By Linda Dean Cooper
Levy County Emergency Management Director, John McDonald, has been on temporary paid leave since October 5, pending an investigation. Below are portions of the Allen Norton & Blue, P.A. investigative report.
I Basis for Investigation:
On or about October 7, 2024, Mary-Ellen Harper, County Manager, was made aware that the spouse of the Director of Emergency Management, John MacDonald, was employed by a current contractor of the County, AC Disaster Consulting, LLC. Ms. Harper looked up Mr. MacDonald’s spouse and found that Mrs. MacDonald’s LinkedIn profile showed she has been employed by AC Disaster Consulting since 2022. Due to Mr. MacDonald not having previously disclosed his wife’s employment with AC Disaster Consulting in writing and the County’s current utilization of AC Disaster Consulting for multiple services, Mr. MacDonald was placed on paid administrative leave.
The County retained the law firm of Allen Norton & Blue, P.A. to investigate a potential violation of Levy County Policy.
II INVESTIGATION BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURE
With the assistance of Human Resources, the undersigned received and reviewed the following documentation:
• Notice of Investigation to John MacDonald;
• Director of Emergency Management Job Description;
• Personnel File of John MacDonald;
• February 5, 2022, AC Disaster Consulting Offer of Employment to Sherri MacDonald
• Levy County Personnel Policy 806 – Conflicts of Interest;
• Levy County Ordinance 2-211 – Conflicts of Interest and Lobbying;
• Levy County Purchasing Manual;
• Levy County Procurement Code;
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement Form;
• Bid Details for RFP 2020-005;
• Minutes from the June 2, 2020 Meeting of the Levy County Board of County Commissioners;
• Agenda and Agenda Item Summary Form from the August 6, 2024 Meeting of Levy County Board of County Commissioners;
• May 20, 2024 Letter from AC Disaster Consulting, LLC to John MacDonald regarding management of Levy County’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program grant;
• August 6, 2024 Extension of Agreement Between Levy County and AC Disaster Consulting, LLC for Disaster-Related Recovery Services dated August 18, 2020;
• Email correspondence between John MacDonald and AC Disaster Consulting, LLC., regarding the Extension of Agreement Between Levy County and AC Disaster Consulting, LLC for Disaster-Related Recovery Services dated August 18, 2020;
• Email correspondence between County employees regarding HHRP/Idalia Fund Management;
• Email correspondence between County employees and AC Disaster Consulting, LLC., regarding Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Support;
• September 23, 2024 letter from AC Disaster Consulting to Mr. MacDonald regarding the Dock Street Living Breakwater Shoreline and Infrastructure Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Support;
• Public Notice of the Staff Committee Discussions for Selection for Disaster Related Recovery Services held on May 20, 2020;
• Audio recording of the May 20, 2020 Staff Committee Discussions for Selection for Disaster Related Recovery Services;
• Evaluation Scores for Levy County RFP 2020-005;
• Committee Score Sheets for Levy County RFP 2020-005;
• Reference checks for AC Disaster Consulting in relation to RFP 2020-005;
• August 18, 2020 Agreement Between Levy County and AC Disaster Consulting, LLC; for Disaster-Related Recovery Services; and
• Various email correspondence.
Additionally, Undersigned Interviewed Individuals:
• John MacDonald, October 17, 2024;
• Jessie Durrance, October 17, 2024; and
• Alicia Thretheway, October 21, 2024.
The County placed no restrictions on any interviews in terms of the scope of questioning or time allotted for each interview. No person was restricted from being interviewed. The findings in this investigative report are based on a preponderance of the evidence standard. Under this standard, allegations are found to be substantiated where, after considering all evidentiary support that was provided, including the relative credibility of the witnesses and statements during the interviews, it is determined that the conduct at issue more likely than not constituted a violation of County policy or law.
While this report may not directly address every factual allegation made throughout the course of the investigation, all allegations have been considered and are either addressed specifically herein, or they have been determined to be immaterial to the ultimate question of whether Mr. MacDonald violated Levy County policy.
III. INVESTIGATION
a. Allegations:
Mr. MacDonald failed to disclose in writing the conflict of interest arising from his wife’s employment with County contractor AC Disaster Consulting, LLC., violates Levy County policy.
b. Summary of Facts:
The summary of facts details disclosing Conflict of interest, listing county policies about conflict of interest. See report at bottom of article for full details.
ii. Investigation Details – See pages 5-9 of the Report
Excerpts of some findings:
Mr. MacDonald has been the Director of Emergency Management for Levy County since about 2016. According to Mr. MacDonald, he has no say in who is awarded contracts with the County and has zero involvement in procurement.
