Texas Resident Questions Court About EMS Time Sheet Discrepancies

Sept. 27--GOLIAD -- Goliad resident Mickey White had questions for his county's Commissioners Court during their public meeting Monday morning.

"What would be the punishment for someone stealing from the county? That's the first question," said White, who is the unopposed Republican candidate for Precinct 3 county commissioner. "The second question is, if (the punishment) is dismissal or whatever, then why haven't we done that?"

At the meeting, County Judge Pat Calhoun and other elected officials acknowledged currently employed emergency management services director John Creech, who declined comment Monday, had illegitimately added hours to employees' time sheets.

"We have a problem with someone padding time sheets," said White, continuing his public comment to the court. "And it's not in the hundreds of dollars. It's in the thousands."

After the meeting, County Treasurer Daphne Buelter said she first noticed discrepancies with the time sheets by Goliad EMS employees in early July 2016. After tracing digital time stamp records, Buelter discovered that from August 2015 to July 2016, Creech retroactively changed the hours logged by some of his employees.

Those time sheet additions totaled about $25,000, Buelter said.

"It was definitely a pattern, and I was concerned," Buelter said.

And Buelter was not the only one with eyebrows raised.

At a closed-door executive session in August, Creech met with Buelter, Calhoun and EMS liaison David Bruns, who serves as Precinct 4 county commissioner.

In that meeting, Buelter said Creech admitted he had made unsanctioned changes to time sheets.

Calhoun said Creech explained the added hours were for "busy-type" odd jobs such as washing vehicles and office work. The county judge did not have an explanation for why those hours were not logged in the proper fashion.

Calhoun said he could not explain how Creech was disciplined because the matter is a "personnel issue."

But the county judge said while Creech may have made poor management decisions, there is not enough information demonstrating the EMS director acted criminally.

"What evidence is there that he was stealing?" Calhoun said. "You can't just say 'I think' or 'I heard.' That doesn't fly in a court of law, and that doesn't rise to the occasion of calling the Texas Rangers."

But White said he was unimpressed with the court's disciplining of Creech.

"I'm a taxpayer. This is my money that they're questioning," White said to the court. "When I hear they are clocking in and adding hours to somebody's time when they are already punched out ... it makes me wonder."

Calhoun said he has requested an internal audit from County Auditor Larry Zermeno into Creech and his department. But the county judge doesn't know exactly when that investigation might begin. First, Zermeno must finish his audit into the Goliad Sheriff's Office, which Calhoun expects to be completed by mid-October, he said.

"I need to find out if there is any evidence to support that (criminal) allegation (against Creech)," Calhoun said. "If there's not, we drop it and move on. If there is, then we take whatever action needs to be taken."

District Attorney Michael Sheppard, who can call for a Rangers' investigation, said he had not heard of the allegations against Creech until Monday afternoon when he was told by the Advocate.

Although he had not yet received a request for an investigation from the court, Sheppard said his office could proceed with or without the county's blessing.

After a more than 10-minute discussion between the members of the dais, Calhoun posed a question to the court, asking whether they were finished discussing Creech's time sheet discrepancies.

"Is there any action to be taken by the court?" Calhoun asked the commissioners. After a pause, he continued, prompting the commissioners for an answer. "Hello? Is there any action to be taken by the court?"

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Julian Flores responded with a motion to take no action, which was seconded by Bruns.

Only Ronald Bailey, Precinct 3 commissioner, opposed taking no action with his vote.

"That's a lot of money," Bailey said after the meeting. "I don't think a verbal warning is sufficient."

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