Silviu Craescu has been the administrator of the United States Ambassador”s residence in Bucharest for four years, whether the Ambassador was Taubman or Mark Gitenstein. He was in charge not only of the administration of everything that such a residence represents, but also of organizing high ranking official visits and to ensure the security of the American Ambassadors. In a letter, Joe Biden, the Vice-President of the US, officially thanked him for the support given during his stay in Romania, and a high official of the American Security acknowledges his professional virtues. One day though, without any explanation or reason whatsoever, he was informed that he was no longer working for the American residence in Kiseleff Street. His labor contract was ended with disregard of the legal procedures and for the failure of some amiable conversations which he had in order to gain back his professional honor. Therefore, Silviu Craescu decided to sue his employer, Mark Gitenstein. The Ambassador of the US didn”t show up at the first hearing, claiming through the voice of the attorney of the Embassy, Ana Diculescu Sova, that he benefits from the diplomatic immunity. A bold judge pointed out the fact that Silviu Craescu had signed a labor contract, according to the Romanian Labor Code, with a private person, for the latter”s residence. In this respect, she decided to summon the Ambassador at the following hearing in September. "The threats of the Chief of Staff of the United States Embassy, claiming that the Ambassador is a highly influential person with connections in high places, do not frighten me at all and I am confident that the Romanian justice will give me the chance to regain my dignity and professional prestige, which I lost due to the illegal decision of firing me on grounds of professional unsuitability", Silviu Craescu said in a written Statement submitted to the Romanian officials but also to some high representatives of the State Department which controls the American Diplomatic Corps. Beyond the natural progress of a case pending before the trial court, Silviu Craescu reveals, exclusively for Q Magazine, the way Romanians are being treated and exploited inside the United States Ambassador”s residence, how an university graduate is being commanded to wash the silverware or how he should watch the Ambassador”s dog, and not lastly, how Mark Gitenstein was involved in the presidential campaign in 2009. I would like to point out that I have asked for an opinion from the US Ambassador through his appointed counsel, but he replied that he doesn”t want to comment on the allegations made by his former employee.
Q Magazine: I have asked you, upon our first meeting, whether you”re not afraid to pursue this war with an American Ambassador…
Silviu Craescu: I am not afraid for myself , but for my family. When I started this conflict, I requested the Romanian authorities to support me and to protect me and my family against the threats of the SD and other military services from the United States Embassy in Bucharest and also to investigate, to inquire into and to determine upon filing my complaints, that all my statements were true. I faced a part of the risks, but I am permanently monitored by the Romanian Special Intelligence Services and not only, which confer me a feeling of protection.
"All my acquaintances who have called me were threatened"
Q Magazine: You told me that you received veiled threats through the voice of one of the Embassy”s employees.
Silviu Craescu: Yes, that is true. I was threatened by the deputy of the Chief of Diplomatic Mission, Mrs. Jeri Guthrie-Corn, with whom I have signed a labor contract that was not registered at the Territorial Labor Inspectorate of Bucharest and for which I have never been paid on the Romanian territory. I was threatened not to say anything about it otherwise I would never be hired here in Romania. I was also threatened by the chief of the American Embassy Human Resources Department, Mrs. Lisa Derrickson, that I might get hurt if the American state would be involved in a law suit and that the American counterintelligence agents will take care of me. Afterwards, there were threats to those who called me. A part of my acquaintances were distributed to the second line and many of them were threatened not to talk to the press or contact me anymore, because they risk losing their job if they contact me or give details about the Embassy.
Q: These are serious allegations. What was your job descripxion through the years during your work at the residence?
Silviu Craescu: In order to answer you to this question we have to go back to June 2006 when, after many interviews, I was hired as Protocol Chief Administrator by the Ambassador of the United States, Nicholas Frank Taubman, to fill this "high sensitive" position inside the US Ambassador”s Official Residence in Bucharest. Due to the high claims of the employer, an international successful business man, ranked the 380th on Top Forbes according to his wealth, you can figure out that the tests and recommendations for this job were likewise. The work permit and the security certificate needed for this job were requested from the American Security Agency, the famous Secret Service, as well as from the Romanian partner agencies and the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs. After Nicholas Frank Taubman and his family left Romania, I continued my work at the residence of the United States Ambassadors, observing the American interests.
