8/26/2009
FOIA Request on Hiring of Double-Dipping Former DHSS Secretary Languishes

For Immediate Release:               Wednesday, August 26, 2009
For More Information, Contact:  Joe Fulgham (302) 744-4184
 
Three weeks ago, State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) filed a state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Gov. Jack Markell seeking more information on the employment of retired Dept. of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Sec. Vince Meconi as a highly-paid state consultant.
 
Meconi oversaw DHSS in 2007 and 2008, a period during which dozens of allegations of patient abuse at the Delaware Psychiatric Center were published as part of an in-depth investigative series.  Meconi refused to acknowledge there was a problem at the hospital, took no corrective action, and retired under a cloud just before Gov. Ruth Ann Minner left office.  
 
Many of the charges were later proven valid during a five-month investigation conducted by a bipartisan legislative committee in the General Assembly.  Earlier this week, Gov. Markell signed three bills into law to help reform the facility’s operations.
 
However, Meconi’s troubled past and questionable actions did not prevent the Markell administration from hiring him to consult with state agencies on the availability of federal stimulus money.  The lucrative gig came just weeks after Meconi retired from his DHSS post.  The job was to have been for a limited three-month period, but that deadline passed weeks ago.  Meconi remains on the state payroll with no firm expiration date on his consulting work. 
 
Rep. Lavelle filed a Freedom of Information Act August 5th requesting Gov. Markell to provide:
 
• copies of the contract with Vince Meconi; 
• any descriptions of Mr. Meconi’s expected duties as a consultant;
• performance measures being used to gauge the effectiveness of Mr. Meconi’s efforts in this role;
• hours he is required to work;
• the vacation policy associated with Mr. Meconi’s consultant position
• any other papers and documents related to the hiring and employment of Mr. Meconi in the aforementioned consultant position.
 
According to the Delaware Department of Justice, the state Freedom of Information Act requires that a response to a FOIA request be made within a reasonable amount of time.
 
“It’s been three weeks since I asked for information the administration should have been able to supply in less than an hour,” Rep. Lavelle said.  “In my estimation, we’re way past ‘reasonable.’”
 
The News Journal recently reported Meconi is being paid $6,093.75 monthly for his consulting services in addition to $7,633.56 he is receiving each month from his state pension.  Combined, Meconi is reaping nearly $165,000 in state money annually – topping the salary he made last year as DHSS secretary by more than $20,000.
 
“The taxpayers of this state deserve to know the answers to the reasonable questions I asked on their behalf,” Rep. Lavelle said.  “This foot-dragging by the administration casts doubt on the governor’s claim to be committed to responsive, transparent government.”
 
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