---
date: 2011-09-20
title: September 20, 2011 Minutes
source: 2011-09/2011-09-20_September 20, 2011_Minutes.pdf
pages: 1
---

September 20, 2011

CITY OF STOCKBRIDGE
SUMMARY OF MINUTES
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

September 20, 2011 5:00 P. M.

A Special Meeting of the Stockbridge City Council was held on September 20, 2011 at
5:00 P. M. Mayor Lee Stuart presided and Council members present were, Mark Alarcon,
Harold Cochran, Shirley Dabney, and Kathy Gilbert. Fred Evans arrived after the Pledge
of Allegiance.

Motion to Convene made by Councilwoman Gilbert. Seconded by Councilwoman
Dabney. Passed Unanimously 5-0.

Invocation by Councilman Alarcon

Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor Stuart welcomed all guests.

Mayor Stuart stated that the purpose of this Special Called Meeting is to adopt a
Resolution to select a firm to move forward with the forensic audit of the City’s financial
records and amend the General Fund Budget to allocate those funds.

Attorney Andy Welch advised the Council to amend the Agenda to present item #2, the
Ordinance prior to hearing item #1, the Resolution.

Councilwoman Gilbert made a motion to amend the Agenda and to reverse the order of
the items to be presented. Seconded by Councilman Evans. Passed unanimously 5-0.

Mayor Stuart presented the Ordinance to amend the General Fund Budget for the City
of Stockbridge regarding expenses for a forensic audit. Mayor Stuart stated that the
reason for the forensic audit stems from information that he received in a confidential
report that he then forwarded to a higher authority, the GBI. And it was the GBI that sent
him a confidential letter recommending an outside firm to do a forensic audit. Mayor
Stuart stated that he was advised that the typical cost is based on the budgeted amount
for Accounting Services. The Treasurer, Annette Anderson was not in attendance to
confirm the exact amount in the 2011 budget. The City Administrator, Ray Gibson and
the City Clerk, Vanessa Holiday stated that they recalled the budgeted figure to be
between $40,000 and $50,000. The Mayor recommended the scope cover a period of
six years. Four years from the previous administration, and the two years of his current
administration.

Councilwoman Gilbert asked Mayor Stuart if anyone besides himself had seen the
Sutton Report. The Mayor’s response was no, the report was confidential and
addressed to the Mayor. Councilwoman Gilbert asked the Mayor what was the scope of
work that Mr. Sutton was brought in to do. The Mayor deferred the question to the City
Administrator, Ray Gibson, as he negotiated Mr. Sutton’s contract.

Councilwoman Gilbert then asked Mr. Gibson what was the scope of work for Mr.
Sutton. Mr. Gibson stated that Mr. Sutton was brought in to do Management Training.
Councilwoman Gilbert asked Mr. Gibson if Mr. Sutton had been brought in for audit
purposes. Mr. Gibson’s response was no. Councilwoman Gilbert asked Mr. Gibson who
knew that Mr. Sutton was performing an audit. Mr. Gibson responded that when he was
made aware that this was the direction that Mr. Sutton was going, he ended the
contract. Councilwoman Gilbert asked Mr. Gibson when he was made aware of what
Mr. Sutton was doing, and was he aware that Mr. Sutton deemed himself to be a
Certified Fraud Investigator. Mr. Gibson stated that he felt as though he needed an
attorney to continue answering this line of questioning.

Mayor Stuart stated that both Councilwoman Dabney and Councilwoman Gilbert came
to his office and demanded that Mr. Sutton cease his investigation.

Councilwoman Gilbert stated that the Mayor had in fact requested that they come to his
office and they were invited and not to imply that they had stormed into his office
unannounced.

Councilman Alarcon stated that he was concerned that as a Council, they were being
asked to vote on something that they had not seen.

Councilwoman Gilbert asked who had the report.

Mr. Gibson stated that he had a draft copy of the Management Training Report.

Attorney Welch asked the Council if any of them had seen Mr. Sutton’s report that was
submitted to the GBI. They all responded no, that they had not. Attorney Welch stated
that he was under the impression that the Council had been made aware of the Sutton
Report. Attorney Welch stated that he had a copy of the report. Mayor Stuart asked
Attorney Welch how he had obtained a copy of the Sutton Report as it was confidential.
Attorney Welch responded that the report was not protected because the City is not
under any type of investigation, and obtained the report from the GBI via an Open
Records Request. Mr. Welch showed a copy of the report to Mayor Stuart.