In August 2009, with the arrival to Bucharest of the new US Ambassador in Romania, Mark Henry Gitenstein, and his family, I was assigned for the same job. I have administered and supervised the daily activities in the Official Residence of the Ambassadors of the US in Romania for both of them. Moreover, I have organized and ensured the good development of private or official events of representation of the American State, I have prepared all the requests and all administrative, financial, private or official representation formalities for and on behalf of the US Ambassadors assigned to Bucharest. I have collaborated with the Bureau of External Protocol inside the Embassy”s Diplomatic Mission in Bucharest, with the Romanian authorities, with SIE (Foreign Intelligence Services), with SRI (Romanian Intelligence Services), with SPP (Protect and Guard Services), with the Romanian Gendarmerie, with the Police, the Secret Service, FBI, CIA, NSA, as well as with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security from the US Embassy in Bucharest, so as to take all the necessary measures in order to ensure the good development of all the activities, such as: private visits, official visits or state visits from American dignitaries in Romania.
"Vice president Joe Biden thanked me in a letter"
Q: Were there things you were reproached for?
Silviu Craescu: No, never and I would like to mention that my first contact with the American Ambassadors was in 1990. I personally organized, for four years in a row, the Official Recepxion for the Independence Day in Bucharest, having over 3000 VIPs as guests. I was directly involved in the organization of the NATO Summit in Bucharest, together with the Advance Team of the American Secret Service, along with the arrival and active participation to the discussions of the American President George W. Bush and the First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush. I coordinated and organized together with the US Ambassador in Bucharest, Nicholas Frank Taubman, and his wife, the official visit, the official dinner and I supervised the accommodation of the official suites and members of the escort team in the guest villas of the American Government in Romania. Ultimately, in 2009, together with the American Secret Service and partner services from Romania, as a special and personal employee of the US Ambassador, mainly having security responsabilities, I was directly involved in organizing the official visit of the American Vice-President, Joseph Biden, at the invitation of the Romanian president, Mr. Traian Basescu, and I organized the discussions of the American official to Bucharest with the major political parties, PSD and PNL.
Q: You signed a labor contract between you and Mr. Gitenstein, as a private person, on the 1st of Sepxember 2009. It was registered at the Territorial Labor Inspectorate on the 7th of December 2009 under Ref. no. 277/VII/R/. Why was it only then?
Silviu Craescu: I”m glad you ask me this question, but the employer is the one who can answer it… and probably, the TLI inspector, Roxana Georgescu, who monitors and registers all the decisions and documents of the US Embassy, and against whom I have filed a complaint.
Q: Does the whole personnel from the residence sign an individual labor contract with Mark Gitenstein or are there some who are officially employed by the Embassy and work in the residence?
Silviu Craescu: I know that a part of the employees of the residence have signed a contract with Mark Gitenstein, as individual, and they receive a special access ID card, issued by the American service of diplomatic protection and they have the agreement of the Secret Service, having a special status inside the American Embassy, while the others who are in charge of the diplomatic security, other services and utilities are official employees of the Embassy. All that I can say is that the personal employees of the Ambassador are paid directly by the American Department of State, as special agents, from special funds of the American Government.
"I was threatened to quit"
Q: I know that Mrs. Lisa Derrickson, chief of personnel inside the US Embassy, suggested that you should quit, an opxion which you turned down. You told me that you were blackmailed, that if you don”t willingly quit, Ambassador Gitenstein will release you from your duties. Were the legal procedures respected?
