In February 2008 I put up two posts about three Coeur d’Alene city employees who were given consulting contracts with the City after they retired.   The posts were Better Than a Gold Watch and The City Responds. 

The consulting contracts provided the contractors and their spouses with continuing medical coverage under the City’s medical insurance for three years. 

So what’s wrong with that, one might ask? 

Maybe nothing under Idaho’s less-than-stringent Conflict of Interest law.  But look at what happened to this federal employee who essentially pulled the same stunt.

The similarities in procedure are recounted in the Department of Justice press release which includes this paragraph:

According to the plea documents, when Mayberry [the employee] was nearing retirement from federal service, he and his supervisor explored ways he could return to work for the Department of Interior after his official retirement. It was decided, according to Mayberry’s admission, to create a consulting position which, while created and intended specifically for Mayberry, was required by law to be the subject of open and fair competitive bidding procedures. Mayberry also admitted that in his official capacity before retiring, he created the “statement of work” that would subsequently be used to define the position and evaluate the bids of Mayberry and his competitors. Mayberry was the only applicant out of all bidders for the position to receive a grade of “excellent” on every qualification category and was awarded the contract.

Incidentally, if the City’s dog park isn’t built because of inadequate funding, do former Police Chief Wendy Carpenter and her husband forfeit their three years of medical benefits?  Probably not.  All her former boss has to say is that she met the terms of her contract to design the dog park.