Witness says he refused to work on campaign

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

A former top official for Controller Kathy Augustine testified today that his relationship with Augustine became strained after he refused to work on her political campaign.

Former Chief Deputy Controller Jim Wells told state senators that a co-worker said Augustine intended to fire him after the 2002 election because he declined the offer to work on her re-election campaign.

But during cross-examination, Wells said he was not fired or punished, and attorney Dominic Gentile pointed to a glowing performance review that Augustine gave to Wells, who voluntarily left for a job in Virginia.

Wells was the first witness on the second day of the Senate trial of Augustine, who could be removed from office on charges that she used state workers and state equipment to aid in her 2002 election campaign.

Meanwhile, special prosecutor Dan Greco said a polygraph test taken of Augustine by the defense will be allowed into evidence. Defense lawyers have agreed to allow Greco to offer his own polygraph examiner, he said.

Augustine passed a lie detector test administered by Dennis Arnoldy, who asked her if she pressured anybody in the office to work on her campaign. She said she did not.

Augustine also estimated that her former executive assistant Jennifer Normington worked an average of 10 hours a month on the campaign.

During his testimony, Wells told senators that he became concerned in 2002 when he observed others in the office working on campaign materials during office hours.

The office manual prohibits state workers from doing campaign chores during office hours, he said. In one instance, he said told Augustine that an employee was stuffing campaign material into envelopes during state time.

Wells said her reply was "I didn't tell her she had to do it on state time." Yet the employee continued to do the campaign work, he said.

Wells heard his job was in jeopardy after he refused to fill out campaign expense reports for Augustine and Normington told him Augustine planned to fire him.

Wells said Augustine asked him to do the campaign work on his own time, but he did not feel that it was a request for a favor.

"It was phrased and had the tone of a delegation of an order," he said.

Augustine stopped talking to him except for the "the day to day activities," he said, and he decided to resign because "it was better for her to find somebody she had more trust in than me."

Augustine never specifically told him she had lost trust in him, he said.

Wells was the sixth prosecution witness in the trial of Augustine.

Present and former employees testified Wednesday that Augustine was intimidating and they feared they would lose their job if they refused to work on the campaign during office hours. But some said Augustine told them they should do the work after office hours.

Susan Kennedy, Augustine's executive assistant from February 2000 to September 2001, testified she worked 5-10 hours during office hours on the campaign doing such thing as preparing campaign and expense reports.

She testified she had no choice because her job was in jeopardy.

"Controller Augustine was mean," said Kennedy, who now works for the state Welfare Division. "I chose to ask God to forgive her. That helped me to get over her anger."

With tears in her eyes, Kennedy said she did her best to help herself and Augustine succeed.

She told the Senate that a woman named Casey Peterson and Augustine sold pearls out of the office during the noon hour. And Augustine got 10 percent of the profits for her campaign.

But under cross-examination, Kennedy admitted that after she left the office she gave a $40 donation to Augustine for the 2002 re-election campaign. She also said that while employed in the controller's office, she had signed a greeting card on Bosses' Day to Augustine calling the controller a "fabulous boss" and adding, "You're the best."

Kennedy also said that Augustine told her to get the work done after 5 p.m. But she said she did not feel she had a chance to work on the campaign materials after the close of the state workday.

Kennedy, who is middle aged, testified that Augustine told her shortly after she was hired that it would have been better to employ a 25-year-old. She said she took the complaint to the state Personnel Department but it said nothing could be done because Augustine was an elected official.

Some of the most forceful testimony during the opening day came from Stacey Jennings, executive director of the state Ethics Commission. The commission fined Augustine $15,000 after she admitted she should have known her employees were working on campaign matters.

Jennings said Augustine was guilty "of the most egregious violation" she has seen in her two-and-one-half years in her present job and in researching past records. In her personal opinion she said Augustine's behavior "supports removal from office."

Jennings said the first stipulation she prepared for the Augustine case contained a $10,000 fine plus that the controller resign within five days or the case would be turned over to the Legislature for impeachment. But lawyers for Augustine would not agree to that stipulation.

She testified that any admission of a willful violation however would mean the case would automatically be referred to the Legislature for impeachment proceedings.

Under questioning from senators, Jennings said the Ethics Commission had no authority to force Augustine to reimburse the state for the time her workers spent on campaign matters. She estimated that Normington, the chief witness for the prosecution, spent 500 hours or 25 percent of her time doing campaign work.

Gentile and colleague John Arrascada brought out from the witnesses that although the employees feared Augustine, there was not one firing in the last several years. One employee who refused to do campaign work on state time got a promotion. Another who did campaign work on state time and testified against Augustine received a pay raise when her position was upgraded.

Sherry Valdez, an accounting assistant in the controller's office, said she was "extremely uncomfortable" in testifying in front of Augustine but she told the Senate she spent several hours stuffing campaign envelopes on state time.

Valdez said, "Kathy mentioned to do it after work but we could not stay after work." She said she was afraid she would lose her job if she didn't do the work. "You do the job when told. I was afraid of the consequences."

She said she saw Normington doing the campaign work in the office during state time.

The job of Valdez has been reclassified to a higher level and she received a raise, defense lawyers brought out.

Valdez said nobody has been fired by Augustine but "a lot of people have left" the office. She estimated that 12 of the 40 employees in the office had resigned.

Michelle Miles, who retired after 30 years with state government with the last 27 years in the controller's office, said she saw Valdez stuffing campaign envelopes but added "it was none of my business."

Miles, in charge of the accounting section, said she was told by Augustine that her workers had to take over some of the financial work from Normington who had fallen behind. She said Normington told her she was working on the campaign and that's why she was behind in her office work.

It was "general knowledge" that employees were working on the campaign, said Miles.

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