State Audit Report Blasts Napa Valley Vets Home

A newly released state audit report of the Veterans Home of California, Yountville, blasts a former home administrator for what it calls "wastefulness, failure to comply with state contracting requirements and inexcusable neglect of duty."

The blistering report, posted today on the California State Auditor's website, refers to more than $650,000 in wasted costs in two construction contracts: one for a failed adventure park; and the other for a cafe and tavern at the facility.

Although it doesn't mention the administrator's name, it's clear the report refers to former administrator Marcella McCormack, who, as reported in Napa Valley Patch on Sept. 28, resigned abruptly that month after 13 years on the job.

According to the report, McCormack "needlessly" paid about $425,000 to a vendor to operate a cafe and tavern at the home, when "they could have been operated at almost no cost," the report says. In addition, the payment to the vendor "violated several contracting requirements related to leasing," the report says.

In addition, the audit report says the state had to pay more than $225,000 to terminate the contract for the adventure park "after Veterans Affairs top management learned about it and halted construction."

"The contracts were a product of the administrator neglecting her duty to evaluate whether the contracts complied with state contracting requirements, constituted a prudent use of the home's resources and served the best interests of the residents of the home," the report states.

The audit report also blames McCormack's former supervisor, who retired in June 2011, for "neglecting his duty to monitor the facilities of the home and oversee the administrator's activities."

To see a summary of the audit report click here.

To download a PDF of the full 42-page report, click here.

McCormack could not be reached for comment on Friday.