Raising Doubts About Fund-Raiser : Loaning Officials to United Way May Be Misuse of Public Funds

The state of California and the county and city of San Diego have loaned six employees--including a $70,000-a-year sheriff’s commander--to the United Way for several months each this year to raise money in schools, businesses and government agencies.

The use of public employees to raise money for a private charity while they are paid their regular salaries has occurred for years and has never been challenged, a United Way spokesman said.

But San Diego County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Robert De Steunder, a 32 1/2-year employee who oversees hundreds of deputies, said the United Way’s “loaned executive program” constitutes a “gift of public funds” when public employees are used and may be illegal.

The salaries of the county and city employees alone amounts to $55,388, according to figures provided by personnel offices for both the city and county of San Diego. The salary of the state employee was not available.

De Steunder estimates the Sheriff’s Department has given $16,000 of his three-month salary to the charity, not including the use of his department-issued car and car telephone for United Way business.

“I went kicking and screaming,” said De Steunder, who was ordered by Sheriff Jim Roache to participate.

“I’m a law enforcement officer, not a fund-raiser for a charity corporation,” he said. “I strongly support what United Way does, and it’s been a rewarding experience, but the fact remains that taxpayers have no say in how their money is used.”

Concerned that he might be sued by a taxpayer group for his participation in fund-raising, De Steunder said he consulted an attorney, who advised him that he could not be held liable because he is following the sheriff’s orders. The attorney did not advise him about whether public employees may legally be paid to solicit for a private entity.

De Steunder is assigned to the United Way’s education division and is required to contact schools from the elementary level through the junior college level. He usually makes a 20- to 25-minute video presentation and asks for support. Pledge cards are handed out beforehand.

So far, De Steunder has made about 20 presentations since Sept. 8, when he started his term at the United Way. His last day at the charity is Dec. 4.

For months, De Steunder has become concerned about using his department-issued car, car phone, county gas and his department pager for United Way purposes. A commander since 1986, De Steunder is in charge of 525 deputies who work out of law enforcement operations, including detectives and patrol and traffic deputies.

Officials of United Way and the Combined Health Agencies Drive (CHAD), which are raising money for dozens of charities and health organizations, say the “loaned executive program” has existed 20 to 25 years for private companies in San Diego County and, more recently, has been extended to public agencies.

City Manager Jack McGrory said the city has been participating in the program for four or five years, and the city attorney’s office says the employee loan is legal. Despite a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall in both the county and city with threats of employee layoffs, McGrory said he endorses the loan program.

Under the program, companies pay employees their regular salaries to work with the United Way and CHAD to raise money. In some cases, businesses sponsor individuals who are not part of the company but pay their benefits nonetheless, said John Liarakos, vice president/marketing with the United Way of San Diego County.

“There is a mutual benefit between the United Way (and public agencies) because we provide them with a lot of services through the programs we support,” Liarakos said.

The fund-raising sessions can last either nine weeks or 13 weeks, Liarakos said, and public employees throughout the nation work for the United Way in raising money.

State and federal employees, including military personnel, have also been used in fund-raising, he said. There are two sessions, in summer and fall, he said.

United Way/CHAD contributions go toward protecting youth, furthering community development, fostering family programs, doing counseling, providing health care, caring for the homeless and those with disabilities.

“We are raising money for services the government is no longer able to provide,” he said. “A lot of programs we have provide support to keep kids off the street or out of gangs. It’s a mistake to think that the government and nonprofit agencies are separate.”

In September, the city of San Diego loaned Jeff Washington, the $68,400-a-year deputy director for facilities financing in the engineering and development section, to the United Way. He made fund-raising presentations to insurance companies, accounting firms, architectural groups and other professional groups for nine weeks.

Washington said he volunteered for the assignment because he had worked with a group of city employees called Municipal Employees Civic Responsibility Organization, MECRO, who raise money for charity.

“For me, (United Way) was a worthwhile experience,” he said. “It was an opportunity for me to get involved full time in fund raising.”

City Manager McGrory said he fully supports the “loaned executive” program.

“This is the smart and right thing to do,” he said. “The United Way needs volunteers to participate in and manage its campaign and it benefits the executives who participate. There is a direct benefit to the community.”

Besides De Steunder, the county has allowed three other employees to raise money for United Way.

Lola Hobbs, a $68,000-a-year assistant deputy director for the Department of Social Services, worked for United Way from Sept. 8 to Nov. 6. Nancy Watson, a $29,848-a-year administrative clerk in the Public Works Department, is working at the agency from Sept. 8 to Dec. 4, and Mila Denton, a $44,902-a-year senior accountant in health services worked from July 13 to Oct. 9.

The state Department of Transportation has loaned Victor Nava, an associate administrator, from Sept. 8 through Dec. 4. His salary was not available.

Accepted for a three-month assignment, Watson said she has no reservations about allowing public employees to be paid while they raise funds for United Way.

“I love what I’m doing,” she said. “We all have to give back what we receive. Even in government, we have to serve the people. This is the county’s way of giving back what we received.”

Watson, who manages administrative support services for the county’s Public Works Department, makes presentations to government employees, including those at the county and city, and asks them to make donations.

“I have the blessing of my department to do this, and people from my department have done this before,” she said. “I don’t have any concerns.”

County Administrative Officer David Janssen and Deputy County Administrator Bruce Boland, who coordinates the program for the county, could not be reached for comment. Nor could state officials be reached for comment about Caltrans’ participation.

Although county officials say employees have been used regularly without controversy, former Sheriff John Duffy said he rebuffed the county’s request to provide personnel for fund-raising, arguing that to do so would be against the law.

“I declined to assign our people for several reasons,” Duffy said. “First of all, I didn’t have anyone to spare at a top management level. Furthermore, I thought it was a gift of public funds and probably illegal.”

Duffy said then-County Administrative Office Norm Hickey asked him for a United Way volunteer several years ago. Duffy said no and was not asked again.

Public officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties had been convicted for raising money for political campaigns during their work hours, and, Duffy said, “I couldn’t see any difference between giving to a political campaign or to a charity.”

Duffy said he could not understand how the Sheriff’s Department could afford to let a commander leave the agency for three months when Roache and others are complaining about a lack of staffing.

The San Diego Police Department has participated in the United Way program only once, when former Deputy Chief Manny Guaderrama worked with the organization several years back, said Norman Stamper, executive assistant chief.

Stamper said the department has not participated more recently because city employees from other departments have volunteered.

“I don’t see it as a gift of public funds,” Stamper said. “Another way of looking at it is that we’re contributing to dozens of community-based organizations. It’s an expression of public service.”

De Steunder says it is not the role of public employees to give their salaries to United Way.

“Whether it’s a nonprofit organization or not is immaterial,” he said. “If the county wants to solicit money for a charity organization, they should donate it through the budget and place it above board rather than send employees. It’s inappropriate.”

Private and public agencies already solicit donations for United Way through payroll deductions, he said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Dan Greenblat said De Steunder was sent to United Way to be “a working partner with the community.”

Although the sheriff has never participated in the program before, Roache did so this year because the United Way offers “great benefits to the community,” Greenblat said. “It’s more than appropriate for the county to participate.”