Former DNR official abused state spa services

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The State Department of Natural Resources’ former chief financial officer spent three afternoons at a state-owned mountain spa during work hours and she did not pay for the services, according to a report the Georgia Office of the Inspector General released Tuesday.

The report found Michelle Bonner, who left the agency in March, spent almost 14 hours over three days enjoying spa services. The value of the spa services provided at the Brasstown Valley Resort, a state property, was $1,452, the report said.

The report also criticized Bonner for how use of the agency’s helicopter is documented, for paying “excessive” salaries to some employees and for providing little oversight and control of contracts and other documents.

A spokeswoman for DNR Commissioner Chris Clark said Bonner was “dismissed” at the end of March.

“I don’t think we can say it [Bonner’s leaving] was in response to this [report] because we didn’t have this, but there were other concerns,” said DNR spokeswoman Lauren Curry.

In a response letter to Inspector General Elizabeth Archer, Clark said he either had or would address the concerns raised in the report. Clark also wrote that shortly after he was named commissioner in March he asked for the state Department of Audits and Accounts to look into the spending of the agency that manages Brasstown Valley Resort, the North Georgia Mountain Authority, and that review was pending.

Clark did not dispute any of Archer’s criticism.

Attempts to reach Bonner by phone were not successful.

According to the report, Bonner received spa services at the mountain resort twice last October. One day began at 12:30 p.m. with a “monticelli mud muscle ease” service followed by a massage, a facial, a “simply sugar spa manicure” and a pedicure that ended around 5:15 p.m. Two and a half weeks later she returned for essentially the same treatments.

Then in early February she had a “hot stone massage,” a service called “D-age,” a “hydrafacial,” a manicure and a pedicure.

The region manager and others at the resort told the inspector general they thought Bonner had “used the spa in order to test and evaluate how the services were actually working.” The spa services were first offered at the resort on Oct. 3 and Bonner’s first visit was a few days later, on Oct. 7.

Though many of the complaints that started the investigation were not substantiated, the IG did find that Bonner paid “excessive salaries” to some DNR employees, including one who was allowed to take a voluntary demotion yet keep the higher salary.