Silviu Craescu: A meeting was held on the 27th of January 2010, at 13.30 pm, where I was asked to hand in my resignation. Without any previous notification, it was brought to my attention Mr. Gitenstein”s decision of releasing me from my duties, according to art. 61, letter "d" Labor Code. It was never brought to my attention the fact that the Ambassador, as employer, would be dissatisfied with the quality of my services and furthermore I am not aware of the existence of specific instructions from him or his wife which I didn”t follow or tasks I didn”t fulfill, reasons which would lead to an eventual dismissal. I was advised by the chief of Human Resources Department, Mrs. Lisa Derrickson to hand in my resignation, without written notification and without any verbal warning during the 43 months that I”ve worked inside the residence, suggesting only that my professional activity was not satisfactory but without mentioning what attributions from my job descripxion I didn”t fulfill. Afterwards, she mentioned something about the economic crisis and that "I should look at it as a business affair". My decline to hand in the resignation led to me being denied the access to the workplace by the employer. During this ad-hoc meeting, I demanded in a civilized manner the right to an attorney in my defense, and that an internal investigation should be carried on. Afterwards, I requested social protection and an alternative job instead of being abusively thrown out, but I received only encouragements and the favor to apply for a job of bodyguard inside the Embassy, job for which I was invited to apply together with other candidates and for which I was to be selected, for an eventual interview, only if the chief of the security department of the US Embassy needed me… and with the lowest income. Then, on the 1st of February I was invited on behalf of the Human Resources office inside the Embassy to hand in my resignation; this was practically the moment when the blackmail took place: if I don”t hand in my resignation, the Ambassador will fire me for professional unsuitability. I didn”t agree with this and I reminded them that after a more than praiseworthy professional activity of 43 months inside the residence, as administrator, activity praised by acknowledgment letters from many dignitaries of the highest level from the Embassy and from chiefs of American secret services who were on visit in Bucharest, no one will believe him. I was told that, as informed by the deputy of the Chief of the Diplomatic Mission, Jeri Guthrie-Corn, at the meeting on the 27th of January 2010, the reason for my dismissal would be the failure to comply with the new administration standards of the Residence”s operations. I was advised by the chief of human resources to give up any claims for the Ambassador has diplomatic immunity and that I can”t press charges against this decision.
The US Ambassador was forced by law and, according to the agreement from the labor contract which stipulated that if he couldn”t offer me another job, he should contact and prepare the documents for the Employment National Agency before and not after THE DISMISSAL, so that I would benefit from the assistance of this institution regarding my registration as an unemployed and the guidance and allocation to another work place so that my family won”t suffer. The decision, which was written in English and had only one unofficial translation in Romanian, thus breaking the previsions of Law no. 130/1999, contains that the termination of the labor agreement between the undersigned and Mark Gitenstein can be linked to art. 61 letter "d" from the Labor Code – the employee is professionally unfit at the workplace". This decision was issued by His Excellency without observing art. 62 paragraph 2 from the Labor Code stating that the "decision of dismissal is issued in writing and under the sanction of absolute nullity, it has to be motivated by right in law and it has to comprise notes regarding the period of time in which it can be appealed and the court that has the jurisdiction thereof". But the summary of the dismissal decision handed to me does not contain this latter aspect, which legally leads to the absolute nullity of this decision.
Moreover, the issue of this decision has been made by breach of art. 63, paragraph 2 from the Labor Code, according to which my assessment should have been made previously in accordance with the procedure established by the national collective labor contract. No assessment was made and I wasn”t offered another job.
The decision was issued in English language, accompanied by an unofficial translation, which contravenes with the Romanian Constitution and the Code of Civil Procedure, the labor contract being signed in the official language of the country, the Romanian language, on the Romanian territory and with a Romanian citizen. The dismissal decision totally ignores the legal procedure, displaying an abuse of power and mistaking his official position with the fact that he signed a labor contract with me as an individual. This was made only for me not benefiting from the taxes and with the clear intention of being thrown out at any time, without demanding any moral compensations or other material claims.
"I was thrown out because I was against the undeclared payment for Romanians"
Q: What was the real reason of your dismissal? How did you end up from being the best to being good for nothing?
Silviu Craescu: I have recently heard, off the record, that officers inside the Embassy have suspected the fact that during the presidential campaign in 2009, I was used as a "source" by one of the candidates for Presidency, respectively Mr. Mircea Geoana, a fact which was not proven and which is not true, because I can assure you that if I had offered my services to Mr. Geoana”s disposal, he would have been the President of Romania and I would have been an employee at Cotroceni Palace (the official residence of the Romanian President). I know for sure that I was fired because of my opposition to using undeclared paid employees for official and private events at the residence.
Q: The Annex to the Individual Labor Contract clearly stipulates that "This agreement was concluded between the employee and the Chief of the Mission and it doesn”t engage in any way the U.S. Government or the American diplomatic mission in Romania". However, the decision of dismissal against which you filed a complaint is an act emanating from the Embassy – bearing the letterhead of the United States Embassy – and it is signed by Lisa Derrickson, the Human Resources Director of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, on behalf of the Ambassador.
