Thanks to a wonderful reader comment on a thread about state vehicle usage, we’ve got an idea.
I’ve read posts where people are complaining about state employees being parked at Wal-Mart or a restaurant during off hours or with speeding state vehicles flying down the interstate.
Could you create a post or link where people could send in photos or plate numbers of the offenders?
Maybe with the attention paid to this problem, this will lead to some solutions, just like everyone complaining about the office Senate office renovations has forced Williams to cave.
So… let’s do that very thing. Feel free to comment on this post with information, links to photos, etc. But don’t stretch the truth or play loose with the facts. We’ll find out if you do (and you’ll likely be outed if you’re douchey enough).
If you don’t want to leave a comment, you may contact me by using THIS LINK (click it) or by using this email address:
42 responses so far ↓
1 Not My Real Name // Jun 4, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast there.
My brother works for the state, in Frankfort (I hear all kinds of good juicy stuff from him), and his job requires him to travel from one end of the state to the other. He might be in Prestonsburg this week, and in Eddyville next week. The state is now discouraging strongly the use of personal vehicles for official travel, so most people use state cars when they make such trips.
No one expects these people to go straight from whatever business function they’re doing to their motel room without getting something to eat, picking up something from Wally World, or perhaps even seeing a movie in the evening. These are all legitimate uses of a state vehicle and are very good reasons why you might see one in an unusual place after regular business hours.
Are there abuses? Yes. I have personally seen state workers who drive their personal vehicles to work all pile into a state vehicle at lunchtime and go eat, instead of carpooling in a private vehicle or each driving separately. Somehow I don’t think this is an appropriate use of a state vehicle but the powers that be know of this practice and are doing nothing to stop it. (Remember that the number of employees who get vehicles to drive home has increased under the Beshear administration, and these people will stop to eat or shop on the way home just as any of us driving home from work in our own vehicles would).
In theory this sounds like a noble idea but in practice will create a whole host of problems for people who haven’t done anything wrong. When I travel for work I don’t sit in my room all evening and eat room service or delivery pizza. And I don’t always rely on what’s on TV for my entertainment. We shouldn’t expect state employees to either.
2 Jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:18 am
We’re talking serious abuses– not driving across the state because they have to for their job.
3 BILked // Jun 5, 2008 at 1:39 am
Just to be technical, lets quote the law ..
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/044-00/045.PDF
________________________________
(2) Motor vehicles, including passenger motor vehicles, may be purchased by the Finance and
Administration Cabinet …
_________________________________
“The vehicles shall be used for official purposes only and for no other purposes. ”
_________________________________
The assignment of
passenger motor vehicles to specific individuals shall be discouraged but may be made
upon approval by the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet …
_______________________________
I will tell you from personal experience to be very careful with what you do with a state vehicle.
State government will turn a blind eye to what you deem minor transgressions, but if Personnel or the IG’s office wants to get you, they will use these “minor transgressions” to do it.
No boss will ever officially sign off on approval of inappropriate use of state vehicles. Verbal approval doesn’t count. When it comes to it, the boss will sell you out in a New York minute!
Remember … the integrity of state employees can be ruined by a few abusers
4 P // Jun 5, 2008 at 6:30 am
Just how do you know that the state car parked at Wal-Mart or O’Charley’s at 8:00 pm is someone abusing their take home vehicle, and not someone getting a bite to eat on the way home, or traveling for their job looking for something to do?
Sounds like a witch hunt that will only result in state employees getting ratted out for doing nothing inappropriate.
5 Not My Real Name // Jun 5, 2008 at 8:27 am
The opposite of the above is someone from out in the state who has to come to Frankfort for meetings or training. If you don’t stay at the Capital Plaza, and a lot of people including me hate that place, you’re probably going to have to drive to get something to eat. Say you stay out at the Parkside on Versailles Road and I-64, and you want supper from Chili’s. You have to drive across town. And say you realize you forgot your deodorant; well, that might require a trip to Wally World (or no one wanting to sit beside you the next day).
If your job requires you to spend a couple of days in Louisville, Northern Kentucky, Henderson or Paducah, you might even decide to take your evening meal and be entertained at (gasp) a casino across the river.
Abuse? Hardly. Perfectly legit. The state can’t tell you where to eat.
6 Jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 8:43 am
Somebody is nervous!
This isn’t a witch hunt. We’re not going to out someone unless we can prove they’re truly abusing their state vehicle.
Though I’m not sure how driving 100mph on the interstate is going to be legit.
7 Concerned Taxpayer // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:12 am
what about all the smokers who stand outside of state buildings all day long sucking on cancer sticks because they can’t smoke at their desks? lets start taking photos of them too.