After reviewing the document, Mayor Stuart suggested to Attorney Welch the report
remain confidential.

Councilman Alarcon then stated that the Council was being asked to set aside funds for
a forensic audit yet the Council had not had an opportunity to review any of the
documents. And, that this was especially troublesome considering all of the members of
the media and others in the audience that were very likely going to be requesting the
Sutton Report from the GBI on the next day. He stated that members of the public
should not have information that they as a Council did not have, and then made a
motion that the Council members receive a copy of the Sutton Report. Mayor Stuart
stated that the report should remain confidential, and that because some of the
members of the Council were named in the report they should not be investigating
themselves, but rather have the forensic auditors come in and do their jobs. The Mayor
stated again that the report should remain confidential. Councilman Alarcon asked
Attorney Welch if he was specifically named in the report. Attorney Welch responded
that there was a motion on the floor. The motion was seconded by Councilman Evans.
Passed unanimously 5-0.

The City Clerk immediately retrieved the document from Attorney Welch, made copies,
and distributed those copies to the Mayor and Council members.

After glancing over the Sutton Report, Councilman Alarcon referred to a sample
Request for Proposal (RFP) included in the Mayor and Council’s book. Councilman
Alarcon stated that based on the scope of work outlined in the sample RFP that an audit
of that depth would without question exceed $50,000; especially for the number of years
that the Mayor has suggested.

Councilman Evans asked Mayor Stuart why he waited until now to have the Council
address this issue.

The Mayor responded that this was highly confidential and that the report was sent to
the GBI, and they responded to him and that all of those things took time.

Councilwoman Gilbert stated to the Mayor that he alone could have called a special
meeting of the Council.
Councilwoman Dabney asked Attorney Welch if he felt that the Council should have
been made aware of the Sutton Report by the Mayor.

Attorney Welch responded that it was at the Mayor’s discretion to forward the report to
the Council.

Councilman Alarcon stated that the citizens need to be made aware of the letters
received from the GBI that were sent to the Mayor and to Attorney Welch and read each
one as follows:

Letter to Mayor Stuart from the GBI dated August 19, 2011 –

Dear Mayor: We have recently been advised of possible financial irregularities
within the City of Stockbridge financial funds. These findings stem from a
Management Training Exercise conducted in May and June 2011. A forensic
audit needs to be conducted to determine if criminal activity has occurred. This
must be done prior to the GBI becoming involved in an investigation. The
forensic audit needs to be conducted by an outside firm at the City’s expense. If
criminal activity is discovered the findings should be discussed with the District
Attorney. If the District Attorney wants the GBI to investigate after the forensic
audit, the District Attorney will need to request the GBI.

The letter was signed by: Denise Norman, Special Agent in Charge, and Carter Brank,
Special Agent in Charge.

Letter to Attorney Andy Welch from the GBI dated September 19, 2011 –

Dear Mr. Welch: The GBI does not have a criminal investigation open on the
City of Stockbridge. The GBI does not maintain a list of forensic auditors and
cannot recommend an auditor. A suggestion is to contact the Georgia
Department of Audits for such information.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at
770-388-5019.

The letter was signed by Carter Brank, Special Agent in Charge.
Attorney Welch stated that the Council has two items on the Agenda and that there
were accusations made against individuals in the Sutton Report and those persons that
have been accused deserve an opportunity to clear their names. Therefore, it is
imperative that the Council move forward with the City’s business and get the audit
underway as quickly as possible.

Councilwoman Gilbert made a motion to amend Section 1 of the Ordinance to state not
to exceed $50,000. Seconded by Councilman Alarcon. Passed unanimously 5-0

Councilwoman Gilbert made a motion to adopt the amended Ordinance. Seconded by
Councilman Evans. Passed unanimously 5-0.

Mr. Gibson recommended GlassRatner as the firm to perform the forensic audit.

Councilwoman Gilbert made a motion to adopt a Resolution to contract with
GlassRatner to perform the forensic audit that will be based solely on the information
included in the Sutton Report. Seconded by Councilman Alarcon. Passed unanimously
5-0.

Motion to adjourn made by Councilwoman Gilbert. Seconded by Councilman Evans.
Passed Unanimously 5-0.

Respectfully submitted by:

Vanessa Holiday, City Clerk Lee Stuart, Mayor