Silviu Craescu: I have urged insistently His Excellency to show me the mandate by which he authorized Mrs. Lisa Derrickson, but I have received no response. I am thinking and analyzing together with my lawyer, Mrs. Antonela Geaman, the possibility to sue the American state and claim damages of U.S. $ 1,000,000 and in case the courts from Romania don”t make justice in this civil labor contract or they decline jurisdiction, then I shall address to CEDO.
Q: What are you asking in the complaint made against the decision of undoing the contract of employment?
Silviu Craescu: I ask to get my job back, to receive the salary payment for the period in which I didn”t work, the services payment offered to the U.S. Ambassador and to his family, the payment for the time spent on a daily basis with the Ambassador”s wife, out of working hours, during 6 months, upon her request, the payment for the related gasoline, the payment for the medical expenses for my wife who suffered a TIA stroke caused by the pressure and teasing I was subjected to, according to the documents filed for the reimbursement for medical expenses, the work card with all the documents proving that I”ve worked for the Ambassador since his arrival to the post, and moral damages of $500,000, the payment for legal fees, attorney”s fees, legalized translations and other expenses related to this case.
"The Ambassador”s wife asked me to sign unjustified returns".
Q: You told me that you refused repeatedly the signing of some documents without header, some plain pieces of paper, representing the expenses made by the Ambassador”s wife, Elisabeth Gitenstein, at the market and other stores, which she wanted to settle through the U.S. Embassy, and which you had to submit them to the settlement voucher. Was the settlement of such expenses legal?
Silviu Craescu: The Ambassador and his wife have asked me since their arrival in Romania, on 08/27/2009 and until 01/27/2010, to prepare for the family and for all their guests at the private residence, the official vouchers for reimbursement of expenses incurred for all the dinners that were held in their honor as long as they were invited to the residence. I refused, arguing that I cannot make these documents because, according to the American State Department rules, the private guests of the Ambassador and of his wife are not part of the U.S. Government, nor part of the Diplomatic Corps in Romania and neither from the Romanian legislature and the Financial Bureau of the Embassy would hold me responsible if I prepare these documents as it was needed an official guest list to be attached to the residence of the Ambassador, approved in advance by the Protocol Management Office of the U.S. Embassy and other management factors, in addition to the Ambassador. The Ambassador”s wife tried to lead me always to do the documents in another way as we did them for 3 years in order to get undue benefits. An example would be the state visit of Joe Biden. Four days before its official visit, Ambassador”s wife tried to impose and outlined a model of total expenditure on this occasion, which was totally unrealistic, and I didn”t agreed with, for which she called to the Human Resources director and together they tried to do so that the employees would donate their work, for not getting paid, during the visit and this way the Ambassador would gain more money than the amounts spent on the occasion. There were moments of confusion when we were asked to solicit money even for the coffee offered to the members of the White House security service and for the staff who accompanied the U.S. official. I don”t want to speak about the embarrassing situations I was put into with respect to the Secret Service”s staff, when I took into account the request of the American protection service” officials and I have allowed the telephone wiring in the residence necessary to install a highly shielded Mobile PBX under an electromagnetic tent inside my office or to install and have near the chamber of the U.S. Vice President a cipher-lockers refrigerator to store drugs and blood transfusions needed in case of emergency, as required by the official”s personal military doctor. The Ambassador and his wife came to the residence, after the agitation specific to this kind of activity has come to an end at 22.00, and they shouted at me that I was not allowed to permit the members of the protection service from the White House to make modifications inside the residence, because it is their home, and I remembered them that, in fact, the residence is the property of the Government and that the same thing happened during the visit of the U.S. President Bush, although after their leaving from the residence, in the morning, I had their verbal consent to give all the power to these officials. The Ambassador Gitenstein”s wife always wanted to get involved and she confused everybody in GSO, RSO, the departments of the Embassy, the Secret Service, and me personally, she always discusses with the members of the U.S. mission about how to do to pay as little as possible and to receive back as much. She was always interested in finding a solution so that she will also got paid by the U.S. Embassy, because, she says, if she is actively involved in choosing the menus for the official or private events and in choosing the flower arrangements, she deserves to receive half of my salary, etc. I explained that all these expenses will be paid from the Ambassador”s personal pocket, which created a twitter. The Ambassador, not being a career diplomat, had heard or knew from Washington that he represents the interests of the U.S. President and if he invites everyone to dinner or talk, all the expenses related to these events will be reimbursed in full, as official expenses.
