Sludge Watch ==> Sludge - misuse of sludge farm equipment - theft

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

The Idaho Statesman
Boise Idaho



May 12, 2006 Friday

Man pleads guilty to misusing city resources: Ex-employee of Boise's farm 
sentenced on misdemeanor theft charge

Brad Hem, The Idaho Statesman, Boise


May 12--A former employee of Boise's Twenty Mile South Farm pleaded guilty 
Thursday to misdemeanor theft for illegally using city resources for his own 
benefit.
David C. Skinner was sentenced to six months in jail, which the judge 
conditioned on Skinner's completion of two years of probation and payment of 
$3,380.04 in restitution for his personal use of goods purchased with city 
funds, plus court costs.
The guilty plea was the result of a plea bargain; Skinner was originally 
charged with misuse of public funds, a fel-ony.
"This case sends a loud and clear message that misuse of taxpayer dollars 
will not be tolerated, and those who do so will be held accountable," Mayor 
David Bieter said. "The safeguards that the City Council and I have put into 
place did what they were supposed to do: brought the wrongdoing to light and 
brought the perpetrator to justice."
The city hired Skinner in October 1999. He resigned Oct. 17.
The city's personnel department received its first report of possible 
malfeasance at the farm in March 2005 and launched an investigation.
A review of farm records and transactions by the city's Office of Internal 
Audit revealed dozens of questionable fi-nancial transactions and policy 
violations involving farm operations, including improper expenditures and 
personal use of city-owned equipment.
The city's investigation is ongoing.
A second former farm employee, Brad Holmes, has been charged with improper 
splitting of bids, a misdemeanor. His trial is scheduled for August.
The 3,965-acre Twenty Mile South Farm, near the intersection of Cloverdale 
and Nicholson roads east of Kuna, uses the biosolids from Boise wastewater 
treatment plants as fertilizer and as a soil amendment. The farm produces 
alfalfa, corn silage and small grain crops such as barley and wheat, 
primarily used as livestock feed.