Auditor’s Report: Engineer’s Office employees feared retribution; Manger recommended for obstruction charge
By Brett Milam
Editor
A misdemeanor theft in office was only the tip of the Clermont County Engineer’s Office misconduct “iceberg.”
The Sun obtained a 112-page report from the Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber that sheds new light on how pervasive the conduct of Patrick Manger, former Clermont County Engineer, was, and how fellow county employees feared retribution for speaking out.
Manger pleaded guilty to the charge of soliciting or accepting improper compensation on June 28, and effectively resigned his position as engineer. The case was handed off to Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell’s office. The special prosecuting attorney on the case was Kevin Hardman.
However, the origins of the case stem from a referral from the Ohio Ethics Commission on May 1, 2018 to Faber’s office. The referral was made by someone claiming to be a county resident, but not a county employee.
The following was alleged:
– using classified staff of the engineer’s office to solicit campaign contributions on behalf of Manger, during working hours and using county equipment;
– directing employees of the office to produce campaign fundraising materials for Manger using office equipment and supply during working hours;
– directing employees, using engineer’s vehicles and equipment, to pick up, transport, and store in county facilities Manger’s personal lawn furniture and yard equipment during winter months, and then returning said property in the spring, all during working hours;
– directing employees to use engineer’s vehicles, equipment and other property, such as tables and chairs, to deliver items to be used for Manger’s son’s graduation party;
– use of county-issued cell phones by other members of Manger’s family;
– use of county-issued fuel card for Manger’s personal vehicle and lawn equipment;
– soliciting consultants to the engineer’s office to take Manger golfing.
Gil Salem, the fraud investigator for Faber, followed up with the Engineer’s Office on those allegations.
‘Puttin’ for Pat’; graduation parties, and more
Todd Slone, fleet supervisor for the Engineer’s Office, did acknowledge that the office’s staff and equipment had been used for personal and/or political purposes.
Slone said transporting and storing Manger’s lawn equipment and other items had been ongoing since 2001. He also confirmed the allegation about Manger’s son’s graduation party.
‘Puttin’ for Pat’ was also an ongoing fundraiser, where county vendors were solicited to “sponsor” a hole for a golf tournament held annually by Manger’s campaign.
Others from the engineer’s office implicated by Stone include Jeff Smith, sign shop foreman; Kenneth Woodmansee, road supervisor; Bobby Connor, highway operations mechanic; James Connor, mechanic; Douglas Fancher, highway worker in the sign shop, and William Wiederhold, also in the sign shop; and Ron Anter, ditching foreman. Rob Alfieri, former highways operations deputy, and current administrator since 2012, also knew of Manger’s behavior, according to the report.
For instance, when the phones were upgraded, instead of returning the old phone, Manger passed it on to a family member, Alfieri said.
Slone said Anter was involved in painting Manger’s residence.
Woodmansee has been with the Engineer’s Office since 1987, and confirmed with Salem what Slone had also attested to.
“Although he admitted to being concerned, Woodmansee directed CCEO employees Jeff Smith and Todd Slone to deliver the tables to Manger’s home,” the report said.
Moreover, Woodmansee noted the work was not documented in the “Daily Diary” because of “fear of repercussions or reprisal from Manger if it was recorded factually.”
Smith and Slone regularly retrieved/returned Manger’s lawn chairs, flower pots, patio furniture, lawnmower and snow blower in the fall/spring, and again, did not note such work in fear of retribution, the report said.
Salem also interviewed Smith, who worked at the Engineer’s Office since 2000, and kept his own personal notes separate from the official Daily Diary entries. Those entries noted things like, “drop off stuff at Miami Township” or “picked up truck Miami Township.” Miami Township meant Manger’s residence.
“Smith acknowledged that none of these assignments were ever documented in the Daily Report Diaries, and stated he would have been fired if Daily Diary entries ever reflected those ‘unofficial’ assignments,” the report said.
Jason Gregory, who had worked in the Engineer’s Office since 2004, also said he feared reprisal.
Manger starts asking questions
All of those conversations with investigators occurred in the fall of 2018. In follow up conversations in February of 2019, investigators learned that Manger had talked to all those who had been interviewed to “ascertain the content of the conversations.”
Smith told Manger he would not lie.
“Manger initially stated that he would expect Smith to tell the truth … however … it would be ‘beneficial to me’ if you would say it took you less hours to do these things, if it took two hours for something, you could say it only took an hour,’” the report said.
Additionally, Manger told Smith that he couldn’t get in trouble for lying if he wasn’t under oath, which Smith took to mean that Manger wanted him to be untruthful to investigators, which made Smith uncomfortable.
Roberta Griswold, who worked as Manger’s campaign finance chairman for his political campaign, and who retired in 2013, said she felt he had used campaign funds inappropriate ways. For example, there was money given to Manger’s church or used to purchase gift certificates at the Gold Club at Stonelick Hills from his campaign fund. Griswold also said Manger’s wife purchased clothing from the golf pro shop during a fundraising outing and charged the clothing to the campaign account.
Slone contacted the Faber’s office in March to see where the investigation was at. He reiterated that most of the employees felt Manger did something wrong, but felt their jobs were at risk if they refused to perform the tasks he gave them, and that they had families to take care of.
Bruce Newland, former employee, said all of this started almost as soon as Manger attained the position of County Engineer.
Newland said he worked on Manger’s wife’s personal vehicle a couple times during work hours at the county garage, and the required parts were ordered through the engineer’s office account, along with other items “so they would not stand out.”
Other activities went under the radar, like wiring Manger’s residence with surround sound audio system, or making the signs for the golf outing, and like others, picking up and storing Manger’s furniture items and lawn equipment.
Potential violations amounted to felonies
By April 2019, the report indicates that Manger directed an employee, Jon Carpenter, to remove files from his office that indicated the personal signs or banners for Manger’s family members.
“We probably ought to get rid of those,” Manger reportedly told Carpenter.
It’s not believed that Carpenter complied with those directions.
The auditor’s office suggested the following potential violations:
– Manger used his public office or permitted or assented to its use, in aid of committing the offenses alleged, and the property and services involved are owned by Clermont County … such actions constitute the offense of theft of office … the aggregate value of the property or services stolen being $1,000 or more, and less than $7,500, a felony of the fourth degree.
– Violated the Board of County Commissioners’ policies and procedures pertaining to personal use, misuse and/or abuse of county-owned computer system and equipment, and directed others to do the same, amounting to unauthorized use of computers, a felony of the fifth degree.
– Obstructing official business by suggesting to other employees to remove computer files containing potentially incriminating documents, thereby hampering or impeding public officials in the performance of the lawful duties, a misdemeanor of the second degree.
– Conflict of interest, a misdemeanor of the first degree.
– Corruptly using an office for partisan political activity, misdemeanors of the first degree.
Manger was ordered to pay $250 to a local charity after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor charge of soliciting or accepting improper compensation in the amount of $3,000 while in office on July 16 by Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Victor Haddad.
As part of pleading guilty to the charge, Manger will be unable to serve in public office for seven years.
The full Auditor of State report on Pat Manger is below.
Ohio Auditor of State inves… by Brett Milam on Scribd