Mr. MacDonald’s wife has been employed by AC Disaster since February 2022. Her job
is essentially data entry, and she has not worked on any projects paid for by Levy County. Mrs. MacDonald learned about AC Disaster through her former position as the town administrator for Yankeetown. When his wife found the job opening at AC Disaster online, Mr. MacDonald told her it might be a potential conflict of interest if he were involved in procurement with AC Disaster. Mr. MacDonald stated he knew he would need to abstain from the procurement process with AC Disaster in the future due to his wife’s employment.
Mr. MacDonald further stated during his interview that shortly after his wife’s employment with AC Disaster began, he disclosed her employment to Wilbur Dean, the then-County Coordinator and Alicia Tretheway, the Procurement Coordinator. According to Mr. MacDonald, Mr. Dean stated it was not a problem and that Mr. MacDonald would just have to abstain from any future contract procurement with AC Disaster. Mr. MacDonald did not make any written disclosures of his wife’s employment with AC Disaster.
Ms. Tretheway stated during her interview that she had just found out about Mr. MacDonald’s wife’s employment with AC Disaster around the time that Mr. MacDonald’s administrative suspension began. Mr. Dean is no longer employed by the County. When asked whether Mr. Dean knew of Mr. MacDonald’s wife’s employment with AC Disaster, Ms. Tretheway stated Mr. Dean may have had an inkling that Mrs. MacDonald was employed by AC Disaster, but that she, the County Manager, and the County attorney had just recently learned of it.
Mr. MacDonald also stated that his wife submitted an application for employment with Levy County as Grant Manager which disclosed her employment with AC Disaster Consulting. Mrs. MacDonald’s Interview was on the Agenda for the September 6, 2022, Levy County Board of County Commissioners Meeting.
IV. CONCLUSION
Section 2-211(2) of Levy County’s Procurement Code prohibits any organization that employs the immediate family or partner of a county employee involved in the selection, award, or administration of a contract from having a financial interest in or tangible personal benefit from a firm considered for such contract. Further, Section 2-211(4) requires any potential conflict of interest discovered during the applicable procurement process1 to be disclosed in writing.
Levy County Personnel Policy 806 requires employees to disclose any conflict or potential conflict of interest to Levy County.
Despite Mr. MacDonald’s statements during his interview, he played a role in the procurement process in 2020 evidenced by the audio recording of the May 20, 2020 Staff Committee Discussions for Selection for Disaster Related Recovery Services and his score sheet. Further, in his role as Director of the Emergency Management Division, he was responsible for the administration of the 2020 Agreement with AC Disaster, which has been extended and remains in effect as of the date of this Investigative Summary and Report. Further, emails from Mr. MacDonald show he was involved in the procurement of additional services with AC Disaster Consulting pursuant to the 2020 Agreement. Therefore, Mr. MacDonald is a county employee “involved in the selection, award, or administration of a contract” as contemplated by the Procurement Code.
While Mr. MacDonald’s wife was not employed by AC Disaster Consulting until February 2022, after the 2020 Agreement was entered into, Mr. MacDonald was involved in the extension of the 2020 Agreement and the solicitation of grant management services from AC Disaster. While these services did not require a Request for Proposals because they were contemplated within the 2020 Agreement with AC Disaster Services, Mr. MacDonald never the less played a role in procuring these additional services as shown through his email correspondence with other County employees and AC Disaster.
Mr. MacDonald admitted that he at no point disclosed his wife’s employment with AC Disaster Consulting in writing as required by Section 2-211(4) of Levy County’s Procurement Code. While Mr. MacDonald alleges he disclosed his wife’s employment to Mr. Dean and Ms. Tretheway in 2022, the undersigned credits Ms. Tretheway’s testimony that she, as the Procurement Coordinator since 2018, was not aware of Mrs. MacDonald’s employment with AC Disaster until recently. Further, the County Manager, Ms. Harper, who has taken over Mr. Dean’s previous position, was similarly unaware of this employment relationship between AC Disaster and Mrs. MacDonald, which tends to support the conclusion that the County was not aware of the potential conflict of interest between Mr. MacDonald and AC Disaster. However, Mr. MacDonald’s verbal disclosure of the potential conflict in 2022 is of little to no consequence as Section 2-211(4) of Levy County’s Procurement Code requires written disclosure.
Therefore, the preponderance of the evidence supports that Mr. MacDonald engaged in conduct which conflicts with, or appears to conflict with, the interests of Levy County by continuing to be involved in the administration of the 2020 Agreement with AC Disaster and the procurement of additional services pursuant to that agreement.
Having conducted a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding Mr. MacDonald’s potential conflict of interest, findings are hereby sustained as to violations of the Levy County Procurement Code Section 2-211(4) and Levy County Personnel Policy 806.
County employees who violate Personnel Policy 806 and/or Levy County Procurement Code Section 2-211, are subject to disciplinary action up to, and including, discharge.
Therefore, the undersigned recommends appropriate discipline up to and including discharge.
Below is a PDF of the Investigative Summary and Report by Allen Norton & Blue, P.A.
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Posted November 3, 2024
