Travel spree documents turned over to DA

RALEIGH -- County manager David Cooke said today he has turned over documentation about a travel and spending spree by a former employee to Wake district attorney Colon Willoughby, raising the possibility of criminal prosecution.

In addition, Cooke plans to meet with an outside accounting firm Monday to discuss a sweeping audit of the past use of government credit cards by county employees.

The actions come two days after The News & Observer detailed 50 trips and questionable purchases made by Craig P. Wittig, the former recycling program manager for the county's solid waste management division. He was fired June 3.

Over a 26-month period, Wittig averaged two out-of-town trips a month. He and five subordinates racked up $161,233 in travel costs and other expenses to credit cards issued by Wake County and paid for with public money.

The trips included a whale-watching cruise off the Maine coast, nights at a Las Vegas casino, geyser sightseeing in Yellowstone and four visits to Walt Disney World.

Wittig, 37, also used his county charge card to buy top-of-the line backpacking gear, a John Denver CD and a novel about elves. Wittig has said the trips and purchases were legitimate expenses, many of them incurred in the line of one of his primary duties -- developing an environmental education program for Wake County.

His boss, Solid Waste Management Director James S. Reynolds, signed off on the charges, which were often justified as research on museums and parks for building an environmental education program that was to include a planned center to be built at the recently closed North Wake Landfill.

The fact that Wittig's direct supervisor approved the expenses could hamper any criminal prosecution of the former employee.

"The fact the trips were approved is an issue we would want to review before requesting the sheriff or the Raleigh Police Department or some other appropriate agency to open a criminal investigation," Willoughby said.

Reynolds was demoted last month, but he has remained on the county payroll earning a reduced annual salary of $85,000. No personnel action has been taken against those working for Wittig, who also went on some of the trips.

Cooke said he initially supported the decision of the county's new environmental services director, Tommy C. Esqueda, to demote Reynolds for approving the spending, rather than firing him. However, the county manager said he would now review the status of the others involved on a case-by-case basis.