If Richmond County commissioners do not procure an independent forensic audit of Mayor Hardie Davis’s previous spending, law enforcement should do it for them.
If the commission does the audit first, it will be a win-win scenario for them, but if law enforcement has to step in, everyone loses.
The commission has lost the confidence of many of their constituents. Many citizens already mistrust government, and when politicians play fast and loose with public funds, trust diminishes even further.
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It seems to us that when commissioners refuse to call for a forensic audit, they’re playing politics and not considering the facts. Are the commissioners afraid of retaliation from Davis, or maybe they are afraid of the ramifications of finding out Davis did in fact break the law? Some commissioners have said their concern is that asking for a forensic audit taints all county employees. Not true. If only the Mayor’s Office is subject to the audit, only the Mayor’s Office is tainted.
It’s time to put politics aside on the issue. If commissioners will not hire an independent forensic auditor, then law enforcement should be brought in to investigate.
If a forensic audit reveals no wrongdoing, then the commissioners win by looking like good stewards who are being diligent with taxpayer money. In the event the audit reveals wrongdoing, then they also win because they will have shown Richmond County citizens that they care more about the taxpayers than politics. Either way, the commissioners get a huge win.
The recent self-imposed, so-called “audit” Mayor Hardie Davis commissioned is very clearly not an audit but a report based on “consulting services.” Further, the report shows that Davis did in fact violate state law with his wild use of his city credit card, not to mention violating city procurement procedures. The report was a rebuke, and it confirmed what everyone already knew: Davis misused taxpayer money.
The report itself is far from perfect. The fact that the report did not address why spending ballooned to over $10,000 per month in early 2021 from the average of $2,500 per month in previous years shows the report is either biased or didn’t actually dig deeply.
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An actual audit would show that the books balance and that the mayor was under budget in 2020. It would also show that Davis’s budget items were somewhat in line with how he spent the money. What an actual audit would not show is that PayPal was used multiple times to pay vendors, resulting in their income not being reported to the Internal Revenue Service. It would not show that purchases were used for personal gratification rather for the business of Richmond County. It would not explain why spending went from $2,500 per month to over $10,000 per month in early 2021. As long as it was still under budget and the accounts balanced, a normal financial audit would not reveal or explain these issues.
A forensic audit would answer these questions and reveal the truth about what got spent and why. It is the only type of audit that can determine whether money was inappropriately spent, and commissioners should insist that one be conducted on the mayor’s spending as soon as practicable.
