Town Council 10-05-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Exhibit A—Town Council, October 5, 2021 RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS FROM SHANE WILLIAMS THAT TOM WARTHEN HAS BEEN GIVEN SPECIAL TREATMENT BY THE CLERK -TREASURER'S OFFICE. In response to the statements that were made publicly by Councilman Shane Williams, both on social media and in a council meeting, that Councilman Tom Warthen has been given special treatment by the clerk's office, I would like to formally enterthe following statement into the public record. When I took office in January, 2020, Councilman Warthen already had a key to the clerk's office that was given to him by the previous Clerk -Treasurer. As stated in the State Statute, as the elected Clerk- Treasurerforthe Town of Mooresville, I have all authority to reside over my office as I deem appropriate. Although I do not work underthe authority of the Town Council, it is my desire to work alongside and in cooperation with them, to the best of my ability, to ensure the smoothest operation possible of the Town of Mooresville. While I typically would not hand out keys to my office to anyone other than my immediate staff, in the case of Mr. Warthen, there are circumstances that I believe warrant an exception. I would also like to add that no other council member has ever asked me for a key or expressed the need for one. Had this been done, they would receive the same consideration, if warranted. We are required by the State Board of Accounts to have internal controls in place. Part of the role of the Town Council is to review the invoices of the town and approve the claims at each council meeting. It has been past practice in previous administrations, that some of the council members would come into the clerk's office -during business hours and review the claims, or come early to the meeting. As Mr. Warthen is self-employed and operates a business during the hours that the clerk's office is open, it is difficult for him to come in during those hours. For that reason, he has had a verbal agreement with the previous clerk, that he would come in after hours to review the claims. I feel that leaving them in a common area in the building would violate internal controls and is not something I would be comfortable doing.. He does not have access to the personnel files, safe, checks or other confidential information. He typically likes to review the claims prior to the department heads signing off on them, which is usually done on Friday. This allows him to leave notes, asking questions of the department heads, or sometimes catching sales tax, things that should be covered under warranty or maintenance agreements, or any number of other things that may have slipped through. It is an advantage to my office to have those questions answered prior to the checks for the claims being written. Since I took office, I have not witnessed any other council member asking to•review each individual claim in this manner. My actions involving any council member have always been in an effort to do my due diligence as the Clerk -Treasurer of Mooresville and uphold the office I was elected to. I believe I have treated all council members equally and fairly and deny any allegations suggesting otherwise. Respectfully, p0av&✓[ac 4)GawU7.C�7 Dianna L. Wamsley, (/y Clerk -Treasurer