Augusta Commissioner John Clarke’s call for an in-depth forensic audit of the entire Augusta government in response to Mayor Hardie Davis’ questionable spending of taxpayers’ money and lack of receipts failed Thursday on a 4-6 vote.
Commissioner Sean Frantom’s substitute to audit all city credit-card usage for the past three years also went down in flames with only two commissioners voting for it.
MORE: Augusta Mayor’s Credit Card Bills Continue to Shock
Clarke’s motion failed with he and commissioners Catherine McKnight, Brandon Garrett and Dennis Williams voting for it, although Williams obviously was a mistake; he spoke strongly against an audit before the vote.
Frantom’s motion received only two favorable votes, his own and Garrett’s.
Clarke said whenever anybody uses the word “forensic,” everybody goes into a tailspin and starts talking about criminal activity.
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“A forensic audit can also clear any wrongdoing, and it can clear up questions,” he said. “And I think that’s what we need in the city right now. We need to clear up and answer a lot of questions about our finances.”
City Administrator Odie Donald, however, said a forensic audit was done to extract facts to be used in a court of law.
“That’s the definition,” he said.
Dennis Williams asked what the allegations were that would warrant a forensic audit. He said the city had an internal audit every year.
“Why should there be a forensic audit where there has not been anything done wrong?” he asked. “The idea of a forensic audit gives the general perception somebody is doing something wrong. And the public will believe it.”
Commissioner Ben Hasan said Davis has let it be known he welcomes an audit.
“Let’s not indict all of the hardworking people who work for us that we don’t trust them,” he said. “Don’t get distracted by all the noise, but that doesn’t mean the noise doesn’t have some validity because, just like any family, we’ve got problems, but we’ve got to find a better way of dealing with them.”
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Clarke repeated his claim that a forensic audit can answer questions and clear up wrongdoing “instead of going on a tirade that Mr. Clarke is trying to indict all our hardworking employees,” he said.
Afterward, Clarke said, “It seems the search for transparency remains intact. Seven to three against seeking the answers and explanations of city spending.”
Among unexplained spending are PayPal charges Davis made, but stunning new facts about his spending emerge almost daily. In December, the city paid $517 to fly actress Brandee Evans from Los Angeles to Atlanta through the mayor’s credit card.
MORE: Augusta Mayor’s City Credit Card Spending has Little Oversight
Evans is known for her role in the Starz drama “P-Valley,” a series about strip dancers at a Mississippi Delta club called “The Pynk.”
The mayor brought Evans to Augusta to lecture in his “Move With The Mayor: Women and Girls Edition.”
Sylvia Cooper is a Correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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