Roll out the red carpet and pop the champagne.
The Goldsboro City Council has finally received its completed 2021-22 audit.
But here’s the bizarre thing: the belated presentation — which came more than a year after the report was supposed to be submitted to the North Carolina Local Government Commission and months after members of the City Council promised local residents it was just about done — was delivered like it was no big deal.
It was literally over in minutes.
No harm, no foul.
On to the next one — fiscal year 2022-23 — well, at some point.
Did we mention that audit is already late, too?
Forget that the city has had dire warnings from the state that failure to produce an audit in a timely manner could result in significant fines or, get this, a potential takeover of the city’s finances.
Don’t pay any mind to State Treasurer Dale Folwell characterizing the delay as a “serious matter” that is “a reflection on the quality of both governing board oversight and management practices of the city” — or that he said Goldsboro was “unable to get its act together” to conduct a “basic oversight function.”
Nothing to worry about, City Manager Tim Salmon said.
The 2022-23 audit will be done by the end of the fiscal year!
That’s the end of June, by the way.
You’ll forgive us, Mr. City Manager, if we don’t take you at your word.
We haven’t forgotten that the city’s bond rating — think credit score — has suffered because of the glacial pace at which it has met its financial reporting obligations.
We might not ever get over your response about the city’s inability to borrow money because of that blow to its bond rating — you know, that it’s no big deal because “we’re not asking for any new debt right now.”
And we certainly can’t ignore that if you — or any other public or private entity — tried the many excuses your team has thrown at the wall for not one, not two, but three years, well, there might be a spot for you in the unemployment line.
If you’re wondering, here is how you have come across the last few years.
In a nutshell, who cares that the citizens of Goldsboro do not have a current accounting of spending in the city — and neither do the members of the city council whom they have elected to represent them.
You present it like it is just another chapter in the circus that has been city government in Goldsboro since you first walked into City Hall.
But here’s the truth.
It’s more than that.
It is another serious reminder that we have reached a tipping point.
There is no more time to wait to see how it all unfolds.
We need a real change, and it needs to happen ASAP.
Goldsboro’s future is in the hands of someone who thinks it is acceptable to turn in an audit more than a year late, who accepts excuses that wouldn’t fly anywhere — nowhere.
When your financial records are this far behind, they are probably not accurate.
You can’t see problems, overspending, and budget concerns.
You cannot make responsible financial decisions and change procedures that need to be tweaked or revamped completely.
And, if that isn’t bad enough, you arm conspiracy theorists with ammunition that they bring to council meeting public comment periods as “proof” of “corruption” by the “good old boy establishment.”
It sows distrust in an era in which misinformation spreads like wildfire.
But who cares when you can blame hurricanes and COVID-19, right?
News flash: the pandemic is over.
And if the pandemic is no longer a crutch for Wayne County Public Schools or the Wayne County government, it is certainly not an excuse for the city.
And we might point out that the county is not behind on its audit commitments.
We might also point out that the school district is not behind on its audits either — and that entity went through a significant financial crisis a few years back.
So, why aren’t they celebrating the completion of their 2021-22 audits?
The answer is pretty cut and dried — even they knew that the district’s finances and the county’s budget and accounting were critical and a priority.
And the city’s chief executive officer — Salmon — did not.
And if he did, he had a funny way of showing it.
Period. Bottom line. End of sentence.
So, he can shuck and jive in front of the City Council, and he can waive away concerns and criticism.
And he can also pretend that the “recasting” of the city’s prior bookkeeping practices — even with state-accepted audits from previous years — was justified.
Or, we can all say it together: This is bad management and the buck stops with the person who is in charge of holding the city’s employees accountable.
No one who runs a business could operate it this way.
And no employee could excuse away this much of a delay.
They would be out.
Done.
Gone.
And the same is true for those who deal with public money.
We have spoken to many of them, and none can fathom how the city of Goldsboro does not understand how critical it is to have financial documents in order — and to meet deadlines.
So, let’s pull off the Band-Aid.
Here it is.
The delay in the presentation of the city audit has had significant implications for the city’s future — and the continued delays are costing this city money it cannot afford to waste.
And let’s not forget about reputation.
Goldsboro is the laughingstock of the state.
Are you saying yes to a loan for a city that cannot get its financial house in order?
How about a grant that requires matching funds and that has ironclad deadlines for compliance and reporting?
Not us.
And we bet, not too many of the people in charge in Raleigh, either.
So, bottom line?
There is no more time to waste.
If the city’s finance director has not fixed this problem yet, someone needs to be called in to take a good hard look at what she is doing.
And Salmon should have made that decision a long time ago.
For that, and some other reasons that we’ll get into later if the about-to-be-sworn in City Council doesn’t cut their losses, it is time for the city to get a new manager.
Pay out his contract.
Promote his assistant — you know, the guy who is actually qualified to work in municipal government.
The new council coming in gives us hope that this board is not going to be the clown car it was just a few years ago.
And we have a new mayor coming in, too — and, assuming Charles Gaylor survives the upcoming recount, we get the feeling he is not going to sit back and accept excuses.
And when there is new management, perhaps we can attract back a few of the many employees who seem to have decided to abandon ship over the last few years.
You never know.
Wonder why they left in the first place?
Curious timing, indeed.
But, since we are talking about backbones and future, heed this small warning.
Word on the street is that several county commissioners are negotiating behind the scenes to try to influence the incoming city leadership team to make a city manager change — and to put someone they recommend in place.
You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that one coming a mile away. Can you say “mole” or “puppet” or how about “politics?”
We have certainly had enough of the latter lately.
So, while we agree that Salmon should be shown the door, the county commissioners should have absolutely no say in who runs the city of Goldsboro — and the last thing Goldsboro needs is a hand-picked plant for the county to micromanage and to manipulate.
Wayne County’s Board of Commissioners has plenty of its own dirty laundry — and areas where more work needs to be done.
We haven’t been laser focused on them in a while, but we have been watching this community long enough to know there are a few on the board who think they are political heavyweights and that they can dictate how every inch of this county is run.
But here’s the thing.
There is another public body where there is an elected official or two who think the rules don’t apply to them.
How is that going?
The county has plenty of its own issues to deal with — and some serious potential concerns in the batter’s box.
This is not a time for politicking or behind-the-scenes, backdoor power grabs.
There is simply too much at stake.
The commissioners — and we’ll also remind you that every single one of them is prime for vetting now that they are coming up for reelection — need to stay in their lane.
Yes, Goldsboro is ready for a sea change.
No more excuses. No more “kick the can down the road” decisions.
It is time. Past time.
But we’ll be watching to see just who is pulling the strings.
Because that change will get us absolutely nowhere if it’s at the mercy of a quid pro quo.
