GSA Waste is Getting Silly Now

I have nothing really against professionals getting together for a conference, even as a reward for hard work. Having been involved in quite a few government conferences myself in vendor-related roles and as presenters, the information that can be exchanged is quite useful. But this behavior by GSA Administrator Jeff Neely is inexcusable. Here he is soaking in a bathtub, with sangria, with a view in Vegas. He took his wife to scout the location of the 2010 confab.

From Jake Tapper at ABCNews here:

The government official on the frontlines of the scandal involving a wasteful government conference, U.S. General Services Administration regional commissioner Jeffrey Neely, will invoke his 5th amendment right against self-incrimination, his lawyer Preston Burton tells ABC News. He won’t comment on the $822,751 conference, many of the expenditures for which the GSA Inspector General called “excessive” and “wasteful.” He won’t comment on the bizarre awards ceremony, or the commemorative coins, the mind-reader/motivational speaker.

Mr. Neely bares a bit more in a photo collection on his wife’s Google+ page. There visitors can see photos of Neely staying in a luxurious suite at the M Resort Spa & Casino in November 2009, during one of the eight scouting and off-site pre-conference meetings to prepare for the October 2010 conference.

In my experiences, government confabs rarely happen in a fun, resort-style city or location. It is quite rare for the Feds to book space in Vegas, Orlando, New York City or Los Angeles. Typically these locations are centrally located or in cheaper convention centers- St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta and Nashville.

This asshole had eight offsite pre-conference meetings to prepare for his confab? And his wife got to go too? And his wife uses Google Plus and doesn’t know how to hit the delete key?!