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Former National Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers is asking the Merit Systems Protection Board to reverse its initial decision to uphold her removal, citing 40 or more legal errors made by the judge and the agency.

The new appeal raises the issue that NPS Director Fran Mainella testified that she would reinstate Chambers, but was not allowed to, and that NPS Deputy Director Don Murphy failed to deliver a prepared performance evaluation for Chambers.

The appeal states that Paul Hoffman, a former aide to Vice President Cheney, violated due process by conducting a secret investigation within the Interior Department, which governs the National Park Service and Park Police. Hoffman also failed to question Chambers and did not present the charges against her so they could be contested.

Park Service spokesman David Barna said the agency had little to say about the appeal. "Chambers is no longer an employee of the Department of Interior. This is a personnel matter and we will have no additional comments," Barna said.

Chambers is optimistic that the MSPB panel will look favorably on her case. "I can't believe that people won't see the truth in this," she said. "If this doesn't work at this point, then at federal court we have a whole new opportunity to bring the case in a different way."

The Park Service placed Chambers on administrative leave in December 2003 after she told the Washington Post that her 620-member police force needed 800 more officers to meet increased demands. She also said they faced a $12 million budget shortfall and needed $8 million more than what the Bush administration had requested for fiscal 2005.

After the article ran, Don Murphy put Chambers under a gag order, placed her on administrative leave and proposed to remove her from her position.

The same day Chambers appealed Murphy's decision to the MSPB, she was fired.

Chambers' 239-page petition will go before a three-member review panel.

Twice Hatched

When Bonnie Cannan ran for the Rochester, N.Y., city council as a Green Party candidate in 2001, she was warned by her employer that she was covered by the Hatch Act, which prohibits state and local workers with jobs that are connected to programs funded by a federal agency to run for political office.

As a state employee with the New York Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Cannan's job in the Finger Lakes Development Disabilities Service Office in Rochester, N.Y., is financed by Health and Human Services Department money.

Despite the initial warning, Cannan ran again as a Green Party candidate in 2002 for the New York State Senate. She received 1,309 votes out of the 76,641 cast.

In a settlement agreement announced Monday with the Office of Special Counsel, Cannan, who could not be reached for comment, acknowledged that she is covered by the Hatch Act and that she violated it in 2001 and 2002. She has agreed to resign from her job as a social worker assistant on Jan. 7, 2005, and won't seek work with the State of New York for 18 months.

As a result of the agreement, the OSC has dropped charges brought before the Merit Systems Protection Board on July 13, 2004.

OSC spokeswoman Cathy Deeds said that about half the cases OSC prosecutes related to the Hatch Act are state and local workers running for office who do not know that their jobs are federally funded. She said the Hatch Act does not require agencies to educate workers on whether their jobs are funded with federal dollars and that OSC is available to educate them about the Act.

COMMENTS

• The Hatch Act simply is another way for Congress to reduce its competition for office. There is no legit reason for HHS to be funding anything (nor HUD, nor Energy etc etc etc). Because the government now funds anything and everything no one but a lawyer can run for office. Get rid of all those farmers in state and local government that took handouts (subsidies) from the federal government! Get rid of all those on social security because they are being paid by HHS! Get rid of all those on Medicare because they are paid by HHS! You should not apply this ridiculous act on a selective basis - apply it to everyone or get rid of it! That means that everyone in Congress over 65 should be thrown out if they are recieving any social security payments or Medicare! taxpayer Posted December 21, 2004 7:21 AM
• This firing was blatantly wrong and wish the Chief the best. Her speaking out is the American way; blind obedience went out with the Vietnam war. We need more outspoken "leaders" and stop Big Brother from trying to hide the truth !! GovExec.com reader Posted December 17, 2004 7:05 AM