8 jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:15 am
I’m cool with that, Concerned. But I have a feeling it wastes a lot less money than vehicle abuse.
Besides, do you really think those smokers actually do real work at their desks to begin with?
9 Concerned Taxpayer // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:26 am
wastes less money? you’d probably be wrong about that.
say the average smoking state worker makes 35,000 a year.
say this person spends 2 hours a day on paid smoke breaks. (15 minutes every hour)
this is roughly$36 a day in lost productivity. or $9632 a year.
If the smoking population of state workers is 30%, and half of them take these extended breaks, you’re looking at at least 5400 people who do this. i’m sure you can finish the math on that one.
Not pocket change.
10 Hardworking State Worker // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:35 am
Wow Jake. I’ll admit that there are some really lazy workers out there, but there many state workers who care about their jobs and work hard.
Can you share with us your real beef with state workers? Where do you work?
11 jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:40 am
Come on. You can’t tell me every single state worker in Kentucky doesn’t waste an hour or two a day. You can’t tell me every single worker in any job doesn’t waste time.
I work for myself and if I’m not working, I’m not getting paid. (Which means I work too much and it destroys my personal relationships)
I’m not saying everyone is lazy. Just that tons of people waste time.
No beef with state workers. Just think Beshear needs to tighten up this sinking ship. If boring, plain and awful Indiana can do it under a Republican governor– then surely we can do so with a Democrat. (Am I getting my hopes too high?)
12 Hardworking State Worker // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Well, I can’t disagree with you there (after all, I am wasting time as I type this right now). Tons of workers, both government and private sector, waste time every day. I just hate to see a blog dedicated to bashing state workers.
And I agree that we need some tightening up…and it’s already happening in my agency–there will be a mass exodus of state workers due to retirement this year (several thousand) and it looks doubtful that very many of those positions will be refilled. There are many agencies reorganizing right now with Branches getting merged and managers losing their jobs (being moved to other jobs). Morale is low and it’s getting worse. You think state workers don’t work now, wait until they feel the burn of a 1% raise, extra job duties, no money for training. I see a lot more time wasting in the future.
13 State Worker // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:05 pm
To: “Concerned Taxpayer”
Do you spend all night watching Keith Olberman on MSNBC? You should be spending more time doing math. Yours sucks.
————-
This entire topic is completely without merit. I say report obvious abuses with state vehicles but stop mounting a charge to attack state employees.
This wonderful governor has attempted (and mostly succeeded) in balancing the state budget on the backs of state employees and their agencies with deep budget and position cuts. Further, he is crippling education thruout the state with the cuts (and subsequent tuition hikes and position cuts).
I say close this topic off for good and put your energy into raising hell at Beshear for his casino ploy - and get the education funds restored.
14 concerned about it all! // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Jake, it may not be a witch hunt to you, but in reality, it is. I supervise many employees in state government, the number of calls and complaints I get is unreal. I can honestly say, as of yet, I have NEVER had a single one turn out to be legitimate. It seems to me that are a lot of busy bodies that just want to get people in trouble. While you think this blog is going to result in a plethora of evidence revealing abuse of state vehicles, time, and money, the reality is that it will probably result in a number of good honest people losing there jobs and livelihoods. How do you think you are going to “prove” abuse? You are messing with peoples lives and families, and to what end? So that a couple of incidences show up in the paper and lead to some ridiculous “crackdown” that will cost way more money than is being “wasted”. State employees pay taxes also you know. And by the way, “concerned taxpayer” is one of those busy bodies I was referring to.
15 concerned about it all! // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:13 pm
To “Hardworking State Worker” and “State Worker” - AMEN!! and keep fighting the good fight! Employees like us will continue to serve the good people of the Commonwealth despite low pay, no raises, sucky benefits, and little retirement. All this in an atmosphere of thanklessness and animosity.
16 jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:43 pm
A witch hunt? HAHA! This is hilarious.
Like I said, I’ll only be publishing serious, for real, legit abuses. This site isn’t a place for terrorizing state workers.
I have obtained a list of all state vehicles with other data and will be filing a records request soon to get more information that will be used to determine that people are, in fact, just doing their jobs. E.G., if someone driving a car assigned in a different county than a complaint county, then they’re probably more likely to be on a legit business trip than not.
But when some nutbag drives 100mph all the time and wastes hundreds of dollars toting around his mistress or whatever, you can bet we’ll be talking about it.
This is obviously a sensitive area that ruffles a lot of feathers. But if you’re not abusing your state vehicle, there’s nothing to worry about because you’ll most likely be able to prove you’re not abusing your state vehicle and justify any personal use.
