ALLEGED DOCUMENT SHREDDING SPARKS INVESTIGATION REQUEST

Lawmakers concerned by state worker’s claim that public documents were destroyed

AUGUSTA—Today, lawmakers requested an independent investigation into allegations that public documents at the Department of Health and Human Services were shredded.

The request was initiated by Health and Human Service committee co-chairs, Senator Margaret Craven and Representative Richard Farnsworth, along with legislators from Androscoggin County.

“When you’re dealing with taxpayer dollars and public trust, we have every right to expect and know that money is being distributed fairly,” said Sen. Craven (D-Lewiston). “Anything less is a breach of the public’s trust.”

The written request to the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) asked for an investigation into public allegations that documents relating to the awarding of contracts by the Maine Center for Disease Control were shredded, or requested to be shredded, by state workers.

“We’re dealing not only with public money but public confidence in government being able to work in a fair and transparent manner,” said Rep. Richard Farnsworth (D-Portland). “Both of those are in question now.”

The documents in question concern last summer’s distribution of money to the 27 Healthy Maine Partnership (HMP) programs in the state.  Last June, the CDC altered the levels of state funding for these organizations with little public input or explanation.  The CDC based the changes on internal scoring causing some questions by lawmakers to better understand the scoring and award process.  Lewiston’s Healthy Androscoggin, one of the larger HMPs, saw its budget cut by more than half while smaller programs like the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition in Rumford, which serves fewer people, was selected as a lead agency and awarded more funding.

“Healthy Androscoggin is highly regarded and has won numerous awards,” said Sen. Craven, who also serves on Healthy Androscoggin’s board. “Healthy Androscoggin serves 125,000 people while River Valley serves 25,000, so I couldn’t imagine why the distribution of funding would be so skewed. Frankly, the disparity was just weird.”

The request for an OPEGA investigation comes on the heels of public allegations by a Maine CDC director that she was harassed and assaulted for refusing to comply with an order to shred scoring results in order to prevent their outside distribution.

According to the letter written to OPEGA, lawmakers asserted, “Given the seriousness of the accusations, we believe that the investigation is well within the bounds of OPEGA’s authority and…this investigation be expedited.”

The Government Oversight Committee will review the request for an OPEGA investigation at its next meeting on April 12.

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