Late audit, vacant seat, mayor pro tem vote highlight final 2020 council session

Goldsboro’s 2019 audit has still not been submitted to the state — and won’t be until at least mid-January.

Members of the City Council will take replacing former District 1 Councilman Antonio Williams into its own hands.

And David Ham was elected mayor pro tem.

The council had an eventful work session Monday evening, as members discussed everything from the city’s financial debacle to what role the mayor’s health played in selecting a second-in-command.

Here are the highlights:

• John Frank, a partner at accounting firm Dixon, Hughes, Goodman LLP, explained to the board why the 2019 audit is still not complete — and why it was late in the first place.

His firm, he said, began its field work in the summer of 2019, but pulled out to allow the city to reconcile “certain issues with the city’s accounting records” discovered by Finance Director Catherine Gwynn. Among the three “significant areas” that needed to be addressed were:

Problems with the city’s property and equipment records: “Catherine discovered that separate listings of fixed assets that the city had maintained did not agree with what had previously been reported on the audited statements,” Frank said. “The net fixed asset amounts … were probably understated by a net amount of about $2 million.”
Inventory issues: “It was determined that many of the inventory items were obsolete — needed to be written off,” Frank said. “We’re thinking that this issue will result in a write-off of inventory of about $1.1 million.”
Accounts receivable error: “Catherine determined that accounts receivable related to demolition charges that were previously reported in the Utility Fund should have been reported to the city’s General Fund,” Frank said. “This is a net … that amounts to an adjustment of about $751,000.”

Frank also noted that the firm did not discover any fraud or misappropriation of funds.

“The issues identified are just record keeping types of adjustments,” he told the board. “To put it in perspective, the net result of these adjustments will be to actually improve the city’s net assets than what had previously been reported. So, there shouldn’t be any negative impact on any type of financial performance covenants or anything of that nature.”

• The council decided to move forward with appointing a replacement for the board’s vacant District 1 seat.

Councilwoman Brandi Matthews suggested that best practice would involve soliciting nominations for a committee made up of District 1 residents. That committee, she said, would be in charge of the application review process, interviewing potential candidates and would ultimately bring a recommendation to the council for approval.

Other council members pointed out that other local boards, including the county commissioners and Board of Education, had run the process themselves, but Ms. Matthews was not deterred.

“I think there has been a lot wrong with the other levels of government doing it that way,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

The council ultimately voted 3-2 (Councilman Taj Polack was absent from the meeting) to move forward with the process without involving a committee.

“So pretty much what we’re saying now is, ‘District 1, your voice does not matter.’ Some of you on this board waited three months when Mark Stevens resigned before we even began to talk about filling his seat. So, I don’t know what the rush is,” Ms. Matthews said. “I get it. We’ve had systems in place. Those systems are old and they don’t work for everybody and I think we would show great leadership if we showed a different way. Give the people the power. That’s who we work for. We did not choose ourselves to sit here. We were elected by the people. … I think District 1 should elect their representative.”

• The board, by a 4-1 vote, elected David Ham as the council’s mayor pro tem after Councilman Gene Aycock said an experienced No. 2 was critical given Mayor Chuck Allen’s health.

“I worry about Mayor Allen’s overall health,” Aycock said. “I know he’s doing well right now, but, you know, I want somebody with experience.”

Before the vote, Ms. Matthews honored the nomination, but added she felt it was important to give new members of the council leadership opportunities.

“The only way for the new people to get the experience and the exposure is to hold those positions,” she said. “With all due respect Councilmember Aycock, you personally don’t know what experience I have and I don’t think anybody had mayor pro tem experience before you actually sat in that seat. I just think this is a pattern that this board has. We are allowing the same people to sit in the same seats.”