State government discourages the use of driving state vehicles and suggests the use of other means to hold meetings (telephone, video conference, etc) if possible. But I’m seeing that annual mileage doesn’t decrease. No one ever follows up on these decrees to determine whether or not any progress is being made.
I’m not going to go after someone for going to the grocery in their state car or for driving their kids to school. Get real. But if we find out you’re driving all over creation for crap that’s not work-related or work travel-related, then that’s fair game and should be talked about as wasteful and abusive.
17 Not My Real Name // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:45 pm
This thread and the comments on it this morning is Exhibit #1 why the Fletcher administration’s blog ban was, and remains, a good idea.
A gentle reminder to the state employees posting above: While you may be able to view blogs at work now, posting on them during work hours or on state computers is a no-no. Read DIS-060, the enterprise-wide policy on Internet use, for the gory details.
18 jake // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Not My: The commenters may not be on state computers and may not be at work. (Just a thought)
19 Not My Real Name // Jun 5, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Jake, that’s a good point. You could always run the IPs to be sure, though. LOL
Years ago I had a cousin who worked for the state and was assigned a vehicle. On the rare occasion that he drove it home, he wouldn’t even stop by his aunt’s (who practically raised him) home to see if she needed anything. He was that cautious about having his state vehicle seen at the grocery store buying a loaf of bread to take to his aunt.
20 Roger // Jun 5, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Thanks for doing this with state cars. Too many state employees drive their cars to and from home for no reason. A lot of federal employees with similar jobs pick up the gov car when they get to work and leave it there. I knew of a state police case a few years ago of.. When you are hired on they have you at your first station at leat a few counties away. This person continued to live in one county and drive the state police cate across 3 or 4 counties everyday to get to work. Guess who was buying the gas. After a year or two this trooper was able be assigned back to the home post so you and I are now saving a lot of money.
Something I see almost every day is commercial vehicals with Farm Tags. They even have their business name on the side, such as roofing, rock and water hauling, etc. What a joke.
21 Bilked // Jun 5, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Another corrupt thing that is costing state government 0ver $200,000,000 per year is vehicles being registered in Ohio and Indiana but the vehicles owners place of residence is in Kentucky.
There have been a few stories in the papers up north but nothing has come of it.
Hey Damon, go after these tax cheats!!
22 Not My Real Name // Jun 5, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Freddie Freeroader — every now and then the state does a sweep for people registering cars out-of-state. Tennessee used to also be a popular place for Freddie Freeroader to live.
23 BILked // Jun 6, 2008 at 12:11 am
Mark Hebert says “Watch Out State Workers UPDATED
10:23 PM Wed, Jun 04, 2008 | Permalink
Mark Hebert
A liberal leaning Louisville-based blog is urging its readers to keep an eye out for state vehicles in places they shouldn’t be. And when they see a state car in an odd place, PageOneKentucky.com is asking them to snap a picture including the license place and venue.
UPDATE: And yes, readers, I have done a story on state vehicles and I still have the story.”
Maybe he will find the video and post it.
24 SarahG // Jun 6, 2008 at 10:36 am
A 15-minute smoke break EVERY HOUR? Wow! Is that official, or is that just based on your observations?
25 Not My Real Name // Jun 6, 2008 at 2:07 pm
State employees get two 15-minute breaks in a 7.5-hour workday. Office employees traditionally take these at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
However, it is not uncommon at all for employees to take a couple of smoke breaks per hour. I don’t smoke so I don’t know how long it usually takes to smoke one cigarette, so I’d guess 5 minutes. An employee who smokes two an hour will … well, you do the math.
This is all time spent outside in a smoking area and away from their phone or their desk.
26 BILked // Jun 9, 2008 at 1:12 pm
From the Frankfort State Journal.
Posted by sgfort June 6, 2008
I saw a black Chevy Suburban with the emblem “For Official Use Only” at Steak & Shake last Friday night. In the restaurant was our Commissioner of Agriculture with his family. Coincidence?…
27 BILked // Jun 9, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Here’s the link
http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/3899571#comment
28 token state employee // Jun 10, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Does it make any sense for me to come to the office in the morning, get my state vehicle, drive 20 minutes or so to a job I’m working on, and then come lunch time, drive my state vehicle 20 minutes back to the office, pick up my personal vehicle, go get lunch, drive back to the office, get my state vehicle, and then drive 20 minutes back to the job??? How is that extra 40 minutes of driving any less abusive than if I just drive my state vehicle to a restaurant 5 minutes away from my job to get lunch??
29 jake // Jun 10, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Well, if you’d actually read what I wrote, you’d understand that the vehicle isn’t assigned to an individual. It’s part of the Frankfort Motor Pool. Not exactly a vehicle someone would be using to go to a meeting that’s in Frankfort.
