By Richard Gaines
Staff Writer
—
Four days before she convenes a one-day law enforcement summit conference, federal fisheries administrator Jane Lubchenco announced a multi-faceted program to rein in use of the fund that held fines taken from the fishing industry and used for questionable purposes.
Misuse of the fund was revealed in early July by Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser, who has been investigating police and legal excesses in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the past year.
Lubchenco's plan, keyed to assertions about the need for accountability and its link to transparency, involves ending the practice of agents and litigators to draw freely from the fund without oversight or apparent limits.
The fund was inflated by the demand for fines out of proportion to the violations, Zinser found.
He also reported that more than $40 million was spent with few records or controls.
The NOAA police force had more cars than officers and the legal department was funding nearly all its non-salaried expenses from proceeds.
That last revelation has brought demands for congressional hearings, an ethics investigation by the Massachusetts Bar Association, and calls by senators and congressmen to reimburse those they called victims of the government's financial harassment who paid fines into the fund.
"The essence of accountability is taking responsibility for actions, decisions, and policies that impact an organization," Lubchenco wrote to Zinser on Thursday, in a cover memo to the lengthy plan for bringing the asset forfeiture fund under proper control.
"Transparency drives accountability," she added. "In an open environment, outside stakeholders are freely able to obtain information about an organization and question the organization's actions, decisions and policies leading to better management oversight, fairness, and everyone's working toward a common goal."
Her office declined multiple requests for interviews, and did not respond to written questions that were solicited as an alternative.
Richard Gaines may be contacted at 978-283-7000 x3464 or rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.
