May 17, 2015 Solid Waste Board Votes To Look at Changing Auditors

The agenda was very light at the Hamblen County/Morristown Solid Waste Board meeting on Friday, May 15.


Chairman Tony Cox, who is also Morristown City Administrator, was not present. Longtime SWB member Bill Blackburn presided.


About the only non-routine action was a motion made by Doe Jarvis, who is also a Hamblen County Commissioner, to send out a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for auditing services.


Jarvis stated: "I personally am not satisfied with the audits we received. I wasn't on the board at the time, but I know that we went ... three years, four years, with an issue that wasn't picked up.


[Jarvis was apparently referring to the three or four years that former landfill director Ronnie Brady was writing himself an extra $192,000.00 in payroll checks over and above his approximately $80,000.00 annual salary.]  Click here and here.


During discussion, Jarvis commented: " I think we need new auditors because they [current auditors Craine-Thompson-Jones] didn't pick up what they should have picked up, in my opinion."


The vote was unanimous to issue an RFQ seeking qualifications from auditing firms interested in performing the SWB audit.


Larry Clark, administrative services director for the City of Morristown, was present and commented that it might be hard to issue an RFQ, get proposals back, and select a new firm within the timeframe (June 30, 2015)  given by the Comptroller for having an audit contract in place.


Jarvis' response: "Why can we not ask for forgiveness versus permission on something like that? We do it on everything else."


Jarvis added: "I think it's absolutely ridiculous that our auditor is still doing our books or still doing our audit. Our former auditor should not be doing that work."


NOTE: In a February 6, 2015, meeting of the SWB Executive Committee (Tony Cox, Bill Brittain, and Keith Jackson), Tony Cox stated that the SWB may want to look at its outside contracts (auditor, engineer, and attorney) and determine whether the SWB is happy or if it is time to go back and start "looking."