FORT MYERS, Fla. — Several Public Works employees were fired and disciplined Friday for submitting false time cards.
A city spokesperson told Fox 4 the Public Works superintendent and a senior supervisor were terminated related to “misrepresentation of overtime hours worked.” Council member Kevin Anderson said he hopes consequences don’t end at unemployment.
“I hope that we don’t leave it at just firing them. If they committed a theft, we also need to pursue this criminally,” he said.
The city also said two employees were suspended for two weeks without pay and three equipment operators were written up, which will go into their personnel file.
As of now it’s unclear if anyone involved faces any criminal charges.
In a memo to Mayor Randy Henderson and City Council, City Manager Saeed Kazemi said the Public Works director will make changes regarding protocol and management to improve how policy is applied. Anderson said management should be held accountable for previous misconduct, too.
“I don’t know if the supervisors were just being negligent and signing off. Or if they were aware of it and participated,” he said.
He added an audit like this could benefit other city departments as well.
“Now that we’re aware that this has happened in one department, we kneed to look at it citywide. And make sure that it’s not happening in other parts of the city,” he said.
The memo said the city will also upgrade inventory management and the public works operation center security, including $60,000 worth of security cameras in 2020.