Q: Did you have a verbal agreement with Elisabeth Gitenstein, the Ambassador”s wife, that in exchange for the additional work beside your job descripxion to be paid at the end of the year. Did this happen?
Silviu Craescu: I had a "Lady-Gentleman agreement" with her. Only that she didn”t comply with it. Because she was the only wife of an U.S. Ambassador who hadn”t got the money to hire a private driver and a private secretary and, as is customary to U.S. Department, the Ambassador”s wife hadn”t been provided by the receiving State or the U.S. diplomacy with same rights and privileges as Ambassador, I was called at the express request of Mr. Gitenstein, just to serve her and to protect her more closely, to take over many of their functions and have done so for 6 months, weaving the private work with the official one and waiting to be paid. This has not happened… After my illegal dismissal I was contacted by a famous European law firm representing the American interests and along with my appointed attorney, Antonela Geaman, I had intensive negotiations to withdraw my complaint. The American lawyer, who was the Ambassador”s representative, tried to bribe me with $ 3,000, which I refused.
"I”ve been washing silverware and guarding the dog"
Q: Can you please tell to the Q magazine readers the episode of washing the silverware?
Silviu Craescu: One day, I received orders from the Ambassador and his wife, through Marian Bajenaru, employed as a footman at home, who was on vacation ( in fact, spending some free time awarded by the Ambassador”s wife without mentioning this in the clocking, but paid in U.S. taxpayer money), who said that he had received an email with their wishes, about how to wash the silverware in the whole house and how to do the cleaning, including myself. I have this email to confirm my statement. I washed silver-plates the best way I could, although this was not my task and without any assistance and without being instructed in advance on what particular materials or non-toxic solutions to use in order to clean and polish the silver; and still wasn”t good enough. When they arrived, the Ambassador and his wife complained that I did not polished the silver properly. I received a disposition from the Ambassador and his wife to drive nails into walls for paintings, to mount lights, to give the curtains down for washing, to carry carpets, to carry heavy furniture in the attic”s residence, knowing the fact that I am operated for hernia and I am not allowed to lift weights, however, all of these being way out of my professional competence or duties, for which however had no labor safety measurements under the Romanian law, his Excellency and his wife telling me, in a veiled manner, that if I don”t do what they want me to do, there are at least 200 people at the gate that will take my job and, anyway, that I do the same things that I do at my home. He argues that unless we take the work and the tasks of the special service of the U.S. state department, called GSO, which deals with the maintenance at the U.S. residence, it can earmark more resources and founds for the new headquarters of the U.S. Embassy in Baneasa and therefore substantial savings are made.
Q: I find it interesting for the readers to also tell the episode when you played the role of "the guard of the Ambassador”s dog"!
Silviu Craescu: I stayed after night several times, at the residence, at the express request of the Ambassador when they left Bucharest, only to guard his dog, because it didn”t like to sleep alone. Sometimes I was sent home, so I wouldn”t have any control over the money spent on overtime, during some events that I should have supervised and, at the express request of the Ambassador”s wife, Marian Bajenaru (the footman) took my duties and he paid his extra helpers, all of these with the tacit consent of the Ambassador. All these Romanian citizens had no legal employment contracts and were paid on the black market with amounts between 150 lei and 200 lei, for up to 6 hours per day, in my case they were doing savings and I kepx total discretion. So the last two events – one with the Royal House of Romania and the other in the honor of the birthday of the French Ambassador in Bucharest -, Marian Bajenaru, with Mrs. Gitenstein”s agreement, took my duties and prepared all the documents which were sent to the Embassy.
"The payment on black market is a practice in the residence of the U.S. Ambassador."
Q: It is a practice to use the Romanians for various professional activities in the residence, without having a legal form of work, but to be paid on the black market.
