GSA conference video pokes fun at spending, IG

Video has surfaced from the lavish Las Vegas conference, which eventually led to the firing of two top officials and the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha...

More bad news for the General Services Administration.

Video has surfaced from the lavish Las Vegas conference, which eventually led to the firing of two top officials and the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson amid an outcry over excessive spending.

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The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee posted what it says is video from an awards ceremony at the October 2010 Western Region Conference along with a music video created by a GSA employee that pokes fun at, among other things, GSA spending and inspector general investigations.

A spokesman for the committee said the video was provided by GSA’s Office of the Inspector General. Federal News Radio has reached out to GSA and the IG’s office for comment.

Set to a pop tune by Bruno Mars, the song proclaims: “Obama better prepare, when I’m Commissioner/ I’d have a road show like [Acting Regional GSA Administrator Jeffrey] Neely/ every time you see me rolling on 20s yeah, in my GOV.”

A few lines later, the employee sings:

“Cause I buy everything your field office can’t afford/Every GS-5 would get a top hat award/ Donate my vacation, love to the nation/ I’ll never be under OIG investigation.”

According to background information posted with the video, the song was part of a talent show for the conference’s “Capstone Dinner.”

Footage of the event then shows Deputy Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service David Foley presenting the employee an award and joking about “paying for the party that was held in the commissioner’s suite last night.”

The IG report noted that GSA officials held several “semi-private parties” in their hotel suites that were catered at taxpayer expense.

The IG also referenced the “Capstone Dinner” and awards ceremony.

Conference planners told employees an awards ceremony of some sort was necessary in order to spend federal funds on food. However, the IG reports the ceremony had “more to do with contribution at the conference” than job performance.

“Several employees indicated this has become something of a running joke in the region,” the report states.

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