Residents started filing in early to the regular work session of the Demorest City Council. Tensions in the city have been running high since the release of the investigative notes by the former GBI agent hired by the city to get to the bottom of the missing funds from the Demorest water department. First on the agenda was a public comment session. Sue Bearden started the night off. Reading from prepared notes, Bearden mentioned that she had gotten a robo-call that mentioned embattled city employee, Juanita Crumley. She stood in firm support of Crumley. A second citizen stood in support of Crumley. Then Nancy Adams stood and asked the council specifically about the rumor that she had heard about a proposal to buy out a year of Crumley’s contract so that she would not have to come into work, she added that, if true, she would ask for Jerry Harkness and Donnie Bennett to step down. Harkness and Bennett both indicated that the proposal was not something they knew about. Mayor Austin noted that early retirement had been mentioned but that no action had been taken.
Former Council woman, Florence Wikle, read the language of the handbook from the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA)concerning the duties of council members.GMA trains all council persons in the state of Georgia. She then reiterated her contention that Crumley should not be appointed to the Clerk position. She questioned how the budget would be effected with the new positions and then asked for the Council to let Crumley go.
Brandon Crumley, Juanita Crumley’s nephew, stood to voice his support of Crumley by discussing her many years of service as well as her passing of a lie detector and her assistance with the investigation. Juanita Crumley’s husband Ken spoke about how dedicated his wife had been to her job and brought up his feeling that there was a “witch hunt” out for her.
Mayor Austin sternly addressed the crowd and indicated that there had been no movement to blame Crumley. Wikle added, “I have never, never said I thought she was guilty. I just don’t think we can afford another person.”
Bruce Harkness addressed the crowd and told of the countless hours that go into the work the Council does and how few are willing to serve. “If you are not happy with how the City is being run, then you need to step up and get on the ballot,” said Harkness. He commended the council for being cautious in their deliberations and actions. Jimmy Allen stood up and asked “is there anybody in the city responsible for the money?” Mayor Austin replied that many controls have been put in place and that no money has been missing since those controls have been enacted. Austin indicated that the investigation is in the final stages and that the first stage of the investigation was the managerial report. He then firmly reiterated that the Council is very committed to the investigation and taking action based on the investigation. After being questioned about the beginning date of the investigation, Austin indicated that the auditors looked beyond 2009 into 2008 and found no money missing prior to the 2009 date.
Jim Thacker stood and noted that Crumley had welcomed him and helped him during his residency in Demorest, but noted that the time had come to change. Betty Allen then asked the Mayor if the investigation was looking into credit card purchases by City employees and after Austin said that they were not included, Allen said she thought they ought to include the credit card purchases, “just based on my being out and about at times.”
Mayor Austin then showed a diagram of how money flowed in the city before and after the investigation. He praised the auditing skills of Duncan and Kitchens, the Accounting firm that discovered the beginning date and ending date as well as the final figure of the funds in question. Former Councilman Harkness also said that the prior council was given audit by outside firms, Former Councilwoman Wilke interrupted and indicated that “they only audit what they are given” and that there were recommendations by the auditors every year. Wikle indicated that she had walked into the office in the past and had seen stacks of money.
Councilperson Sean Moore closed out the remarks by reading from a prepared statement. He stated that the GBI had told him that it was very difficult to find missing cash and that more than $10,000 had been spent on the investigation. He said that he wished this many people would come out more often to council meetings and that the council has worked hard to put measures in place to make sure that money is accounted for professionally. Crumley then stated that she could not sign contracts and that that was not in her duties.
Stay tuned to Now Habersham for further updates and information about the meeting as well as a video of the meeting.
