18 Apr Board of Supervisors' Meeting

This is the report the Transparency Committee filed with the Board of Supervisors on the above date. There is more to be said.  So, look at the notes below.  There is a BOSs' Meeting tonight at 5p.

18 Apr 2016 Board of Supervisors’ Meeting @ 5p

Thank you for the appointment this evening.

Since the last Board meeting I have asked 3 of the Supervisors to take another look at the hiring of Tim Hale.  It has been brought to my attention that Hale does not have the 20 years experience that you and the public were told he had.  If you remember correctly, it was this experience that you believed warranted the $47K salary rather than the $43K salary.  I hope that you all have asked the appropriate questions and gotten your answers.  As a woman, I object to a man being paid more for the same job that a woman is doing for less money.  If you have found that Hale does not have the 20 years experience that was reported to you and the public, I am asking that you reduce his salary to what we paid Deliah when she worked in this capacity.

Also since the last Board meeting, I have been told by one Supervisor that the 2014 Audit has been completed and this work was done by Deliah Vaughn our Comptroller.  This is as it should be: the Audit is the responsibility of the Comptroller.  I’m left to wonder why the 2014 Audit was not done by Adrian McKay when he was the Comptroller.  It seems to me that everyone was so quick to pin this omission on Michael Thompson when it was clearly the responsibility of the Comptroller. (See Note 1 below.)

On 14 Jan 2016, we hand delivered several requests for Public Records to the Board, Rechelle Siggers and Adrian McKay.  We followed-up with this Board on 28 Jan 2016.  I have had several conversations with your Attorney about the status of these requests.  To make a long story short, the County Administrator is now demanding that we pay labor and copy charges for this information including his own resume.  At this point, I need to ask: What are you all hiding from the public? (Note 2 below.)

On one of these requests, a claim for $376,368 is without documentation and the public has a right to know what this money covered.  This is from the 2009-2010 fiscal year and we have been asking since 2011.

And one last thing: at your last meeting three of you voted against continuing with the medical insurance presented to you by Nick Floyd and Associates.  Nick Floyd is our Agent-of-Record.  During his presentation he told you that he had already looked at other companies and that United Healthcare still offered the best coverage for Tunica County. 

Supervisors Dunn, Johnson and Pegram had until 5p on 5 Apr 2016 to change your vote.  You didn’t and your decision cost us $149,852.  As I understand it, the three of you have decided to ask for bids for our medical insurance.  Unless I missed something, I have not seen your request for bids advertised in the Tunica Times.(Note 3 below.)

Note 1: I've looked at the 2014 Audit very briefly.  I've been looking at these reports over the years and have never seen so many exception before.  Except for an entry by Michael Thompson that was entered in the wrong year, the errors are directly attributable to our former Comptroller Adrian McKay.  This is scary folks.

Additionally, some of the responses from the auditing firm seem a bit too familiar to me.  Perhaps it is time to get another firm to do our audits.

And, the Sheriff and the Circuit Clerk were again written up for the same thing...year after year.

Note 2:  After having delivered this report, James Dunn stated that it is Board Policy to comply with all Open Record Requests.  Let's see what happens tonight.

Note 3: I found out at the meeting that there was a letter sent by Nick Floyd and Associates giving the BOSs another bit of time to decide on their medical insurance.  Ultimately, the insurance from Nick Floyd and Associates was approved with employees paying 5% on their own premium.  (Pegram voted no.)  I believe I heard Michael Johnson say something about he didn't appreciate Nick making his presentation and then expecting them to decide on the spot.  This is a part of the ACA (Obamacare) law.  It is my understanding that this was put into the law to prevent insurance companies from increasing premiums when they already have a company's business.  That is to say, keep the same costs or look elsewhere and pay for an increase.  Michael, I will say here what I have said to your face:  Had you been involved with County government and attended meetings in more than a cursory fashion, you would have known this.  

Later in the meeting, there was quite a discussion between Dunn and Nickson about the BOSs voting to bid on insurance.  Dunn accused Nickson of misleading the public.  While it is true that the BOSs did vote to bid insurance, this action was not followed through by advertising for bids as was stated in the report above.  It is not enough to vote at the table, you must also follow through.  Further, Nick Floyd is our Agent-of-Record and he already told us he had investigated other companies including the beloved Cigna.  Why is it that Nick Floyd is being held to a different standard than Gordon Burke.  By the way, as the Agent-of-Record, Burke needs to present to Floyd before he presents to the Board.  IMHO.

Waiting: I am waiting to hear if Supervisors are going to investigate the Tim Hale situation to find out the truth.