IT chief feels audit vindicates him

Dismissed Fulton official says he wants his former job back.

Fulton County’s former information technology director wants the county to give him back his job,

Maurice Ficklin says he discovered widespread waste and possible corruption when he became Fulton County’s information technology director last summer.

Work that could have been done by employees was instead farmed out to private firms. Vendors were paid before completing their tasks, in violation of the rules. Some contracted employees never seemed to show up at the office.

Ficklin pushed for changes, but he lost his job after only a few months — a move he says was retaliation for blowing the whistle on dubious spending.

Since then, many of his assertions have been verified by an internal audit.

Information Technology Department officials dispute some of the audit findings. And the audit found Ficklin also violated county procurement policies. But some Fulton officials and employees

Fulton audit

are disturbed by his firing.

“I am concerned that he raised these issues and he’s no longer among us,” said County Commissioner Joan Garner, who requested the IT Department audit.

Ficklin’s firing is just one of the issues swirling around Fulton’s IT Department in the wake of the recent report. In December, auditors found a range of questionable practices, including possible violations of ethics and purchasing policies and poor oversight of contracts worth millions of dollars. The investigation is continuing.

The county hired Ficklin to oversee the IT Department last July. Previously, he held similar posts at the Dougherty County school district and MARTA.

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ficklin said he became suspicious shortly after arriving in Fulton County.

“I noticed, Number One, that taxpayer money was wasted,” he said. He thought he could save the county $30 million over 10 years by reducing or eliminating contracts and hiring employees to do some work. Some contractors were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in advance for work, though county policies require payment only after work is verified. When he sought documentation that the work was done, he said, department managers couldn’t provide any.

He said he raised concerns with then-County Manager Dwight Ferrell and others but got little response. Ferrell did not respond to a request for comment.

Ficklin said he wanted an independent audit to assess the department in preparation for a possible reorganization.

But, while seeking that external auditor, Ficklin himself ran afoul of county policies when he bypassed procurement procedures, according to the December audit.

Ficklin said a subordinate in his department recommended the improper procedure he fol- lowed. He said he began following proper county policies after he was informed of the problem.

But Ficklin didn’t get the chance to follow through. County commissioners fired Ferrell, his boss. And acting County Manager Patrick O’Connor fired Ficklin shortly after taking office.

Ficklin said O’Connor gave him no reason for his termination, and his personnel file contains no indication why. O’Connor declined to comment, except to say that Ficklin was an “at-will” employee who could be dismissed without cause.

IT Department officials have said they monitored contractors’ work, though they acknowledged they didn’t properly document it.

They pledged to seek an independent examination to improve contract oversight and determine whether Fulton can save money by doing more work in-house.

Ficklin said the audit vindicated him. He wants his old job back.

“Everything I found is being validated and verified,” he said.

Some employees would like to see him return. At a recent County Commission meeting, IT employee Kartez Harris told commissioners that “taxpayers and employees of Fulton County, especially the IT Department, suffered a tremendous blow” when Ficklin was fired.

“Please reinstate him,” Harris said.

Garner stopped short of calling for Ficklin’s reinstatement. But she wants the audit to continue.

“I hope we can really get to the bottom of what’s been going on,” she said.