County officials are expected to move to terminate Deputy Building Official John Blake for allegedly falsifying payroll records to receive overtime pay that he was not authorized to receive.
Mike DiamondPalm Beach Post
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- Two former high-ranking officials in the county’s building department falsified payroll records to bilk the county out of nearly $28,000, according to a recently released county Inspector General report.
- The report cited Deputy Building Official John Blake, who on May 28 was placed on administrative leave without pay following release of a draft IG report that was sharply critical of him.
- Also cited was Fred Held, the Assistant Deputy of Inspections, who resigned in May of 2023.
Two former high-ranking officials in the county’s building department falsified payroll records to bilk the county out of nearly $28,000, according to a recently released county Inspector General report.
The report cited Deputy Building Official John Blake, who on May 28 was placed on administrative leave without pay following release of a draft IG report that was sharply critical of him. His annual salary is $132,560 a year. As the Deputy Building Official, Blake, a county employee for the past 28 years, supervised personnel involved in enforcing the county’s building codes.
Also cited was Fred Held, the Assistant Deputy of Inspections, who resigned in May of 2023. He reported to Blake. At the time of his resignation, Held's annual salary was $99,075.
They are both alleged to have falsely claimed they worked extra hours, seeking to be paid overtime for working as early as 6 a.m. when their their work cards showed that they often arrived much later.
On March 23, Blake, for example, allegedly entered the county office building on Jog Road west of West Palm Beach at 12:07 p.m. Yet he charged overtime for working from 7 to 8 a.m. that day, according to the IG report. There were some days that both he and Held never entered the building, according to their access cards, the IG report said, yet they charged the county for a full day of work.
The Building Department was also cited for having “a lack of internal controls that allowed Blake to approve his own overtime. His time sheets were reviewed from November 2021 through April 2023. They were compared with building access records, and discrepancies were discovered, according to the 31-page report.
Among the findings was that Blake inappropriately claimed overtime 85 times for working on his lunch break between Feb. 25 through July 28 of 2022 and approved his own time sheets 22 times from February to August 2022.
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Lawyer demands public hearing for his client to clear his name
Blake's lawyer, Isidro Garcia of West Palm Beach, filed a response that was included in the report. He said his client was "devastated" by the decision to place him on administrative leave, claiming that the report contained multiple errors. He said Blake worked the hours claimed, and that they were "implicitly approved by his supervisor through inaction."
Garcia pointed to an October 2021 policy that allowed salaried employees in the county Building Department to work overtime due to a staggering case load brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The department at the time had more than 40 vacancies, according to Garcia. In April 2023, the county barred all Building Department employees from claiming overtime.
"Now the county wants to claw back hours that my client worked and was authorized to be paid for in an emergency situation," Garcia said. "We request a name-clearing hearing once you provide access to the investigative materials."
The report questioned payments made to Blake that totaled $18,054. In his interview with the IG, Blake said he would be willing to give money back to the county if it was determined that he received overtime payments he was not entitled to receive, according to the IG report.
Held was also found to have falsely reported “on numerous occasions” that he arrived for work at 6 a.m., prior to when his workday began. As the assistant deputy of inspections, he was accountable for the final inspections of complex construction projects.
From January through April 2023, the IG found that on 32 of 34 days, Held's overtime entries were inconsistent with the card used to record his entry into the county building. On three occasions, there was "no swipe card entry recorded." According to the report, Held said he was working on emails from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. but a county official noted that he commuted to work from St. Lucie County, making it impossible for him to work on emails while he was driving to work. Held resigned a few days after meeting with the IG, saying he had found another job.
In a response filed with the IG, Held denied being "deceitful in any way in regards to his time records." He noted he did not resign due to the IG investigation, claiming he accepted employment several weeks prior to becoming aware of the investigation.
The report questioned $9,554 in payments made to Held.
In August 2022, Building Official Doug Wise sent an email to staff saying it was inappropriate for anyone to charge overtime for their lunch break. “If you are doing this, please cease this practice immediately."
Mike Diamond is a journalist atThe Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him atmdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism.Subscribe today.
