Lake Havasu City staff and AMEC recently reviewed allegations, finding “no evidence to support” a former employee’s claims.

Former AMEC employee Stacy Ford-Kelly made statements Nov. 10 during a public comments portion of the City Council regular meeting. Ford-Kelly claimed she was terminated from AMEC after “finding errors” in the sewer project. She also said her comments were “disregarded” by her superiors at AMEC when she worked as an engineer in training in 2008. AMEC representatives said an outside, unnamed ethics auditor evaluated the claims and found nothing substantial.

“The results of the investigation yielded no evidence to support any of Ms. Ford’s claims of corruption or misconduct and no further action was deemed necessary,” AMEC Senior Vice President David Peterson and Executive Vice President William Brickey wrote in a memo to city staff.

The memo also states the outside firm “performed an extensive audit of documents, files and computer hard drives for any evidence of misconduct” and also interviewed Ford-Kelly and AMEC staff.

Ford-Kelly said she did not feel the outside auditing staff was adequate.

“The problem I had was they’re accountants,” she said. “They can balance the books but they’re not engineers. They didn’t look at drawings or specific things I was talking about.”

Interim City Manager Charlie Cassens stated city staff researched the claims as well and so far have received no documents or a notice of claim against the city.

“Despite (Ford-Kelly’s) expressed willingness to share this information with staff and the city attorney, she has not been forthcoming with any documentation,” Cassens said in the memo. “In the absence of any verifiable information to support her claims, staff can only rely on information contained in existing files and reports. Based on the information currently at hand, we feel Ms. Ford’s allegations are unfounded and can find no cause to pursue this matter any further.”

Ford-Kelly said she filed claims regarding her employment with AMEC to the Environmental Protection Agency, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the Internal Revenue Service and the Arizona Board of Professional Registrants.

“I am sure this is why I was ‘laid off’ from AMEC because I had brought these issues to the attention of my superiors and they did nothing,” she wrote in an e-mail to PBS&J. “The more problems I found and reported, the worse things got for me.”

Ford-Kelly said she plans to pursue the matter further.

“Just from the time I spent at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, my notes on that have nearly 100 lines that are not to specifications,” she said, adding that her intention is to correct errors on the project. “From the beginning, all I’ve wanted is for the sewer to be correct and nobody would listen. As an engineer, your first duty is to the public.”

Interim Public Works Director Mark Clark said he first heard the claims in May.

“AMEC shared with us those issues and we felt comfortable that they addressed the issues,” he said. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s an employment issue related to (AMEC’s) employees.”

Clark added that he would also review and investigate any possible errors in the Wastewater System Expansion Program.

“City staff does review plans with the project to make sure we’re comfortable with the work being done and ADEQ also signs off on plans to make sure they meet their requirements,” he said. “Any information that indicated any problems would be looked into immediately.”

Ford-Kelly also made accusations claiming former City Manager Richard Kaffenberger was responsible for “blackballing” her from a position with PBS&J. Cassens said city staff reviewed police reports involving Ford-Kelly and “her husband James Kelly.”

“After reviewing the various reports and hearing what her former employers had to say, we can find no evidence to support her claim that she was ‘blackballed’ from a prospective position at PBS&J,” Cassens wrote in a memo.

Ford-Kelly also claimed earlier this month that her residence was illegally searched in July 2008.

“I believe (Kaffenberger) was also a part of the search warrant,” she said Nov. 10, “which was looking for the documentation that would prove illicit activities.”

Ford-Kelly also said she has documents which show the search was performed illegally and plans to release them following federal investigation.

“That’s a whole other issue that I can prove,” she said.

Cassens said city staff researched the “alleged ‘thefts’ from her home by police in March 2008 and the subsequent retention of what Ms. Ford refers to as ‘$60,000 in contraband,’” according to the memo.

“We believe these are cases relating to a large number of assault-type weapons that were seized during the execution of a search warrant on her home in July 2008,” the memo stated. “We believe the weapons cases have no bearing on Ms. Ford’s present employment condition, and according to documents on file with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the seized weapons (excepting three that Mr. Kelly allegedly converted to full auto capability), will remain in their custody until the federal case against Mr. Kelly is resolved.”

Ford-Kelly said she does not plan to provide documents with city staff because of the search.

“If they’re going to allow an illegal search on my house, and not care about their corruption and help me in that way then why should I help them,” she said, adding that she does plan on filing lawsuits against AMEC, the city and the police department.

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com.