Looks like Hawaii is not too expensive for the Fed (Hilo: tax, to live)

[fancyapint]

Hope some of you with local businesses got some of that dough!

GSA employees spent 5 days in Hawaii for 1-hour groundbreaking event

The employee indicated to the IG investigator that trip was not isolated and that there was another, longer junket scheduled for Hawaii this fall.
That one would be in Hilo, Hawaii for 10 days and would include groundbreakings for a federal building, a post office and perhaps a courthouse.

GSA Employees Spent 5 Days In Hawaii For 1-hour Groundbreaking Event | Fox News

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by fancyapint

Hope some of you with local businesses got some of that dough!

GSA employees spent 5 days in Hawaii for 1-hour groundbreaking event

The employee indicated to the IG investigator that trip was not isolated and that there was another, longer junket scheduled for Hawaii this fall.
That one would be in Hilo, Hawaii for 10 days and would include groundbreakings for a federal building, a post office and perhaps a courthouse.

GSA Employees Spent 5 Days In Hawaii For 1-hour Groundbreaking Event | Fox News

The GSA employees already have to live down the "American Idle" video, so news of assorted junkets and other wastes of tax dollars isn't surprising...

UNCOVERED: Federal Government Worker "American Idle"? - Long Version and GSA Awards Ceremony - YouTube

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by fancyapint

GSA employees spent 5 days in Hawaii for 1-hour groundbreaking event

On the surface it sounds bad, and the GSA has certainly shown some irresponsible behavior lately... more heads should roll... but there isn't enough information on this story to judge.

Worst case, GSA paid for the accommodations, and they were all on payroll the whole trip, even while snorkeling. If so, whoever authorized it should be sacked.

Slightly better, GSA paid for the accommodations, but the employees were off payroll while snorkeling, etc. If so, whoever authorized it should be reprimanded and demoted.

Better, GSA paid for part of the accommodations... I think three days would be reasonable for a trip of that distance... and employees took personal days off and paid for their own accommodations to extend the trip a couple of more days. When I used to travel overseas on business I'd often do that, and I think it's a legitimate perk for an employee... even a government employee... as long as there is no cost to the organization. If so, no foul.

The other thing we need to know is whether any real work occurred while they were here, or was the visit entirely for ceremonial purposes? If the latter, then I think a single factotum should be sufficient, rather than a group. But again, we don't have enough info to say for sure.

[fancyapint]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

The GSA employees already have to live down the "American Idle" video, so news of assorted junkets and other wastes of tax dollars isn't surprising...

UNCOVERED: Federal Government Worker "American Idle"? - Long Version and GSA Awards Ceremony - YouTube

Yeah I loved that video. I was wondering why they were asking Hawaii to "Represent!" but now I do...

LOL