BYE-BYE TO GSA MOB BOSS JEFF NEELY!? Taxpayers to Front 100k Annual Comp!!!

"Prophetic, ain't it?" GSA's Jeff Neely in Hawaii. Photo: Deb Neely/Picasa

WASHINGTON — It took about six months, and it looks like taxpayers will be footing the bill for his $100,000 a year pension, but the GSA's Pacific Rim "Mob Boss" Jeff Neely is FINALLY GONE! The Complainer wonders why it took so long. AND, WHY wasn't this creep fired for cause?!!! “The guy set up a fiefdom....Not since Jack Abramoff has someone walked with such swagger,” stated Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) during the second House hearing on the GSA debacle. The Washington Post further notes: "Neely had planned for the 2010 employee conference to be 'over the top,' according to the inspector general’s report. The event included a magician and a $75,000 bicycle-building exercise, and questionable contracting practices. For instance, a GSA event planner had used a hotel locator service without allowing for competitive bidding on the contract."

We wonder why the Bush-appointee lasted so long in the first place. According to the WashPo:

Employees at the Pacific Rim region office described Neely as confident but arrogant and often abrasive in his management approach. One employee told GSA investigators that Neely “squashed like a bug” a regional director who questioned his spending on conferences and travel, GSA Inspector General Brian Miller told lawmakers during the congressional hearings.

With revelations like these, we wonder why Congress, and the Post, haven't dug any deeper. Indeed, we were surprised our discovery of Deb Neely's then-publicly available Picasa albums didn't lead to further investigation by the Post or any other major news sources. That said, the Post reports that "Immediately after the scandal broke, GSA Acting Administrator Daniel Tangherlini canceled 35 scheduled conferences, and the fallout has extended throughout the government.... The Obama administration has placed new restrictions on all federal travel and meetings." Perhaps, future Deb Neely's will be more more careful about where they post their vacation photos.