Hamilton disputes audit of ODU job

Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, yesterday disputed an internal audit at Old Dominion University showing that he may not have earned the $40,000 a year that the school paid him for a job he helped create.

The embattled Hamilton said in a news release that he has the documentation to prove "I performed every task requested of me, providing substantive and substantial value for my compensation."

He said he was not given an opportunity to provide documentation to the auditors. He did not release the documentation.

The internal audit, presented Thursday to ODU's governing board of visitors, found "very little documentation" that Hamilton performed any services in his position.

"Delegate Hamilton was paid a salary of $40,000 per year, paid in monthly installments," the report said. "He invoiced each month. No details of services rendered were provided on the invoices."

Hamilton is vice chairman of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee and a 21-year veteran of the House of Delegates. A federal grand jury and the House Ethics Advisory Panel launched investigations of Hamilton after word surfaced that he had asked the university to hire him for a job he created with a state appropriation.

Several of Hamilton's colleagues, including Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, have called on him to resign, but he has refused.

While disputing some of the details of the audit, Hamilton said it vindicated his claim that "I did not sponsor a budget amendment in exchange for a position with the center."

The Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership was created in 2007 with a $500,000-per-year budget amendment proposed by Hamilton.

"Although the idea for what eventually became CTQEL did not originate with Delegate Hamilton, it was evident from the series of e-mails that he did indeed solicit employment at CTQEL from the university," the audit concluded.

"The handling of Delegate Hamilton's position after his hire was not ideal," the report continued. "In addition to his incorrect hire as an employee, rather than an independent contractor, his work was neither well documented nor supervised. As noted previously, these conditions were not unique to Delegate Hamilton."

The report also said the center "does not have any true employees of it own." The center's work is carried out by another educational entity at the university, the report says.

When reports surfaced about the hiring of Hamilton in August, Hamilton and the university severed their ties. Hamilton at first denied he had sought employment at the center, but e-mails that two newspapers obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed otherwise. He said he did not remember the e-mails.

As a result of the audit, the ODU board of visitors adopted a resolution Thursday requiring stricter oversight of employment agreements between the university and elected officials.

President John R. Broderick also appointed a new head of the center. The dean of the College of Education announced he was retiring at the end of the academic year.

"Mistakes were clearly made at Old Dominion University and I know members of the university community and the board of visitors have been disappointed by what has happened," Broderick said in a statement.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .