"I think his intentions were not honorable," she said. "He went far beyond the scope of his investigation. . . . The accusations are absolutely scurrilous, and he didn't ask for the other side."

Swensen said Morton's questioning was general and vague, and he did not bother to verify her answers with other personnel or ask her specifically about certain allegations.

At the same time those hiring practices allegations are swirling around Swensen, another personnel office whistle-blower has reported timecard falsification by tuition coordinator Lisa Funderburk and others. The whistle-blower alleges that Funderburk, for example, would manipulate the time her computer recorded her as logging in.

County computers automatically record the time employees log in, but that time can be overridden.

County chief administrative officer Doug Willmore, who met with the whistle-blower Wednesday afternoon, said the information contained "some pretty specific allegations regarding some personnel. The personnel chief (McGowan) knew about it and would prosecute people who weren't his friends and let people go who were his friends."

In Funderburk's case (she has already been accused of abusing the tuition-assistance program which she herself coordinated.), Willmore noted that 31 percent of the time, her computer records don't agree with handwritten arrival/departure times she entered manually at the front desk upon arriving at or leaving the office.

Funderburk could not be reached for comment. Citing the ongoing investigation, McGowan declined comment.

The whistle-blower approached then-chief administrative officer David Marshall last year regarding the Funderburk matter and maintains that McGowan was aware of it but did nothing.

The whistle-blower conceded that Marshall pursued the matter, but that nothing came of it.

Marshall also declined comment for this article.

Funderburk is only one example. The whistle-blower said there are many others within the personnel office and elsewhere in the county who are falsifying their time worked, with the implicit cooperation of McGowan and other officials if those employees are their friends.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com