DEPUTY MAYOR JAKE PAWLAK DETAILS FINDINGS OF OMI INVESTIGATION INTO P-CARD USAGE

At the request of Mayor Ed Gainey, OMI conducted an impartial investigation following accusations of misconduct in May of this year.  OMI is the agency established by code to be responsible for coordinating the receipt, analysis, and investigation of civil and/ or criminal misconduct alleged against employees of the City of Pittsburgh.  The agency was tasked with determining if a series of payments that were made to a contractor hired by the Department of Parks and Recreation violated policy or code. 

In the initial public dialogue on this issue, it was widely asserted that a series of payments made to the contractor constituted a violation of the city’s p-card policy. OMI’s investigation ultimately found that claim to be incorrect, on the grounds that the services provided by the contractor constituted a non-professional service, whereas the policy prohibits p-card payments for professional services.  

OMI’s investigation did however determine that this series of payments did violate the city’s mid-year position request policy and that the total amount of payments in 2023 exceeded the limit allowed by chapter 161 by city code without explicit council authorization.  

The investigation also found that there was no basis for assertions that the circumstances surrounding the contractor’s hiring was motivated by a prior relationship between the contractor and Director Vargas. 

On the basis of OMI’s findings, the Administration has determined that these errors in judgement and violations of internal city rules by the director warrant the following actions: immediate retraining on the city’s p-card policy, additional supervision of the department’s p-card transactions by the office of management & budget for 1 year, and the recording of OMI’s report in the director’s personnel file to inform further disciplinary action in the event of future violations of city policies. The administration has determined that OMI’s findings do not present grounds for termination.  

“I know the passion, empathy and thoughtfulness that Director Kathryn Vargas brings to the job each and every day. I know she regrets her error in judgement and is doing everything necessary to ensure that her actions and processes align with city policy’s.  Kathryn is a valuable member of the city staff and will continue her dedicated service to the people of Pittsburgh,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. 

Director Vargas has readily accepted responsibility for her actions and has already undergone the required re-training on the proper usage and filing of the p-card transactions, and all p-card transactions initiated by the department have been subject to the additional review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget.