LINCOLN – The Utilities Superintendent for the City of Madison has been accused by the Nebraska State Auditor’s Office of using city employees along with city resources and equipment for his own interests.
According to a letter sent to the Madison City Council from Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley, James “Jim” Lewis utilized City employees and municipal equipment to build a house on a property that he owns.
Foley said that over the course of several months, Lewis used City crews, vehicles, buildings and other resources to help in the construction of the home, while also falsifying time records and threatening City employees.
In the letter, Foley states that the Auditor of Personal Accounts received multiple complaints accompanied by photographs that show Lewis building the house during City time, using City employees, equipment and resources.
Lewis has also been accused of theft of services and abuse of public records. Both charges are being investigated by local law enforcement.
Foley added that a formal complaint has been filed against Lewis with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.
Below is a statement from the City of Madison on the situation:
“The City of Madison is aware of the issues brought up in this letter and has already taken steps to ensure that these issues will not happen again. As you know, the City Council has implemented employment consequences for Mr. Lewis and others in his department, and we are continuing to review the situation, including restitution issues. The city has begun to implement new procedures to ensure appropriate use of city resources, including not renting city equipment for personal use and installing digital time-clocks to ensure employee work hours are accurate. The city will also look to create an official policy in dealing with vendor rebates to make sure they are used for appropriate public purposes. The city will continue to monitor these issues and make every effort to make sure they will not happen again.”
