Key West The Newspaper

Groping Superintendent Gets Bonus and Lateral Transfer despite Raft of Violations    

Washington, DC — A national park superintendent repeatedly touched a female employee against her wishes, routinely made inappropriate comments, violated a number of rules relating to safety, alcohol, and gratuities, and failed a polygraph, according to an Interior Office of Inspector General (IG) Report of Investigation posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Despite these multiple violations and a referral for criminal prosecution, the superintendent received a cash bonus and was transferred at full salary to a larger park, a move the National Park Service (NPS) explained through media “message points” by saying that this “employee has made a substantial contribution to our work.”

Until this March, Jorge Acevedo was the superintendent of De Soto National Memorial, a 25-acre park commemorating the Spanish explorer’s 1539 Florida landfall. Forwarded emails describing his harassment of female staff prompted the NPS Southeastern Regional Office to call in the IG to investigate.

The IG confirmed that for months Acevedo initiated unwanted personal contact with a female staff member, including hugs, lingering handshakes, and repeatedly invading her personal space by, among other things, lying prone on her desk while she was trying to work. He also frequently made inappropriate comments about her appearance despite repeated requests to stop. Acevedo initially denied the incidents took place but failed a polygraph test and later admitted he had violated NPS’ sexual harassment policy.

“What a creep,” remarked PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, pointing out that a cursory background check would have revealed that he engaged in similar behavior before being promoted to De Soto. “This guy often announced to his beleaguered staff that because he was superintendent he could do whatever he wanted – a syndrome known in the agency as ‘superintendent personality disorder.’”

Not only did Acevedo believe that he could set aside rules, but the IG established that he often did. The report, which PEER obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, found that he mishandled park receipts and violated safety rules governing gunpowder used in historical reenactments and prohibitions on alcohol use in the park, and improperly accepted gifts from park volunteers in exchange for having a pad constructed in the park for their RV. The IG presented his gratuities violations to the U.S. Attorney, who declined prosecution. The IG then sent their report to Acting NPS Director Michael Reynolds.

Acevedo is now “Partnerships Manager” at his previous salary for the complex of parks including Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. Before this lateral transfer, he also received a $1,000 performance bonus. NPS talking points issued to staff said Acevedo “made a substantial contribution to our work” and deserves a “respectful [work] environment.”

“If, as the Park Service claims, there is zero tolerance, then why aren’t these firing offenses?” ask Ruch, arguing that the “message points” praising Acevedo re-victimized his victims. “Instead of zero tolerance, the Park Service accords double-digit tolerance to its managers.”

In June, two months after the Acevedo transfer, Reynolds testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee boasting about his efforts “to bring a culture of transparency, respect, and accountability” to the NPS.

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Read the IG report

View the NPS talking points

See pattern of tolerance for misconduct by high-level NPS officials

Look at Reynold’s recent testimony

ABOUT PEER 
What We Are Most Proud Of

PEER has been around for more than two decades. Here are seven things we have done that are particularly noteworthy:

• Shut the pathway for lead poisoning for 1.4 million children under age 7 living in 5 million older residential units with lead paint. A PEER lawsuit forced long-overdue rules requiring that all repairs and renovations on these older houses and apartments be conducted in a lead-safe manner.
• Strengthened protections for federal whistleblowers through litigation, such as restoring U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers  and negotiating the biggest federal whistleblower settlement. These victories not only created groundbreaking case law but also forced a measure of that most elusive element – accountability.
• Created safeguards for government scientists and the integrity of their research. This work includes not only new legal protections for scientists  but our efforts validating their technical work and exposing official acts of scientific fraud and censorship.
• Won important government reforms, such as preventing losses of billions by insulating federal land appraisals from political influence and exposing how the Army Corps of Engineers cooks its books on cost-benefit analyses to falsely justify multi-billion dollar projects.  This latter case caused the removal of two generals and a colonel, blocked Congressional authorization of any new navigation projects for six years and framed an issue carrying the shorthand name “Corps Reform.”
• Shielded public lands from abuse by uprooting all genetically modified crops from wildlife refuges, and halting off-road vehicles from destroying national forests,  parks,  and fragile desert lands.
• Defended wildlife by winning steps to prevent ship-strikes on the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale  and harassment of manatees by “swim-with” tourists.  PEER is a leader is fighting against the militarization of wildlife management.
• Forced adoption of safeguards for human exposure testing of pesticides and other toxins. This follows our expose of EPA endorsing testing insecticides on toddlers in an infamous experiment it was forced to cancel.