Golden – Jefferson County officials continue to investigate the background of the newly hired technical services director, who resigned Tuesday.
Duane Wishmeyer confirmed Wednesday he resigned after questions arose about whether he graduated from Iowa State University, as he listed on his resume.
Qualifications for the $100,000-a-year job include a bachelor’s degree.
On Wednesday, Wishmeyer said he thought he had enough credit hours for a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Wishmeyer’s college degree was not checked out before he was named technical services director in late August, nor before he was promoted earlier to head of information technology operations, county officials said.
The check was not done “because the promotions were internal, and Duane demonstrated the ability to do the job,” county spokeswoman Heather Banis zewski said Wednesday.
“We are checking his degree information, but we won’t get the information for a couple of days,” she added.
Wishmeyer, who joined the county in 2003 as a human resources information system analyst, had served as interim technical services director since June. It was unclear whether his credentials were checked when he was first hired in 2003.
“They have all the information, and nothing has been decided,” Wishmeyer said of the county. “They’ve seen all the progress” made in the department.
Wishmeyer became director at a time when the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners released an initial audit of the department that revealed sloppy purchasing and accounting procedures.
Last week, the county’s internal auditor said $1.1 million worth of computer parts purchased between 2002 and 2004 could not be accounted for.
County officials asked the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to investigate. That inquiry is continuing.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
