The Montgomery County, Maryland, government’s ability to account for who drives some of the county’s 885 light-duty fleet vehicles and whether those employees have clean driving records could use improvement.
That’s according to the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General, which issued a report that recommended more training for fleet managers, and tightening the procedures on access to motor pool vehicles and keys.
The report excluded vehicles assigned to independent county agencies and focused on a pool of 103 vehicles for its inspection sample.
The report from Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi stated that the county has “lax controls” over its fleet, and that it provides “limited guidance and training” to managers charged with supervising the use of fleet vehicles.
According to the report, the county’s Department of Risk Management doesn’t check the driving records of employees with out-of-state driver’s licenses. It also found that the county doesn’t keep a complete list of all employees who are authorized to drive county vehicles or use a personal vehicle for county business.
Another problem discovered in the report: in some cases, the Division of Risk Management continues to “needlessly” monitor the driving records of employees who have left county government. The report said, “This creates additional work for staff and invokes privacy concerns.”
At the same time, the report found that the same division doesn’t check the driving records of almost two-thirds of employees with assigned light-duty administrative vehicles.
Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer Richard Madaleno responded to the report, agreeing with all five recommendations.
In his responses, Madeleno said the executive branch concurs with the findings, but he did say that there are “numerous challenges” to getting driving records of all employees approved to drive county cars “in a reliable and easily accessible form.”
Madaleno wrote that the county will be reviewing and updating its current administrative procedure and make “necessary changes to improve oversight” and reporting by departments.