Silviu Craescu: Yes. It is a very common practice and a very profitable one. Sure I can give you examples and support those assertions with evidence. This happened also during the other Ambassadors” representatives, beside Mr. Gitenstein, and it is a common practice in the U.S. diplomatic mission in Bucharest, where most officers and employees of the Embassy use Romanian people, both in private or official representation activities, without proving them with employment contracts recorded at the Territorial Labor Inspectorate-Bucharest. In this way, the Romanian state is robbed of taxes that aren”t being paid and the U.S. Embassy, through its head, encourages illegal employment in Romania. I can give you full details and list of the Romanian citizens used in the activities of the organization of the special entertainment events – events organized at the Ambassador”s residence and the U.S. Embassy, Romanians paid on the black market by Mark Henry Gitenstein and his wife, without employment contracts or other form of legal contracts. This is, in fact, a wide spread practice inside the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, where all senior officers use babysitters, waiters, cooks and drivers without signing any form of labor contracts recorded at the Territorial Labor Inspectorate-Bucharest. I can give you some examples, such as Marius Padure, who worked and was paid on the black market as a waiter, Dragos Gramada, employee of the German Embassy, for the German Ambassador in Bucharest, Ion Badescu, Liviu Hagiesteanu and Mihai Eduard, who worked as waiters and were paid on the black market; Gica Olaru – chef at Intercontinental Hotel – worked and was paid on the black market, as cook; Jean Prunescu – worked and he was paid on the black market as waiter; he is currently employed as the Ambassador”s butler (started one month ago). Adina Stoica – employee of the German Embassy for the German Ambassador in Bucharest – she worked and she was paid on the black market as a decorator and cook, Olimpia Melania Vintila – contractor within a firm working for the U.S. Embassy – worked and was paid on the black market as decorator and cook; Magdalena Gramada worked and was paid on the black market as a decorator and cook; Gabriel Bajenaru – the footman”s brother – worked and was paid on the black market as a waiter, but their documents and signatures, stating they received those amounts, are attached to the official U.S. vouchers submitted for the settlement.
"Security measures at the residence are very relaxed"
Q: What else, at the limits of legality, have you found, over time, at the residence?
Silviu Craescu: At the arrival of the new Ambassador, Mark Gitenstein, I found that the diplomatic security at the official residence of the U.S. mission was "relaxed" and the special security rules and protocol have been ignored and overlooked at the express request of the Ambassador”s wife. So I entered and exited driving in my car, personal property, several times on the American ground, without ever being checked in my trunk by the members of the American security service, at the express request of the Ambassador”s wife. But on the U.S. ground has also entered people that didn”t have the security agreement obtained under the internal security procedures and they could use the American government facilities, while the employees could leave the residence (with packages and assets) without being controlled by guards from the security gate. Therefore among the other Romanian laws and regulations that the U.S. Ambassador infringes are: the use without legal right of the strobe light (flashing light) on the public roads made for his armored car, that delights his personal guests, and also the violation of the security code of the Otopeni International Airport where, without having concluded a Protocol and always being accompanied by DEA agents, he takes his private guests and friends directly from the airplane stairs, without passing through the Romanian customs and security filters.
"The Ambassador was involved in the Romanian presidential campaign!"
Q: Ambassador Gitenstein was very vocal on matters of internal politics, which is somehow inappropriate for a diplomat. Do you think that his statements are made in the interest of the American people, Romanian or in the interest of some Romanian political leaders?
Silviu Craescu: The Ambassador is indeed very vocal in matters regarding internal politics, which is pretty unusual, but which is allowed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Of course his statements are made primarily to support the interests of the American state and only afterwards do these statements come in the support of current Romanian political leaders, who at their turn, are willing to make arrangements, promises and vows in order to prove their loyalty and support towards the economic and military policy of the US: in the context of taking internal decisions which are in favor of the US, supporting the decisions inside the military alliances, imposing the international treaties and favoring the American economical-military contracts.
Q: Has the US Ambassador, in any way, got involved in the presidential campaign in 2009?
Silviu Craescu: Yes. The US Ambassador was actively involved having conversations and private meetings with journalists and media members, with many presidential counselors and close persons to the Romanian president Traian Basescu, as well as with the American expert counselors of both sides, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Liberal Party, hired by the Romanian political parties during the 2009 presidential campaign . The Ambassador and his deputy met with the main candidates to the Presidency. All the American agencies from Romania were very active during that period, ensuring a minute by minute monitoring and reporting.
