Former secretary is focus of Senate heat in DOC investigatio

OLYMPIA – The focus of the third Senate Law and Justice committee hearing Monday on their Department of Corrections (DOC) investigation seemed to be Bernie Warner. Specifically, many of the questions and testimonies centered around the former corrections secretary’s management style, and how it might have affected the atmosphere at the department during the time when the sentencing error was going unfixed.

“There are some glaring omissions,” Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-Tacoma, said about the governor’s investigator’s report.

O’Ban said there is a pattern of “trying to downplay” the impact of Warner’s leadership in this issue.

Warner stepped down in October 2015, before he was aware of the programming error responsible for the early release of over 3,000 inmates. The issue was not fixed until December 2015.

The committee heard testimony from former Chief Information Officer Kit Bail, former Assistant Secretary Denise Doty, and Secretary Dan Pacholke, who announced his resignation Feb. 6.

All of these witnesses indicated in their testimony that they believed Warner’s leadership style and management of the department may have been a cause for the delay in the sentencing error fix.

Bail, CIO from 2006 to 2011, said members of the IT department at the DOC did not feel respected for their skills. Bail only worked under Warner for about a month, but she said she kept in touch with other individuals in the department.

An emphasis of Warner’s was instituting an offender risk management system called Strong-R. The majority of the work for this program was done by an outside firm, which Bail said negatively impacted the morale at the IT department.

According to the report, the governor’s investigators found no solid evidence to support the claim that Strong-R was a reason for the delay in fixing the sentencing error.

However, Bail said many skilled IT employees left the department because of the lowered morale.

“I think it crated an atmosphere that reduced the effectiveness of any governance that remained, and that governance would have been focused on making sure work was done as it should’ve been,” said Bail.

Doty also mentioned Strong-R in her testimony, she said the timeliness of fixing the error was impacted by Strong-R. Doty, who reported directly to Warner, knew of the error in December 2012.

She said she did not recall bringing up the issue with Warner, but it was her “practice,” to keep him updated on such problems.

The governor’s investigation found no evidence Warner knew about the computer error prior to leaving the department.

Pacholke, whose resignation is effective March 10, described his predecessor Warner as “aloof” and not very accessible.

Pacholke also indicated that the governor’s investigation’s report omitted facts about David Dunnington, an IT business manager. The report states Dunnington is primarily responsible for repeatedly delaying the programming fix.

Pacholke said Dunnington has evidence that suggests otherwise; he said Dunnington said he received instructions to downgrade all similar maintenance items by a deputy CIO.

Nick Brown, general counsel to the governor, said Dunnington’s evidence was submitted to the investigators, and they felt confident in their conclusion. Brown said the investigators found no other sentencing enhancements that were de-prioritized after these instructions were given.

Brown also mentioned the Gov. Inslee has expressed that Warner deserves some of the blame, but because Warner is not still in state government, he is focusing on those who are.

“This Senate committee, led by Senator Padden, has been focused on Bernie Warner since they started,” said Brown. “Not on the truth, not on fact finding, but how do we discredit Secretary Warner, and therefore how do we discredit the governor — that’s their goal.”

Senators Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, O’Ban said they are seeking to bring Warner in for testimony. However, Warner currently works in Utah, so they have expressed that it may be difficult to subpoena him if he does not come willingly.