Event was held at M Resort in Las Vegas

Event was held at M Resort in Las Vegas Flickr user Exothermic

Report details 'excessive and wasteful' conference spending at GSA

Agency officials went on eight different planning trips to put together Las Vegas event that featured a bicycle-building exercise and catered parties in hotel suites.

In a scathing report on spending for a 2010 General Services Administration conference in Las Vegas, the agency’s inspector general has concluded that “many of the expenditures on this conference were excessive and wasteful, and that in many instances GSA followed neither federal procurement laws nor its own policy on conference spending.”

The report led to the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson Monday, the firing of two other agency officials and various other administrative actions. Further penalties could be coming.

Before GSA officials settled on the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas as the site for the biennial Public Buildings Service Western Regions Conference in October 2010, they conducted eight different off-site sessions: two “scouting trips,” five planning meetings and one dry run for the event. Expenses for those planning sessions totaled more than $100,000.

The total cost of the conference was $820,000.

A GSA official told agency conference planners to make the event "over the top," the IG reported. Recommendations by regional employees that costs be curtailed were ignored. 

The event included a $75,000 team-building exercise, conducted by an organization called Most Valuable Performers, that involved building 24 bicycles. GSA officials improperly disclosed to the contractor that $75,000 was the most the agency could spend on one day of training, the IG reported.

The report found that GSA spent more than $146,000 on food for the conference, and determined that many of the expenditures were questionable. Meal expenses throughout the event exceeded federal per diem limits, which for Las Vegas were $71 per day in 2010.

On the first evening of the conference, the theme of which was “A Showcase of World-Class Talent,” GSA hosted a “networking reception” that featured, among other items, 1,000 sushi rolls at $7.00 apiece, a $19 per person “American Artisanal Cheese Display,” and $525 in bartender service fees.

Agency officials also hosted semi-private parties in hotel rooms and suites, catered at taxpayer expense. These included an “essentially celebratory party” for senior GSA officials hosted by Public Buildings Service Commissioner Robert Peck in his loft suite at a cost of $1,960. Peck was terminated Monday. Another party in the same suite, held on the closing night of the conference, cost more than $2,700.

GSA also spent more than $6,300 on commemorative coins for conference participants and other agency employees to reward them for their work on Recovery Act projects. Last year, the Obama administration ordered agencies to cease spending on such promotional items.

The agency also spent $1,840 for vests for “regional ambassadors” to wear at the conference, and almost $400 for tuxedo rentals for masters of ceremonies at an awards dinner.

The IG report concluded that several GSA employees may have taken actions in the course of planning the conference that violated regulations against accepting gifts from organizations and people doing business with the agency. In one instance noted in the report, an employee of Location Solvers, a company that worked with GSA to pick a venue for the event, sent an email to the M Resort saying that a GSA official would be staying at the hotel on the night before official travel days for a scouting trip to assess possible locations. Therefore, the email stated, the official “needs a friend of a friend of the owner rate. (wink).”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.