State office releases investigative findings
* Part 1 of a 2-part report
Raleigh – The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor released the 2023 investigative audit in response to 23 allegations against the Town of Robbinsville and uncovered overrides in policies and laws.
The results of the investigation include:
* The members of the town council overrode internal policies and laws and overruled decisions made by town employees;
* The town failed to take action to issue corrected wage and tax statement (W-2) to former town officials and employees in a response to a 2019 investigative audit;
* The town council and Town of Robbinsville Tourism Authority Board violated the North Carolina open meetings law;
* The town council issued a $414 mileage reimbursement to an alderman without approving use of the personal vehicle or if it was for a valid business purpose;
* The town did not complete its monthly bank reconciliations;
The state auditor’s office declined to comment on the report.
‘Responsibility’
The state auditor’s office found that the town council disregarded its responsibility to the town by overriding policies and law.
The auditors determined the override was due to the town not fixing issues addressed in the prior investigation audit in 2019 and intentionally disregarding responsibilities. The council also does not have a written code of ethics.
The report cites a town council meeting on July 6, 2022, a discussion with the former finance director about the town alderman’s mileage reimbursement, one of the alderman addressed the other aldermen by saying, “We are the boss… what we do say needs to go.”
At the end of the discussion, the alderman told the former finance director, “You are just still an employee… I am a town alderman.”
According to the University of North Carolina School of Government, “County and city governing boards must operate transparently, in a public setting, and are entrusted to carry out their work legally and ethically. Local governing boards have a direct influence on the culture, effectiveness, and efficiency of county and city governments…”
Town attorney Leo J. Phillips wrote a letter that was reviewed and signed by the board members, responding to all the claims and the corrective matters they will take.
Regarding how to recover from disregarding responsibility to the town, Phillips responded, “The Town of Robbinsville will create a code of ethics and work with the UNC school of Government for the town to receive training.”
Open meetings laws violated
The Town of Robbinsville council violated the North Carolina open meetings law by not properly entering closed sessions, discussing items in closed session that should have been discussed in open session and not maintaining meeting minutes for closed session meetings.
These violations occurred from July 2019 – June 2023. During that period, the town council entered closed session during 36 of the 56 meetings held (64 percent). The town did not maintain meeting minutes for 29 of the 36 closed session meetings (81 percent).
The town council limited public transparency and accountability. Anyone can take legal suit asking that any action taken in closed session that should have been discussed in open session be deemed null and void.
In three closed sessions, the council discussed items that should have been discussed in open session.
On April 7, 2021, the council discussed an employee’s pay upon termination in closed. On June 1, 2022, the council discussed how unused budget funds could be spent. On July 6, 2022, the council discussed an employee’s question regarding town policies and procedures.
According to the state auditor’s report, the former finance director and town council were unaware of the laws surrounding public meetings.
State law also requires the town council to cite one or more purposes for entering closed session.
The town’s letter response on the town council violating the open meeting law reads, “The town followed the advice of former town attorney, M. Ellen Davis, in conducting closed session meetings. The current mayor, who was an alderman at the time, believed the town was improperly going into closed session and challenged the way the town was going into closed session…”
The corrective measures that the town will take according to the letter that the town attorney wrote is that Phillips will ensure the correct rules and procedures are followed, adding that appropriate topics will be discussed in open and closed sessions will be documented with minutes.
Next week: payroll and mileage issues, plus 2017 audit report bubbles back to the surface.