June 25, 2006 Noe Statement Part I

Part I of the Statement that I made at the June 22 Hamblen County Commission Meeting. You can scroll down to view Part II, III and IV in order.

After I post the entire Statement (Part I-Part IV), I will add further clarification and additional comments in future posts to more fully explain the financial actions taken by the County Mayor.
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DATE: June 22, 2006

TO: All Citizens and Taxpayers of Hamblen County
All County Commissioners
All Media Outlets

FROM: County Commissioner Linda Noe, 14th District

The County Mayor has been unable to contain his anger toward me over the past four years that I have served on County Commission. I have tried to work through channels to deal with problems of county procedures, and I have tried to promote accountability at every step of the way.

Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of his refusal to provide an accounting for county funds and for his actions. I am appalled that he has presided over the actions that led to the collapse of Hamblen County finances with the general fund going broke in 2003, the garbage fund going broke in 2003, and M-H Hospital unable to meet its debt payments in 2004.

Recent statements and actions by the County Mayor, along with constant public attacks upon me and upon anyone else who asks questions regarding county finances, require a response.

The following is only a partial list of violations of state law, selective favoritism toward certain non-profits, and a lack of accountability for county funds on the part of the Mayor, our chief financial officer.

1. The Mayor apparently created a false governmental record appropriating $20,000 (for a total of $120,000) as the county’s match in a federal CDBG grant approval. There is no record of this appropriation ever having been brought through county commission as required by law. Instead the Mayor created an “appropriation resolution,” did not bring it to commission for approval. Instead, he signed it, had his assistant finance director attest to it, and sent it to the state in August 2002 and told state officials that it was an official act of appropriation that had been passed by the county commission.

2. The Mayor placed a friend, who was neither a county employee nor a county official but was the head of a local non-profit, on the county’s health insurance plan for a lengthy period of time and allowed this individual to reimburse the county for the cost of his “county” insurance. No other local non-profit was offered this deal or arrangement.

3. The Mayor, the county’s chief financial officer, has switched money around from fund to fund without commission approval, all in violation of state law.

4. The Mayor and his Finance Department have overspent legally approved appropriations in numerous funds in numerous years, all in violation of state law. Fortunately, this situation has improved due to reported findings by the state auditors.

More in the next post (Part II)....