Taxpayer-funded job placement agency under investigation

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The scrutiny surrounding a taxpayer-funded jobs-placement agency is increasing, as multiple state investigations are now underway and could cost the man in charge his job, officials told FOX 13 Thursday.

CareerSource Tampa Bay and Pinellas came under fire earlier in the week after a Tampa Bay Times report questioned the salary for Ed Peachey, who runs both offices, and how the agency reports its numbers to the state. The Inspector General, responding to a request by the Department of Economic Opportunity, has now launched an investigation.

Days later, Florida Speaker of the House of Representatives Richard Corcoran called for a second investigation.

"I've sent a letter to Representative Larry Metz telling him to investigate the matter, authorizing him to use all the oversight powers that the legislature has including subpoena power if necessary. And we've sent a letter to the CareerSource, Mr. Peachey, asking for all the documentation that we'll need to see going on down there. But from what we've read by and all accounts, it's pretty disturbing," Corcoran said.

Investigators are trying to determine if CareerSource inaccurately reported its job placement numbers by taking credit for hundreds of jobs for which the agency had no hand in finding workers.

"We're very concerned about the whole issue. If indeed the numbers have been fudged, if you will, that's a very serious issue," said Pinellas County Commissioner Pat Gerard.

Gerard is a new member of the CareerSource Board of Directors for Pinellas County, which oversees that region's office. Her first meeting will be in February and she said calling for Peachey to step aside, at least for now, will be among her first orders of business.

"I think it's a wait and see but under the circumstances, I would have suspended him because the accusations are pretty serious and obviously the state and federal government are taking it very seriously," she said. "I think he needs to be out of that office."

Peachey's salary has also come under fire. Acccording to the boards of direcors that oversee CareerSource Tampa Bay and Hillsborough, Peachey's salary is nearly $300,000.

It's unclear, however, if the job placement numbers are used to help determine the executive director's salary.

Hillsborough Commissioner Sandy Murman, who also sits on her county's CareerSource Board of Directors, was stunned to read the reports. Neither she nor Gerard would rule out removing Peachey from his post if there was wrongdoing.

"I hope it's not true because I brag about us being number one in the state, almost at every speech I give out in the community, that we're the number one job creator," she said. "I don't know that he's a bad apple yet but if the reports verify that he is, you know, you got to take that out of the tree."

In a lengthy statement, a spokesperson for both of CareerSource's Tampa Bay offices said the numbers reported to the state weren't purposefully fudged but were, instead, meant to be a way to help the state and employers track employment data.