By L. Parsons Navajo County Public Health Director Jeff Lee has been indicted on 16 felony counts related to theft, misuse of public monies and fraudulent schemes by the Arizona State Attorney General Office, according to a press release issued by Navajo County and a statement by the Arizona Auditor General. Lee has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending further investigation. Findings from the Auditor General revealed Coconino County officials made the initial complaint against Lee. That investigation found that from July 2013 through April 2017, Lee allegedly used his Coconino County purchasing card to make 237 personal purchases. The total amount of those purchases was $82,550. Lee allegedly recorded false information in to the county’s accounting software to conceal his actions. Upon taking the position of Navajo County Public Health Director, it is alleged that Lee continued this illegal activity through March 2020, as a total of $9,148 lacked supporting or purpose documentation according to the Auditor General. Reportedly, Navajo County sought and received reimbursement from Lee on six personal purchases totally nearly $2,000. Lee has been the director at the county health department since April of 2017. Previously, he was employed by Coconino County in the emergency management and public health districts. He has been the go-to authority on the COVID-19 mitigation processes in Navajo County. Regarding continued mitigation efforts, County Manager Glenn Kephart said, “We want to assure our residents and community partners that the Navajo County Health Department will continue to provide high quality and much needed services without interruption. Our focus is on protecting public health and we have a highly capable and experienced team who will continue our strong network of community partnerships.” Kephart announced that Janelle Lynn has accepted the position of acting director for the department. Lynn is a Registered Nurse and has more than 20 years of experience with the Navajo County Health Department, most recently as the County’s Public Health Nursing Supervisor. “Since the COVID pandemic began, Janelle and her team of Public Health Nurses have worked tirelessly to protect the public by verifying cases and conducting contact tracing. Janelle has the experience, knowledge and strong leadership abilities to move us forward without skipping a beat. She has a strong team of professionals behind her to assure success,” stated Kephart, adding, “While we are deeply troubled by the current situation with Lee, we will continue to serve our public. The future of this team is very bright.” Kephart also addressed procedural changes that may prevent such events in the future. “The dedicated men and woman of Navajo County work very hard to earn the trust of the people we serve. This is of utmost importance to us and we are greatly troubled when an incident either occurs or is perceived to occur that breaks or fractures this trust. To this end, we strive to assure that safeguards are in place to protect the public interest and resources.” The county’s partnership with the Auditor General, Kephart explained, “Enables us to identify areas where we need to tighten controls and improve safeguards. As an example, most recently we implemented improvements to controls over purchasing cards as a result of this partnership.” Such improvements include updating written policies to include guidelines for reviewers on handling purchasing card misuse, including disciplinary action and reimbursement. Policies and procedures were also updated relating to purchasing card transaction approval, itemized receipts and continued employee training for proper use of purchasing cards.
