PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has learned that the Pittsburgh City Controller has requested more information about two purchase card payments made by the city’s Office of Management and Budget.
The controller said those payments appear to be for professional services and, therefore, are not eligible for payment by P-cards.
She said they also appear to be recurring payments and those are not allowed to be paid for by P-cards.
This comes after a city P-Card scandal last year led to changes in the way they’re used and monitored by the city.
Channel 11 Chief Investigator Rick Earle spoke exclusively with Controller Rachael Heisler about the inquiry she’s launched.
Earle: Is this troubling since you went through this already?
Heisler: It’s ridiculous. These are easy problems to avoid.
Earle: They should have learned their lesson?
Heisler: And it also just undermines public trust in government.
Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler reacted after her office discovered two payments on a city P-Card made by the Office of Management and Budget for $3,500 each.
The first one was made a couple of months ago, and the other just this week.
Heisler’s office didn’t catch the first payment, but they flagged the second one.
11 Investigates has learned that the invoices for those payments are from 412 Justice, run by Angel Gober, who led Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team when he took office four years ago.
The invoices indicate the payments by the city are for research, consultation and engagement, and suggest there are two more payments coming at the same rate for a total of $14,000.
Heisler told Earle that those activities are considered a recurring professional service and should have been done with a contract that ultimately comes through her office, not a P-Card.
She said P-cards are important for smaller purchases like meals or last-minute supplies.
Earle: It’s just a matter of following the procedures?
Heisler: Yes, and to make sure that there’s some level of public scrutiny. We’re the check and balance on the rest of city government and when that payment doesn’t route through our office in the way that it should, it’s unfair to taxpayers to hide that information.
This comes after controversy last year when the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation made multiple P-Card payments totaling $18,000 to Mario Ashkar for part-time work at the Farmers’ Market.
Ashkar was identified as a city worker only after being caught on camera vandalizing an Israeli flag on the North Side.
Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who oversees the budget office, said the director violated policies and procedures but called it an honest mistake and implemented new guidelines to prevent it from happening again.
No one was disciplined in that case.
Some Pittsburgh City Council members have a lot of questions about how this was able to happen again.
“I want to know what ultimately happened here, and is there anything else we are missing here. The fact that this came from OMB (Office of Management and Budget), which is the department that leads these P-Cards, you know, if anyone, they should know what the rules are, right?” said Council member Bob Charland, who represents the South Side.
Earle reached out to the Deputy Mayor as well as the Mayor’s Press Secretary.
In an emailed statement, Press Secretary Olga George said the city is evaluating the issue and will have a response on Monday.
Earle also reached out to 412 Justice but had not heard back as of this writing.
After the first P-Card controversy last May, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office served a search warrant on the city for information related to the P-Card payments to Mario Ashkar.
The city complied with that search warrant.
The DA’s office never released any further information about their investigation, and no charges were ever filed.
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