DES MOINES -AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement about the 1st District Department of Correctional Services (covering Allamakee, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Grundy, Howard, and Winneshiek Counties) failing to cut management perks while proceeding with layoffs:
"1st District Department of Correctional Services Director Karen Herkelman has decided to put excessive perks for management ahead of providing community based corrections services.
"The State Auditor found that 1st District had improperly provided excessive vacation and sick leave benefits to management employees in a manner that violated the Iowa Code. The only reasonable reaction to the Auditor's report is to stop awarding these excessive benefits and remove excessively awarded leave from manager's sick and vacation leave accounts. Instead, Director Herkelman declined to make any changes in management vacation and sick leave perks and proceeded with layoffs.
"The state auditor has said these management perks are improper. Not one penny should be spent on these improper perks; especially when layoffs are occurring.
"Director Herkelman clearly has a conflict of interest. As a management employee, she will benefit financially from these excessive benefits when she retires in the near future if these excessive benefits are not reclaimed before that happens.
"These improprieties must end. In addition to the First District, the Auditor's report also found improper leave for managers was awarded in Districts 5 and 6 and improper classification of managers as field staff occurred in Districts 7 and 8. All of these districts, if they have no done so already, must stop awarding improper leave for managers and revoke leave that was previously issued in an improper manner."
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