Augusta leaders question change in plans for Parks and Rec audit

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta Commission members sounded off this week about an ongoing debate over an internal audit of the Parks and Recreation Department.

During Tuesday’s meeting of commissioners at the committee level, questions and concerns were thrown toward the procurement department’s director, Geri Sams, about how UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic was recommended by her department for the audit.

Back on May 14, commissioners gathered in the chamber to discuss whether to approve an audit of the Parks and Rec Department using the firm Marcum LLP.

There was an addendum to the agenda to approve engaging UHY instead.

Commissioners say that was the first time they were notified about this change in recommendations.

The Finance Committee ultimately approved going with UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic to conduct the audit, and it was sent to the full commission.

On Tuesday, commissioners voted to send it back to the finance committee to answer questions about the process of how UHY Advisors Mid Atlanta was chosen.

Commissioners Wayne Guilfoyle, Brandon Garrett and Sean Frantom all led the line of questioning at Tuesday’s finance committee meeting.

“It doesn’t smell right, to be frank with you,” Frantom said.

The price tag for Marcum LLP was around $141,000. The cost of UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic is around $71,644.

Only two original bids were submitted to the procurement department to take on the audit. After those two bids were evaluated, it was discovered that a third bid should’ve been evaluated.

A letter from the procurement director states the bid by UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic was delivered on May 7 at 8:02 a.m. by UPS prior to normal department office hours.

The procurement director said she was out of town doing training that day. Commissioners questioned the timestamps of when the bid by UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic was received.

The evaluation committee reconvened and ultimately recommended UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic.

At Tuesday’s committee meeting, commissioners ended the conversation, sending this issue to the commission with no recommendation.

Frantom said he will not support UHY Advisors Mid Atlantic after this.

This process all started when commissioners voted April 2 to move forward on an audit into nine different areas within the department, going back three years.

The list of areas to check includes:

• Lake Olmstead details on expenditures and ledger codes.
• All community centers, list of user groups and the dollar amount taken in with each group.
• Riverwalk expenditures from all areas including the additional $150,000 for the Eighth Street bulkhead.
• All vendor expenditures and the jobs they performed, including consultants, lawn services, etc.
• All park expenditures broken down by the park with the ledger codes, including Fleming Park.
• All hotel stays with locations by all employees in the department.
• Candle Light Jazz money totals for each date and how the money was collected and used.
• Information technology department review of any deleted files for the department that are personnel- or financial-related.
• Review all contracts of $25,000 or less for the department head’s signature on the document. Plus, bring back recommendations of what can be automated vs. paper.

When Maurice McDowell resigned as parks and recreation director, Augusta leaders said they wanted to check every corner of a department riddled with internal and external investigations before the next director stepped in.

“I think it’s worth the money,” Frantom said. “I mean, we have commissioners that are not with us anymore, in prison, because of this situation in this department.”

Sams said, “Well that’s going to be very expensive because you’re asking for a lot of detailed information.”

The vote came in with a slim 6 to 4 approval, but commissioners are saying this time around, it’s worth it.

Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight said: “I think we need to pay whatever it is for this audit to be done. It’s long overdue.”

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.