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Deputy chief takes heat over lease payment
By AMY HERDY, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- After the Tampa Police Department leased two vehicles for the U.S. Marshals Service last year, it was supposed be reimbursed by a federal grant. Instead, the $9,756 bill went unpaid for months, until the leasing company threatened to repossess the Ford Expedition and Jeep Grand Cherokee. An official with Mears Motor Leasing in Orlando gave an ultimatum to Tampa Deputy Chief Jane Siling, who was in charge of administering the grant. "You make a payment today, or I'm picking them up tomorrow," Monhollen recalled telling Siling last July. "So she gave me her personal Visa card on the condition she be reimbursed. She assured me that payment was in the process from the city of Tampa, and we'd receive it in 30 days. Well, we never got payment," Monhollen said, so the charge remained on Siling's card. "I found a way to take care of it until the company could be paid," Siling said Monday. "I did it." Now the city of Tampa is reimbursing Siling for the expense, and while no rules appear to have been broken, the unusual situation has raised eyebrows and questions about her management skills. The head of the Tampa police union says he intends to ask Chief Bennie Holder today to investigate Siling, who is deputy chief over uniformed services. "In light of the allegations, we're concerned that she's in a position of passing judgment over other officers," said union president Kevin Durkin. "Is she competent? If not, how can she be competent to pass judgment over other officers?" "I'm going to meet with the chief and urge him to take strong action," Durkin said, declining to elaborate. For her part, Siling, 51, said she regrets that she did not go to Chief Holder about the situation. But, she said, it is being blown out of proportion because of politics. As one of the top ranking women at the Police Department, the 26-year veteran has made no secret she wants to be chief when Holder retires in August 2003. "I wish I had gone the appropriate way," said Siling, who pointed out she does not expect the city to pay for any interest her credit card accrued. "But at the time, I felt it was the only option I had." A spokeswoman for the department, Katie Hughes, said Holder was looking into the matter but that no formal investigation of Siling had been launched. "There's no rules that were broken," Hughes said. Still, she said, Holder was concerned. Siling said she put the charge for the leased cars for the U.S. Marshals Service on her credit card because money from the federal grant, called the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, had not been processed by the Police Department in time. Monday, she said she was not sure why. "I don't recall when we got the original notification of the grant paperwork, and when it was processed," she said. At the time, Siling said, she was dealing with the death of Tampa police Officer Lois Marrero, who was killed in the line of duty July 6. Siling's duties required that she act as the liaison between the department and the Marrero family. "I was overwhelmed," she said. Yet Monhollen of Mears Motor Leasing said he tried for months to reach Siling. The Expedition was leased for one year, beginning September 2000, he said; the Jeep was leased for two years in December 2000. The cost: $9,756. By July 2001, no payment had been made despite many overdue notices and phone calls, so Monhollen said he gave Siling the ultimatum July 24. "She's impossible to reach," he said. "She's out so often it's frustrating. You never get a call back." Siling, who makes $99,000 a year, has been questioned about her bookkeeping before. An attorney for the Police Athletic League investigated her last year after she briefly deposited a $2,500 PAL donation into her personal bank account. An audit of PAL's books questioned her methods yet cleared Siling of any wrongdoing. And, earlier this year, Holder removed her from her duties as administrator of the HIDTA grant after she was late with paperwork, delaying part of the grant. Yet HIDTA officials say they have never questioned Siling's honesty. "The absolute worst thing Jane Siling has done has been somewhat tardy with some paperwork," said William Fernandez, director of HIDTA. "And so has every other recipient of HIDTA funding." Fernandez said HIDTA only reimburses agencies that submit a paid receipt; there is no way anyone can abuse the system. Siling's method of payment for the cars drew his attention, he said, so he discussed it with Holder. "Do I think it's a good thing? No," he said. "I think she got behind on a payment. I don't see anything criminal or dastardly." Mayor Dick Greco agreed. "Jane Siling is a nice lady, a good cop and she's certainly not dishonest in any shape or form," said Greco, who thinks the criticism is politically motivated. "A lot of people have something to gain." -- Amy Herdy can be reached at (813) 226-3386 or herdy@sptimes.com
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