The Stonecrest City Council gave itself the ability to revoke check-signing privileges for any city employee or elected official, including the mayor, if they’re suspected of misusing city funds.
The change to city policy took place roughly two weeks after Mayor Jason Lary, who is implicated in multiple financial scandals, transferred nearly $235,000 from a city bank account before returning it the next day. No one else in the city knew about the transfer until after it took place, and neither Lary nor his attorney would provide information about the purpose of the transactions.
During Friday’s special meeting, City Attorney Winston Denmark recommended the five-person City Council take further steps to insulate itself from “bad actions by check signers.”
“The council may temporarily suspend or revoke the check signing authority of any person upon evidence of misuse, theft or misappropriation of city funds upon evidence of unauthorized transactions or any activity that jeopardizes the safety and security of city funds,” he said before the resolution passed unanimously.
Lary has been on medical leave since mid-April and was not present for the vote. Had he been present, he would not have been able to vote anyway due to a recent change to the city’s charter, which allows the mayor to vote only in the event of tie.
Denmark did not mention the mayor’s recent transactions or whether they led to this policy proposal. Lary’s attorney, Dwight Thomas, previously said, “The mayor did not do anything improper but took executive steps to protect the integrity of the funds at issue.”
Lary has also denied any wrongdoing in how he used a city-issued purchasing card or how the city disbursed federal pandemic relief funds. Investigations into both programs have found strong evidence of widespread malfeasance and near-nonexistent oversight.
Last week, the council changed its check-writing policy to require two signatures on transfers worth $5,000 or more. However, that limit was increased to $25,000 on Friday, because city staff said the lesser amount created a barrier to running the city’s government.
“We would have to rely less on the two-signature requirement because the majority of our checks are $25,000 or less,” Denmark said. “It seems like that’s a more appropriate place for the requirement to fall as opposed to $5,000, which would be very difficult in terms of the day-to-day operations of city government.”
Acting City Manager Janice Allen Jackson added that none of the city’s three banks could guarantee that they could enforce the two-signature verification on $5,000 checks.
Councilwomen Jazzmin Cobble and Tammy Grimes voiced their concerns that the more relaxed amount wouldn’t lead to any increased security over city funds.
“If the ability to just write a $24,999 check multiple times with little oversight is allowed, then we didn’t solve the problem,” Cobble said. Before voting to increase the limit, she said she wanted city leaders to continue evaluating their check-writing oversight policies, including whether more stringent requirements could be implemented for in-person withdrawals or transfers.
The council also required city employees and elected officials to maintain a surety bond — effectively a contract to assume debt responsibility — as a countermeasure once they’re granted check-signing privileges. Jackson, who used to work for Augusta’s government, said many Georgia cities, including Augusta, require government employees in financial positions to obtain a surety bond, also known as a public official bond.
They will have 90 days to acquire the bond, and the city will cover any costs related to the bond acquisition.
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