proven bogus and documented grandstanding of Weill's that you refuse to report on.)

Johnson admittedly and stupidly generated bad PR for himself by requiring Weill to file FOIA requests for usage data but, in the end, Weill got the information and found nothing actionable. Nothing. The whole Fuelman issue was dropped.

Your post about an increase in the number of employees with access to a Fuelman card+PIN is also a non-issue. So what. Has the city fuel budget been blown? Do you have proof of personal trips being made in city vehicles with city fuel on city time? Have you been provided information that city employees are filing their personal vehicles with the Fuelman cards? Are you dissatisfied with the checks and balances Johnson has in place to insure fuel is only purchased for city vehicles and city business? Has the average daily gallons of fuel used by the city suddenly and inexplicably increased?

If there is a smoking gun about corruption or abuse or theft or malfeasance or managerial ineptitude or embezzlement then let's see it. Because as a standalone factoid the number of employees with access to Fuelman means zip ... zilch ... nada ... NOTHING.

Kingfish said...

First of all, I have not refused to report on anything. I never reported on the study in the first place when he released it. Then the Johnson administration and other media outlets criticized him for it. The criticisms of the study were valid ones and if you are going to start quoting stories, better make sure the apples are apples and not oranges. I understand the point he was making but he flubbed it with that study.

Having said that, in case you forgot, a city of Jackson auditor first raised questions about Fuelman in 2008. In Dccember of 2008, a little over 1000 employees had access to Fuelman. Now after supposed budget cutting, the number has increased by nearly 250. That should not be discussed? Please.

I also pointed out, which you ignored, that ultimately, the amount of gallons used, cost etc could be independent of the number of employees possessing pin numbers. Something else you ignored was that I mentioned I had tried several times to call the city and obtain more information and clarification. I can think of several reasons why this piece of information is not good and another several reasons why it doesn't mean anything. that is why you call them, to get clarification. However, if they are in stonewall mode, its their problem if they look bad even when no one is trying to shoot them down. When I wrote about this a year ago, I said I would come back to it in a year and I did.

However, the fact remains, Fuelman issues arose two years ago and it is perfectly legitimate to ask if the problems have been fixed. If that is grandstanding so be it.

Anonymous said...

Is there some way the public can gain access to these records so someone could match up who may be running up the bills with these cards?



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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