At the August 19th
meeting of
Aberdeen
’s board of aldermen the Electric Department scandal took center
stage.
To his certain credit Mayor Ballard kept the discussion in open
session and resisted the pressure I’m sure he was under to keep this
whole thing quiet by relegating it to executive session.
He even made changes in the agenda to allow the citizens present
to address the board after the facts were put on the table by the
city’s CPA, Dale Pierce. You
have my great gratitude, Your Honor.
Following the auditor’s recommendations, the mayor impaneled a
committee to:
·
Review the city’s cut-off policy
·
Ratify and/or revise the cut-off policy
·
Make recommendations as to how the past due bills
(totaling over $300,000 are to be collected
·
Recommend changes in the Electric Department office
policies and procedures in order to make embezzling more difficult in
the future This recommendation was in reference to the check kiting
activities of recently resigned employee Antwinette Spratt.
Wisely, the mayor selected a group of individuals to serve on
this committee who represented several aspects of the city’s
structure. The mayor’s
list included himself, the city attorney (Tim Irvin), the city
accountant (Dale Pierce), the electric department head (Adrian Garth),
and one alderman (
John Allen
). A minister was added to this list in the person of Reverend Davis at
the request of Alderman David Ewing.
It came as no surprise that the integrity of the Mayor’s
committee was almost immediately sullied when Mississippi Mafioso Alonzo
Sykes inserted himself into the process. (It should also be noted that
his request to serve inspired the audience to a chorus of cat calls and
other vocalisms reflecting a healthy and zealous distain for the man and
his motives.) This is, of course, kin to having Vladimir Putin
serve on a committee to solve the problems around his recent invasion of
Georgia. Duh.
The questions remain. Even if we can manage to establish a solid
policy and toughen up the procedures in the electric department office,
when we aren’t looking will we have business as usual in the electric
department? Sadly, the answer is, yes.
It doesn’t really matter who is in charge of the day to day
operation of the Electric Department. I’ve known two fine men who
tried to buck the “system” and were unable to solve the problem. The
problem to which I refer is, of course, the aldermen. As long as we have
Alonzo Sykes and Cloyd Garth giving orders from off-stage, and with
David Ewing acting as enabler-in-chief, the status quo will re-establish
itself in short order.
Until such time as criminal charges are brought against the
perpetrators of these crimes against the citizenry, we will have foxes
guarding the henhouse, and at least one fool attempting to keep us
distracted while the crimes continue.
