FDLE report shows close relationship between Martin school employees, Florida Mechanical
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 by Cara FitzpatrickSTUART — For years, the Martin County School District was a mainstay of Florida Mechanical LLC.
The district called the Riviera Beach-based contractor nearly every day for repair jobs, while authorities say school employees routinely signed off on company invoices that included extra charges.
So informal had the contractual relationship become that company President Ken Morgan described it this way: “They would call us when things would break.” So cozy had the personal relationship become that district workers lunched with company employees and allowed them to assist with home repairs.
One district employee even spent a weekend at Morgan’s vacation home in St. Augustine. In exchange, Morgan got the use of the employee’s frozen drink machine at two company parties.
That all ended last year. Acting on a tip, new schools Superintendent Nancy Kline launched an internal investigation into allegations of employee misconduct, and later purged staff in the maintenance, facilities and purchasing departments. She also stopped $235,000 in remaining payments to Florida Mechanical.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report released Tuesday clears former district and company employees of allegations of fraud but details a business relationship that likely cost the district thousands in unnecessary expenses. (more…)

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