30 token state employee // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I’m not sure how that particular vehicle came into question in this instance, but I do understand where it came from and what it is used for. I know there are abuses of state vehicles, but not as many as you might think. It seems a little irresponsible to go around pointing at any state vehicle that is not parked in a office parking lot and saying it is being abused- which is what a lot of people are obviously doing.
31 jake // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Again, READ WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN! Jesus Fuck.
Read, people.
This isn’t a witch hunt.
32 BILked // Jun 10, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Token,
What part of “for official use only” do you not understand. Logic does not apply. After reading the KRS it even says “The vehicles
shall be used for official purposes only and for no other purposes.” see — No other purposes.
means no personal uses.
Moron
33 not my real name // Jun 30, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I know a State worker that drives a State Pickup home. He got caught in a Tanning Salon three hours after work with the State Pickup park right out in front. He was turn in for this and nothing was done he was told not to do anything like that again. He still drives the State Pickup home just like nothing happen. One more thing that needs to be talk about is all the money the State throws away every day. I have seen so much waste in State spending. Every one in the State should also post all the waste they see.
34 BILked // Jun 30, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Got a license plate number, name of business and city
It’s time to stop this waste of tax dollars.
Details, details, details
35 Not My Real Name // Jul 1, 2008 at 9:46 am
The poster “not my real name” above is spoofing my anonymous nom de plume identity.
But is anyone else creeped out by a “he” going to a tanning bed? Ewwwww……
36 I guess I am just another worthless State Worker // Jul 7, 2008 at 8:54 am
You all need to get a life! Go to work, pay your taxes, and shut-up!
37 I guess I am just another worthless State Worker // Jul 11, 2008 at 10:50 am
Jake,
Going back to your first post. If you knew what you were talking about you wold know that driving anyone in a State vehicle for anything other than official business is NOT permitted. Taking kids to school, going to a Casino in another state are all unacceptable. My suggestion is for you to get your facts straight before you start your witch hunt.
38 jake // Jul 11, 2008 at 10:54 am
You think I don’t know who you are because you continually change the name you use to post, right? Nice.
That said– if we chased down every state employee who dropped their kids off at schools that were literally on their way to the office, we’d have to attack thousands of people.
39 Jay Carter // Oct 6, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Around first to middle of Sept 2008 I was traveling from Hazard,Ky to Hyden,Ky on Hal Rogers P-way about 4:30pm as I looked in my left side mirror a white chevy blazer 2-door with state symbol came up at rapid speed of 90 mph or more riding my tail Oh yeah I was riding my sportbike it scared the he**out of me, he came closer and closer and then wiped in frount of me to slaped on his brakes nearly causing 2 other cars going north to nearly collide. I pulled off hyden exit and another car behind me pulled up and came to see if i was ok to my shock she told me the state vechile had ran her off the road earlier,Thank God I saw the licsences plate # (W2*1*)- offical Comm of Ky plates.The driver had got a picture of the near crash on her cell phone.We both have agreed on what to do,so now we are awaiting the state crime lab to verify and autho the picture.And pledged to not stop untill this manic driver is fired.
40 FlynnFile // Mar 16, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Bravo Jake…if you have Mark Hebert warning state employees, you are making headway in the fight for transparency in this (red) state.
Many might liken this to a traffic stop where a police officer asks if he/she can “have a look around your car”…it’s far from the same.
I for one wouldn’t let a police officer that I do not personally know look around my car, even though I have nothing to hide…that is my right as a citizen.
State workers in this case, aren’t exactly in the same proverbial boat…these workers are spending my tax money…I want to know if you are spending it the way I wish for it to be spent.
If you have nothing to hide state workers, get back to work and stop complaining about simple transparency before Jake runs your IPs and reports you for using state computers to comment on this blog…that would be a clear waste of taxpayer dollars.
41 Model Citizen and State Worker // Apr 15, 2009 at 11:14 am
We do get breaks just like the rest of the workers in the United States. Clearly you are not a stat worker and don’t know the policies and procedures for internet usage or any other policy regarding state equipment. Remember, we pay taxes also. If I waste state tax dollars, which rarely happens, I just consider that time as my protion of the taxes that I pay as citizen of this state. Hopefully, you are tahnkful for the clean air, water, and land that I help protect. Everything posted on this blog is half correct because most people like to shoot off at the mouth before they know anything about the facts, policies, and procedures. Have a nic day and don’t forget to file your taxes before midnight tomgiht, because my family needs to eat too.
42 Conservative // Apr 15, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Clearly you are not a stat worker and don’t know the policies and procedures for internet usage or any other policy regarding state equipment
Apparently neither do you if you are posting on a political blog on state time.
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