Heimlich and Pepper debate

Kimball Perry reports

Trying to oust the incumbent, Hamilton County Commission candidate David Pepper suggested Thursday that a county department spent $1 million on an efficiency report it never received.

The Hamilton County administration – and Phil Heimlich, the commissioner Pepper is trying to defeat – insist that’s not true.

Pepper, a Democrat, demanded the release of a 2004 efficiency study New Jersey-based A.T. Hudson Co. did for Hamilton County’s Department of Job & Family Services. That department is responsible for providing temporary cash payments, food stamps, Medicaid, subsidized day care and other public assistance to the needy.

At a Thursday debate, Pepper suggested Heimlich “waste(d) another $1 million” because Pepper believed Hudson hadn’t provided a final report despite being paid $958,950 to do so.

Eric Stuckey, Hamilton County’s chief deputy administrator, said that study of Job & Family Services was part of an overall efficiency study A.T. Hudson did on many county departments.
Stuckey called Hudson after the 2004 “draft final report” was delivered by Hudson to JFS to ask for the final report. Hudson told him the draft final was the final report.

“Calling a draft report final doesn’t make it a final report,” Pepper said. “They didn’t complete the process.”

The report resulted in efficiencies Hamilton County’s JFS implemented, saving $946,000 per year.

In total, Hamilton County paid Hudson $2.2 million for all the studies, including JFS.
Hudson’s report suggested massive savings but Stuckey said Hamilton County only counted actual savings.

In 2005, that was $11.6 million, an amount Heimlich insisted was “continuing” or would be saved every year from 2005 forward.

“That’s a heck of a return on investment,” Heimlich said.
The issue, Pepper said, is JFS and what he insisted was Heimlich’s attempt to avoid accountability of that department under his watch.

“The department that everybody is looking at across the state is (Hamilton County’s) Department of Job & Family Services. This doesn’t get to the true problems.” Pepper said.
Those are, Pepper added, the horrendous lack of oversight on JFS, with a $1.27 billion annual budget, Hamilton County’s largest department.

In separate state audits released within the last week, Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services was found to have commingled its money and had such poor accounting practices that one audit found it had to repay $224 million it improperly spent in federal money.
County officials responded they have done nothing wrong, the accounting practices they follow are the ones suggested by the state and that all of the money is question was spent on services for poor children and families.

Heimlich also noted that Hudson was hired based on an initiative jointly pushed by him and fellow Commissioner Todd Portune.

Portune, the lone Democrat of the three commissioners, has endorsed Pepper for Heimlich’s commission seat.

“He just needs to learn more about how government works,” Heimlich said of Pepper.

“Everybody makes mistakes. He’ll do better next time.”